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Universal Studios Florida
Orlando, FL
NBC Universal / Comcast
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(4/12/2025) Universal CineSational: Symphonic Spectacular Update
(4/11/2025) The Drones Are Back In Town
(2/2/2025) Watch The Complete 2025 Mardi Gras Parade
(1/27/2025) Mardi Gras Tribute Store May Be Next
(1/6/2025) Universal Studios Florida Shuts Down Mega Movie Tribute Store
(12/31/2024) Universal Orlando Confirms Upcoming Closure of Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit Rollercoaster
Ride Rehabs - These dates are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as refurbishments are subject to change.
Nothing is known at this time…
Wizarding World of Harry Potter - DIAGON ALLEY Review!
Screamscape Previews Diagon Alley!! We’ve Got All The Details!
Screamscape Review Part II: Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
Screamscape Review Part III: The Hogwarts Express!
Other Features & Reviews
Volcano Bay (2017)
Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s (2017)
Fast & Furious - Supercharged - Offical Review (2018)
 General Park News - (4/12/2025) A quick update on the return of the Universal CineSational: Symphonic Spectacular show. From what I’m told the show actually wont be relaunching tonight, as one might expect at the start of the traditional Spring Break, but instead is set to re-launch on Monday, April 14th where I believe it will run nightly through to April 27th (though there may be a private event or something that might keep it closed on Friday April 25th).
There will be a brief pause in the run of the show following this for about a month, until it relaunches for a lengthy summer run from May 22 through to August 24th, 2025. Please note, since the FAA permit that will let the park add the flying drones to the show was just issued, we are hearing that we shouldn’t expect to see the drones back in the show for the spring break run, but they are expected to be back for the summer run if all goes well.
(4/11/2025) The drones are back for Universal’s CineSational: A Symphonic Spectacular night show at Universal Studios Florida. According to the local news the company that operates the drones for Universal, Sky Elements, was issued a new waiver from the FAA to fly them over the designated zone for the night show once again.
Universal suspended the use of the drones late last year after a drone in an unrelated non-Universal show that took place over Lake Eola went off course and struck a child in the audience.
(2/2/2025) Mardi Gras fans, check out the video below showing off the new complete Mardi Gras Parade for 2025 at Universal Studios Florida. Note that this year’s parade features a number of brand new floats to enjoy and they are quite spectacular looking. Full of onboard lighting and smoke effects, music and ample seating for lucky guests to sign up and ride along to toss beads into the crowd.
(1/27/2025) WDWNT has posted some images showing off the outside of the former Universal Tribute Store which has now received some themed updates outside, featuring a bunch of crates and a giant sign that says “Legends of the Bayou Museum and Gift Shop”.
Given that Mardi Gras season is upon us, this does look like the start of a new Mardi Gras themed Tribute Store experience.
(1/6/2025) According to various posts, the Mega Movie Tribute Store at Universal Studios Florida has closed down for good. The video store themed experience features a lot of throwback themes since, showcasing fun memories of films like E.T., Back To the Future, Ghostbusters, Jaws and more. No word yet on what will become of the space next, so stay tuned.
(12/26/2024) Universal Orlando has currently opted to pause the use of drones during the nightly performances of Cinesational: A Symphonic Spectacular. While Universal did not give a reason, the local speculation is that this may be to reassess how they are using the drones following a drone accident that took place in downtown Orlando when a drone fell from the sky and struck a 7-year-old boy. The child is currently recovering in a local hospital from the injuries sustained that apparently required open-heart surgery.
(11/27/2024) While the winter holiday season is kicking off at Universal Orlando, the Studios park just brought back the Universal CineSational Nighttime Spectacular show for the rest of the year with a new addition… a new drone sequence has now been added to the skyduring the “Peaches” sequence of the show.
(11/16/2024) The new Wicked Experience attraction has opened at Universal Studios Florida this week, and you can take a virtual walk-through of it in the video below, shot by our friends at Orlando Experience. The walk through experience features props, costumes and some set piece items from the shooting of the new Wicked film, assembled into a highly themed environment. Mixed in with some themed food and merchandise you can also purchase, it’s the kind of thing Universal Orlando has been pushing out over the past several years until the various ‘Tribute’ store banners, but instead this all serves as a walk-through preview of what you can expect from the new Wicked film hitting theaters in the next few weeks. Check it out below!
