Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit

[Vyrus]

No new news yet? Still been closed all weekend?

 

[Mark_Gers10]

this has got to be a big kick in the teeth for universal bet it makes them wish they had just went with a B&M and waited in line it might have take'in a year long but at least that way they new they would be buying quality

 

[Bryan]

Universal's Rip Ride Rockit coaster to remain closed indefinitely

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, the year-old roller coaster at Universal Studios that closed down last week for repairs, will remain shuttered longer than initially expected.

Universal Orlando said today that it has decided to perform the thrill ride's annual maintenance now while it is already offline.

"We added annual maintenance to the work schedule for efficiency," Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said Monday. "The ride has been operating for about a year and had a busy summer season. For us, it makes sense to take advantage of the fact that it is already closed for maintenance and perform additional annual maintenance work."

Just why Rockit closed in the first place remains something of a mystery. Earlier this month, the German company that built Rockit issued an alert warning that stress-testing of its "X-Car" ride vehicles found that the coupling bars holding the trains together might not be "fatigue endurable." Coaster manufacturer Maurer Sohne instructed clients to immediately shut down any rides using X-Cars in order to conduct further safety testing.

Universal, however, dismissed the Sept. 2 bulletin, saying any issues it raised would have already been resolved.

The resort would not say Monday when Rockit might reopen.

"We don't forecast when an attraction will reopen from annual maintenance due to the fluid nature of maintenance work and schedules," Schroder said.

Since we can't run it now we're gonna say we're doing annual maintenance

haha it's so embarrassing how universal has to make stuff up

 

[Jakemeister]

haha it's so embarrassing how universal has to make stuff up

It's so embarrassing for Maurer* to make such crap rides.

 

[Vyrus]

^Agreed to the both of you, but let me tell you a little something about things like this. I work for a cruise line and routinely, like all things mechanical, the engines can go down on our ships. So for a week or two the ships are running on limited speed and we need to scramble to fix them as soon as possible. Many times, we'll schedule the reparis for a week when we only need a day to also fix any other problems the ship may have and get it over and done with in one shot. Its possible that at this time, whatever shut the ride down is keeping it closed, but UO is saying, lets kill two birds with one stone, and are going to go over the programming for the ride system and try to get it to 7 cars. Look at the trains and see which wheels are defective and need to be replaced, as well as speakers, and wiring.

They are going to kill 5 or 6 birds at the same time...now why the original shutdown is a mystery to all, and suspicious. It would have to be something major for a theme park to completely close down a signature ride like this one.

My guess is that it has to do with the trains and the restraint system along with the computer programming. Something hasn't been right for a while and they are trying to figure it out.

 

[Felipe]

It's unfortunate that Rockit won't be open during HHN, but I'd rather they fix the thing for good and make all improvements needed, so that whenever it opens again we can enjoy the coaster at its best. Sure, they're obviously trying to look as good as possible with those statements they release, but like Vyrus says, let them deal with EVERYTHING now and let's get Rockit back when it's ALL fixed up

 

[universal chris]

It's unfortunate that Rockit won't be open during HHN, but I'd rather they fix the thing for good and make all improvements needed, so that whenever it opens again we can enjoy the coaster at its best. Sure, they're obviously trying to look as good as possible with those statements they release, but like Vyrus says, let them deal with EVERYTHING now and let's get Rockit back when it's ALL fixed up

And then get Hulk fixed up.

 

[Felipe]

And then get Hulk fixed up.

Definitely! :thumbs: They need to find some new paint or treatment so it doesn't rust and mess up so fast. Or find another fog effect that's not water? :shrug:

 

[mantaguy]

Or find another fog effect that's not water? :shrug:

If only that were phisically possible...

 

[Vyrus]

Well look at the train in Hogsmeade, whatever smoke effect they use there has put a calcium/lime coating on the train. The best thing with minimal effect except for rust would be the current smoke.

 

[CoasterHP]

I rode Rockit for the first time not too long ago and it was definitely not an enjoyable experience!

However, I do know some people that work there and the timing of this is interesting. First, I heard they were planning on changing the type of wheels to cut back on the roughness. Second, they were supposed to be experimenting with keeping Rockit open after park hours to Citywalk guests as an upcharge.

Obviously this is a lot more severe than changing wheels.. But universal needs to come up with a solution to get this unique ride running like it should and make it less painful! Between this and battlestar I hope universal learned that a little extra cost to go with b&m or intamin is worth it to not have a piece of unreliable painful crap!

Hollywood dream would've looked great in usf!

 

[Felipe]

However, I do know some people that work there and the timing of this is interesting. First, I heard they were planning on changing the type of wheels to cut back on the roughness. Second, they were supposed to be experimenting with keeping Rockit open after park hours to Citywalk guests as an upcharge.

That rumor has been around forever and I'm not sure this will work... With the ride's reputation, and then how would they deal with the charge for it? Per ride? Maybe if they offer a ticket upgrade to daytime park-goers so they can keep riding Rockit through the night? Not sure. But honestly, I don't think this is coming, and if it is, it won't be anytime soon. We haven't even gotten Express on the ride, I don't think we should even bother to speculate about this :-S

 

[Vyrus]

I mean at $5 a ride per person or $15 for 5 as a deal, and only have 2 trains on the track, it would definately be possible to keep it open with minimal TMs needed.

 

[Tim]

I would have liked to see a Fahrenheit type coaster instead of Rockit. But oh well, if they end up fixing everything now, I'm sure it will be worth the wait

 

[rewster]

That rumor has been around forever and I'm not sure this will work... With the ride's reputation, and then how would they deal with the charge for it? Per ride? Maybe if they offer a ticket upgrade to daytime park-goers so they can keep riding Rockit through the night? Not sure. But honestly, I don't think this is coming, and if it is, it won't be anytime soon. We haven't even gotten Express on the ride, I don't think we should even bother to speculate about this :-S

From my understanding, this idea was the reason the queue is designed to be where it is. Walking from City Walk up the path to Blue Man Group, they could open that gate to Rockit for easy access and dump the exit right back out.

 

[Andy]

^ I think your dead on, just look at the entrance on the main side. Its the only attraction that has its own gates to open or close it off from the rest of the park.

 

[mantaguy]

The ride originally was billed as "going over CityWalk" which it doesn't exactly live up to. At least there's still that possibilty of riding it from there, which I think was also in the early press releases.

 

[Mr MudFish]

Is there still a possibility of it doing this CityWalk thing? I always want to ride it at night, but the park closses at 7:00 or 6:00

 

[Drew]

I still haven't been on this because every time I've been there it's been down. That's pretty ridiculous.

I think with all these issues, plus the past history I've seen from it, I'm skipping it for now on. I don't trust it, sadly. The ride doesn't look too great anyway except for the loop-nonloop... thing.

 

[Andy]

I still haven't been on this because every time I've been there it's been down. That's pretty ridiculous.

I think with all these issues, plus the past history I've seen from it, I'm skipping it for now on. I don't trust it, sadly. The ride doesn't look too great anyway except for the loop-nonloop... thing.

The non-inverting loop is by far the best element of the ride.