Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift coaster (Opening 2026)

[Cygnus]

Missed opportunity to theme the ride to Tokyo Drift and make a mini-land.

 

[tommyhawkins]

Willing to bite.

From the specifics of the survey: it says that the coaster would begin from the location of the Upper Lot, and travel downwards to the Lower Lot, but at that same time; also travelling down near that of Fire House #55.

For the load, queue, and start and end of the ride, the border can be defined as that of around that of the side of Kirk Douglas. Meaning, the coaster would need to travel down, alongside that of Kirk Douglas proper. You would have to modify the poster locations in doing so, and the infastructure around that of the coaster and the fire escape.

View attachment 17659

I can be absolutely wrong in this--have been in the past; and I'd argue they would also go down to the hillside to the right of the second starway going down to the Lower Lot, but it could allow them to block noise pollution by narrowing it in-between the Jurassic World structure, DMMM/Frankenstein Parking, and the reformed area for F&F's queue, station, transfers, and storage areas.

Positionals of the start and end are a bit off, more specifically the overhang and what I think is a cutback, but this makes sense to me. An Out/Back thrill coaster that has three launches (the reverse to the Hammerhead Stall, the Forward launch to what seems to be a cutback, and the booster launch sending the train to the ride's Z-gravity stall). Could even make it four inversions if the way from next to the starway to the left of Kirk Douglas is a corkscrew emulating the final race scene.



Hope I don't get on your bad side, @tommyhawkins; but this feels the most sensical in my opinion.

I can't believe I have to say this, but some of you seem to be forgetting we do this stuff on a near daily basis, most of it behind the scenes for months and months in preparation, and a lot of work and thought goes in front of what we do eventually publish and we don't sell the farm when we do so.

So as someone who reads A LOT of permits quite frequently, all of you are putting FAR too much emphasis on the permit, which is clearly a brief bare minimum description written in a hurry, even the person who repeated Alicia's ride rumours said that very little has changed from the concept art.

I really don't care too much whether I am right or wrong, by all means all of you brain storm to your heart's content alternative ideas but remember when we speak on stuff it's not flippant and isn't plucked out of thin air it comes from experience and knowledge of this stuff and don't be offended I come back with a ton of socratic questioning to establish if you've thought it all the way through like we usually do.

 

[Freak]

I can't believe I have to say this, but some of you seem to be forgetting we do this stuff on a near daily basis, most of it behind the scenes for months and months in preparation, and a lot of work and thought goes in front of what we do eventually publish and we don't sell the farm when we do so.

So as someone who reads A LOT of permits quite frequently, all of you are putting FAR too much emphasis on the permit, which is clearly a brief bare minimum description written in a hurry, even the person who repeated Alicia's ride rumours said that very little has changed from the concept art.

I really don't care too much whether I am right or wrong, by all means all of you brain storm to your heart's content alternative ideas but remember when we speak on stuff it's not flippant and isn't plucked out of thin air it comes from experience and knowledge of this stuff and don't be offended I come back with a ton of socratic questioning to establish if you've thought it all the way through like we usually do.

Whoa. The game has changed. The Prince of Permits himself Tommy Hawkins is here! What more knowledge can we aquire of thee from thy infinite wealth of permit knowledge?

But seriously dude, chill. The guy was just doing some fun armchair layout work. He already said that if he's wrong he's wrong.

 

[Ron101]

Missed opportunity to theme the ride to Tokyo Drift and make a mini-land.

Got to save the “Tokyo Drift” name for the USJ version of the ride. Might also get an “Orlando Drift”

 

[tommyhawkins]

Whoa. The game has changed. The Prince of Permits himself Tommy Hawkins is here! What more knowledge can we aquire of thee from thy infinite wealth of permit knowledge?

But seriously dude, chill. The guy was just doing some fun armchair layout work. He already said that if he's wrong he's wrong.

I wasn't attacking Alexander, i responding to the lengthy two day discussion about the same thing.

But congratulations on mocking me, bet your feel great now.

 

[Jerroddragon]

The 3 recent Universal coasters have been Gringott's, Hagrid's and VelociCoaster which certainly feel like a step above these coasters.

Minus the hook above the station for Hollywood Drift, I think the rest of the coaster will be a low to the ground speed machine as it goes down the hillside. I don't think it will stick out like a sore thumb.

