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Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Florida is closing for good in just days from now, but we still do not have an official announcement for the attraction replacing it. We do, however, have new permits which offer insight into this possible upcoming roller coaster’s entrance and station.
Plus, could we see Fast & Furious Supercharged replaced by a beloved property? All that and more in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will be closed forever starting August 18, 2025. The final day to ride is Sunday, August 17th.
Known as Project 830 in official documents, permits say that Rockit will be replaced with an “Amusement Ride,” but no details on the type of ride are listed explicitly. Universal Orlando says on the official website that the attraction is closing “to make way for a new experience” which is even more vague.
Official image of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift ride vehicle for Universal Studios Hollywood
A Notice of Commencement for work by roller coaster manufacturer Intamin at Universal Studios Florida has helped to fuel rumors that the new ride will be an east coast version of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift. That new drifting coaster is under construction now at Universal Studios Hollywood, and is planned to open next year.
Despite recent buzz on social media, Ghostbusters is not expected to get an attraction replacing Rockit. It is possible that the Ghostbusters will get their firehouse back for meet and greets out front at least, as implied by signage on the work walls around it.
Building materials staged at Epic Universe not related to this project, Aerial Photos: @bioreconstruct
The green supports and building materials currently being staged at Epic Universe are more likely for a large wall to be built behind the new theme park, and are not related to this coaster project. See our recent story for full details on that project.
We can see in new aerial photographs by Bioreconstruct how land continues to be cleared and prepped at both ends of the Rockit site ahead of its demolition.
There are now new utility pipes on site, likely to be installed underground ahead of the new attraction project.
A new Notice of Commencement shows that one backstage building will be relocated to make more room for this project.
Document describing the relocation of nearby building backstage, or.occompt.com
Building 29 is listed as a Prop Shed for production at the studios backstage, but it will be removed from this area where permits show two new buildings to be constructed as part of the new attraction.
Current location of storage shed, Original map image from SFWMD
These two new buildings are listed as Building 51 and Building 51A in permits.
Building 51 is the structure shown at the top of the permit image below, replacing a section of the extended queue for Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon behind the firehouse facade.
Two new building locations highlighted on plan document, SFWMD
The other structure, Building 51A, is described as a maintenance building for the new attraction, and will be located backstage. It is shown as the new structure at the bottom of the permit image.
Future location of two buildings related to new ride project
New permit notes describe the station building as being 3 stories tall. According to these permit comments it will have a max occupancy of 2,425 people—with 2,166 of that on level 1 alone.
Permit notes for future Building 51, cityoforlando.net
This may mean the possible entrance location for this new roller coaster attraction will be at the end of the New York street, around the corner behind the firehouse.
A new guest area courtyard could be created behind this area, expanding the footprint of the park itself.
Compare the highlighted blue areas in permit to concept art for Hollywood Coaster, Graphic: Scott Walker
The image above, created by Scott Walker, shows how the official permits include details on what may be the facade for this possible station building, and how they may line up with facade details and entrance for the station building for the upcoming Fast & Furious coaster in Hollywood.
The image below by Tommy Hawkins gives his current speculation on how all of the levels inside of the station building could be laid out, according to details revealed in recent permits.
Graphic depicting possible layout for new coaster station, Image: Tommy Hawkins
Similar to attractions like VelociCoaster, this theory has some queue indoors below the station, which is on level two. The Team Member areas would be on level three, above the station. This speculation is still unconfirmed, but does line up with permit documentation.
Speculation image showing how a new coaster station could be added to the area, Image: Tommy Hawkins
Tommy Hawkins has also created the example art above, showing how a new ride entrance could maybe be added to the back of this area. In this example, the flat Guggenheim Museum facade would be removed, creating more space for accessing the new attraction entry area at the back of the park.
How this area looked recently, before the work walls were put in place, Photo: Tommy Hawkins
The photo above shows how this area looked before, with the Rockit roller coaster track still in place.
Adding more guest space to the theme park, this new attraction courtyard area would likely mean that Soundstage 33 would now be facing guest areas. This building, (seen above,) is used for special events. It is currently located backstage, just beyond the backstage gate located to the left of the New York Library facade.
Speaking of adding more space to the park, the land clearing on CityWalk side, happening to the left of the current Rip Ride Rockit coaster, may also mean the theme park footprint is being expanded here as well.
Possibly for a spaghetti bowl-type section of the rumored future roller coaster attraction, this space is taking over the walkway leading to the former Blue Man Group theater show, which closed several years ago. This would also eliminate the rarely used side entrance/exit from Universal Studios Florida, while locking the former Nickelodeon Studios soundstages into the park areas and away from CityWalk access.
This area, as well as the section of backstage where the new attraction’s maintenance building is going, was marked off as part of the project limits all the way back in December.
Permit image showing project location, SFWMD
It’s possible this area closest to CityWalk may only be used for construction staging while demolition is happening on the current Rockit coaster, even if the new ride will not utilize this space.
Other than a new small building being built in this expanded footprint, the plans do not explain how else it will be utilized, yet.
While this work is ongoing, the main walkway through CityWalk is being adjusted, with long stretches of work walls in place.
Work walls seen along CityWalk pathway, Photo: Alicia Stella
Work stretches all the way to the CityWalk waterfront near the front of the theme park. A new walkway may be created closer to the water, giving this new roller coaster project even MORE space to work with.
Official concept art for Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift at Universal Studios Hollywood
If Universal Studios Florida is in fact getting its own version of the Fast & Furious drifting coaster, can we assume that would mean the end for the Fast & Furious Supercharged attraction in the same park?
The Hollywood iteration of Supercharged closed as part of the tram tour earlier this year, but a replacement has not yet been announced.
One rumor for what could replace Supercharged in Orlando after the new coaster starts construction, could make fans of a certain franchise very happy.
According to rumors posted to the WDWMagic forums, it’s possible that the Supercharged ride and surrounding area could be rethemed to Back to the Future.
It’s still far too early to know for sure, and this could be wrong or is subject to change, but it’s fun to speculate on how the Supercharged ride system—or even just its massive show building—could be repurposed for a new indoor Back to the Future attraction.
We already have pretty good evidence that the upcoming Universal Studios UK park will incorporate Back to the Future in some way, with Courthouse Square apparently appearing in official art. And the property was recently successfully featured in Universal Hollywood’s new Fan Fest Nights special ticketed event.
Even in Orlando, you can experience an escape room based on the franchise, recently we had milkshakes at Universal Studios Florida to celebrate it’s 40th anniversary, the original screen-used Jules Verne train from the third film is on display, and of course you can always purchase official Back to the Future merchandise.
It seems like the company is very confident in the property, but are they ready to finally bring another ride to this park based on Back to the Future for the first time in nearly two decades?
It may be fun to dream about the future, but back in the present, we have just mere days to experience Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit before it closes forever starting August 18th. We expect demolition to begin immediately after, so that major construction on its replacement can begin.
The company may want to get something new open at this original park as soon as possible to help spread out crowds now that Epic Universe has officially opened. Whether it will in fact be a new drifting coaster based on Fast & Furious, or one of the many other speculated properties for this space, will hopefully be confirmed by the company soon.
All aerial photos in this story from @bioreconstruct
That’s all for now, but be sure to check out the video version of this story for additional visuals. Be sure to subscribe to the news feed or enter your email below to never miss an update as we follow this major new ride project from the start.
Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Original Photos: Alicia Stella | Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Main Permit Documents: my.sfwmd.gov | Other Images as Captioned
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