Universal Studios shares major update on new ‘Fast & Furious’ roller coaster

The new “Fast & Furious” themed roller coaster under construction at Universal Studios Hollywood will open in 2026, the theme park announced on Friday.

“Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift” will be the park’s first high-speed outdoor thrill ride and will feature “technological achievements never previously employed in a roller coaster,” USH said in a statement.

The ride will launch from the park’s upper lot and descend into the lower lot for a series of banked turns and inversions, including a loop around the Starway escalator. Park officials said its cars will be able to rotate 360 degrees to replicate the drifting seen in the movie franchise’s famous race scenes.

“As Universal Studios Hollywood continues to evolve, the arrival of ‘Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift’ will be a powerful game changer that will infuse a new level of thrill into our already dynamic theme park,” said Scott Strobl, the park’s Executive Vice President & General Manager.

The ride’s queue will be a large, red brick, “garage-style structure” in the upper lot, and cars will be modeled after those seen in the films.

The rotating cars, however, won’t just elicit screams. They will also spin riders away from nearby communities so those screams don’t create a noise issue.

Two half-pipe shields and “pea gravel” filled tracks will also limit noise, the park says on its community outreach website.

Friday’s announcement coincides with the 60^th anniversary of the park’s marquee attraction, the Universal Studios Tour, which predates any of its thrill rides.

To mark the anniversary, the park has revamped the tour to allow riders to step off and take photos next to the famous Psycho House and Bates Motel, among other updates.