Construction update: ‘Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift’ roller coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood
The Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster construction races toward a 2026 opening at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Updated Sept. 19, 2024; original version published Aug. 20, 2024.
‘Fast & Furious’ roller coaster opening in 2026
Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, an outdoor roller coaster, will open in 2026 at Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles, Calif. The attraction will be the park’s first major outdoor coaster (other than Flight of the Hippogriff, a kiddie coaster within The Wizarding World of Harry Potter).
Universal is building the “Fast & Furious” roller coaster with nearby residential neighbors (not to mention its own active productions onsite) in mind, utilizing noise-reduction measures and strategically positioning the track so as to direct riders’ screams away from undesired areas.
The coaster’s ride vehicles will rotate 360 degrees as they’re “catapulted along an aerial track that winds its way over parts of the theme park,” as Universal described in May 2024.
September 2024 Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift construction
Bobby Copeland captured the photos below on Sept. 18, 2024. Construction crews have installed a new section of track: a banked curve near the escalators between the park’s upper and lower lots.
Can you picture yourself zipping along this stretch of the track with your hands in the air?
August 2024 Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift construction
Attractions Magazine Editor-in-Chief Matt Roseboom checked in on construction progress of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift on Aug. 7, 2024 to see how the new attraction is coming along.
Construction teams have assembled a portion of the “Fast & Furious” roller coaster’s track. There’s a lot more to go, but these beginnings help paint a picture of the track’s style.
Guests can see the views below from the Upper Lot and the first platform after heading down the first escalator toward the Lower Lot.
Hollywood hills
In addition to concerns of noise pollution, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is unique among theme park attractions in that it will be positioned on a natural incline. (Universal Studios Hollywood is spread across multiple levels of attractions, connected via escalator.)
As such, the “Fast & Furious” roller coaster’s layout and foundations need to contend with the varying elevation of the coaster’s footprint in ways that are irrelevant to coasters in the flatlands of Florida, for example.
That’s a lot of family
The vantage point below — from onboard a Studio Tour tram and shown here in sequential order, scaling the hillside — gives you an idea of just how wide-reaching the coaster will be. Subsequently, this view emphasizes how much work is necessary to build the “Fast & Furious” roller coaster, as well as how prominent the attraction will be within park guests’ frame of reference throughout their day.
Hollywood Drift construction video
See even more “Fast & Furious” roller coaster construction views in our video update filmed on Aug. 7, 2024:
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