Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

Coordinates: 28°28′30″N 81°28′06″W / 28.4749°N 81.4683°W / 28.4749; -81.4683
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Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
Universal Express available
Single rider line available
Must transfer from wheelchair
Closed captioning available
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at RCDB

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is a

LED lighting, and on-ride
photos and videos captured from cameras mounted in each passenger row.

History

Construction on vertical lift and first drop in April 2009

During the second week of January 2008,

Munich, Germany.[7]

The new attraction was officially announced by Universal Studios on March 19, 2008.

The Black Eyed Peas, Bee Gees, The Beach Boys, and Johnny Cash.[9]

Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando Resort
(2011)

Construction began in May 2008 with preliminary land clearing, which caused the removal of some of Twister...Ride it Out's outdoor extended queue.[10] The first track pieces were installed during the week of December 7, 2008.[11] In February 2009, Universal launched a website for the attraction, which included a construction blog and photographs chronicling progress of the attraction's construction.[12][13] The track layout was completed at the end of April 2009 with the crowning of the lift hill.[14][15]

In April 2009, Universal confirmed that the roller coaster would not open as originally planned and said it would open in the summer. Though Universal has never mentioned what the exact problem with the roller coaster was, it is believed by newspapers that issues with the anti-rollback devices on the lift hill that were not working correctly caused the delay.[2]

After the issues with the ride were resolved, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit began public previews in mid-August 2009.[16] On August 19, 2009, Universal Studios Florida officially opened the attraction.[17] It continued to experience technical issues early on after opening. A number of its features worked sporadically or not at all. There were also operational issues, such as slower-than-expected loading times that diminished capacity and led to long lines. One of the notable complaints was the rough ride experience, especially for guests sitting in the back seat.[18]

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit closed indefinitely in September 2010. Maurer issued an alert warning that stress testing of its X-Car ride vehicles had found that the coupling bars holding the trains together would not be "fatigue endurable."[19] It eventually reopened on October 28, 2010, with refurbished trains to improve the ride experience.[20]

Ride experience

Queue

Guests first enter into one of three queues; either the main queue, the express queue, or the single rider queue. As of 2015, riders must pass through a metal detector in order to board, and may not board with any loose items on their person or in pockets. Lockers are provided for storage of these items.[21] In each of the queue lines, there are several large screen displays that explain how to pick a song to play during the ride and important safety instructions. In the video, characters called "Video DJ's" are used as demonstrators to provide a visual explanation.[3][22]

Ride

A train ascending the vertical lift.
A ride vehicle for "Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit", traversing the first "loop" element. The vehicle uses Maurer Söhne's B-Car Coaster design.

The

mid-course brakes. It drops back down, going through a hole in a wall before entering a left, upward helix section of the coaster that is nicknamed "The Treble Clef". Next the train enters a quick element nicknamed "The Jump Cut", a non-inverting corkscrew. This is followed by a large dip that takes the train into a second set of mid-course brakes. Following a small drop to the left, the track straightens for a moment before making a right turn, a left turn, and then another right leading into the third set of mid-course brakes. An s-bend turn follows, which leads the train into an inclined loop and a fourth set of brakes. Finally, the train drops once more, travels over a small hill, and then enters the final brake run as the song playing ends.[5][3][23]

Track

The steel track of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is 3,800 feet (1,200 m) long, and the height of the lift is approximately 167 feet (51 m).[24] Because the lift hill is vertical, a special evacuation system is used in the event that a train stalls on the lift.[6] Also, the track is filled with sand and gravel to reduce the noise when a train is on the track.[3] Throughout the layout of the roller coaster, there are 6 sets of brakes to control the speed of the trains.[23]

Trains

The roller coaster operates with seven stadium-style seating X-Car trains. Each train has two cars that can hold six riders each for a total of twelve riders per train.[24] On the headrest of each seat there are two speakers that play music during the ride. The speakers have been designed so that only the rider's selected music track will be audible. On the restraint is a small touch screen where riders can choose which song they want to listen to during the ride from popular musical genres such as pop and hip-hop. Additionally, the trains are equipped with multi-colored lights that can be seen during the night.[3]

Incidents

On August 1, 2013, an unidentified woman received minor injuries when the ride came to a sudden stop.[25] On November 24, 2023, riders were stuck in a near vertical position and had to be rescued by the local fire department. No injuries were reported.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bevil, DeWayne (August 16, 2009). "Theme Park Ranger takes ride on Universal's new roller coaster, the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Garcia, Jason (June 27, 2009). "New Universal coaster spinning its wheels". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 30, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e Bevil, Dewayne (June 16, 2009). "Universal shares Rip Ride Rockit coaster details". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 17, 2009.
  4. ^ Complete Guide to Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Florida
  5. ^ a b Bevil, Dewayne (April 23, 2009). "Universal pushes back opening of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit coaster". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Worldwide Highest Vertical Lift: Record-Breaking, Multi-Sensory Roller Coaster" (Press release). Roller Coaster Database. August 1, 2008. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Universal Orlando's 'Project Rumble". NewsPlusNotes. January 12, 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d e Roller Coaster Database (March 19, 2008). "Universal Orlando Resort Announces Brand-New Roller Coaster (Press Release)". Roller Coaster Database. Retrieved April 8, 2008.
  9. ^ Powers, Scott (August 27, 2008). "Musical choices for Universal's next roller coaster, the Rockit". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  10. ^ "Rip Ride Rockit Construction Photos (page 75)". Orlando Rocks. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  11. ^ "Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit is Vertical". NewsPlusNotes. December 11, 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  12. ^ URLwire. "Site Follows Progress of Universal Studios Hollywood Rip Ride RockIT Roller Coaster". urlwire.com. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  13. ^ "Rockit's New Website". NewsPlusNotes. February 21, 2009. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  14. ^ "Rip Ride Rockit Construction Photos (page 22)". Orlando Rocks. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  15. ^ "Rockit Complete". NewsPlusNotes. May 1, 2009. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  16. ^ "Universal Studios' Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit coaster finally opens to guests – Video and Photos". Orlando Attractions Magazine. August 15, 2009. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  17. ^ "Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster now officially open". Orlando Attractions Magazine. August 19, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  18. ^ "Mystery swirls around Universal's closed roller coaster".
  19. ^ "Universal's Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster closed indefinitely". September 20, 2010.
  20. ^ "Rip Ride Rockit Now Re-open! - Orlando Tourist Tips". November 2, 2010.
  21. ^ "Metal detectors become permanent at 3 Universal rides". April 22, 2015.
  22. ^ "Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Queue Video". coastercrew (YouTube). July 1, 2009. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  23. ^ a b "Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit Front Seat on-ride POV Universal Studios Florida". wwwCOASTERHorsecom (YouTube). November 7, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  24. ^ a b Marden, Duane. "Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  25. ^ Susan Jacobson (August 2, 2013). "Universal roller coaster closed after rider is injured". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  26. ^ Dahm, Daniel (November 24, 2023). "Riders rescued from Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster at Universal Orlando". WKMG. Retrieved April 14, 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.
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