Last chance: Goodbye to Universal’s Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster
It’s almost time for the last dance for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. The final chance to board Universal Studios theme park’s 16-year-old roller coaster will be Sunday.
Work on a successor attraction is evident in the space bounded by the Rockit, Universal CityWalk, Hard Rock Cafe and the building that was once home to Blue Man Group. There’s a construction wall, a pile of dirt and somewhat heavy machinery. Universal Orlando has not announced a new attraction yet.
Although rides have a limited life span, there haven’t been too many just plain ol’ removed from Orlando’s parks in the past five decades. There have been maintenance and upgrades along with retheming, such as Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster becoming Trollercoaster. And there have been complete track replacements at Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain and for the Incredible Hulk Coaster at Islands of Adventure over the years.
We had to travel, figuratively, down Interstate 4 to come up with a decent list of bygone coasters. At the risk of becoming too sentimental, throw your hands up in the air for these thrill rides of yesteryear.
Rockit, man
• What and where: Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Universal Studios
• When: August 2009-August 2025
• What it was known for: The music-inspired steel coaster arrived with onboard speakers so riders could hear songs they selected just before heading up the straight-up lift hill. They then fell down into a loop with ride vehicles twisting and ending up above the rail and overlooking CityWalk for a millisecond. Later, the ride appeared to burst through the facade of New York scenes before winding back to the front of the park, crowd surfing above the queue, then doing circular maneuvers and gliding back into the loading station. Critics found the curved lap bar to be awkward and the journey seemed too short.
• What’s next: We await Universal update. But it’s selling a “Rip Ride Rock’d it” T-shirt.
5 things to remember about Universal’s Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster
Kind of a dragon
• What and where: Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge, Islands of Adventure
• When: May 1999-September 2017
• What it was known for: Dueling Dragons was a two-rail, inverted, racing coaster in the park’s Lost Continent section, known for (apparent) close calls between vehicles. It was rethemed to meld with the opening of the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter and renamed Dragon Challenge in 2010.
• What happened next: After some incidents and injuries, operating procedures were changed to include metal detectors and staggered start times, ending the dueling aspect. Eventually, the ride was dismantled, and a newly constructed Potter-themed coaster named Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure opened in June 2019.
The land beneath the former Primeval Whirl ride eventually will be part of Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Whirl-y gig
• What and where: Primeval Whirl, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• When: March 2002-March 2020
• What it was known for: Four-passenger vehicles would spin unpredictably while going up and down hills amid sound effects. It had dinosaur versus meteor theming as part of Dinoland USA. It had also been involved in the deaths of two workers in the theme park. Primeval Whirl shifted to seasonal operation in 2019 and never reopened after Walt Disney World’s pandemic shutdown in 2020.
• What happened next: The site was behind construction walls for years, but now it is part of Disney’s plan for a Tropical Americas land featuring “Encanto” attractions.
Cypress Gardens visitors try out the Swamp Thing coaster in 2006. In the Legoland era, it was called Flying School. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Legoland’s next frontier
• What and where: Swamp Thing, Cypress Gardens and then Flying School at Legoland Florida
• When: 2004-2008, 2011-2023
• What it was known for: The inverted family coaster was added when the Winter Haven attraction was adding more adventurous offerings. When Legoland took over there, the ride was converted to be themed with other Lego City attractions such as Boating School and the Ford Driving School.
• What happened next: Flying School closed in 2023; this summer, Legoland announced that a space-themed indoor coaster would open on that site in early 2026.
The line was long for the Starliner roller coaster’s last day at Cypress Gardens in 2008, (Orlando Sentinel file)
Starcrossed
• What and where: Starliner, Cypress Gardens
• When: 2007-2008
• What it was known for: The wooden coaster, built in 1963 for Miracle Strip Amusement Park attraction in Panama City Beach, was dismantled and rebuilt in Winter Haven. It was considered the state’s oldest coaster.
• What happened next: So much, including another reinvention of Cypress Gardens, then Merlin Entertainments’ purchase of the land to open Legoland Florida. Executives decided Starliner didn’t go with Lego, so it was dismantled again. After that, there were reports of a sale, storage of pieces near Tampa, and goals of reconstructing at a new version of Miracle Strip or elsewhere in the Florida Panhandle. Bottom line: You can’t currently ride “Florida’s Original Scream Machine.”
The original Gwazi ride at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay had two “sides.” One was lion-themed and the other was tied to tigers. (Associated Press file)
Gwazi land
• What and where: Gwazi, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
• When: June 1999-2015
• What it was known for: Dueling wooden roller coasters — one side was Lion and one side was Tiger — opened to rollicking reviews, but eventually, enthusiasts complained of uncomfortably rough rides. The park scaled down to one rail in 2012, then shut it all down in 2015.
• What happened next: The structure was demolished in late 2018 in favor of a new steel coaster named Iron Gwazi, which debuted in spring 2022 and has a top speed of 76 mph.
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