Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift construction puts pedal to the metal | Universal Orlando Resort
It’s official: Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will be the replacement for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Florida! Thanks to a new round of aerial photography from @bioreconstruct on X, we can take a closer look at the new attraction starting to take shape and maybe have a better idea of what we’re looking at!
In addition to @bioreconstruct’s newest round of photos, enjoy seeing the progress of the project over time thus far, including the demolition of Rip Ride Rockit.
Late March 2026: Construction goes pedal to the metal
Let’s check in on the rapid progress of constructing Universal Studios Florida’s newest and fastest coaster, as the site has seen lots of changes.
More concrete forms are being placed for footers in the portion of the project closest to CityWalk, with electrical conduit making its debut on the construction site. This is a key milestone, as conduit installation signals that permanent power and ride system infrastructure are beginning to take shape beneath the surface.
This large grey box near the center of the above photo marks the addition of a new service building, a behind-the-scenes hub for ride operations and maintenance. Just to the right, track elements are believed to be part of the switch system for the ride’s towering vertical spike, which will rise to an estimated 170 feet.
On the lower half of the plot, there’s staging for pieces yet to be installed. Construction crews are adding more concrete forms on this side as well.
The photo below shows some exciting progress and illustrates the placement of the new Fast & Furious coaster. Crews are installing footers for the upcoming coaster in the space that once housed Rip Ride Rockit’s entrance, queue, station, and lift hill.
This wider view shows the furthest point of construction in the New York section of the park, helping illustrate how far the project has expanded into this area.
The construction goes behind the Jimmy Fallon attraction and in front of two soundstages.
A path has been smoothed over in order for the crane to move back and forth across this portion of the plot. Currently, steel beams are being staged along that same path.
The service building continues to grow and see more development. Additional structural work is now visible. On the side facing the Hogwarts Express track, a framed section appears to be taking shape as a service elevator shaft.
Plenty of excavation is occurring on the other side of the crane pathway, with foundation work underway at the base of the pieces of the attraction as they go vertical.
It’s not much yet, but this area will be the ride’s station. This part of the construction site is seeing the most progress and a much faster pace than the rest of the project.
On the other side of the station is where the attraction’s entrance will be, but that is currently cluttered with construction staging.
In the middle of the project, just behind the Music Plaza stage, is a makeshift pathway used for a recent after-hours event. It is unclear whether more of these elements will be introduced by fall, particularly given that at least half of the Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses are housed in the soundstages to the right.
With construction expected to continue into that timeframe, the park will likely need to implement strategies to accommodate heavy event crowds.
Previous updates below
Late January 2026: Universal Orlando’s new family
Okay, maybe not entirely new as Dom Toretto and his family have called Universal Studios Florida home for almost 8 years now. But as F&F: Hollywood Drift construction speeds up and F&F Supercharged shifts gears into its last year or so of operation, let’s take a look at how Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift (The Orlando version, not to be confused with the Universal Studios Hollywood iteration of the same name that opens Summer 2026) is coming along
The rectangular concrete forms from our last update have seen quite a bit of progress as the concrete inside starts to cure.
Construction crews are currently working on an electrical conduit in the portion of the construction closest to CityWalk.
Here’s a glimpse at the latest cast of sheet foundation, just next to the electrical conduit work we just saw.
Here’s an overview of what the CityWalk portion is shaping up to be:
Not much has changed behind the Music Plaza Stage, which is currently in the middle of its first Mardi Gras concert season without Rip Ride Rockit behind it. There is some foundation work being done in the former entrance/queue of Rip Ride Work and excavation, but nothing too notable.
The furthest point of Hollywood Drift’s footprint is where the station and service building will be located. Below are concrete forms for the ride’s station building.
bioreconstruct was able to capture one of the concrete forms for the station building being installed.
The service building is still the only structure of the attraction that’s gone vertical, and progress is almost too fast to catch up with. It’s already seeing a part of its ceiling be installed, but foundation is still being worked on before these building extend any further. There’s a lot of interesting work happening at that base of the station building yet to be covered.
January 2026: Goodbye Rip Ride Rockit, hello Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift
Construction progress at the site of the future Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift has been increasing at a steady pace since late October 2025 when Rip Ride Rockit was fully demolished. More frames for track supports have popped up, the supposed station building continues to extend its frame, and concrete footers are scattered across the site. I guess you could say this project is moving… Fast and Furious.
The side of the project closest to the front of the park that borders CityWalk pathways like its predecessor has seen lots of new developments since our last check in.
New concrete footers have sprouted across this plot, as well as patches of sheet foundation yet to be cast. There also appears to be more rectangular foundation casts added near the sheets of foundation work.
More footers and patches of foundation being cast are found on the other side of the plot, closest to the CityWalk guest pathway.
This auger continues to drill into what used to be Rip Ride Rockit’s entrance and a part of its queue.
The path behind Music Plaza Stage is currently in the middle of excavation. If you thought it was a trek to reach the Soundstage houses at Halloween Horror Nights last year, I can’t imagine what’s in store for this year!
The side of construction closest to Universal Studios Florida’s backstage is truly the most visually overwhelming. Construction crews are working on extending the framework of the theorized service building for the coaster, as well as utility work and foundation casting.
@bioreconstruct also noticed what appear to be footers for track spurs in the way of what will supposedly be the attraction’s service building. This should be covered up in the coming months as the framework for the building continues to extend.
This service building will be massive when finished, but it does bring up the question again on the impact it will have on Halloween Horror Nights operations. We already knew this would impact what used to be queue space for the event’s houses, but with the footprint this building will take up, it might also limit guest pathways and exits. Not to mention the station building being built (not yet vertical) next to it.
