Universal Orlando Resort (USF, IOA, Epic) Discussion Thread

90 degrees!!!!! Well, not quite. ...But it still looks great. Thanks for posting the pictures.

This coaster is just FLYING up. I mean construction is moving full force, and the non-inverted loop is also already completed.

Err... no it isn't. The banked turn around the firehouse is the only part of the coaster that's up. I was just there yesterday (first two photos are mine.)

I am looking forward to seeing the Non-Inverting Loop as much as I wanted to see boobies, but it will be a while ( for the loop that is). The area where the lift and loop will be is currently occupied by construction of the permanent concert stage. I heard the coaster would be built in stages and I wouldn't be surprised to see the area behind the concert stage be among the last of them. Although with the big crane there already, maybe not.

The coaster is already looking really cool. I took a ride out yesterday just to see the few pieces of track that I had seen pictures of here. It was a surprise to see how quickly they are moving forward. Two guys on the track and a crane operator can get quite a bit done. The station is also coming together pretty quickly. They have the back of the stage enclosed with block and the front loaders appeared to be grading the area of the second drop for the Rockit. In the BMG area the footers look to be nearly complete, including the large trench that was dug for the Drop tuning section. It is about 15 feet below grade and leads to another trench which is slightly shallower.

This thing is going to start to excite people as it comes together. Just seeing the beginning of the Treble Clef made all the difference for me. Rockit is going to be a large and dynamic ride that coaster fans will love IMO.

Some pictures from a little bit ago and last night.

New section added Sunday.

The view after the track leaves the building it enters. Taken from the temporary Twister queue.

That is gonna be a pretty steep drop. They are getting after it pretty good. I might go back out there tomorrow and watch for a while. There might be something wrong with me , I was just there Saturday. It does look like there are going to be some pretty good drops on this ride.

King_K, funnily enough, my mother was on that Virgin tour group of Universal! Had I realised before hand, I'd have asked her to take extra photos!

I was there yesterday, ended up going to Universal around 5 to check out the construction... bad timing, I forgot about the Parade.

Did look neat though, and that drop is pretty steep.

Here are a few photos taken today at the park....

^The new stage area.

^Front of old Ghostbusters firehouse.

^Behind the facade

^behind the facade within the Twister extended queue

Here are some pics from yesterday.

Here they are putting up a support.

And now there is another section of track.

Anyone no where you can get 3-D animation of this ride yet? I haven't seen any videos or has Universal not released any?

I was at the park about two hours ago and they were working on the next piece of track after the upward helix. ...Looks really cool in person. I'm also really liking the look of the drop into the fire house.

May can't get here soon enough.

screamscape.com is showing a video with animation or the ride....

I am really looking to this one for several reasons:

It is in Orlando (and I live here)

It is outside (unlike Mummy, Everest, Space Mountain)

It does NOT have OTSR's

It looks like a total blast!!

Can't wait here!!

screamscape.com is showing a video with animation or the ride....

Thanks!

That drop into the Treble Clef really does look sick. You are going to bank hard to the left and take that element pretty fast. I am glad to see people getting excited about this ride. The other site I frequent has been a 9 month complaint fest reguarding lack of themeing.

^Lol, it's typical of coaster enthusiasts to nit pick when it comes to new rides. And it's funny. If you look at all of Universal Orlando's major coasters, only one of them is themed. The others are quite open to the elements and gain their "theme" from their interaction with the park. Dueling Dragons (with the exception of the line and station obviously) is basically two inverted coasters over an artificial lake and The Incredible Hulk, again, really only has theming in the queue and station areas. This ride is no different and should be just as good if not better than these two rides. It will be difficult to take the spot from Mummy for me as my favorite ride at Universal Orlando however. Universal is a great example of how to have amazing coasters that are both themed extensively or themed very sparingly.

Thanks for the pictures, I do have to say that drop is looking really cool. Gave me some new hope for this ride. I have to say I fount the comment about lack of themeing funny. I have some reasons I am doubting this ride, but themeing is definitely not one of them. When has Universal made any thing that has not looked good?

For me as well its not the theming I am worried about, its all the brakes.

As soon as the coaster picks up any real speed it hits a brake.

But it will be cool the way it goes through the building and close to others.

The public will love it thats for sure, and the park needs something.

^ I'm with you. After taking a closer look at this thing, I'm not all that impressed. I mean, the first 1/3 of the layout looks like fun, and I'm anxious to experience that non-loop thing, but after that......meh.

Sure, the YouTubing OMG texting teen crowd will probably get off on the technical fluff they're attaching to it, but the overall ride seems to lack substance from what I can see (at this point anyway).

Block Brake: The Ride.

Scott "and people complain about Hulk's second half?" B.

Isn't this coaster supposed to be somewhat family friendly? I thought that was the reasoning behind there not being any inversions, and with the elements this ride has, that might be the reason behind all of the brakes. The theming this ride has should be cool, but the ride looks like it will be pretty average in terms of thrills. The first half should be good, but then the ride doesn't seem to do much as it goes back to the station. For enthusiasts, the coaster will probably not be ranked very high, but the GP should love this coaster.

^ Hmm, I see your point

But I kind of like coasters that are kind of thrilling and then meander back into the station, especially if they're not trying to be thrilling (See: Hulk). Whizzer at SFGAm is a good example of this.

^I'm the same. I have no problem with a ride meandering if it was designed properly to do so and isn't just a failed attempt at a thrilling element. I have no problem with Hulk's ending or Ice's ending which is way less exciting than Fire's. Meandering after some thrilling elements adds some nice variety and for those that this ride is catering towards, it makes sense to not have a non-stop thrill machine, such as Maverick or ROTM (although after diving into "hell" Mummy does kind of meander a bit). A perfect example of a large scale, family-oriented coaster that has a LOT of meandering is Expedition Everest. The ride is not intense by any means (the big drop is thrilling, but not really all that intense of an element) yet it is regarded very highly by enthusiasts and the general public. And I think with the inclusion of an on-board soundtrack, this ride should be a lot more exciting than some are thinking. People love options . It's reason to ride again. To see if the ride is better or worse with a different song. I think this ride is quite an intelligent investment for Universal Studios.

Anyone no where you can get 3-D animation of this ride yet? I haven't seen any videos or has Universal not released any?

you can go to Screamscape and watch a virtual POV video.

That drop into the Treble Clef really does look sick. You are going to bank hard to the left and take that element pretty fast. I am glad to see people getting excited about this ride. The other site I frequent has been a 9 month complaint fest reguarding lack of themeing.

The treble clef looks really cool heading up the lift hill on Ice. The red track really stands out against the buildings. Yet, when you're in USF it's really not that noticeable. I really don't think this will be an eyesore like some have mentioned. ...Or should I say complained about on other forums.

^I agree, I went and took a few spins on the Dragons last night on my way to a concert in Orlando. I had about 30 minutes at IOA so I just kept hitting up the reride line for four rides on Fire and one on Ice before the park closed. Rockit is really going to stand out from the Ice lift hill once the track is complete, the treble cleff already looks a lot bigger than I thought it would.