Check out this On-Ride HD POV of the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Orlando Florida. \r
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Height: 167 \r
Speed: 65 mph\r
Type: Steel - Sit Down\r
Status: Operating since 2009\r
Builder: Maurer Söhne\r
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Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is an X-Car Coaster, a proprietary design from Maurer Söhne, and is considered the largest roller coaster of its kind in the world. Maurer Söhne expected the attraction to carry approximately 1,850 riders per hour.\r
In the attractions queue line, video monitors entertain waiting guests. The programming is hosted by characters who introduce one of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockits signature components, its customizable soundtrack. Guests select a musical track from one of five genres—classic rock/metal, rap/hip-hop, country, pop/disco and club/electronica—to hear during their experience. Each genre has six songs available, bringing a total of 30 different tunes to the rides on-board library. The songs will not be re-arranged to fit the roller coasters design; however, the musical artists granted the rides designers the ability to select when their songs started and stopped, in order to provide the best match to the ride.\r
During the development process, Universal officials surveyed guests to determine which songs should be made available on the attraction. Some of the songs considered included Gone Country by Alan Jackson, Youve Got Another Thing Comin by Judas Priest, All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow, Pump It by The Black Eyed Peas and Staying Alive by The BeeGees. Other artists whose songs were considered included The Beach Boys, Three Six Mafia and Johnny Cash. Universal officials are able to track the popularity of the selected songs, and have stated that special songs may be added from time to time.\r
The choose-your-own-soundtrack feature is similar to that on another Universal-owned roller coaster, Hollywood Dream: The Ride at sister park Universal Studios Japan. Taking this customization a step further, the ride experience will be filmed, allowing guests to obtain a digital copy of the film, complete with their chosen soundtrack, to add to their webpages or video-sharing sites, such as YouTube. The on-board cameras were designed to withstand a wide range of mechanical and environmental stresses.\r
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A ride vehicle for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, traversing the first loop element. The vehicle uses Maurer Söhnes X-Car Coaster design.\r
The trains consist of two cars, with each car carrying six riders in three rows of two. The seats in each car are arranged in a stadium seating configuration, affording each seat a better view of the ride. Located in the safety restraint of each seat is a touch screen that is used to select the desired music for the ride. The speakers are located within the headrest of the seat, and have been designed such that only the riders selected music track will be audible. Further, the rails and support columns are filled with sand and pea gravel, reducing the amount of ambient noise generated by the roller coaster.\r
The coloration and lighting of the ride track was selected to enhance the ride experience and to minimize the visibility of the tracks support columns. The ride vehicles themselves feature color-changing LEDs for a dynamic appearance. Each train has its own display pattern, which itself will change as it passes through each major section of the rides layout.\r
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit includes a number of safety features. Unlike many modern steel roller coasters, its seats do not use over-the-shoulder harnesses; instead, there is a large padded lap bar. Louis Alfieri, the attractions creative director, said, the entire seat assembly is ergonomically designed so youre completely sandwiched and locked into the seat. Due to the lift hills vertical construction, the ride provides a custom-designed evacuation system in the event a train become disabled.