Universal Orlando Resort has moved up the closing date for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.
Universal announced late last year that it would close the Maurer Rides X-Car coaster at Universal Studios Florida in September. However, in a note posted to its website today, Universal announced that Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit now will close August 18.
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit opened in 2009, themed to a music video shoot. The coaster featured on-board audio, with riders given the opportunity to select which track they would hear. You could pick from one of the provided selections, or opt for one of the many "hidden" tracks.
A video camera would record you on the coaster, allowing you to purchase a CD "music video" of your ride at the exit. (You would not get the video if you picked one of the hidden tracks, however.) That tech quickly became outdated, and fans also complained about the roughness of the cars and track. That left Rip Ride Rockit a relatively unpopular attraction and an easy choice for replacement.
What that replacement will be, Universal is not yet saying. But if Universal Orlando wanted to bring a clone of Universal Studios Hollywood's upcoming Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift coaster to Orlando, it could solve two problems - replacing the unpopular Rip Ride Rockit and Supercharged rides - with one announcement. Just sayin'.
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Such a Great unique launch - Then the ride beats you up.
Makes sense. It way always kind of weird they would close it in September in the middle of HHN when a lot of backstage areas are getting used.
@Velocicoaster: I too would love to see another classic movie-based dark ride but I feel that a F & F coaster is probably a forgone conclusion at this point. UO is short on proper thrill rides and this would check a couple of boxes, as Robert mentions above.
I loved this attraction when it first opened. Great audio, really fun, silky smooth. It all went downhill so quickly from there (pun intended). Good riddance! Here’s looking forward to whatever is next!
Not surprised, they have been adding temporary wood stairs and walls along the portion of city walk that's adjacent to the ride, for the past couple of weeks.
Kind of sad to see it go, but completely understand. The last time I rode it I got knocked around so much I was done at the park that day. I had a pretty bad headache.
I have a lot of memories with this ride- The hidden tracks, the smoothness it once had, the “hasta!”, and the times before the metal detector at HHN where you would be standing in line for a house near it and you could here people’s small change falling out of their pockets as a train would go by.
Good times! I’m ready for what’s next!
It's always sad to see a ride close, but this isn't one I'm going to particularly miss. Despite the uniqueness of the ride, of all the major coasters in the Orlando area, HRRR is my least favorite. I'm sure whatever Intamin has in store for the replacement is going to be an improvement, and even if the same technology is used as what we're seeing on Hollywood Drift, the ride experience is likely to be very different as the settings for both attractions couldn't be more dissimilar.
Just a BS move by Universal! Announce a closing window and change it by almost a month! I'm sure I'm not the only one who planned their trip around one last ride! I arrive the day it closes and can't move up. You said September and then change the freaking month, YOU SUCK UO!
When Universal initially announced the mid-September closure of RRR, it seemed like odd timing. Why would they close a coaster located proximal to a number of HHN attractions/queues halfway through the event? I guess you could argue that Universal was trying to get a few more laps out of the coaster before the massive crowds start showing up for HHN, so by running the coaster through the first 2-3 weeks of the event would not have too much of an impact on folks getting to the houses in the sound stages, and the heavy duty construction could start right after HHN is over. I'm guessing after going through the project timelines, Universal needs those extra couple of weeks of prep to get RRR ready for demolition so that phase of the project is completed before they need to access the sound stages again for HHN26.
I always approached RRR as a novelty coaster, and felt cool knowing that I could access the "hidden" tracks that included some amazing songs from Rush, Metallica, Muse, and others. The ride itself was pretty mediocre and frustrating because of all the block brakes (needed to increase capacity). I highly doubt Universal would put a pure clone of USH's coaster here (would be difficult because of the lack of topography at this site), but I could definitely see Universal leveraging the F&F IP and similar coaster style here, though they could also go a completely different direction to maintain the New York theming of the area by using Ghostbusters or some other IP (or perhaps a coaster not linked to a known IP at all).
Has a coaster ever felt as outdated as RRR when it opened? It features an early 2000s aesthetic but opened a few months before 2010. The music video concept could have felt innovative and modern in the 90s, but was already a relic by 2009.
I think a F&F coaster is likely, though probably not a clone of Hollywood. USH will feature the drifting mechanism, and I anticipate the F&F Orlando install to be a different coaster with more of a launch focus. Maybe Fast & Furious: NOS Overdrive?
@VelocicoasterFan I’d also like to see the “ride the movies” theme come back to Universal. Ghostbusters is ripe for a return.
As Hawk Harrelson used to say "right size wrong shape." This ride was a cool idea and you can see what they were going for, but the decision to rush it and go with a subpar manufacturer ultimately doomed it from the start. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did, I think they were just focused on expanding the resort and figured they would get to replacing this ride eventually after EU opened.
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Hit take: I don't want to see a F&F clone here- I like the fact that it's unique to Hollywood in the same way Velocicoaster is unique to Orlando. Also, the track colors are way too similar to Velocicoaster to really differentiate them.
I want to see another "ride the movies" ride based on a 90s movie that takes place in New York- Ghostbusters, most likely, but Godzilla too. I want to see a return to form and rejuvenation of the whole park hinging on blockbuster movies.