Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit

[pat_naughty05]

Does Universal reserve the right to sue Maurer Sohne?

 

[Andy]

Does Universal reserve the right to sue Maurer Sohne?

At this point and after 55+ million dollars I would hope so. Maurer has performed several critical errors during this process and bit off more than they could chew. They are responsible for major money lost, be interesting to see if anything happens.

 

[Vyrus]

I'd be surprised if they didn't. The coaster has yet to ever run at full capacity. Some of the trains are bumpy, and a couple of seats on each train are constantly taped off.

Yea they have a right to sue, and would win easily.

 

[Craziiboiialex]

So no HRRR for 2-3 months?!?!?! =(((

 

[Felipe]

Wow! The issue was definitely something serious, then! So worst case scenario is no Rockit for 2-3 months? I hope it can all get fixed and the issues resolved quickly! Though with Rockit's track record, one cannot make predictions or be that hopeful...

 

[rewster]

Ok. This would be the point where I officially tap out. "Fixed" or not, I think I'll be skipping Rockit from now on.

 

[Splatter]

Can we just demolish the thing already? It is sad seeing all that money spent on it and then other times all that money they are losing on it frequently.

 

[universal chris]

Can we just demolish the thing already? It is sad seeing all that money spent on it and then other times all that money they are losing on it frequently.

hahahahaha agreed they should just bust it just take one of those ball on a chin thing and distroy it

 

[Vyrus]

Ball on a chain thing? You want it to get married?

Although a woman might smack the ride into shape, it needs to be fixed period. I'm glad they have this excuse to shut down the ride for 2 - 3 months, now they can not only fix this issue, but possible make all cars smooth, and not rough anymore.

 

[White Rabbit]

Wow, that's pretty crazy! It couldn't have happened at a worse time, they needed that ride to be open for HHN.

 

[Obi Ubamba]

:rant:This is the absolute worst news to come out of UO since the closing of Kong. The Rockit is such an amazing coaster when everything is operaional, but if you sre going to open a ride, it should be 100% ready, not 70%. It has vallied more times then I can count on my fingers, it has a very rough car, closes alot because of technical issues, and most pathetic of them all, doesn't even have the music working at times. I mean come on, its a MUSIC ride, the MUSIC should work 100% of the time. :doh: Without it, the rides is awfully average. UNI have very high standards for their rides, just look at FJ, SM,Hulk, JPRA, MIB, Mummy, JAWS etc. I could go on, but it's needless to say that Uni shouldn't be putting up rides that crash and burn in the manner that the Rockit has. I'd SO rather have Kong brought back exactly the way it was 10 years ago then have a ride that can't stay open for more then 2 years straight .
I go to UO and IOA about 4 to 6 times a year, and getting there isn't a short drive, so when I go to Uni and see that the Rockit is closed, it ruins my whole trip. The Rockit is a ride that I ALWAYS go on when I'm at UO. Even if there's a long wait, I'll endure it just because it's a tremendous coaster. Luckily for me, I've only had the music issue a few times, but I know every time I step on the train there is a chance the songs won't work. That is utterly unacceptable.

With that all being said, hopefully this train issue can get resolved, and maybe even have less closures then before this 2-3 month timeframe.

 

[Tbad556]

The warning does not affect HRRR, from Orlando Sentinel:

The manufacturer of Universal Studios' Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster has warned of a potential serious safety flaw, but Universal indicated Friday that it has already addressed the issue.

The year-old coaster is currently closed to riders, though Universal said it is closed for "unrelated maintenance."

In a Sept. 2 bulletin, German roller coaster manufacturer Maurer Sohne said stress testing of its "X-Car" ride vehicles — the coaster trains used in Rockit —may not be "fatigue endurable."

The company urged customers to immediately shut down any rides using X-Cars to conduct further tests. Further, Maurer Sohne told customers who found cracks in the coupling bar or coupling elements to keep the rides closed indefinitely "to prevent serious accidents posing a danger to health and life of persons."

Rockit has been closed since Wednesday and Universal won't say when the coaster will reopen. But the resort said the shutdown has nothing to do with Maurer Sohne's warning; Orlando's theme parks routinely close major rides for maintenance and upkeep.

"We are obsessive about safety. We have aggressive inspection and safety programs in place for all our rides and attractions," Universal Orlando spokesman Tom Schroder said. "Those programs meet or exceed all manufacturer guidelines. Anything in a September 2nd manufacturer's advisory would have been dealt with weeks ago. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is temporarily closed for unrelated maintenance.

 

[White Rabbit]

Hm, good find. Although, the timing is indeed suspicious. We all know those trains were pretty rough.

 

[rewster]

Fair enough -- I'll give them the benefit of the doubt since there's no precedence to think that UO would compromise safety. But I dunno, I still feel uneasy about that ride, and this warning on the X-Car certainly doesn't help, even if they do claim no problems....

 

[StarTrekGeek]

Can we just demolish the thing already? It is sad seeing all that money spent on it and then other times all that money they are losing on it frequently.

If they were to demolish Rockit because of these problems, it will just make them look lazy and that's the sad part.

And about this situation, whoa... now I realize that Universal really did the wrong choice by going with Maurer. Hopefully they get this up and running by Thanksgiving.

 

[Vyrus]

I forgot who the other bidder on the coaster was besides Maurer...was it Vekoma?

All I know is that they should have gone for a B&M, those things are SOLID.

 

[Octobers Fade]

Once again my chance to ride Rockit is taken away from me!
I haven't even rode the thing and I hate it.

Wonder if this will effect the Hulk refurb (if and when it happens) would they want to have two big rides down at one time.

 

[universal chris]

They dident say it was closed on the universal website maybe its time to say its closed.

 

[Splatter]

The Sentinel can say all they want..fact is. Ride is closed again.


Yeah, it could look bad if they demolish it but its looking just as bad when people I know have gone many times throughout the year and it has still not been open on a single one of their visits.

The ride is not a case like Jaws or Test Track, it is a Rollercoaster with music onboard. There is nothing that should be causing this much damage. It is going to look a lot worse if God forbid something ever goes wrong enough for people to get seriously hurt or worse.

 

[violarum]

This ride isn't going anywhere, and it's honestly a very awesome ride. I love Rockit regardless of its extrusions with scenery, and so do many others. Universal is addressing our complaints about this ride and performing maintenance on it to have it top-notch like it should be. The audio systems and shaky cars are the source of this refurb. Not anything else.