2025 - Nothing is expected at this time...
???? - Remove/ Replace former Fear Factor Live Venue - Speculation - (1/14/2024) Screamscape sources tell us to keep an eye on the former Fear Factor Live show venue at Universal Studios Florida. Over the years the venue has been closed and rumored for demolition a few times, only for plans to change and the replacement project to get dropped. Now that time has come again, and Screamscape has been told we could see demolition of the arena begin in March or April of this year to clear the site for something new.
Of course, you want to know about what is coming… but for the time being I’ve been sworn to secrecy. I may have dropped a hint however a few weeks back… but otherwise stay tuned, as once signs of activity in the park begin I should be able to share more. Just don’t expect for it to tie into the IPs of the attractions on either side of it. This will be something entirely new for Universal Orlando.
???? - Remove / Replace Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rock-It - Confirmed - (12/31/2024) In case you missed the post on Twitter over the holiday break, Universal Orlando has now officially confirmed that the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit will be closing down “in early September 2025 to make way for a new experience.” So barring any kind of delay, it looks like the last rides could probably happen during Labor Day Weekend, which also serves as the opening weekend of Halloween Horror Nights.
Various images showing off some plans filed are also floating around the cyberspace, but they mainly just show off a red line surrounding the entire current location of the roller coaster to be removed, along with extending some of the construction site to also move further into the backstage area, taking up the parking lot block that exists between Soundstage 24 and the Hogwarts Express track pathway. Fans of Halloween Horror Nights will be familiar with this lot, as it typically gets filled up with barricades and turned into a giant queue and exit pathways for several of the Haunts located in the soundstages nearby.
Nothing has been shown about attaching any of this project space over to the current Fast & Furious attraction area on the other side of The Revenge of the Mummy, so it is likely that either that concept was deemed too ambitious or perhaps we are only seeing early permits at this point that are primarily showcasing the upcoming demolition of the existing Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit roller coaster.
(11/29/2024) I’ve had a few conversations with people about this over much of the past 12 months, going back to the rumors that the end was getting near for the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit coaster. Much of the talk actually started off when all the music options were suddenly removed in late August 2023 and ironically I probably took one of the last rides with the old music in place just the week before. Over the six months that followed, the coaster also had a number of issues, including stalls and roll-backs, but this wasn’t an uncommon problem either during the colder months of the year for a coaster that is known to be a bit on the temperamental side.
Add in the ongoing and perhaps growing guest dis-satisfaction with the park’s Fast & Furious Supercharged attraction, and the confirmation that a unique Intamin Multi-Launch coaster was under construction for the Hollywood park, to be known as Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift.
Put them together and what do you have? While some execs were taking a double-dose of Advil to fight off the pain these two simultaneous migraine headaches were causing them, rumor has it that members of Universal Creative saw this as a golden opportunity to solve both problems with one glorious masterful solution!
It is no secret that Maurer was not the first manufacturer Universal tried to hire when they wanted to build the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit. B&M was asked to do it following their work on the Hollywood Dream coaster in the Japanese park that opened in 2007, but B&M’s schedule was said to be fully loaded for years to come with other existing projects, and could not accommodate it for the park’s 2009 season. Universal also knew they had the grand opening of the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter on deck at Islands of Adventure for 2010, so they really wanted a major new coaster in place at the Studios park for 2009 to balance things out, so Maruer was awarded the contract to create the unique “Hollywood Rockit” coaster with a complicated layout that was going to have to fit into a very narrow existing footprint that ran between the theme park and the complex of Soundstage buildings next door.
Over the past decade, Universal has found great success working with Intamin to create a number of high profile roller coaster systems for the Orlando parks, including the coaster system for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (2014), Hagrid’s Magic Creatives Motorbike Adventure (2019) and VelociCoaster (2021) and are now hard at work on the aforementioned Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift in California, set to open in 2026.
