Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift (USH) - Photos & Reviews

[Brian G.]

Post your reviews for the new coaster. Remember, spoilers are allowed.

 

[Blurr]

... Remember, spoilers are allowed.

There is a layered joke built into this, even if it was not intended.

Very happy to see folks riding this and cannot wait to experience it for myself!

 

[Pacific]

I just wanna know it compares to the other top tier Cali coasters: Twisted Colossus, X2, Ghostrider, Gold Striker, Railblazer and Joker.

 

[Jonathan]

I loved it. UC should be proud of what they accomplished. The views are incredible and it’s very smooth. I’d put it a notch below Velocicoaster. And that’s a big compliment. Queue moves a little slow, but with time hopefully it’ll move faster once they find a groove.

I will say, in all my years of going to opening day of tech rehearsals, I’ve never experienced the mosh pit that was all of us trying to get in when they opened the queue. Haha. It was really funny and to everyone’s credit, no one got mad and everyone was laughing about it.

 

[Horror Lover]

Curious, are there easter eggs/nods to Animal Actors and Special Effects Show in the queue as is tradition for Universal to hide tributes to former attractions in the attractions that replaced them?

 

[Blurr]

Phew, that line was an ordeal but we just got off the ride! Absolutely loved it!! I wouldn’t say it’s as good as Velocicoaster but it’s close.

Edit: I’ll probably type up a bit more about this tomorrow when I have an actual computer in front of me at work. I hate longer posts on the phone.

 

[TheUniC6]

I have watched YT vids of this attraction and I want to highlight this: the way they integrated this coaster on the hillside is brilliant. I really dig the way they have those glass windows where you can see the cars zoom by on the track. Also the artwork across the ride is dope especially in the load and unload area with the finale of the first film depicted.

 

[Freak]

Okay, as promised here’s my review!

I was able to get two rides on F&F! One in the regular queue with my sister at rope drop, and the second at Single Rider. I left for the afternoon and came back later in the day to ride again. I’ll briefly mention that I like how the final launch dips into the queue area and the view that accompanies it! I’m glad they took serious advantage of the view!

Now for the ride. I just want to comment how well-designed and spacious the cars are. I think these are the most well-designed trains for a coaster ever. On my first ride, I was able to get the third car, first row. The launches on the ride are underwhelming but everything else lacks a punch! I love how the ride starts fast, but once you hit the midcourse, it goes really crazy! My absolute favorite part of the ride is the turn after the midcourse where the cars whip around before the launch. The ride is absolute madness has a nice amount of airtime! What especially stands out for the ride is the unique layout. I can’t think of any other ride in the IS that works its way up a giant mountain the way this does. This is the American version of Helix at Leisenburg.

There is only so much I can talk about for a one minute roller coaster, but the point is, it’s a really awesome ride. After years of waiting, I’m overjoyed we finally have an awesome roller coaster at USH. This was overdue for a long, long, long time! As for my rankings I agree with the majority that would put it a notch just below VelociCoaster. Where is stands on my coaster rankings, this is currently what my top 10 looks like:

1) Steel Vengeance
2) Iron Gwazi
3) Lightning Rod
4) VelociCoaster
5) Stardust Racers
6) Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift (USH)
7) Twisted Colossus
8) Millennium Force
9) X2
10) Ghostrider

Yeah, I after two rides, I personally think this is the best coaster in California. I think it just edges out over Twisted Colossus. The drifting and roaring takes the ride to a whole other level. I had a blast on my two rides on it and I look forward to going on it again! Well done USH for this amazing addition! It was worth the wait and the hassle!

 

[Blurr]

Now that I have a proper computer in front of me, I wanna go just a bit more in depth.

I won't slam them too hard from a ride ops perspective just yet because (in fairness) the attraction isn't open yet. I will say that we experienced our fair share of delays and I believe part of the reason why dispatches were taking a while at one point during our wait is because the track switch in the station wasn't moving, which led to only one side dispatching. I would certainly hope this one doesn't open with Express so they can get the kinks worked out but I'm fairly confident that will be the case (as it has been for other major attractions Uni opens).