Hollywood Drift is going to be a fun addition. Mix that with Nintendo opening and it's a great one two punch for the park. It's going to bring plenty of talk about bringing it to the east coast that just won't be possible in the flat terrain of Orlando.

If people are coming from the East coast for coaster then go to Knotts and six flags

this will be a fun coaster but they have like 5 real coastersi Florida

Missed opportunity to theme the ride to Tokyo Drift and make a mini-land.

that could have also worked if they were replacing simpsons area with Pokémon

 

[Alicia]

I’m not even 100% sure this’ll definitely happen yet. It may have been greenlit over the summer, but if it’s pending geological review it’d be a bummer if the hillside can’t even handle a coaster lol

Trying not to get my hopes up too high. You never know. Especially with Universal. They’ll cancel a project after the work walls go up!

 

[Stryker]

Whoa. The game has changed. The Prince of Permits himself Tommy Hawkins is here! What more knowledge can we aquire of thee from thy infinite wealth of permit knowledge?

But seriously dude, chill. The guy was just doing some fun armchair layout work. He already said that if he's wrong he's wrong.

I don't understand how he thinks everyone should just know who he is with all of his background and expertise, especially for us on the west coast. Claims to read A LOT of permits quite frequently yet tells us to ignore the words in the description of the permits. He's able to extract and decode info on the layout just from the plan number alone and ignores the portion that says "starts from upper lot and will descend toward the lower lot along the hillside in front of the fire station 51" saying that it was just written in a hurry and "in front of the fire station 51" was just thrown in arbitrarily.

Anyway, hope we see some movement on the ground soon next year.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I am fully aware that I can and will be wrong, but as has been mentioned: I am looking to specific mentions in the permit of Fire House #51, and it's positioning no-where near your guesstimates.

Gonna use the Studio Lot map to make it a bit more pronounced as-well; but in simplification: Fire House #55 is right on the main road of Kirk Douglas Dr. SES, Animal Actors, and Feature Presentations; alongside P.Q. Butterfats and Luigis/Duff, are on the side of E.C. Fire Road. Given F&F's positionals, it would replace presumably that of the buildings around E.C. Fire Road, excluding that of P.Q. Butterfats, Duff, and Luigis.

Google Maps for reference:


And the Studio lot for reference:


Additionally--they would need to relocate the Pump Hose, and the load/unload station for the Upper Lot Shuttle that takes people down to Lower Lot.

Now to tackle Fire House #51. Fire House #51 is directly next to Kirk Douglas Dr (West of E.C. Fire Road), going past the Jurassic World showbuilding, and going halfway down the Timeline Drive segment.

To do same verse as the first:




I'm looking at it directly from the aspect of the Studio Lot map, and the positioning of the key locations. I know I can and more than likely with my luck, be wrong. But unless Firehouse 51 moves to a different location; closer to the Lower Lot hill proper, I don't think that is directly it. Perhaps we're both wrong and it's going to be closer to the Tram plaza, so it can be powered alongside the electric charging areas for the Studio Tour Load/Unload.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

I’m not even 100% sure this’ll definitely happen yet. It may have been greenlit over the summer, but if it’s pending geological review it’d be a bummer if the hillside can’t even handle a coaster lol

Maybe I’m wrong here, but isn’t one of the reasons Hollywood has never developed a ride of this magnitude because the hillside dirt is so soft? (The other being the noise.) I’m wondering what changed.

And if that’s not the case —if the earth has always been safe for building — then why wait until now? A ride like this has been near the top of the guests’ wantlist for what feels like decades.

 

[highdefrex]

Maybe I’m wrong here, but isn’t one of the reasons Hollywood has never developed a ride of this magnitude because the hillside dirt is so soft? (The other being the noise.) I’m wondering what changed.

And if that’s not the case —if the earth has always been safe for building — then why wait until now? A ride like this has been near the top of the guests’ wantlist for what feels like decades.

Fast and Furious can take over the hillside because the strength of family is durable enough for even the softest of dirt to support.

 

[marip123]

So just to clarify, Universal would lose animal actors and special effects stage for the coaster?

 

[AlexanderMBush]

So just to clarify, Universal would lose animal actors and special effects stage for the coaster?