This is where that dreamy solution to the dueling headaches in Orlando comes into play. After years of trying to satisfy guests’ dreams of a Fast & Furious themed attraction with cinematic tricks in the Hollywood park, instead the third F&F franchise attraction in California will finally give in and create an attraction based on high speed, g-forces and screaming adrenaline thrills. But what if Universal Studios Florida was to also get in on the action, and replace Supercharged with their very own unique version of the Hollywood Drift coaster system? They’ve already got a themed building and queue space (and gift shop) set up just for the purpose, all Florida needs is a better ride. But… the existing Supercharged space is tucked in between the park’s Harry Potter Hogwarts Express and Revenge of the Mummy attractions… which isn’t an ideal location for a roller coaster.
But if Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit needs to be removed at about the same time… the question then comes up as to how the two plots of land can be connected to create one massively coaster experience. With the backside of the Rockit running up next to Revenge of the Mummy on one side, and Supercharged sitting on the other, Universal Creative just needs to find a way to connect the two areas, which may involve running part of the attraction not only behind Revenge of the Mummy, but likely up and over the top of the cross-tracks for the Hogwarts Express than also runs backstage in the area. Depending on how tall they want it to be, another solution may be to run it up and over the back corner of the Revenge of the Mummy attraction building with some kind of overbanked turn perhaps.
Regardless, they have some options, but talk is starting to generate up about the concept once again, with new rumors about the possibilities I’ve been hearing for the past year now starting to finally ripple their way across the internet, along with talk of closing both attractions sooner than later. Or at least once Epic Universe opens and the Universal Creative staff can focus their attention on new projects.
Stay Tuned!
(3/3/2024) As theme park and roller coaster fans, we sometimes joke about the experiences we may have had on various “rough” feeling rides. As fans, we are also well aware of which rides offer these more unpleasant ride experiences, no matter if it is on a regular basis, or when a normally decent ride has “gotten a little rough lately” and might be due to some refurbishment. For today’s example, we’re going to talk about the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida. While it has become an iconic part of the landscape of the Universal Orlando resort… it is also safe to say that the attraction has been a little on the rough side ever since it first opened back in 2009. This factoid has been enough to cause park fans to often wonder about the longevity of the coaster, especially at Universal Orlando who has no problem with removing older rides to make way for new attractions, no matter if they have fallen out of favor or are still beloved by the guests.
The reason I bring this up is that news reports have now confirmed that a local woman has filed a $50,000+ lawsuit against Universal Orlando for “personal injuries and damages” experienced after taking a ride on the Hollywood Rip, Ride Rockit coaster back on Feb. 11, 2023. According to the complaint one Geriann Irwin Clem claims that her “head shook violently and slammed into her seat’s headrest throughout the duration of the ride.” It goes on to claim that the safety signs about the ride experience do not “adequately warn the public” about the reality of the experience, and that they “failed to warn Plaintiff, GERIANN IRWIN CLEM, her head would be shaken and slammed against the headrest of her seat while riding”.
As a result, the guests is claiming to have “suffered severe and permanent personal injuries and damages including, but not limited to, a traumatic brain injury, pain and suffering, disability, physical impairment, mental anguish, inconvenience, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life in the past, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life in the future; medical, nursing, and rehabilitation expenses in the past, medical nursing, and rehabilitation expenses in the future, lost wages in the past, and the capacity to earn money in the future.” This is in addition to claims from the woman’s husband that are also included in the lawsuit about how he has suffered from “the loss of his spouse's services, support, consortium, and the care and comfort of her society.”
I’m not going to debate if this might be considered a frivolous lawsuit or not, nor speculate if anyone may be overstating their injuries, because quite honestly, there are few out there who can say that they didn’t get banged around a little bit while taking a ride on this particular roller coaster. Then again, I can also honestly say the same thing about the current state of Walt Disney World’s own Space Mountain roller coaster. What is more interesting in this lawsuit to me is the fact that they’re only asking for about $50k in damages, in which case Universal could just as easily opt to settle this out of court, away from the public eye, and have the records sealed away forever. However, this does add yet one more strike against the longevity of the attraction at Universal Orlando, which has a bad enough of a public image problem every time a car happens to valley due to a combination of low temps and high winds, or guests are shown on the news trapped on the vertical lift hill when a safety sensor trips. The more of a black eye Universal finds itself getting over keeping this ride open, the higher the likelyhood that they may opt to close it down for good, sooner than later.
