Track for the new roller coaster being built at Universal Orlando is now visible. Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift is set to open next year, replacing the former Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit coaster. Construction on structures related to this project has been progressing, while the coaster cars are being officially unveiled for the Universal Studios Hollywood counterpart.

Plus, permits may indicate when Orlando’s version could be opening. Let’s go over all of those details and more in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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Hollywood Drift Orlando (and Hollywood)

Officially announced in January, construction on Orlando’s version of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is well under way. Footers for the new ride have continued to multiply, expanding beyond the original footprint for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, the coaster it is replacing.

The day after the new attraction was officially announced artwork was added to the work walls.

These walls are located at the back of Universal Studios Florida, in the New York section of the park. This is near where the future entrance will be for the new roller coaster.

While Orlando’s won’t be opening until next year in 2027, Universal Studios Hollywood’s is ramping up its testing ahead of its opening this summer.

Hollywood’s Hollywood Drift is finally testing with the cars rotating, something it had not been doing previously.

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The trains for both Hollywood’s and Orlando’s version will be able to rotate a full 360 degrees, a feature the rides will use to create the sensation of drifting.

The zebra-pattern wraps have finally come off of the trains in Hollywood, as all of the cars have been officially revealed.

The trains are modeled after cars from the series, so in addition to the previously revealed Dodge Charger lead car, we now have the Mazda RX-7, Nissan Skyline GT-R, and Toyota Supra. (Official photos of all four cars below.)

The official photo below shows an uncovered train sitting in the station at Universal Studios Hollywood.

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Coaster Track Uncovered

Back in Orlando, the few pieces of coaster track, which are sitting in a staging lot across the street from Epic Universe, have been uncovered.

Thanks to recent aerial views from Bioreconstruct, we can now see that these pieces of track do appear to be a light grayish-blue color.

We are still not sure if the track for Orlando’s version of the ride to be the same as Hollywood’s, as that would make it look too much like VelociCoaster, but many fans have been guessing Orlando’s track could be blue.

However, the pieces of track we’re seeing staged here now are likely only for the maintenance bay or for use within the station, so we’re still not sure what the main track will look like.

Since these pieces may not be seen by guests, their color does not matter, and the regular track for the ride may be different.

What appear to be short supports are sitting nearby as well, all the same length. These very blue-looking steel beams could possibly be the supports for the maintenance bay spurs.

We’re still awaiting a delivery with rest of the actual track for the ride.

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Structures Construction Update

Looking at construction progress back at Universal Studios Florida, here is the maintenance building, tucked away behind the soundstages off to the left of the theme park.

This multi-story structure has seen its framing go up quite quickly.

What could be the entrance for trains into and out of the spurs inside is being constructed now, with a small pad of foundation poured with rebar sticking up from the center.

In addition to the maintenance bays for the new coaster, some of the utility rooms and connections are being relocated to this new large structure.

One of the structures being relocated include this small utilities room, which needs to be demolished to make way for part of the future ride’s station building.

Some demolition is already visible to the right of the structure in the photo above.

Footings related to both the station building and track in this area can be seen installed in the ground.

The raised square structure off to the side of the area may feature multiple tracks on top. This could be for the track switch where the ride track splits into two tracks before heading back into the station, which could feature a dual load area like the Hollywood version does.

Connections can be seen on top of the flat raised surface in the photo above.

Footings leading to and away from this stand-alone structure can be spotted in the ground as well.

Since this area, to the right of the Ghostbusters’ fire house, is where the station will be located, it has been speculated to be the entrance to the new ride.

There are many footings here, which may frame a future courtyard entry area.

There may even be an entrance arch leading to this area, similar to the entrance for Hollywood’s version of the ride. This is where the wait time sign is at the Hollywood version.

Perhaps the track will pass overhead here, themed as some type of roadway overpass?

Another theory has the main entrance for Orlando’s version to the left of the firehouse. The green facade in the photo below is no longer utilized for Race Through New York, and the marquee above the doors was removed.

Here is how the station building looks in official permit images, seen highlighted here at top. And the already-under-construction maintenance building is shown on the bottom-left.