We ended up waiting about 3.5 hours with the current operations (downtimes, Express/Single Rider being open, etc.). The queue was.. rough. As others have said, it's at about the level of any ol' regional theme park and the lack of shade is brutal. The lack of franchise characters on the attraction overall may bother some but not us, because we don't really care that much about the franchise to begin with but I still think their absence should be noted for those who may care. We didn't have any issues with the locker system but we've been to Orlando a bunch so we're sort of used to it by now. I was thankful for being allowed to wear/keep my glasses.

For the ride itself, I know it's been said a million times already but I was surprised just how smooth the attraction was and how good the spinning felt, I never felt sick or nauseous at all and neither did my wife. The comparison that myself and everyone likes to make is to Velocicoaster and I've already mentioned that I prefer Velocicoaster, overall. To Hollywood Drift's credit, though, if you were to remove all the theming from both and keep only the coaster tracks and gimmicks themselves, I would prefer this one. Basically, I think Hollywood Drift is the better "coaster" but once you start to factor in all the other parts of the experience like queue, ride theming, etc., Velocicoaster clears it. As I said, I don't think that any of this is really a hot take. As good of a coaster as it is, I don't really feel anything for Fast and the Furious as a franchise and diving around rockwork with raptors and rolling over the lagoon at IOA is much nicer than staring down at dirt and cherry picker cranes.

One bit that I wanted to share is that we asked to be seated in one of the two orange cars (which they were happy to oblige) because I'd noticed that the black and blue cars do not spin coming out of that final launch, which is a damn shame. It's beautiful crescendo to the attraction and an absolute "wow" moment seeing the entire valley/skyline/world flip upside down at the attraction's highest point and to know that half of the cars don't get to experience it is a damn shame. I don't know if this was intentional or if it's some kind of kink they still need to work out but I felt it was worth sharing.

Overall, it was a great ride with a handful of kinks that I hope get ironed out in the near future. I think it'll be a great addition to the park once they really get into the swing of things and it's certainly something I will be doing at least once each visit, which is more than I can say for the Animal Actors or the Special Effects Show that it replaced.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

Well, our little park is transforming before our eyes, and it’s so wonderful to see.

Walking around USH today with some other PR people, I could feel an electric feeling I haven’t felt in a long time. Genuine joy and excitement. It truly reminds me of the opening of Velocicoaster a few years back.

Once this ride opens, the deal with the neighbors worked out and the operational kinks ironed out, we’re looking at quite a glow up, and this park will never be the same.

 

[Magic-Man]

Just got off my second ride and I think I'm ready to review. This ride is a 10/10. Car 3 was great, but Car 2 by itself would be my number one favorite coaster. The mid-course -> dive loop -> stall sequence is crazy in the best possible ways in that car. I also love that the cars face each other at certain points and that leads to a really nice shared experience feeling that you don't get outside of rapids rides.

However, the queue is an absolutely heat exhaustion nightmare and might be the worst line I've ever waited in. It feels designed for views and not for comfort. I waited three hours and two hours of that was unshaded. The misters didn't come on until I was almost out of the switchbacks from hell. The line would move really fast at points and then come to a standstill for twenty minutes even though the ride was still running. There's also a really weird section where you can sneak into the final queue area without going through metal detection and I already know it's going to be frustrating for the ride ops to deal with. I don't know who designed this but I'd be fine with them delaying the entire ride to fix it. That's how bad it is.

Overall, ride is 10/10, queue is a 4/10 and that's only because of the views.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

^ Agree with everything you wrote! Hopefully the park gets the feedback. Positive and negative.

 

[BillM]

Curious, are there easter eggs/nods to Animal Actors and Special Effects Show in the queue as is tradition for Universal to hide tributes to former attractions in the attractions that replaced them?