(11/25/2023) A few riders on the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket visiting Universal Studios Florida on Thanksgiving night got a little more thrill than they expected. According to news reports their coaster train came to a stop on the vertical lift hill, holding them in place for about an hour just shy of the top of the 167 tower.
From what I’ve heard elsewhere, the fire department was called out for a potential rescue but I believe the park staff were able to restart the ride. The riders were perfectly safe of course, but given that this was Thanksgiving night and the way those restraints come down high across your stomach, I’m feeling bad for anyone who might have stuffed themselves silly with a good feast just before riding. After an hour on your back with that bar crunching down on your stomach, it might start to feel like you’re ready to give birth before too long.
(8/31/2023) Something interesting has taken place at Universal Studios Florida regarding the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster. According to a tweet from Orlando Informer, as of August 29th the music library of selectable soundtrack options has been reduced from 30 options to just 5. All 30 of the ride’s previous song options spread across five music genres, with six per genre, have now been removed in favor of five new ones, with just one song choice per genre, and some may be a bit odd…
Classic Rock / Metal is now represented only by “The Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance, which is technically neither Classic Rock or Metal, but I digress, and previous tracks like Born to the Wild, Gimme All Your Lovin’, Kickstart My Heart, Paralyzer, Rollin’ and Busy Child are no more, which is kind of sad really.
Rap / Hip-Hop is now represented only by “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar, replacing the previous tracks: Don’t Phunk with my Heart, Insane In The Brain, Pump It, Rock Star, Sabotage and Stronger. Note - In what may have been a hint of changes were coming, it was noted that Kanye’s Stronger as well as the song it was based on, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk were both removed from the coaster in Summer 2022 with no explanation.
Pop/Disco is now represented only by Waterloo by ABBA, replacing Bad Girls, Glamorous, Hella Good, I Will Survive, That’s The Way I Like It and U Can’t Touch This.
Country is now represented only by “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” by Shania Twain, replacing All Night Long, I Can Sleep When I’m Dead, Living in Fast Forward, Midnight Rider and The Devil Went Down To Georgia.
Club/Electronia is now represented only by Sandstorm by Darude, replacing Busy Child, Intergalactic, Keep Hope Alive, Le Disko and Pump Up The Volume.
For the big time Universal fans out there who are aware of the Secret Menu option of hidden songs embedded into the ride from Day 1, I’m told that those tracks are currently still available. Or at least most of them, as I doubt anyone has had time to check them all yet, and I think a couple have been dropped over the years, as well as having a couple of Blink-182 songs unexpectedly added in early 2022.
As longtime Screamscape readers know, I’ve had a the list of hidden track and instructions as to how anyone can play them posted to the sidebar of this very page since the ride opened in 2009, so you might want to commit a few new tracks to memory now that many of the ultra popular tracks are now gone. (For the record I was partial to Paralyzer, Daft Punk’s Stronger, Intergalactic or Rollin’ myself.)
On an interesting note, I was actually at the park the day before (Aug. 28th) and rode Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit myself, so I can personally verify that all the regular song options were in place just 24 hours before. I reached out to Universal Orlando for a comment on this and was told:
“The time has come for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit to welcome new music to the coaster experience, while saying goodbye to the former songs. The coaster now features one new song in each existing music genre. Moving forward we will only feature one song per genre to simplify the selection experience. We can’t wait for our fans to enjoy a new beat to this great attraction.”
So with that in mind, then the question becomes… what changed? The answer may simply just be that Universal’s licensing contract to use the original musical tracks may have come to an end. Licensing contracts can be for generated for whatever term both parties agree to, and while typically it seems that your average IP license for a theme park attraction is done in 10-year terms (with renewal options), my research shows that music licenses are frequently signed for much shorter terms, as the popularity of various music tracks are constantly shifting. Add in the fact that when Universal came up with the idea for the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster, they actually did intend to update the tracks every so often to keep up with current music trends.
