Universal's new Fast & Furious roller coaster has run in anger for the first time.
Universal Studios Hollywood has begun test runs for the new roller coaster, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, which will open in 2026.
Universal is concealing the design of the coaster's trains, which will feature a Dodge Charger-inspired look. The individual ride cars will rotate 360 degrees during their run on the 4,100-foot track, creating the effect suggested by the coaster' name, "Hollywood Drift."
The coaster will load from a new garage-inspired structure across from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter on the park's Upper Lot. But the coaster itself will fun across the hillside between the Upper and Lower Lots, with an inverted pass over the park's Starway escalator.
With a top speed of 72 mph, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will be Universal's fastest roller coaster, taking that honor from Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure, which reaches 70 mph.
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I can't wait to see video footage and a POV. What are the odds that this is better than Time Traveler and Ride to Happiness?
It's great to see a F&F attraction that is actually "fast", but I'm taking a wait and see approach with this coaster. It does look to have some really cool and unique elements, but I think how the cars spin will be more important than people realize to accentuate the thrill of this ride (GotG is the gold standard). I also hope that the on-board soundtrack, pre-show, and other theming elements are used to help put this coaster over the top. I want this coaster to shake the negative mojo associated with this franchise, but I'm deliberately tempering my expectations to limit the potential of disappointment from an IP that has done nothing but fall short in all of its theme park applications.
is it not testing the spinning yet? all the photos seem to have it facing forward.
I’ve no doubt the photos that have been released thus far have been deliberately designed to hold back details.
@vcfan ... chances it'll be better than R2H ... 0
For TT ... I'll let you know next June :)
Very excited to see this ride finally testing, and now just hoping to see some video footage of it in action. My assumption is they'll probably worry about just getting it cycling like a normal coaster first, then get all the rotation programming fine tuned once they know it works as expected. Word on the street is it will be open by spring break, so I'm looking forward to checking it out early next year. Given the standard set by Velocicoaster, I fully expect this to dethrone Twisted Colossus as my favorite coaster on the west coast.
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The car camo is such an amazing touch. They didn't have to do all that!