Universal Studios

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Happy Opening Day of Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift! Three years of construction and testing finally culminated with the official opening of the ride today! 


Yesterday we were invited out to the park for a special preview of Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift which included a reverse POV on the amazing coaster. I'll share my full review below but let's get into the fun! 

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I think we're in the right place

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Mmmm...Red Carpet Donuts

Before our ride we took a walk through the queue and captured a complete walkthrough with no crowds. Lots of really great Fast and Furious Details that tells the story of the attraction, which is a tribute to the stunts of the Fast and Furious Franchise. 


Highlights of the props include:

  • Car Cannon, featuring the car driven by Brian O’Conner in Fast & Furious
  • Roll Cage and Winch, featuring the 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8, driven by Dom Toretto, in Fast 5
  • Vault Truck, as featured in Fast 5
  • Motorcycle, as featured in F9, driven by Letty Ortiz
  • NOS System and Dodge Charger Engine, a recreation of the internal NOS operating system for the modified Fast & Furious ride vehicles in the films
  • Ramp Car, driven by Owen Shaw in Fast & Furious 6
  • Rolling Bomb, as featured in Fast X
  • Rollover Stunt Rig, a recreation of the rollover stunt rigging system used in the Fast & Furious films
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You can scan the QR codes to get more details about each vehicle and/or stunt.

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The ride celebrates the Fast & Furious franchise and captures the spectacle, suspense and meticulous choreography created for the edge-of-your-seat driving sequences the films are renowned for, offering guests a chance to experience the energy and thrill of high-speed action for themselves.

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Located on the Upper Lot of Universal Studios Hollywood, “Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift” is situated within an expansive red brick-garage-like structure. Two stationary, photo op prop car reproductions welcome guests just outside the ride as they make their way through the entry archway towards the queue.

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We even got to tour the garage area which is typically off-limits to cameras as it is after the lockers and metal detectors.

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A unique dual-launching, split-ride track will alternate trains from dispatch to propel guests on an epic adventure that will take them over and under portions of the multilevel Starway escalator, through four spectacular launches, an exciting inverted dive loop, twisted pretzel loop and inverted stall, among others, at speeds of up to 72 MPH and a force of up to 3.6 Gs along 4,100 feet of elaborate aerial track constructed with sound-reduction technology while drifting at 360-degrees in their individual ride vehicles.

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Equipped with a fully independent audio system, each ride vehicle will surround guests with true‑to‑type engine and sound effects unique to the car they are riding in. And, because each ride vehicle is fully rotational and independently programmed to drift in motion along each train, guests can enjoy four varying experiences depending on which vehicle they are seated.

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And of course, we got to get our awesome Reverse POV and a pro-shot POV of the Dodge Charger which you can find below! 

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We had a few hours after our call time to explore the park before the grand opening ceremony. Noticed the clacker got moved, it's now near the Obsession Churro stand.

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Since we had express, decided to take a spin on The Simpsons Ride.

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On the Studio Tour, Jaws is being refilled with water and should be back open soon.

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After our break it was back over to the ride for the grand opening ceremony

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These events are often like a little reunion of people you haven't seen in far too long.

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Sadly Vin Diesel had to cancel, I offered to step in but nobody took me up on the offer.

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And then we had the ride to ourselves for a few hours. I think I ended up riding 7 or 8 times yesterday.

I've shared my thoughts on the coaster a few times, but I have to admit, the more I ride this coaster the more I love it. At first I still had Twisted Colossus slightly above Fast and Furious as the best coaster in California. But I've since swapped them. And in fact, it may move up a spot or two in the very near future. 


The amazing thing about this coaster is it's re-rideability. Every car, every row, even every seat offers a completely unique ride. I've now ridden in every row and I have a couple of favorites. As always, YMMV. 


  • Car 2, back row (row 4) right seat
  • Car 4, back row (row 8) right seat
  • Car 1, front row (the views)
  • Car 3, front row (best of everything) 


Interested to know what your favorite row is on this coaster. It seems everybody has a different opinion. But they're all great! 

And that's a wrap on Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift for us! Hard to believe it's finally open. Our first update was in May of 2023. It's been an honor sharing the progress of this attraction with all of you. 


Now, onto the next one! 

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