Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift Coming to Universal Orlando: Everything We Know About the 2027 Coaster

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Hey Universal Vacationers! Universal Orlando Resort just confirmed what I speculated back on December 27, 2024. A Fast & Furious-themed roller coaster is officially coming to Universal Studios Florida. It’s called Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, and it will open in 2027.

It replaces Hollywood Rip Ride Rock-It, and honestly, this feels like the right move. As a longtime Universal fan, I’ve wanted this franchise to get a real coaster for years. Not a screen ride. Not a bus ride. A true outdoor thrill ride that matches the energy of the movies. That is finally happening.

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Quick Summary

• Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift at Universal Orlando opens in 2027
• It replaces Hollywood Rip Ride Rock-It
• It features 360-degree spinning ride vehicles
• Riders will experience drifting and spinning motion
• It includes a 170-foot vertical spike
• The ride is built by Intamin
• Fast & Furious – Supercharged will permanently close in 2027
• The timing lines up with Fast X: Part 2, the finale of the movie franchise

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Why This Announcement Matters

This is more than just a new coaster announcement. This is Universal fixing two long-standing problems at the same time.

Hollywood Rip Ride Rock-It never fully lived up to its promise. It had energy and a great location, but it also had rough rides, long downtime, and a layout that never felt like a true headliner coaster. Fast & Furious – Supercharged had bigger issues. It felt slow, small, and disconnected from the movies. It became one of the most criticized rides in the park.

Now Universal is removing both and replacing them with one high-end thrill ride. That matters for the future of Universal Studios Florida.

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Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift Is Coming in 2027

Universal Orlando Resort announced that Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will open in 2027 at Universal Studios Florida. The coaster replaces Hollywood Rip Ride Rock-It and uses a similar attraction footprint.

Universal says this ride will put guests in the driver seat of the Fast & Furious universe. Riders will experience high-speed launches, drifting, spinning motion, and a 170-foot vertical spike that sends riders nearly 17 stories into the air. The layout rises over the outskirts of the park near Universal CityWalk, making it a visual icon from both inside and outside the park.

Universal also confirmed that Fast & Furious – Supercharged will permanently close in 2027 to make way for this new experience.

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Why 2027 Makes Sense

The timing is not random.

Fast X: Part 2 is scheduled to release in 2027. It is the finale of the Fast & Furious movie franchise. Universal has a long history of aligning major ride openings with movie releases. It gives them built-in marketing and a clean story moment for the brand.

Opening Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift at Universal Orlando in the same year as the final movie gives the franchise a strong send-off inside the parks. That is smart brand timing.

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Where the Ride Will Be Located

The coaster replaces Hollywood Rip Ride Rock-It at Universal Studios Florida. It uses a similar footprint.

The layout includes a 170-foot vertical spike that rises over the edge of the park near Universal CityWalk. That means the coaster will be visible from outside the park, just like Rip Ride Rock-It was. It becomes a new visual anchor for this part of the park.

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Ride Experience: What to Expect

This coaster does more than go fast.

Each ride vehicle features 360-degree rotation. That means riders will spin while racing down the track, simulating street drifting. Universal is leaning into the core Fast & Furious fantasy. You are not just moving forward. You are sliding, spinning, and turning through action scenes.

This approach fits the Fast & Furious theme far better than a screen ride ever did.

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Florida Version vs. Hollywood Version

Universal Studios Hollywood will debut its own Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift later this year. That version gives us a preview of what Florida will likely get.

In Hollywood, riders launch from a garage-themed queue and take off in vehicles modeled after iconic cars from the films, including Dominic Toretto’s 1970 Dodge Charger. The ride reaches 73 mph and uses the natural hillside in the park to help build speed.

Florida does not have the same hillside terrain. That means Florida likely cannot reach the same top speed.

The Florida version could run closer to 65 mph instead of 73 mph. In real terms, most riders will not feel a meaningful difference between 65 mph and 73 mph on a spinning coaster. The experience will still feel fast.

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Florida vs. Hollywood Comparison

Feature	Hollywood Drift (Hollywood)	Hollywood Drift (Orlando)
Opening Year	2026 (later this year)	2027
Top Speed	73 mph	Not announced
Terrain Use	Uses natural hillside terrain	Flat terrain layout
Ride Vehicles	Spinning, 360-degree rotation	Spinning, 360-degree rotation
Queue Theme	Garage-themed	Likely garage-themed (speculation)
Vehicle Design	Iconic Fast & Furious cars	Likely similar designs (speculation)
Layout Footprint	Custom hillside layout	Rip Ride Rock-It footprint
Manufacturer	Intamin	Intamin
Vertical Spike	Yes	Yes (170 feet)
Storyline	Fast & Furious racing theme	Likely similar (speculation)

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Who’s Building the Ride

The coaster is being built by Intamin, one of the top names in the ride industry.

They built Jurassic World VelociCoaster, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. That track record matters. Intamin knows how to build rides that feel fast, smooth, and intense without feeling rough.

This is not a budget coaster. This is a flagship coaster.

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What Happens to Fast & Furious – Supercharged

Fast & Furious – Supercharged will permanently close in 2027.

That ride never worked. It felt slow. It felt small. It felt disconnected from the movies. Universal kept it alive longer than most fans expected.

Now they are finally replacing it with something that matches the scale and energy of the franchise. This new coaster is a direct response to years of fan criticism.

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Who This Ride Is For

This is a major thrill ride.

If you love VelociCoaster, Hagrid’s, or Hulk, you will love this ride. If you avoid coasters or spinning rides, this one may not be for you. The spinning adds intensity. The vertical spike adds height. The speed adds force.

This is built for thrill fans.

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My Thoughts

I’m honestly excited about this one.

Universal needed to move on from Rip Ride Rock-It. I’ve ridden it more times than I can count, but the truth is it aged out. It was rough. It went down a lot. And it never really felt like the kind of headliner coaster Universal is known for now.

Fast & Furious – Supercharged was an even bigger miss. I wanted to love it. I really did. But it never matched the scale or energy of the movies. It felt like a placeholder that stuck around way too long.

So seeing Universal fix both problems at once feels like a win.

They picked Intamin, which tells me this ride is going to be smooth and fast. They picked a spinning coaster system, which fits the drifting theme perfectly. And they timed it with Fast X: Part 2, which feels intentional and smart.

This is the first time the Fast & Furious franchise actually feels like it belongs in the parks.

Final Take

This is the coaster Fast & Furious should have had from the start.

Instead of screens and slow-moving vehicles, we’re getting a real outdoor thrill ride with spinning cars, drifting motion, and a massive vertical spike that will stand out on the Universal skyline.

It replaces two rides that never quite worked and turns that space into something people will line up for.

If Universal builds this the way they built VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s, this ride is going to be a must-do the moment it opens.

And when 2027 rolls around, I fully expect Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift at Universal Orlando to be one of the most talked-about new rides in the park.

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