Universal Studios Hollywood was the first Universal park, one of the first experiences of its kind ever, but it has always had difficulty expanding and evolving in the way other theme parks do because of its limited size and location. It doesn’t have a lot of the massive attractions that other parks are known for, but now it looks like USH has found a creative way to use its space as the description of a brand new roller coaster, rumored to be themed to the Fast & Furious franchise, is absolutely bonkers.
If you’re not familiar with the layout of Universal Studios Hollywood, it’s important to understand first that the theme park is basically broken in half. It consists of an upper lot, where the park entrance, Studio Tour loading area, and smaller attractions like 3D movies and dark rides are located, and a lower lot, where most of the newer and larger attractions can be found, including the currently under construction Super Nintendo Land. Getting between the two is something of a pain, as there is a massive, multi-tiered, staircase/escalator system to get you up and down.
A new permit, posted by Orlando ParkStop’s Alicia Stella, is for a geotechnical survey for a new outdoor roller coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood, and the description of the coaster sounds incredible. It will apparently start in the upper lot, but descend into the lower lot, and even loop around the stairway.
PERMIT FOR WHAT COULD BE A FAST AND FURIOUS COASTER AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD JUST DROPPED!!Exactly as rumored, coaster will start at upper lot and descend to the lower lot along hillside, and then back up! Thanks to Sal in Theme Park Stop Discord: https://t.co/jIdfrTNnPv pic.twitter.com/f7xiUjM1CtOctober 4, 2022
Universal Studios Hollywood is built next to the actual Universal Studios lot, right in the middle of Burbank, which makes growth and expansion a lot harder for this park than most others. But this is a fantastic use of space because the one place where the park technically has room is the gap between the two lots. You can’t build anything in that gap very easily, but you can certainly build above it.
The rumor is that the new coaster will be based on the Fast & Furious franchise, and while that’s not confirmed anywhere in the new documentation, the fact that a brand new coaster has now been confirmed at all would certainly lend support to that particular rumor. Fast & Furious is Universal’s biggest current franchise, and while the property is represented at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort, Fast & Furious Supercharged, as an attraction, is neither fast, nor furious. At USH it's actually part of the studio tour.
A roller coaster is exactly the sort of ride this brand needs, and one that would do such incredible things, like fly between the two sections of the park, and even loop around the guests using the stairwell, is pretty brilliant. Of course, this coaster is in very early stages, so it will be quite some time before we actually get to experience it, but what a ride it will be.
