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Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rock it


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It's gotten some odd reviews, actually. It was supposed to be the next big thing, a great indescribable coaster. But from what I've researched on it (in anticipation of my trip in 35 days!) it's pretty much getting bipolar reviews - half the people rate it an 8/10, half rate it a 3/10. Granted, it's [obviously] been plagued by downtime, opening what, five months after its scheduled debut? And even now that it's "working" it's valleyed twice (while testing) and its much anticipated "moving loading pathway" hasn't actually worked yet, and might not ever. Not to mention, it can run six trains (I believe) but only has three, still waiting for the rest to arrive. I'm not sure about those numbers, but it's something like that.

Besides that, there are folks who believe that the radical difference in reviews can be aligned to the fact that one (or two) of the trains are not contacting the track in the right way - as if they have "flat tires." That WOULD explain why some people are calling it the worst, most turbulent coaster they've ever experienced while still others say it's fantastic. (Of course, that sort of thing can also be accounted for by being a destination park - a good number of visitors have probably experienced coasters from their home state(s) AND Florida, and can compare. Meanwhile, Floridians may only be exposed to the "best of the best" and find HRRR is in the bottom tier.) Screamscape had posted a video that showed each train passing through the same element, and two of them did make an odd sound that just didn't sound right on the track, which he proposed may be the reason behind the reviews. It's possible!

I'm sure someone one here can enlighten us. But I will be there in a month. Also, I must say, the non-inverting loop looks AMAZING. Just watching the POV videos of it truly I can't wait to feel whatever riders feel at the top of that loop.

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Guest rcfreak339

^Well you can't judge a ride on the way it looks, although it may look like a world class ride (I think it's one of the ugliest coasters Iv'e ever seen) it might not be. Iv'e heard that the line is slow, it's not intense what so ever, the restrains can hurt and that the ride is just not that fun.

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Guest TombraiderTy

Haven't actually ridden it about a month ago, the coaster is barely more than mediocre. The trains are extremely comfortable, the single lab-par is nice, and choosing your own music is a cool touch, but most of the ride itself is lacking. Following the vertical lift, steep drop, and non-inverting loop, all of which are fun and enjoyable, the train enters countless MCBRs and crashes through several rough turns and twists. If it wasn't as rough, it'd be a fantastic coaster, minus the MCBRs. However, even when two of the times I rode were in the very front, the coaster still proved too painful to fully enjoy.

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The Restraints are made for small children and kind of like a high-chair tray and totally uncomfortable. The seat has some crazy design. Instead of being form fitting like other coasters its is flat with a fin shape for a leg divider. I decided not to ride at the station. My friend rode it and told me it was rough. That being said, males will find it quite enjoyable as there is a lot of latteral movement causing a lot of "crotch racking". He said the music part was ok and so loud that you couldn't hear the coaster and the design was just ok.

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Oh okay, so the main problem is it's just too rough? I can see that in the POVs, when you go down after the MCBRs you pull down really fast. And most of the curves whip around. I do like the layout of it though.

Rough is just one problem. I've ridden the ride several times now. I've found the backseat to be violently rough when I've been assigned to that row....felt like hitting a speed bump at 65MPH. It would give short, sudden jolts....not a constant jack hammering effect like Son of Beast would do. Still, those short jolts were enough to give me a headache at the bottom of the first drop. My rides in the front row, however, have all been relatively smooth.....but the trains just seem to really fight the track and curves. The ride has been open since August, however still to this day it never opens with the Park.....it typically opens around noon each day. The ride is very much an eye sore and by all accounts a huge fail for Universal. Even if the ride were smooth and not plagued with the operational issues, as others have said its barely mediocre. The first drop, loop and treblecleff element are great. After that its very blah and doesn't really do much. With the soft opening of Harry Potter coming VERY VERY soon, Rockit will fade into the background without ever receiving much fanfare.

Oh, for what its worth, the 7th train is now onsite. So they have now taken possession of all trains. We'll see if they can get that platform functioning, should definitely help with capacity.

- Todd

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I went on it in early November. It wasn't amazing but it was pretty cool. It was my 100th coaster so I was really pumped to ride it. It wasn't open when the park opened so we waited a half hour and it opened. I am so glad we waited because when we got off it was already a 45 minute wait. By the looks of it it looked like the capacity was pretty low. However the ride itself was much better. We sat in the second row. I didn't notice that the ride was very rough but I don't think I was paying attention to it. The restraints are nice. I was holding everyones stuff in my zipper pocket and the restraints didn't make it uncomfortable at all. When you pull down your restraint make sure you begin choosing your song quick or else you will not have enough time. I saw the rock category and saw Bring Me To Life and chose that. It sounded great and really got me excited. Going up the vertical lift was very interesting having never been up a vertical lift before. The first hill was alright but the next element was great! I forget what it is called but it is kinda like a Norwegian Loop. I thought that was fun. The break runs really slowed down the coaster more than I thought but the drop out of the first one was good and so was the break through the building. There was some good airtime going into the break runs. The crowd surfer was a little slower than I thought but still fun. Overall I thought it was a fun ride. Not worthy of my top 10 I don't think but still enjoyed it as my 100th coaster!

