Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit

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Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit
Concept art for Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit
Universal Studios Florida
Area Production Central
Designer Maurer Söhne
Attraction type Roller Coaster
Opening date Spring 2009
This article or section contains information about a planned or expected future amusement ride.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the amusement ride approaches, and more information becomes available.

Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit is an upcoming roller coaster to be added to Universal Studios Florida. This custom-designed attraction will feature an on-board sound system to add a soundtrack to its twisted steel track. It is scheduled to open in the spring of 2009.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Attraction history

On January 11, 2008, Universal Parks & Resorts filed a Notice of Commencement with Orange County, Florida indicating that they were to construct a ride system that they have code-named "Project Rumble."[3] The practice of using code-names in theme park attractions is common; it allows the park to begin construction of a project without revealing to its competitors exactly what it is, until such time as the park itself chooses to announce it. The Notice stated that the contractor is "Mauer Rides GmbH," located in Munich, Germany. The address provided on the form matches that for amusement ride manufacturer Maurer Söhne[4].

The attraction was announced by Universal officials on March 19, 2008. Although officials did not reveal the entire attraction, they did point out some key features. The roller coaster's lift hill will be 167 feet tall, making it the tallest in the Orlando area. Its design will allow four trains to be on the track at a time and will feature six near-miss encounters and a unique form of vertical loop.[5]

The ride vehicles will feature color-changing LEDs for a dynamic appearance, as well as sophisticated audio and video systems for each seat. Guests will be able to select a musical track from one of five genres (classic rock, rap, country, pop and soundtracks) to hear during their experience, a feature similar to another Universal-owned roller coaster, Hollywood Dream: The Ride at sister park Universal Studios Japan. Taking this customization a step further, the ride experience will be filmed, allowing guests to obtain a digital copy of the film, complete with their chosen soundtrack, to add to their webpages or video-sharing sites, such as YouTube.[6]

[edit] Track layout

The roller coaster will start between two existing facilities, "Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast" and the "Blue Man Group at the Sharp Aquos Theatre" show in Universal CityWalk, and include track that crosses over portions of CityWalk and the New York sections of Universal Orlando Resort.

The track itself will have the following features including

  1. The Vertical Lift - Features the 144-foot straight up climb
  2. The Double Take - Features the world's first non-inverted loop
  3. The Treble Clef - A series of sharp turns that resemble that of a musical treble clef. This portion of the track is housed within the Twister attraction line in the New York section of the park.
  4. The Jump Cut
  5. The Crowd Surfer - The coaster travels over top of the line queue close to the guests, hence the name
  6. The Drop Tuning
  7. The Plot Twist - This portion of the track is where the coaster enters Universal Citywalk

[edit] Construction

Construction on Holywood Rip, Ride, Rockit begun in May of 2008. It started with the clearing of some break room trailers and ground clearing.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ High-Tech Roller Coaster Will Hover Over Heads At Orlando Theme Park. www.local6.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  2. ^ Universal Orlando Resort Announces Brand-New Roller Coaster (Press Release). www.rcdb.com (2008-03-19). Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  3. ^ "Book 9562, Page 1950, Public Records of Orange County, Florida". 
  4. ^ "Contact Information for Maurer Sohne". 
  5. ^ Universal Orlando Resort Announces Brand-New Roller Coaster (Press Release). www.rcdb.com (2008-03-19). Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  6. ^ Powers, Scott. "New 'Rockit' high-tech roller coaster coming to Universal Studios Orlando in 2009", Orlando Sentinel, 2008-03-19. Retrieved on 2008-03-19. 
  7. ^ http://www.orlandorocks.com/info.asp?attraction=rockit&location=usf&type=Rides&sub=Construction

[edit] External Links

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Roller Coasters at Universal Studios Florida
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Roller coasters at Universal Orlando Resort
Dueling Dragons · Flying Unicorn · Incredible Hulk · Pteranodon Flyers · Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride · Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster · Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit
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