With the replacement attraction finally announced, the progress and hype will rapidly increase!
Late December 2025: Replacement goes vertical
With footers installed on the CityWalk side of construction, a future roller coaster service building has gone vertical on the furthest portion of the construction site. Located near the New York section of the park, steel beams have been erected as construction crews work on the first building of the replacement project. (The elevated track visible is for the existing Hogwarts Express ride, which travels backstage.)
This is theorized to be where coaster trains will be stored and worked on when not in use.
Over on the other side of the project, a former shack used for Blue Man Group has been moved near where the queue for Rip Ride Rockit used to be. The photo below is where the shack resides now, with the second photo showing its previous home. I do wonder why they decided to move it and not destroy it … It would be nice to see the Blue Man Group stage used for more than two months out of the year.
December 2025: Footers for mystery roller coaster take shape
Whatever is replacing Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, construction crews are working at a pace unlike that of the projects at other parks in the area. Concrete that was wet during our last update is now dry, with coaster footers being built upon them.
The construction bypass pathway on the CityWalk side of construction has been closed off as walls have been pushed out further, extending the project’s footprint.
Wood boxes protect the connection bolts on the footers across the site. Some of the footers have been buried while some remain above ground. There are some concrete cylinders that are still curing.
Cylinders of rebar are preparing for concrete to be cast in them. These will be, of course, more coaster footers. What’s intriguing is the straight line of them on the left side of the concrete. Could this be for a launch or a brake run?
Excavation is happening where the lift hill and station for Rip Ride Rockit used to be. The yellow arrow points to an original footer from the previous coaster that has not be removed as of yet. Who knows if it will, as the connection bolts are being protected by a wood box on top.
@bioreconstruct believes that the top right portion of the image below will be the service building for the coaster, where the trains will be stored, and below that the station for the attraction. Utilities are being buried at the side of the assumed service building. (To get your bearings, the Hogwarts Express train tracks are on the right.)
November 2025: Construction ramps up on unnamed attraction
The portion of the future attraction’s footprint that will take up the plot of land between Hard Rock Café and the entrance to Universal Studios Florida has seen lots of progress since our last check-in. What seem to be roller coaster footers are currently in varying stages of development, with more on the way as concrete is being poured for the coaster’s foundation.
All information about the future attraction remains speculative; Universal has not announced what franchise the attraction will be based upon, nor has the company even formally confirmed the ride will be a roller coaster (though the footers in place clearly indicate so).
Further down by a guest pathway in CityWalk, a wall is being formed down by the water, as noted by the yellow arrow pointing to where concrete is currently being poured.
Very little remains of the entrance to Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. What is worth noting is the old concrete footers that can be seen yet to be removed. These are a good example of what the new footers popping up across the plot will be used for, secure foundation for the coaster track support beams.
Since our last update, Halloween Horror Nights has ceased operations for the year, allowing construction crews to expand their work on this area of the project. Fences that were up to keep HHN guests out have been taken down.
Toward the back of the park is where it’s assumed the ride’s station building will be, as well as the servicing building for maintenance on ride vehicles. It’s more of the same back here, with pieces of the land marked off for foundation pouring. You can also spot more concrete footers over here.
Late October 2025: Rip Ride Rockit fully demolished
The last piece of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit has been removed. Construction is ongoing for the future yet to be announced attraction that will replace the former roller coaster. This marks the end of making music video history at Universal Studios Florida.
Mid-October 2025: Demolition wraps up
It’s time to say HASTA! la vista to Rip Ride Rockit as demolition is all but complete. Over the last week, the lift tower was dismantled piece by piece. Now the Universal Studios skyline is without its iconic coaster.
The load station has been dismantled, leaving the ride’s presence only a memory in the fans of the attraction, all four of them.
You’ll have a much better view of the sunsets that fall upon the park without a giant roller coaster silhouette in the way.
During the demolition of the ride, it seems construction on its replacement has started simultaneously. Circular footers have been installed in the ride’s foundation.
As of the time of writing, only one piece of Rip Ride Rockit track remains: the portion of the ride where riders would whizz past the load station and could wave as they passed by. Poetic that this is the last piece of the ride before we wave goodbye to the footprint of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.
September 2025: Demolition continues
Demolition of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit continues at a rapid pace as workers remove more coaster track, seen in our video filmed over the course of Sept. 2-5, 2025:
Mid-August 2025: Coaster demolition
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit’s final day open was Aug. 17, 2025. As early as Aug. 20, just three days later, construction workers already removed sections of the coaster track, as seen in our video:
Early August 2025: Rip Ride Rockit still open, construction ongoing
The construction takes up a good portion of backstage areas, as well as a part of the CityWalk waterfront.
CityWalk side construction
Taking up what used to be the pathway leading to the former Blue Man Group venue, construction crews have walled off the area and started prepping what will presumably be the footprint of the future attraction.
Universal is wasting no time getting the site ready for whatever will take Rip Ride Rockit’s place as the entire area is filled with dirt piles and future infrastructure. Pipes have shown up onsite, although my wishful thinking thought they were coaster supports at first glance.
Soundstage side construction
Inside the park, underneath the portion of the coaster that soars above backstage areas, is where the other construction site is currently located. This backstage area is usually used for the park’s annual Halloween Horror Nights event as queue space, so it will be interesting to see how this year’s event adapts to the changing landscape.
Like the opposite side by the CityWalk waterfront, this side also has construction crews moving dirt into piles and laying out pipes that will be used in future stages of the project.
It’s not often you see a park get ready for an attraction’s replacement while the ride is currently operating with guests above the construction site.
Stay tuned to Attractions Magazine for more updates on the future of Rip Ride Rockit and its replacement!
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