Universal Orlando has announced that the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will permanently close at Universal Studios Florida in Fall 2025, and is widely expected to be replaced by a new roller coaster. Here’s everything we know about the closure and replacement based on a mixture of official news, construction permits, and rumors.
This has been an interesting saga to follow. Rumors of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit’s demise have been swirling for a while. I don’t keep my finger on the pulse of the Universal rumor mill nearly as closely as with Walt Disney World, but it’s something I remember hearing about years ago.
The rumors of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit closing seemed to gain momentum this year. Along with that, they also gained specificity. Reports popped up about when it would close, what kind of roller coaster could replace it, as well as possibilities about its theme. Although that last one was probably equal parts speculation, wishful thinking, and reality-grounded rumors.
These reports were given credibility based on changes and cuts to the coaster. First when the song selection options were reduced dramatically, with the playlist plummeting from 30 options to just 5. Following that, a banner was never replaced after being taken down as hurricane prep. These little things suggested Universal was pulling a page from Disney’s playbook and “giving up” on the attraction so as to not throw good money after bad and save operating expenses ahead of an imminent permanent closure (see also, Splash Mountain).
The biggest smoking gun of all was a recent Notice of Commencement construction permit for work to be done at Universal Studios Florida by the roller coaster manufacturer Intamin. This, as with all of the ‘evidence’ for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit closing cited in this post, were first spotted by prolific permit watched and Universal insider Alicia Stella of Orlando Park Stop.
Intamin is currently working on a roller coaster attraction in Universal’s Epic Universe themed to How to Train Your Dragon, as well as the Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift Roller Coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood. Intamin is also the manufacturer of fan-favorite Jurassic World VelociCoaster over at Islands of Adventure, which is one of the best roller coasters on the planet.
Since this is a Disney site first and foremost, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point to Intamin coasters in the Disney parks, as well. The biggest one is probably happening right now, as Tokyo Disneyland rebuilds its Space Mountain. Disney/OLC have yet to announce anything officially, but eagle-eyed roller coaster enthusiasts identified one section as being drop track manufactured by Intamin.
The roller coaster manufacturer is also behind other Disney rides, including Raging Spirits at Tokyo DisneySea, Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril at Disneyland Paris, Incredicoaster at Disney California Adventure, and RC Racer in the various Toy Story Lands outside Walt Disney World.
The story was blown wide open this week, when Stella discovered new water drainage permits filed with South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) on Festivus (December 23). Regular readers will no doubt be familiar with SFWMD at this point, as they’re responsible for the hold-up of the Rivers of America replacement and are involved with pretty much every project that involves potential storm water displacement…which is pretty much every project undertaken in Florida!
The SFWMD permits states that Universal Studios Florida will “remove existing attraction and replace with proposed attraction.” The project location encompasses all of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit and some backstage areas.
Part of the document package submitted to the SFWMD is the below site modification calculations, showing before (top) and after (bottom) images of the proposed project, which involves adjustments to the water basin. Three instances of “new building construction” are identified: a small structure is shown on the right side of the image and two new larger buildings are on the left.
Of the buildings on the left, one is in the New York section of Universal Studios Florida, while another is in an area that’s currently backstage parking near sound stage 24. The first building appears to be taking over a section of the extended queue for Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Perhaps of note is that this is the area located directly behind the firehouse facade in New York. This was the original entrance to Ghostbusters Spooktacular, which was an opening day attraction at Universal Studios Florida that ran until 1996.
There have also been separate rumblings of a desire within Universal to revive Ghostbusters with a permanent park presence as the intellectual property has received renewed interest (and reboots) in the last several years. For its part, Universal Studios Florida has incorporated Ghostbusters into different entertainment offerings in the last several years. The location of these buildings behind the firehouse and the Ghostbusters rumors could be merely coincidental, or something more.
