Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Coming to Universal Studios Florida
Announced this week, Universal Studios Florida will be adding a new roller coaster in 2009. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster (one of the dumbest names in recent memory) will be the park’s new high-tech signature coaster.

Universal Embraces the “YouTube Culture”
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit’s main distinction will be the on-board cameras that will allow riders to download a video of their ride and post it on the Web. This is supposed to represent the ‘Rip’ part of the coaster’s name. The Rockit part refers to the ability of users to choose what song they want to listen to while they ride and it appears you can also add that song to their personal music video of their ride. While the name’s a mouthful, at least it has a meaning.

Coaster Geek Analysis
Now, coaster geeks including myself, are curious as to what type of coaster HRRR will be. Details are a bit sketchy, but the marketingese and illustration give us a few hints. An Orlando Sentinel article mentions:

“Universal officials said Rockit would have several signature moves and a record-breaking loop, though they would not elaborate. The artist’s rendering that they released shows the track climbing a 167-foot-tall peak, then corkscrewing downward, twisting eight times.”

Universal Studios Japan has a B&M coaster called Hollywood Dream that flies right over the park like HRRR will, but this attraction will feature a vertical lift, so it’s most likely not a B&M. Fahrenheit at Hersheypark has the vertical lift, but in the illustration you can see that the trains do not look like Intamin’s. To me, it looks like HRRR may be a Maure Sohne X-Car Coaster. Those trains are pretty distinctive and they look similar to the trains on the X Coaster at Magic Springs in Arkansas. But it will help when the official stats are released.

UPDATE May, 2009 - For a great overview and construction photos, read my exclusive Rip Ride Rockit interview with the ride’s designer.

More at the Orlando Sentinel.

What do you think of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios? Leave a comment below.