Universal Studios Florida’s version of Hollywood Drift just entered a construction phase that looks a lot stranger than it sounds: crews are now literally pulling a test car through the track by rope.
If you caught our post on the Hollywood ticket add-on drama a bit ago, here’s the flip side of that coin: Orlando’s coaster isn’t open yet, and it’s not close, but it just hit a milestone worth explaining.
Crews at Universal Studios Florida have begun what’s called push/pull envelope testing on Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, using a black test vehicle styled after Dominic Toretto’s 1970 Dodge Charger. The car is wrapped in a tarp and fitted with an arched wire frame extending out from its body, and instead of running under the coaster’s own launch system, it’s being slowly pulled through sections of track by rope or crane. That frame represents the farthest a rider could realistically reach with their arms or head while strapped into the ride, and as the car moves through each section, crews check that nothing in the surrounding structure, support beams, or scenery sits inside that reach zone. It’s a safety step every coaster goes through before it’s ever allowed to run under its own power, and it’s a noticeably slower, more deliberate phase than the high-speed test runs you’ll see once actual powered testing begins.
New photos from aerial photographer bioreconstruct show the test car working its way through an overbanked section near the coaster’s second launch hill, with the track’s blue support structure visible underneath, and another shot catches the ride’s structure towering above the Universal Studios Florida Music Plaza bandshell, a spot longtime Universal fans will recognize as prime real estate for watching a coaster zip by overhead.
It’s a little surreal watching this play out here, since Universal Studios Hollywood’s version of this exact coaster already opened to the public on September 16, and it’s already generating headlines of its own with that Halloween Horror Nights ticket add-on we wrote about recently. Florida’s build is a completely separate structure going up on the former site of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, which closed back on August 18, 2025 after 16 years in that spot, and this version comes with one notable upgrade the West Coast ride doesn’t have: a 170-foot vertical spike positioned right next to Universal CityWalk, which should make it visible from a lot further away once it’s finished. The Orlando coaster is also replacing Fast & Furious: Supercharged, Universal’s earlier attempt at a Fast & Furious ride, which permanently closed on August 16, 2026 to clear the way for this one.
If the timeline confuses you a little, that’s fair. Hollywood’s build wrapped first and it’s already carrying passengers, while Florida’s track technically finished construction back on August 3, 2026 and only just moved into this rider-clearance phase in mid-September. From here, the usual next steps are powered testing, where the coaster actually launches and completes full circuits under its own system, followed by ride operations training and a soft opening period before Universal ever announces a real public opening date. Universal has said Hollywood Drift is targeting a 2027 opening at Universal Studios Florida, and steps like this one are exactly the kind of milestone that tends to show up in the months leading into a announced opening window.
We’ll keep tracking Hollywood Drift’s Florida testing as it moves toward powered runs, so check back with Theme Park Scope for the next update, and follow us on social so you don’t miss it.
Are YOU more excited for the Florida version’s extra spike, or is the Hollywood coaster already the one to beat?
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