From early art: the signs point to yes.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

Fast and Furious can take over the hillside because the strength of family is durable enough for even the softest of dirt to support.

Forgive me for going against the family

 

[RyanTTD]

Maybe I’m wrong here, but isn’t one of the reasons Hollywood has never developed a ride of this magnitude because the hillside dirt is so soft? (The other being the noise.) I’m wondering what changed.

And if that’s not the case —if the earth has always been safe for building — then why wait until now? A ride like this has been near the top of the guests’ wantlist for what feels like decades.

The reason that USH doesn't have a large outdoor coaster is because of past ownership/management of the park. It wasn't too long ago that USH was the neglected child of Universal Parks and Resorts. The absolute bare minimum would be added to the park to keep it profitable. Anything that was added was added with the movie studio in mind first and theme park a very distance second . So an outdoor coaster that could produce noise or sight line issues for the studio was not going to happen.

Comcast is a godsend for this park.

 

[tacalert]

thats not what the permit says.

The station is alreadon "the hillside in front of the fire station 51" . So when it launches north towards escalator 1 , its descending on the hillside. as described. the layout is based on the artwork, so the start and finish positions are fixed along with angles. theyre not going to build a coaster on a narrow strip of a steep hill or build on a road that fire tracks need access to. the layout is also based on the fact it needs a long straight run to launch back up the hill. Scott did a comparision overlay im sure he will share at somepoint

Not going to argue, but that is exactly what it says. That it will go along the hillside in front of the fire station.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

The reason that USH doesn't have a large outdoor coaster is because of past ownership/management of the park. It wasn't too long ago that USH was the neglected child of Universal Parks and Resorts. The absolute bare minimum would be added to the park to keep it profitable. Anything that was added was added with the movie studio in mind first and theme park a very distance second . So an outdoor coaster that could produce noise or sight line issues for the studio was not going to happen.

Comcast is a godsend for this park.

I really wonder what prompted the gas to be fueled into USH fully. They have to be super happy at SNW's numbers on merchandise and on the attendance levels throughout the year; if they are wanting to take the gambit on the hillside now--on a outdoor coaster no less.

Also have to wonder how they want to go now with LA2028 6 years off.

 

[TheUniC6]

I really wonder what prompted the gas to be fueled into USH fully. They have to be super happy at SNW's numbers on merchandise and on the attendance levels throughout the year; if they are wanting to take the gambit on the hillside now--on a outdoor coaster no less.

Also have to wonder how they want to go now with LA2028 6 years off.

Someone on another thread said they are very big things planned for USH in 2026 and 2028. Maybe 2026 will see soundstages demoed and a new land added to the lower lot and 2028 will be some new ride to replace The Simpsons.

 

[RyanTTD]

I really wonder what prompted the gas to be fueled into USH fully. They have to be super happy at SNW's numbers on merchandise and on the attendance levels throughout the year; if they are wanting to take the gambit on the hillside now--on a outdoor coaster no less.

Also have to wonder how they want to go now with LA2028 6 years off.

1. Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Back when Comcast gained control of the parks and resorts 2009-2010, they were pretty open about their lack of interest in the parks and were mostly interested in the film and TV aspects of the NBC/Universal acquisition. When the Wizarding World opened, that land opened the eyes of Comcast of the importance of the theme parks in the company. Hence just a little over a year of the the original opening at IOA, Hollywood announced their own WWOHP.

2. Transformers The Ride. That ride was a MASSIVE hit for USH. USH saw their highest attendance and guest spending in the parks history (pre Potter). That ride also showed that USH is a park that they should be investing in.

3. The shift of TV and Film productions filming outside of California.

 

[shiekra38]

1. Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Back when Comcast gained control of the parks and resorts 2009-2010, they were pretty open about their lack of interest in the parks and were mostly interested in the film and TV aspects of the NBC/Universal acquisition. When the Wizarding World opened, that land opened the eyes of Comcast of the importance of the theme parks in the company. Hence just a little over a year of the the original opening at IOA, Hollywood announced their own WWOHP.

2. Transformers The Ride. That ride was a MASSIVE hit for USH. USH saw their highest attendance and guest spending in the parks history (pre Potter). That ride also showed that USH is a park that they should be investing in.

3. The shift of TV and Film productions filming outside of California.

The ripple effects of Potter on Universal and the theme park industry will continue to be felt for decades