What other rides have it besides the Simpsons (BTTF)

 

[Rideguy70]

There's also a really weird section where you can sneak into the final queue area without going through metal detection and I already know it's going to be frustrating for the ride ops to deal with. I don't know who designed this but I'd be fine with them delaying the entire ride to fix it. That's how bad it is.

And one the one day I went, I saw tons of people sneaking into the Express line. I hope they can find a way to fix both issues, but I don't know how optimistic I am about that... it's probably going to fall on the shoulders of the overworked team members.

One small way to fix the Express issue would be to move the scanning of the Express pass to right before the lockers. That way, anyone who sneaks in would be turned away. But they'd need to add a wall or fence to the area after lockers, and there could be emergency exit issues about that.

 

[BillM]

And one the one day I went, I saw tons of people sneaking into the Express line. I hope they can find a way to fix both issues, but I don't know how optimistic I am about that... it's probably going to fall on the shoulders of the overworked team members.

One small way to fix the Express issue would be to move the scanning of the Express pass to right before the lockers. That way, anyone who sneaks in would be turned away. But they'd need to add a wall or fence to the area after lockers, and there could be emergency exit issues about that.

People do this all the time on Forbidden Journey by hopping into the Express line. In Florida, we had Express, and they scan you at the beginning of the rides and just before the line merges into the regular line on all the rides. So many line hoppers were caught.

 

[Pacific]

Quick initial thoughts: My first ride was Car 4 and I honestly wasn’t ready for that, ahaha. The laterals on this thing are bonkers, very fun flojector and a great sense of speed.

The first corkscrew in car 1 is incredible and the stall (in car 4) is an all-time coaster moment. I was genuinely screaming for my life there, similar reaction as Ghostrider’s final helix (like you’re genuinely out of control). The wave turn off the mid course was the wildest movement I’ve ever felt on a coaster. Like, I didn’t know what the hell was happening there, like sideways ejector with laterals(???). The “California” roll in car 4 is crazy because it gives like forward facing ejector, like I’m falling forward. I’ve only felt that sensation on X2.

If car 1 is your initial impression of the ride, I do think its a bit “timid” for the hype. Car 1 and 4 feels have a large disparity in intensity. Car 4 is knocking on X2’s for insanity factor while Car 1 is a very “pleasant” ride (the stall on Car 1 is very mediocre). Though as mentioned previously, the first corkscrew on Car 1 was insane. Its just very interesting riding a coaster where two different cars almost feel like two separate attractions. It’s like both a blessing and a curse.

Ride needs some music, would turn this into an 11/10. Most comfy ride vehicle like, ever? Never seen a pull down restraint like that before. Glass smooth (though Car 4 is slightly more “rattly” than Car 1, but that’s to be expected with ride vehicles this massive).

Queue is a dumpster fire. I didn’t actually experience the standard stand-by, as we wanted to maximize our time. But just one good look at the standby was all I needed to know it’s kind of a disaster. Needs significantly more shade. Single Rider is cool because its basically completely shaded (though the stairs segment of the queue is REALLY warm on a hot day, that area sucks). Standby was about 180 minutes while Single Rider was less than 20 minutes. Operations were pretty solid, so line kept moving.

The metal detector and locker wasnt as bad as I thought it’d be (first time experiencing this), but its definitely a bottleneck in the line. Saw SOOOOOO many people having to get sent back to the lockers, was honestly comical.

But yeah, incredible ride with the worst queue in the park. Is it my favorite coaster in California?? I’m not sure, I have to really think about it. My current favorites California in no particular order are:

Ghostrider, Twisted Colossus, Giant Dipper (if wheels are new), Joker, Gold Striker, Railblazer, and Medusa.

Honorable Mention goes to Timber Twister (back car) at Gilroy Gardens. Junior coaster with the most violent ejector airtime on a first drop I’ve ever felt on. I don’t know how something that short in height can rip me out of my seat that violently. Like we’re talking RMC violent ejector. Crazy profiling.

If I were to objectively rank it (for now):
1). Twisted Colossus
2). Ghostrider
3). Hollywood Drift
4). X2
5). Railblazer