Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift <a href="https://comicvibe.com/warhammer-40000-rogue-trader-review/” title=”Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Review”>Review
October 13, 2026
Universal Studios has recently debuted their long anticipated thrill-ride Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, their third (technically fourth?) attempt at a Fast Saga themed attraction. Two previous attempts were both on the studio tour, (anybody else remember The Fast and the Furious Extreme Close-Up and their dancing cars?), with a technical third being a full ride version of their 3D Hollywood Studio Tour Fast & Furious: Supercharged experience in Orlando. All of those previous attractions are closed for various reasons with Hollywood Drift being not just the most recent attempt but in my opinion the most successful in recreating the adrenaline pulsing action of the film franchise.
To be frank I was never a fan of the Supercharged experience during its run on the Studio Tour for two reasons: I found it to be too loud and my son would make me watch a YouTube version of it almost everyday when he was much younger. When the roller coaster was announced I was worried that it would feel like a truncated version of a Six Flags thrill ride due to the lack of space in the Hollywood park. Then it was revealed that the track would go all the way to the lower lot before ascending back up to the upper lot to unload. I was gobsmacked by this prospect as it didn’t feel feasible, making me worried that they wouldn’t deliver on this promise. Boy, was I wrong.
UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 04: “Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift” First Look At Roller Coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood on March 04, 2026 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/ for Universal Studios Hollywood)
The design keeps the coaster moving in such a way that ascent and descent offer the same amount of thrills and scares. I have never been more terrified in my life on a coaster which I find is a mark of quality. I am not a regular at Six Flags visiter, having been only a handful of times, with Disneyland rides being my preferred type of amusement park experience. The times that I have ridden coasters with multiple inversions I’ve found the experience to be exciting and usually worth the wait in line, with the vertigo inducing loops giving me a feeling that’s unattainable in your average dark ride. I just don’t seek out this feeling and definitely did not expect it at Universal Studios Hollywood due to the coasters I have experienced there. I was truly blown away by how the design allowed for a constant stream (scream?) of motion that kept you in a state of delightful terror during the whole ride. The ride itself felt very long, maybe it was my own fear but the ride just kept going, another amazing surprise of the ride.
The only downside to the ride, which is more of a personal preference than an actual grievance, is that a locker/metal detector system increases the already long wait times. The ride doesn’t allow for people to ride with any loose items in their pockets or on their person for safety reasons requiring you to stow everything in a free locker before passing through a metal detector to make sure you’re not still holding on to stuff. Not having access to my phone or wallet at all was not an ideal scenario though I understand the need for this implementation especially with how much you get thrown around. Retrieving your items was a very smooth process though I did briefly panic because I assumed I’d be going to the same area where I dropped off my stuff, instead you’re directed to the opposite side of the lockers which means you need to pay attention to your locker number or you might be stuck looking around for a while.
UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 04: “Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift” First Look At Roller Coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood on March 04, 2026 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/ for Universal Studios Hollywood)
I’ll be honest I’m in no rush to ride this again, that’s how effectively terrifying it is. Having said that, I had an absolute blast and if thrill rides are your thing this is honestly the fastest, longest, and most thrilling ride I’ve ever been on. This ride is legit, the amount of work that was put into this in order to make it the highest quality experience possible is remarkable and commendable. Not only did they deliver on all their promises I believe they went above and beyond. The regular complaints of Universal using motion simulators are valid, this ride is clearly in response to that and their track record of adding attractions recently seems to be skewing against that trend which is a very good sign. Makes me very hopeful for whatever they end up replacing The Simpsons Ride with.
One final thing I’d like to address is the “Noise Issue”. Nearby residents of Toluca Lake are complaining about the screams being too loud and scary coming from riders on the attraction. I was in the park all day from around 10am to close and hardly heard the screams myself. I understand that the constant noise of a theme park and ambient music probably made me notice the screams less but I feel being in close proximity I would have definitely picked up on the noise. The ride itself has noise shields that are built into the design that I think are doing their job well. The noise of screams I did notice didn’t feel any different or any louder than the sounds coming from the Jurassic World or Flight of the Hippogriff rides. I think the complaining is definitely exaggerated with what endgame I don’t know but can only imagine to be some sort of restitution rather than resolution.
Anyway, this was a great ride experience that surpassed my expectations truly making me feel like part of the Fast crew while showing me what Universal is capable of. I hope this is just a taste of what’s to come and the Hollywood park will only get better going forward, thanks to rides to like this. Special thanks to Universal for the opportunity to check out the ride!
