Snicket

You stayed at the Holiday Inn. We were at the hotel next to it. Not the same hotel as you. We actually knew that the Holiday Inn was under construction and it was one of our deciding factors NOT to stay there! --Robb Lucky you... They didn't care to tell us that they were doing construction when we booked our reservations.

Awesome! This brought back so many memories of my high school jazz band trip to LA in April...same hotel and everything. Our trip was really ghetto, the hotel was undergoing some remodeling so it was covered in scaffolding and constantly under construction. The only places to eat really close by was the shady-looking McDonalds or the even shady-er looking Taco Bell/Pizza Hut next to the adult superstore with homeless people sleeping outside. We were harassed by a homeless guy in McDonalds one night...it was weird and scary. The management told us not to worry...apparently he shows up every night and is quite friendly. We made the mistake of going to Hollywood at night. We saw Jack Sparrow, a guy in a Barney suit, Wolverine, a guy in a purple bra, and a Jimi Hendrix impersonator. We were also harassed by a group of legalize marijuana supporters (To which my friend said "It smells like it's already legal around here"). Good times... And the theme parks were good too.

There are many conflicting reports on roughness. Only three trains have undergone appropriate testing. The testing of the other two trains have been taking place under the cover of night without LEDs turned on. When only two trains were available yesterday and today, they were switching out the trains for the third that was in the garage most of the time. Several adjustments were made yesterday and today to a particular train that could have affected one's ride as being smooth or rough.

People are now being allowed into the queue.

They are hoping to run at least three trains with the moving sidewalk for a brief period of time between 6:00-7:00 if everything falls in place like hoped for soft openings tonight. EDIT: All walls are down. Three trains are in the station ready to go; a fourth train could be added soon. Wait time is 5 hours.

Here's a detailed review of Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit! from Chris at OrlandoUnited.com: I was able to talk to a worker - due to technical problems and the fact that the employees are only mid-way through the training, the conveyor belt has been turned off and only two to four trains are running. In a few weeks, employees will be better trained to load passengers quickly and safely using the conveyor system. The lack of music on some people's rides are glitches that will be resolved. There are several more technical issues that I won't go into now since they've probably already been resolved as of this morning. There are currently no major setbacks.

The coaster resumed testing a little earlier without any lights. A car is stopped on the final brake run.

Picture from OrlandoUnited.

The banner is now up.

I take back what I said about the floorboards. I've been told that the (Fiberglass, I think?) areas around the LEDs in the front and back of a particular train did crack at the end of last month. The fractures were small and were in parts of the train that would not have caused any dangers to riders. The trains have been repaired and a "fix" (What exactly they meant by this, I don't know) has been engineered and placed on all of the trains. I've been told that the queue has been given its finishing touches and cleanings yesterday and painting is wrapping up on the lift and areas in the station. The only persistent problem seems to be a faulty piece of mechanics on the final break run that will be replaced or has been replaced.

-The banner is not up as reported earlier -The only problem I am familiar with right now are the problems with the break runs malfunctioning. I won't doubt that the floorboards have cracked on the train(s), but it is extremely hard to believe considering the floorboards are steel. Steel can crack, but that's a lot of stress. The LED and sound systems on Rockit! are very lightweight considering other options available. If the floorboard(s) have cracked on any of the trains, then it is the fault of the manufacturer and not Universal. It is highly unlikely that the X Car is having any problems considering the fact that it has been used on other coaster with equivalency of the uniqueness of Rockit!.

There were two cranes on site today and a lot of "work" going on. By "work", I mean a lot of busy construction workers running around in a group. I've been told that Monsters in the Morning will not be riding Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit! tomorrow, but they've been allowed backstage to learn more about the workings of the coaster. Another radio station owned by the same people who own Monsters in the Morning have updated their website reporting that they will be at the park to learn about Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit! on the 25th. Weather or not they will get to ride it, nobody knows. As far as I know, a special event is still planned for the music plaza tomorrow...but it will be in use for a corporate event. While that sounds strange to me...it's still what I've been told. The rings will not take long to go up...whenever they go up. It will take less than half a day. We can see soft openings and look out for an official opening date as soon as the rings go up...soon.