We expect the load and unload areas to be placed on the second level of the multi-story station structure, which would explain raised track coming in or out of the building.

That would leave space for queue on the ground level.

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Roller Coaster Construction

The newest footers for the ride, which are being poured now, are located where the former station was for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

The graphics and paint on this wall across from this are pretty much all that remains from the former attraction.

This part of the ride leads right into the 170-foot tall outdoor spike.

It’s possible the trains could utilize a swing launch to build momentum when climbing this massive spike.

Where a sliding track switch will be located can be spotted here at the base of the spike.

While Universal did not announce the top speed of Orlando’s version of the ride, the video they teased ahead of its official announcement may have featured a hint.

01.20.26 pic.twitter.com/Nlm8k1ENwX

— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) January 17, 2026

The speedometer in the video above appears to top out around 70 miles per hour, which may be the speed needed to climb the 17-story tall spike.

Hollywood’s version of the ride will top out at 72 miles per hour for comparison.

A new small structure has been installed atop a concrete pad near here.

This is likely a power station for the coaster’s launch, which will be positioned very close to it.

Conduit can be seen lining the footprint of the other small concrete pad attached to the prefabricated shed. This may be for a small utility room.

A small utility building was the third structure planned for the ride, after the station and maintenance buildings, as seen in permit images.

Over 100 footers can be spotted in this section of the ride closest to CityWalk.

This includes the 170-foot vertical spike, which once construction starts and track is first installed, will completely change the skyline here for a very long time.

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Possible Completion Date

According to Notices of Commencement from PCL Construction, the project’s general contractor, major work on this project should be completed by June 30, 2027.

That date is noteworthy, as Notices of Commencement filed with the Orange County default to one year from application date when the expiration is not filled out specifically. Multiple documents show June 30, 2027 as the end date, despite being filed months apart.

This could possibly put the completion of the project at or around summer 2027, or at very least PCL’s part of the project, which includes the main structures.

Intamin, the manufacturer of the track and roller coaster elements for the project, shows expiration dates around early 2027, including January 31st for some elements.

Perhaps they expect to have track installation completed by this time, which would still allow PCL five more months to complete construction on the main structures around the track.

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Supercharged Closing

Universal Orlando did confirm that Fast & Furious: Supercharged will be closing permanently in 2027. This would likely be ahead of the new coaster opening.

Fans are assuming that props and show cars seen in the queue and on the attraction could possibly be relocated for display within the new coaster’s queue areas.

If so, they would likely need at least a few months of time between Supercharged’s closure and the official opening of Hollywood Drift.

Screamscape has reported that Supercharged will close in Spring 2027, however it’s worth noting that Universal has yet to confirm an exact time frame.

As for what will replace with Supercharged? Many are still guessing a Knight Bus themed Harry Potter ride could work, as the ride is already shaped like a bus.

Other than a rumor for a Back the Future overlay taking over the space, so far there have not been any credible rumors for what could be coming here. It’s possible the space sits unused at first.

Hopefully we see some permits start to post for the space as we near the end of 2026.

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Other Projects Happening

Also happening at Universal Studios Florida, the front of the park is being transformed with a new, cleaner paint scheme.

The ticketing, entrance, and exit structures are dropping their mauve taupe colors for a brighter white with brown trim motif.

No word yet if this new approach the entry areas will expand to other structures with pink tone accents, like the iconic arch or the sound stages.

Outside of the park, a new venue is coming to Universal CityWalk. Category 10 will be a new three-story restaurant, bar, and live music venue targeting a later 2027 opening.

This new venue by country star Luke Combs will be an addition to CityWalk, and will not be replacing an existing venue.

It will be built between the outdoor stage and Lone Palm Airport bar, directly across from BigFire along the water. A start date for construction has not yet been announced.

That’s all for now, but a big thank you to Bioreconstruct for the amazing aerial views. You can follow him on X, Bluesky, and YouTube for more theme park photos and video.

Be sure to check out the video version of this story for additional visuals, and see our recent extensive update for progress on projects happening at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Subscribe by entering your email below to never miss an update.

Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Original Photos: Alicia Stella | Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Official Images: Universal Destinations & Experiences | Other Images as Captioned

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