It’s time for the final dance of Hollywood RIP Ride Rockit. Your last chance to ride the 16-year-old roller coaster at Universal Studios theme park is Sunday.
The work of the successor’s charm is evident in the spaces surrounded by Rockot, Universal City Walk, Hard Rock Café, and the buildings that once home to the Blueman Group. There are construction walls, dirt piles, and slightly heavy machinery. Universal Orlando has yet to unveil any new appeal.
The lifespan of the ride is limited, but it has not been much removed from Orlando’s parks over the past 50 years. There was maintenance and upgrades along with the receipt, including the Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster being a Troller Coaster. And then there was a complete truck exchange for the incredible Hulk Coaster at Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom and over the years on the Island of Adventure.
We had to figuratively come up with a decent list of bygone coasters down Interstate 4. Put yourself in the risk of being too sentimental, throw your hands into the air for these thrill rides from last year.
Lockt, man
•What and Where: Hollywood RIP Ride Rockit, Universal Studios
•When: August 2009 to August 2025
•What it was known: The music-inspired steel coaster arrived with onboard speakers, allowing riders to hear the song they chose just before heading to Straight Up Lift Hill. They then fell into a loop overlooking the City Walk, twisting, rising up to the rails and overlooking the City Walk for milliseconds. The ride then exploded the façade of the New York scene before returning to the front of the park, where crowds surfed the line, then performed circular maneuvers and returned to the loading station. Critics found the bent rap bar to be bothersome and the journey seemed too short.
•What’s next: Wait for a universal update. However, they sell “Rip Ride Rock’d It” T-shirts.
Something like a dragon
•What and Where: Dueling Dragon/Dragon Challenge, Adventure Island
•Date: May 1999 to September 2017
•It was known: Dueling Dragons was a two-iron reversed race coaster in the lost continental division of the park known for its (apparent) close call between vehicles. It merged with the opening of Harry Potter’s first magical world, and was renamed Dragon Challenge in 2010.
•What happened next: After some incidents and injuries, the surgical procedure was changed, including the start time shifted from the metal detector, and the duel side was finished. Eventually, the ride was demolished and a newly constructed Potter-themed coaster opened in June 2019, dubbed the Magical Creatures of Hagrid.
Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel
The land beneath the former primitive swirls will eventually become part of the tropical America of Disney’s animal kingdom. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Gig like a vortex
•What and Where: Prime Ebalwaal, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
•Date: March 2002 March 2020
•It was known: The four-seater vehicle spins unpredictably as it climbs down the hills in sound effects. It was a dinosaur and meteor theme as part of Dinoland USA. He was also involved in the deaths of two workers at the theme park. The Prime Eval Whirlwind moved into seasonal operation in 2019 and did not resume after Walt Disney World’s pandemic shutdown in 2020.
•Next happened: The site has been behind a construction wall for years, but is now part of Disney’s plan for tropical American lands featuring the “Encanto” attraction.
Ed Sackett, Orlando Sentinel
Cypress Gardens visitors will try out the Swamp Thing Coaster in 2006. During the Legoland era, it was called a flying school. (Orlando Sentinel file)
The next frontier of LEGOLAND
•What and Where: Swamp, Cypress Garden, and Flying Schools in Legoland Florida
•When: 2004-2008, 2011-2023
•It was known: Inverted Family Coasters were added when Winter Haven attractions were adding more adventurous products. When LEGOLAND took over there, the ride was the theme at other LEGO City attractions, such as Boat School and Ford Driving School.
•What happened next: Flying School closed in 2023. This summer, LEGOLAND announced that its site will open in early 2026 with a space-themed indoor coaster.
George Skene/Orlando Sentinel File
This line was the longest day of the last day of the Starliner roller coaster at Cypress Gardens (Orlando Sentinel Files)
Star Cross
•What and Where: Starliner, Cypress Garden
•When: 2007-2008
•It was known: The wooden coaster, built in 1963 for the Miracle Strip Amusement Park attraction in Panama City Beach, was demolished and rebuilt in Winter Haven. It was considered the oldest coaster in the state.
•What happened next: Many things including another reinvention of Cypress Garden, and then Merlin Entertainment purchased the land to open Legoland Florida. Executives decided that Starliner would not go to Lego, so it was demolished again. There have been reports of the goal of selling, storing pieces near Tampa, and rebuilding them in a new version of the miracle strip or elsewhere in the Florida Panhandle. Conclusion: Currently, you cannot ride a “Florida Original Scream Machine.”
Associated Press
There were two “sides” to ride the original Gwaji at Bush Gardens Tampa Bay. One was lion-themed, the other was tied up by the Tigers. (AP communication file)
Gwaji’s land
•What and Where: Gwaji, Bush Gardens Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay
•When: 1999 to June 2015
•What it was known: Duell wooden roller coaster – one side was a lion and one side was a tiger – opened in the Roll Licking Review, but eventually enthusiasts complained of an uncomfortably rough ride. The park reduced to one rail in 2012 and closed everything in 2015.
•What happened next: This structure was destroyed in late 2018 in favor of a new steel coaster named Iron Gwaji, debuting in spring 2022 and with a top speed of 76 mph.
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