Disney Family Member Among Those Furious About Universal’s Latest Attraction

Universal Studios Hollywood welcomed neighbors to a special meeting to share updates and listen to residents regarding the noise levels coming from the park's new high-speed coaster.

What's Happening:

• Over 350 people attended a meeting in Stage 7 at Universal Studios Hollywood that was set up to address the noise levels and screaming emanating from the park's new roller coaster - Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift.
• For several weeks now, nearby communities have been complaining about the noise coming from the new high-speed attraction at the park - not necessarily the ride itself, but from those aboard it, screaming from the hillside.
• According to Deadline, those who wanted to attend the meeting had to RSVP and were treated to a presentation that promised a "commitment to the community" and that "every concern reaches senior leadership and informs our planning."
• No press was allowed at the meeting and no recordings of the presentation were permitted. Deadline spoke with some of those in attendance, with reports that one resident turned "hostile" during the presentation, noting that security was present.
• The presentation was reportedly led by a number of execs, including Steve Blum, the Executive VP of Engineering & Safety, John McReynolds, SVP of External Affairs, and Cindy Gardner from Corporate Affairs.
• They began by promising that the coaster would not be operating from 8:00 to 9:00 AM until the end of the year, with the park sometimes opening as early as 7:00 AM.
• The presentation also reminded those in attendance that the park has already taken steps to mitigate the noise and screaming, and reportedly promised a new, temporary barrier that will add over 1,900 sq. ft. of sound absorbing material. The installation is set to begin today, Oct. 1.
• If effective, the park will need to apply for permits to make it a permanent addition.
• Other methods were revealed to have been explored, including making the ride vehicles enclosed, and even asking riders to wear helmets with face and scream shields. Both were ruled out, citing evacuation concerns on the enclosed vehicles, and improper wear amongst guests for the helmets.
• The park reportedly also shared that they may also further explore the programming of the vehicle direction at key moments. The individual cars already turn away from the Toluca Lake neighborhood at likely-screaming moments, with the reports sounding like more of these types of rotations could be added.
• Neighbors had the chance to share their thoughts and grievances during the meeting, shared audio that the neighborhoods could hear from the park, and even cited research on the science of exposure to constant screams from Dr. Luc Arnal.
• Roy P. Disney, the great-nephew of Walt Disney and a resident of Toluca Lake, reportedly spoke during the meeting and said "I would argue this is in violation of [Universal Studios'] land usage permits."
• The residents also shared a produced video, narrated by an unnamed British actor, that shared the screams heard every 20 to 40 seconds in the neighborhood, and ending with images of the Universal lot. One of those images were the massive acrylic domes near Jurassic World: The Ride, with the narrator saying "if you can build this, you can certainly fix this."
• During the Q & A portion of the presentation, the residents reportedly began to shout and demand the screams will be "gone in a year," prompting a quip from Blum where he said "we could solve this tomorrow if you all want to wear noise cancelling headphones."
• Residents reportedly angrily responded to the comment, shouting replies like "how dare you?"

The New Ride:

• Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is a brand-new roller coaster attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood themed to the blockbuster franchise, The Fast & The Furious.
• Themed like a series of cars on each train, each 360-degree rotating ride vehicle takes guests over and under portions of the multilevel Starway escalator, through four 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.
• The coaster features four different ride vehicles inspired by vehicles driven by favorite Fast characters—the Dodge Charger, Mazda RX-7, Nissan Skyline GT-R and the Toyota Supra.
• Equipped with a fully independent audio system, each ride vehicle surrounds 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.
• The new attraction officially opened on September 16, but had been in technical rehearsals (and carrying the screams into the nearby neighborhoods) since late July.