Even though the SFWMD permits confirmed all of the forgoing, Universal Orlando finally made it official. Not with a press release, but with a random reply on Twitter: “Hello! Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will close in early September 2025 to make way for a new experience. More details will be available at a later date. #AskUniversal”
That’s literally it. The full extent of the official “announcement” from Universal is via the park’s social media channels, and not even a direct statement–a reply. Our best guess is that Universal Orlando got caught flat-footed by Stella’s sleuthing, not expecting the South Florida Water Management District application filed on Christmas Eve Eve to get picked up.
With it being a slow time around the holidays and many OOF messages enabled, they likely haven’t had the chance to put together a proper press release. But we fully expect one soon–probably the first week of 2025. About the only way that doesn’t happen is if Universal Orlando is not yet ready to reveal the theme of the new roller coaster, in which case a banner-style update on the official Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit page might have to suffice.
Personally, I say “good riddance” to Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.
I won’t miss it in the least. Despite it being a relatively new roller coaster, it feels much older. The ride is rough, jarring and bumpy. It seems like it’s down for maintenance more and more (if I’m not mistaken, its manufacturer went out of business, so it probably isn’t easy to source parts or service the attraction).
Beyond that, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit just looks ugly and sticks out like a sore thumb. If Universal Orlando is going to compete seriously with Walt Disney World, it can’t be just Epic Universe that’s a world-class theme park. The two existing gates have a ton of room for improvement, and a placemaking project around this area should be a top priority in that regard.
I would also add that Universal Orlando has had a great streak of success with roller coasters recently, which makes Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit look worse by comparison. I’m inclined to give Universal Creative the benefit of the doubt both thematically and when it comes to putting together a superior roller coaster profile. Whatever replaces Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will almost assuredly be significantly better.
As for what the possible theme could be for the replacement roller coaster, there’s the aforementioned Ghostbusters. But honestly, I don’t know how likely that actually is, or if it’s a matter of us piecing together two separate rumors because it just makes sense…even if it doesn’t.
Another obvious possibility is an east coast incarnation of the Fast and the Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster. This makes sense as it could serve as an indirect replacement for the abysmal Fast and the Furious: Supercharged in USF, which has seemingly been on life support for years and, quite frankly, never should’ve been built in the first place. If rumors that we cannot corroborate are any indication, this is what it’s most likely to be.
However, we question the veracity of these rumors, and wonder if it’s other fans piecing together separate rumors in a manner that just makes sense…even if it doesn’t. Universal Studios Hollywood has unique geography, and the hillside perch on which Hollywood Drift is located does not exist in Universal Studios Florida. This isn’t to say USF couldn’t get its own twist on Hollywood Drift, but it certainly wouldn’t be a clone.
Otherwise, all of my best guesses as to the theme of the roller coaster that will replace Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit would all be that–guesses. Universal is increasingly recognizing the value of nostalgia, which I suppose puts Back to the Future, Jaws, and Twister back in play. Or, who knows, maybe dark horse candidates like Alfred Hitchcock or Murder She Wrote…who wouldn’t love a thrill ride narrated by the late, great Angela Lansbury?!
Another possibility is Wicked, Universal’s box office darling that has a sequel on the way and seems destined to have a theme park presence at some point. That’s plausible, but a roller coaster feels like a poor fit for that. Then there’s the other hot property: Nintendo. Just about every rumor, aside from this one, that I’ve heard for Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure’s medium-term plan revolves around Nintendo. Somehow, I’m highly skeptical that a more intense roller coaster is being themed to Pokemon or whatever.
I’m far less skeptical that Nintendo will be added to both of the existing gates in the next ~5 years, though, as Comcast attempts to cash-in on its deal with the video game maker and turn Universal Orlando into a bona fide destination resort and add (worthwhile) family-friendly draws to Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit permanently closing? Will you miss it, or are you happy to say good riddance to the rough ride? Think it’ll be an Intamin roller coaster, or a different experience entirely? Thoughts on possible themes for the new ride? Agree or disagree with anything here? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