Exactly what I have heard from people there. Thanks! Can't wait for the pictures. Update: The ride has been continuously running today. Somebody has also told me that a few people...not guests, though...were riding it today.

A crane and a large group of workers are there this morning around the station and lift. They may be finally getting some of the last touches started on and maybe finished today. Yesterday, they finally finished painting the lift.

News: There will be a special event taking place in the Music Plaza on July 22nd. Various members of the media have been contacted over the past three weeks to show up at the event. This is assumed to be involved with Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit!, but maybe not necessarily its opening.

They pretty much put the elevator for Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit! overnight...so like Kevin Garnet, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!

Yes, there will be a moving walkway in the station. The system will pretty much be like the Haunted Mansion...just with fewer vehicles. If everything goes right, there should never really be all too long of a line at HRRR!.

I can confirm this. By the way, I don't know if this was cleared up or not, but the official height restriction is 51''

Is Nassal even working on any projects right now other than Harry Potter? It's a pretty big undertaking. Several steel castle turret frames and crates have been removed from the Turkey Lake staging area and moved closer to the construction site and may possibly be in the area by Dudley Do-Right. According to ScreamScape, Dueling Dragons may close near the end of August to undergo its changes. This seems likely. There's also talk the Creative Kingdom's interactive Harry Potter experience will be spread throughout the whole park. There may be an announcement coming very soon from Universal concerning changes and the new dark ride.

Over the past few days, a lot of testing has been going on at night without the train's LEDs turned on. Any "checks" of the lighting systems have been going on during the day. As I said before, they've already got team members trained. Since last week, Universal has actually been putting the new ride ops in the station and showing them around. Previously, a mock station and queue was constructed for training the employees indoors. We may be getting closer to the opening date. I've been hearing rumors that the new "Hollywood Bowl" stage will be tied closely into the media day. The stage has underwent some lighting changes and Rockit! employees have been on the stage-for whatever reason-before park hours. They've also been playing around a little with the wait time clock. The rings, to the best of my knowledge, have had all of their lighting issues worked out and they are standing by in preparation to be attached to the lift. There are AT LEAST five rings. Nobody has really been talking of the banner that goes on the side of the lift, but pieces are on the lift are there to attach the banner to the side...same with the r!ings. Soft openings could start even without all the finishing rings and touches. As for a date they have in mind for soft openings, they're not letting the date slip and they may not even know themselves. As soon as soft openings start, they will have an official opening date in mind and there will be a period for Universal to get the word out. Due more recently to weather conditions and delays in train modifications, they've missed the dates they were discussing by a long shot. The dates I provided earlier in the thread where dates that would have been likely--if everything would have went right. And one last thing: the lift may go under changes again...in the future. There's a rumor that new permits have been filed that will allow Universal to install the original double-cable lift that they wanted. It's just a rumor...but it could be somewhat of an explanation for why the rings haven't gone up yet.

The July 22nd date has been floating around all week. Some have heard the date from employees, but most have seen that date on the radio station's website. That COULD be the opening day, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it is just because a radio station plans to be there. Somebody needs to pose as a radio station and send an email to Universal asking what their opening date is!

Universal has been working over the past few months with a company that specializes in high-tech sound systems. This company has a directional sound system where if you stand in a certain place in a certain time, you will be able to hear a sound that other people around you can't hear. There are many theme parks, including Universal, that already use systems similar to this. The coaster was testing all last night. They tested for several hours without stopping the train-running it in its constantly-moving-never-stopping system. They e-stopped the train on all of the different brake runs and continued constant testing soon after with water dummies.

We know where the entrance is:

All the pictures he posted can be viewed over at Screamscape

I don't know how many of you have seen this, but it's new to me. It's a very interesting read: http://www.google.com/patents?id=2P4QAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4