'Rockit' will roll'em at Universal Orlando in 2009

[GADVwow]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-universal1908mar19,0,957861.story

[coastermom]

Sure after I visit this year they build this .... Well that means another trip to plan at least next year or the year after .. Can't wait

[PcMan]

Yeh I just got back a month ago
but its about time they needed some more Coasters .
Looks Like Universal will Have a big attendance increase next year with Harry Potter and this Coaster

from screamscape.com \/
"As you can see in the artwork, this is clearly a Maurer Sohne creation and appears to use a two unit X-Car train along with the vertical lift hill.
  I?ve got one more important item to note however about this coaster. A Screamscape source tells us that the article is wrong on a few important facts. They tell us that the coaster will have no inversions at all. It will instead have a ton of heavily banked and over-banked turns and one major unique feature? the world?s first non-inverting loop. It will look like a vertical loop at first, but the track will twist around as you go up allowing the train to go over the top of the loop upright, then twist and dive on the way down to keep you upright again"



 March 19, 2008 
Universal Studios is about to build a new signature ride: a high-tech roller coaster full of lights, music, loops, twists and turns -- and a quick trip over the heads of people walking through the nearby CityWalk entertainment district.

The Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit is planned to be big, bright and brash enough to become the new visual symbol for the theme park when the coaster opens in about a year. Universal Orlando officials said Tuesday that it also will feature enough digital technology to appeal directly to what they refer to as the "YouTube culture."

Universal Orlando officials said the coaster will rise 167 feet into the air and feature numerous loops and corkscrew turns. Rockit -- the first big, outdoor thrill ride for Universal Studios -- is set to open in spring 2009.
It will provide another link in Universal Orlando's recent chain of big new attractions. An overhauled version of an old ride, renamed Disaster!, opened in January. The Simpsons Ride, a 3-D fantasy-simulation ride replacing the old Back to the Future, is set to open in a few weeks. And several still-undisclosed attractions are to open together in late 2009 as the "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" in Universal Studios' sister park, Islands of Adventure.

The flurry of activity follows a dormant period of nearly three years during which Universal offered no big new rides.

Although it will be the tallest coaster in Central Florida and one of the fastest in the state, the Rockit will be nowhere near the tallest or fastest in the amusement-park business. But like the Incredible Hulk in Islands of Adventure and several other Florida coasters, it aims to use innovation and novelty to make up for any lack of record-setting height or speed.

"We like to go for the best," said Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Parks & Resorts' creative division -- though Universal would not comment on the project's cost.

Rockit will offer high-energy video displays in the waiting line; high-intensity, color-changing LED lighting and digital audio and video effects during the ride; and various engineering innovations.


'A whole new level'

And unlike any of the other big roller coasters in Central Florida, Rockit will loom over its park's entrance and beyond. Universal plans to squeeze its track between the Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast ride and the Sharp Aquos Theatre, which houses the Blue Man Group show. From there the track would run along the boundary between Universal Studios and Universal's sound stages, then rise over the fence to twist over the sidewalks of CityWalk, outside the theme park -- a brightly lit, scream-filled advertisement for the park.

"We like to look at this as taking the thrill ride to a whole new level, both physically and figuratively," Woodbury said. "It's iconographic in its position. It's going to do some things no ride has done before. And it combines entry into the digital age with the ability to customize and personalize the ride for each rider."

That particular digital-age feature will allow riders to select their own music and create a music video of the ride. Afterward, a rider could download the video and use it on personal Web pages or video-sharing sites.

But the ride -- which Universal officials had referred to for months by the code name "Project Rumble" -- still draws principally on the basic thrills of a roller coaster: speed, height, loops, corkscrews, twists, turns and drops. Universal officials said Rockit would have several signature moves and a record-breaking loop, though they would not elaborate. The artist's rendering that they released shows the track climbing a 167-foot-tall peak, then corkscrewing downward, twisting eight times.


