A Geotechnical Study began on October 2nd, as it is expected to be complete by January 2nd. Rumors have now additionally been pointing to Special Effects Stage, Production Central, and Animal Actors closing around January 8th!
Universal Studios Hollywood has announced that Animal Actors, the Special Effects Show, and the Production Central store will be permanently closing on January 8, 2023. No details have been given other than the area is closing to make way for a "future attraction". In a press release, Universa
Updating once again! Permits have since been discovered for the demolition of 4420 (Back of House for Universal's Animal Actors), and 4432 (Production Central). Prior to this, permits for destruction of 4421 (Universal Animal Actors) and 4431 (Special Effects Show) were filed back in November!
Additionally--Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift can now be labeled as P409, and via Parkscope Joe on the Inside Universal Forums: Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift appears to be a coaster being presented to be in scale to that of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit in the kind of attraction it represents. No opening window has been since specified but progress is occurring closer and closer to the potential demolition start.
First off, thanks to @Alexandermbush for keeping this thread alive with project updates! I probably wouldn't be tracking this project anywhere near as closely as I have been otherwise.
Thankfully, months of consistent digging finally paid some crazy dividends here. Below, you'll find a composite map showing the site plan for Universal Studios Hollywood's upcoming roller coaster, codenamed Project 409, overlaid onto a satellite image of the existing area.
As you can see, this site plan was an incredible catch. Oftentimes we only get foundation plans or, if we're lucky, a ride path. The docs I got my hands on for Project 409 include a depiction of the actual ride hardware planned for the site though—truly a gem of a find.
Given that we can see a top-down perspective of the planned coaster track itself, there is far less uncertainty here than with other similar project leaks in the past—we instantly know track locations and rotations—that only really leaves heights and speeds unknown. In an attempt to catch as much of the minutiae of the coaster layout as possible though, I've been working with some friends (namely Intim305) to decipher those missing details. Below shows what we came up with as our "best guess" at the layout.
Purple elements are station-area bits, blue segments are gravity-fed portions, green areas are launches, red areas are brakes, and orange aspects depict maintenance area features. Parts of the layout where our confidence is lower use gray direction of travel markers and text labels.
One of the biggest hurdles we ran into with this layout was working out launch locations. There's a lot of straight track in this layout that could house launches, but it seemed unlikely that all of the straight segments actually had launches planned. We could clearly see two-tube Intamin track in two segments of the layout (the launch after the dive drop and the mid-course brakes in the image above). At first glance, I assumed those were the coaster's only two launches. It really wasn't until @intim305 started modeling the coaster in NoLimits that we concluded the launch situation had to be notably more complicated than I was originally imagining.
Though the coaster station is perched high on a steep hillside (it will be in the area right behind the Universal City sign in the photo above), the speed required to complete the first half of the layout wasn't really working as a purely gravity fed experience. We were pretty sure there had to be a launch out of the station but didn't really see one in the plans.
When Intim305 reached the valley portion of the layout (between the parking garage and the road behind Jurassic World in the image above), he encountered a similar problem. The speed required to complete the accent into the dive drop just wasn't there while keeping the heigh and speed of the Stangel dive/wall stall under control. We suspected that there must be a launch between those elements.
After a lot of close inspection, we concluded that track segments where the coaster's spine get considerably darker are almost certainly launch segments. Below I've included an image showing the difference we're talking about:
Inspecting the plans closely, there are only three segments where this "opaque" triple-tube Intamin track appears: the very beginning of the coaster before the 180 degree banked turn, the valley before the accent into the dive drop, and, interestingly, the valley between the inverted stall and the junior dive loop. That last one caught us totally off-guard—the did seem oddly straight and flat through that segment, but the layout didn't feel like it needed that fourth launch to complete the course. If our opaque spine theory is true though, there definitely seems to be a launch section there.
At this point, the big lingering question with Universal Studios Hollywood's Project 409 seems to be what type of coaster is this exactly? All the rumors have said Intamin and these plans seem to confirm that 100%—this thing is covered in Intamin "tells." Beyond the fact that it's a multi-launch though, there's nothing I've found in the plans to confirm a specific, known Intamin model. Screamscape, who did successfully call the manufacturer and even leaked early concept images, claims it's an Intamin spinner. Rumors shared by Alicia Stella over at Theme Park Stop echo the same. I don't think we've found anything in the docs that makes those claims notably more or less likely. We should highlight though that the layout in the concept art leaked by Screamscape does not match the final layout in the docs we have obtained (note the lack of a spike).
If anyone wants to take a look at the site plan we're working from for yourself, I've included an obscenely high-resolution copy below for your viewing and analyzing pleasure. Let me know if we've missed anything!
Intim305 is currently well into a NoLimits pre-creation of this layout. I'll be sure to share it here when gets it finished and posted! Super excited to see how this thing could end up riding. The layout and better yet, the location, looks incredible!
The only Intamin spinner I know that has LSM capability is the 12-seat spinning MDC. Uncharted at PortAventura uses this model. But we don’t know anything about the train configuration for this one, and leaked concept art showed it to be a multi-car train like on Objectif Mars. Intamin MDCs using this vehicle type aren’t compatible with LSMs or inversions, instead using drive tires for launches. Maybe this is a blitz model?
The only Intamin spinner I know that has LSM capability is the 12-seat spinning MDC. Uncharted at PortAventura uses this model. But we don’t know anything about the train configuration for this one, and leaked concept art showed it to be a multi-car train like on Objectif Mars. Intamin MDCs using this vehicle type aren’t compatible with LSMs or inversions, instead using drive tires for launches. Maybe this is a blitz model?
Hypothetically speaking, that is assuming that Hollywood Drift is not a next generation iteration that can allow for the type of manuvers it is seemingly aiming to do, right?
As Scott Walker brought up on Twitter, the attraction is seemingly favoring (when you consider the terrain levels) it's sqft in 4,300 compared to Velocicoaster's 4,700 sqft in. Add in the multiple manuvers, the intricately designed layout and the need to have a vehicle that can rotate to face sound-proofing walls to dampen the noise level; and this feels like something that could be a new beast for both Universal and Intamin alike.
Double-Posting, shocker I know: but it almost appears to me that the showbuilding seems to be hovering around the .40 acre mark? I am also not quite sure on the matter, but it also appears to jut out to a jagged like piece of the building being alongside the first launch. Perhaps the ride has us blasting through the structure as it picks up speed?
Hypothetically speaking, that is assuming that Hollywood Drift is not a next generation iteration that can allow for the type of manuvers it is seemingly aiming to do, right?
I see, they’re gonna pull a Hagrid’s and combine one of their special coaster types (with necessary modifications) with a blitz coaster track. I never thought of that.
Considering this isn’t even considering the potential gs that could come in if the drifting works as intended to block off sound, this thing looks freaking nuts in every way imaginable.
Might beat out Ghostrider and Twisted Colossus if the total package and ride experience itself is on high grade quality