It is fun to note that Universal also played with the idea of incorporating seasonal music additions as well, such as new tracks to play only during the Halloween Horror Nights or Christmas seasons, or even the idea of playing special tracks from visiting music artists performing in concert during the Mardi-Gras event, but unfortunately it seemed that the tangled issues of getting the various licenses became too much of a headache to bother for such short term use.
While Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit was originally intended to open in the Spring or Early Summer of 2009, the opening was actually delayed until mid to late August 2009, which would currently put us right at 14 years. Given that the ride was to open earlier in the year, and that the possible licensing contracts were probably finalized and signed closer to the start of 2009, there is a good chance that Universal may have been rapidly approaching the end of their current contract and needed to either renew or make a deal for something new.
As I mentioned before, when it comes to license contracts, they not only come with the initial term of use, but will often spell out the terms for at least two additional extension terms of the same length. Assuming neither party is found in breach of contract, and Universal was willing to simply just pay the predetermined fee for the two renewal terms, then I can easily see how the timing of all this would work out to the completion of three successful 5-year terms, and the end of the licensing contract as written. And thus… dropping us exactly where we are right now with five brand new songs, and the removal of those that have come before.
So how does the secret menu work? To be honest, I don’t know for sure, but when it comes to music licensing rights another item to consider is that if the music is being used in synchronization with something (like when edited into a show with visuals) then there are some different uses that have to be negotiated. Meanwhile theme parks do pay for general music licenses (ASCAP/BMI, etc) giving them the rights to play just about any music they want in the parks as atmosphere music for pathways, in ride queues, or even in live shows, as long as they are not considered to be programmed to be in sync.
However, the specific tracks used previously on the coaster that were just removed were edited or timed out to play in sync with the motion of the roller coaster (such as the scream in Beastie Boys’ Sabotage playing perfectly as the coaster making the first drop). So in theory, if the songs in the secret menu have not been edited or timed out to work in sync with any of the ride’s motion, and are not being promoted as such (or not promoted at all, as they are in a Secret Menu) then the use of them on the ride may fall under the fair use of the park’s general music license contract.
Again, I’m not a contract lawyer, but this is just my general understanding of how these kinds of things generally work within the entertainment industry. So, assuming this is basically what has transpired, where do things go from here? To be honest, this is probably it. After 14 years of operation, Universal knows that the “Rockit” is probably their least popular roller coaster and just opted for a much cost-effective music license going forward. As Universal Orlando has already confirmed to Screamscape, there will now only be one song per genre, but this also doesn’t mean that they might not change those tracks up from time to time to keep things fresh from year to year, or perhaps maybe bring back the idea of featuring some seasonal selections to rotate through. We’ll just have to wait and see.
???? - Redevelop Simpsons Area - Speculation - (7/25/22) An article posted to CinemaBlend speculates that Universal may be willing to give up on their rights to use the Simpsons characters in the theme parks at the end of the current contract. IP contracts typically will be drawn up for an initial 10-year term with terms pre-set for two more 10-year extensions. The Simpsons attraction opened in 2008, so if the typical term-timelines were used, Universal would be approaching the end of the 20th year sometime between late 2027 and 2028.
At that point they would have to renew for another decade or opt to let the contract expire and release the Simpsons from the parks. It is worth mentioning that prior to this Universal Creative would be neck-deep in finishing up their new Epic Universe theme park slated to open in 2025, but this would give them enough time to come up with a new replacement idea for Simpsons at the Universal parks in Hollywood and Orlando if need be.
While the Simpsons rides still draw a crowd, I don’t think it ever drew in quite the crowd levels that the attraction building did when it was first opened as Back to the Future: The Ride. However, even if the ride itself is just a mild draw, Universal has invested heavily in offering Simpsons themed restaurant experiences and merchandise shops that probably do generate a healthy profit for the parks currently. So the final decision will likely come down to how much profit Universal is actually making compared to the money they would spend to extend the IP license for another 10 year term.
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