'It's a natural for us'

The ride's Internet-based theme digresses a bit from Universal Studios' original theme, which was all about "riding" the movies. But Universal officials insisted that the coaster will justify the inclusion of the word "Hollywood" in its name -- a term also adopted earlier this year by Walt Disney World when it renamed its rival movie-studio theme park.

"We've always fancied ourselves as embedded into the Hollywood culture with Universal. It's part of our essence. It's a natural for us," Woodbury said. "The name is very specific to the attributes of the ride. It combines creating your own movie, to customize it; that's the 'rip' part. You can download it to your personal site. And you ride it, of course. You have the 'Rockit' part, which combines the thrill and the music."

[Robert T Ackerman]

Nice... another reason why living in Florida will be so nice

[PcMan]

Yes they knew you we're coming so they built you another coaster. 
and More Hotels at Universal    etc,

I make my yearly or Bi annual visit to Universal so this is a good thing

I still got to get the Tampa

Looks like someone will be the Orlando host / tour guide 

[Robert T Ackerman]

"I'll be your damn tour guide, take all of the damn pictures you want. If you have any damn questions, save them for the end of the damn tour."

[overlord]

Nice... another reason why living in Florida will be so nice

Just booked my plane tickets to come visit ya for a few days! I gotta ride a Mauer Sohne badly...

[Robert T Ackerman]

You better book a hotel room too... you aren't staying in my house!

Just messing with you  though, and I too, need to ride an MS coaster.

[overlord]

A non inverting loop huh...Thats going to be sick. When I first read it, I was like oh its just a pretzel loop but then I looked at the picture, and thats when I noticed it was not.

[Robert T Ackerman]

That should be a pretty disorienting element. The more I think about it, this ride looks like it'll be A LOT of fun!

[PcMan]

I like the way it will ride above the incoming crowds and above the "action" and building

we need more "building coasters" like THunder Dolphin

when we stay at Royal Pacific the Express pass is included with the hotel room so no waiting inlines 
and within walking Distance.

last month we did the Blue Man group.

I guess I could have noted all this if I ever got around to doing my PTR from last month 

[Robert T Ackerman]

Yeah Tom... what are you waiting for?!?! GET ON IT!

[PcMan]

so ,many pictures to little time
i did have some good pics of harry potter
I walked behind the scences
I thought i had a scoop  ?

[Robert T Ackerman]

A scoop of ice cream?

[PcMan]

OK I'm on the Southwest now heading to Florida
I'm over North Carolina west of Myrtle Beach going 393 MPH

[Robert T Ackerman]

"The use of portable electronics such as CELL PHONES and LAPTOPS are prohibited at this time, please enjoy your flight"

[PcMan]

Yeah
I was sitting in the front row and the fying waitresses were watching. They don't care, that's why I had to wait till she gave the OK.

[PcMan]

A scoop of ice cream?

near Spiderman \/
I always ask them to Load it up,  I tell them I'm very Hungry and they always overfill it for me $3.90  he he

[Robert T Ackerman]

^LOL!

[PcMan]

remember season pass to Universal is only $129 with holiday blackouts (Christmas, New year )
and 2-7 days is around $85-89

so if you go twice a year get a pass
and with the Southwest free airfares I been getting using the Visa card it can't be beat


Nice \/

[Robert T Ackerman]

You can also pay $17 a month for a pass with parking and no black out dates. $12 a month without parking.

[PcMan]

video News link of Robs new "home park" or one of them  and the new coaster

http://tinyurl.com/2tgg97

http://mfile.akamai.com/12909/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2008/0319/15645762.200k.asx

links will open Windows media player

[PcMan]

posting from Orlando airport
Loop going up
March 8,2009

[PcMan]

Some Testing of the coaster   remember to Click on the HQ button for Higher Quality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA93_f5m0MY#noexternalembed&feature=player_embedded


Below lift very slow for now \/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9qpFNIzoa4#noexternalembed&feature=player_embedded

[kingdakafan]

Looks sorta like a rip off of Farenheight (this ride was awesome!) Not saying it won't be good but, enough "we got the biggest best and the first ,hahahaha!"