Universal expands at fast & furious pace
Updates on new USH coaster and Texas Kids Resort
With Universal Epic Universe set to open in a couple of months and Universal Horror Unleashed, its year-round haunt attraction in Las Vegas, scheduled to debut this summer, I’ve been writing a lot about Universal’s parks and resorts lately. But there is even more to share from the prolific company. Let’s catch up on two more Universal developments: the wild, new coaster that’s under construction at its Hollywood park and the new, micro park that’s on the way to Texas.
In 2023, Universal Studios Hollywood announced that it would be building Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, a marquee roller coaster. It is set to launch in 2026, with no more specific timeline given. With the track now under construction and coming together quickly, I’m guessing that the coaster may open early in the year.
According to the park, it will feature “groundbreaking” 360-degree rotation of the cars that will “create a seamless sensation of drifting cars as guests spin in motion at furiously fast speeds.” I get the pun, but that’s a curiously worded statement. There have been other spinning coasters, such as Pandemonium, cloned rides from Gerstlauer that can be found at five Six Flags parks. Many spinning models are designed to freely rotate, and the combined weight and distribution of the passengers in the vehicles can make the rotations intense. That can cause discomfort or even motion sickness for some riders. The “furiously fast speeds” cited by Universal likely refers to the speed of the trains on the track and not to the speed of the cars’ rotations.
A few coasters, such as Time Traveler at Silver Dollar City and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot, control the spin for a more restrained experience. I’d imagine that Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will forego freely spinning cars (and therefore assaults on passengers’ vestibular systems) in favor of limited rotations. Intamin, the company responsible for highly regarded Universal coasters such as Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, is building the new ride. The manufacturer includes both a family spinning coaster and a larger, more thrilling spinning coaster among its product line, although only the former includes a controlled spinning option. The Hollywood Drift ride will be custom designed and may include prototype ride vehicles that would limit and control the cars’ rotations.
Built into the Hollywood hills, the topography at Universal Studios offers an incredible canvas for a coaster designer. The ride will begin on the park’s upper lot, but will take advantage of the dramatic elevation change as it snakes over and around the long Starway escalators that connect to the lower lot.
Fast & Furious-Supercharged to close
A coaster, especially one that “drifts,” seems ideally suited for a Fast & Furious theme. The new ride won’t be the first attempt by Universal to capitalize on the wildly popular film franchise, however. From 2006 to 2013, guests aboard the Studio Tour got to see cars attached to Kuka robotic arms (the same technology that’s used for the ride vehicles on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey) get exploded and hurled toward the trams. It was an odd and silly sequence.
In 2015, Fast & Furious Supercharged debuted as the finale of the Studio Tour. The media-based motion simulator attraction incorporates an immersion tunnel like the park’s King Kong 360 3-D (and the similar Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Islands of Adventure). But unlike Kong, the CGI media for Supercharged suffers from the “uncanny valley” syndrome and calls attention to itself, thereby taking guests out of the experience. Neither the Hollywood attraction nor the Universal Studios Florida version of Supercharged have been fan favorites.
In anticipation of the new Fast & Furious coaster, the California park has announced that its Supercharged tour finale will close on March 10, 2025. Universal says that it will be announcing a replacement attraction soon. There has been no word about the fate of Orlando’s Fast & Furious ride, which was closed during Halloween Horror Nights in 2024 and seldom operates at full capacity.
Lands revealed for Universal Kids Resort
Scheduled to open in 2026 in Frisco, Texas (near Dallas/Fort Worth), Universal Kids Resort will extend the Universal parks brand beyond Hollywood and Florida in the U.S. As its name implies, it will focus on younger children and their families. Unlike its existing properties, Universal Kids Resort will be a micro park. The 97-acre parcel will accommodate a hotel, parking, and back-of-house operations as well as the park itself, which is likely to be around 25 acres. Typical theme parks, such as Universal Studios Florida, are about 100 acres.
The company had previously announced the Texas project, but other than hinting that it might draw on movies and characters that are part of the DreamWorks family, it provided virtually no details. Universal still hasn’t offered much in the way of details about the new park’s actual attractions, but it has disclosed the themes for its lands. As anticipated, DreamWorks Animation will be represented by franchises including Shrek, Trolls, Puss in Boots, and Gabby's Dollhouse. Universal’s own Minions and Jurassic World will be part of the mix as will Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants.
All of the films and characters have a presence in the existing Universal parks. It’s likely that the Texas park will take inspiration from the DreamWorks Land that opened last June at Universal Studios Florida. It incudes play spaces, splash pads, a small coaster, and interactive elements themed to Trolls, Kung Fu Panda, and other movies from the animation studios.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to bring these iconic stories to life for kids and families to experience, interact with and play together,” says Sarah Gibbon, VP & executive producer at Universal Creative.
The company did reveal that the park will include a Shrek-themed playground, a facsimile of SpongeBob Square Pants’ pineapple-under-the-sea neighborhood, some kind of watery fun based on the Minions, an interactive (and probably not particularly scary) experience with the “beloved dinosaurs of Jurassic World,” and a Trolls music festival. In addition to spinning rides and at least one kid-sized roller coaster, I’d imagine that there might be a dark ride or two–but probably not at the scale of Universal’s E-Ticket attractions like Skull Island: Reign of Kong.
Might the Hollywood Drift coaster give the Fast & Furious franchise the theme park attraction it deserves? Would you and your family want to visit Universal’s micro park?