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The Restraints are made for small children and kind of like a high-chair tray and totally uncomfortable. The seat has some crazy design. Instead of being form fitting like other coasters its is flat with a fin shape for a leg divider. I decided not to ride at the station. My friend rode it and told me it was rough. That being said, males will find it quite enjoyable as there is a lot of latteral movement causing a lot of "crotch racking". He said the music part was ok and so loud that you couldn't hear the coaster and the design was just ok.

How is crotch racking fun? :wacko:

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It was closed when I went, so I wouldn't know about the ride itself, but I have to disagree with all the remarks about it being ugly and bad looking. I thought it looked really cool!

DSC02881.jpg

But it kinda ruined the atmosphere of Universal Studios. I mean, you're in a movie lot, Beverly Hills, a Film-making studio, and then all of the sudden, you turn around and see a big ass red roller coaster.

It belonged in Islands of Adventure.

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Guest TombraiderTy
The Restraints are made for small children and kind of like a high-chair tray and totally uncomfortable. The seat has some crazy design.

Personally, I loved the seating- a simple lab-bar you pulled over from the side. The seats were also comfortable on the vertical lift, compared to less-than-pleasent experiences on Fahrenheit (Hersheypark) and Mystery Mine (Dollywood).

The ride is very much an eye sore and by all accounts a huge fail for Universal.

I guess this is an example of "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"; I personally thought it was a very cool-looking coaster. The non-inverting loop and the "crash" through the firehouse were my two favorite parts to look-at.

And regarding everybody claiming it should've been at Islands of Adventure, in which area? Unlike Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure sticks to the themes, and a large music-video-making coaster wouldn't have fit into any of the sections there.

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I think it looks nice. However, I don't think it really fits in. Uni has never really done an attraction that has stuck out visually. I haven't been back since it went vertical but I doubt you get the same feeling of "Wow! This looks just like New York!" with a big red roller coaster poking up over the facades. I haven't been on it but I think if it is smooth it could be a hit but if it isn't it will always be a ride with great potential. Hopefully I'll get down to O-Town soon and get a chance to ride it.

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Guest TombraiderTy

^The section where Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rock-It is, pardon where it "crashes" through the firehouse, isn't themed to a city. Instead, there's big sound stages, a nice amphitheater... and not much else.

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Guest rcfreak339
I don't care about the scenery, I mean, I have never been to Universal.

And what about New York hotel at Las Vegas? It has a big red coaster :P

Don't even get me started about that ride and how big of a fail that one is....Just don't. But it was in a nice location. Very awesome hotel.

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Guest rcfreak339

^Really, Its a fail....It may look like tons of fun but it's just horrible. You get your ears busted open and this horrible rattle. Before the diving loop you get this bad jerking motion that gives you horrible whiplash that really hurt. I actually complained to hotel management about it. Not worth the $12.50 you pay to ride it too.

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I am Dying to respond but going to save my opinion for my upcoming trip report except to say; I think the description of Fail is ludicrous. Not trying = Fail, half trying with a cheap budget with mediocre ride is still a step above Fail. They at least gave it a good effort and backed it up with a lot of money to try make it right. It has some new few features that may be used in future coasters (which we will benefit from down the road). At least they tried with funds to do it right to me that is worth more than Fail any day. I mean The Mummy ride is not the best coaster thrill ride but the theme makes it what it is, awesome. I for one am glad that Universal at least tries and every now and then they get it almost perfect but it seems they always try. Just my two cents.

BTW - Think about the area and the amphitheater which host many musical festivals throughout the year to draw in locals. It seems they were trying to keep the music theme with that area, so it is in the right park and the right area. It lacks in many areas but from the surveys they are doing they know it and I am sure they will tweak it as good as they can.

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I am Dying to respond but going to save my opinion for my upcoming trip report except to say; I think the description of Fail is ludicrous. Not trying = fail, half trying with cheap budget with mediocre ride is a step above Fail. They at least gave it a good effort and backed it up with a lot of money to try make it right. It has some new few features that may be used in future coasters. At least they tried with funds to do it right to me that is worth more that Fail any day. I mean The Mummy ride is not the best coaster thrill ride but the theme makes it what it is. I for one am glad that Universal at least tries and every now and then they get it right but it seems they always try. Just my two cents.

I am in agreement. It may have not been a coaster that goes in everyone's top ten list but it certainly was not a Fail. They needed a coaster in that park and gave it a good effort. The music was awesome and it had a pretty good idea. Yes, I actually enjoyed to coaster. I am glad I made it my 100th coaster. Though I did really like the Mummy too. :D

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The thing about HRRR is they tried to make it too original. I think they surpassed the level of "extreme". All they basically had to do was make a coaster with some hills in it and a LOOP. Not a weird half-loop thing and MCBRs after every element. It seems like they tried too hard on it for really, nothing.

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