Rip Ride Rockit: The roller coaster that'll make you lose your lunch as well as your lunch money
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Technology
Universal Studios in Orlando was supposed to open its new roller coaster, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, back in May. But the effort was so technologically complicated that it couldn't cut the ribbon until around Labor Day. The resulting thrill ride may be behind schedule, but it's ahead of the times. It's the first one that's equipped to capture your every move as you ride it -- cameras at every row, plus more on the tracks -- and combine that feature with the ability to choose the song you want to hear while you ride it using a personal touch-screen that you program before you leave the station.
The result, which steps up the ongoing theme park wars in Orlando, produces a new kind of theme park souvenir: a video of your ride that you'll have the rights to take home and share online. Some coasters (SheiKra at Busch Gardens in Tampa, for one) have recorded elements of a ride for sale, but this is the first to combine that pervasive video coverage with a custom-selected song. The coaster still doesn't sell you every second of your ride -- more like selected highlights, set to your song choice and some canned animation -- but it's a step toward a new way of seeing theme parks. In the future, you won't be finishing paying after you park and buy your entry ticket. You'll be dishing out another $25 or more for a video keepsake of your screams.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-06-2009 @ 11:58AM
math704 said...
That coaster is LAME and has no re-rideability. The only scary thing about it is it's 5 months late opening. What kind of engineering is that?
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10-06-2009 @ 4:48PM
John Salmons said...
You call this cartoon a video of the ride?
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10-06-2009 @ 5:01PM
merritt said...
$25 for a DVD??? it's 2009... why couldn't they just email it to you for a buck? i bet they would make a lot more money.
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10-06-2009 @ 5:44PM
Shane said...
I was thinking why not have an option for digital video instead, to post to youtube and what not, so if you have a camera memory card on hand, slip it in, let it detect if you have enough space and the requirements, and then let it copy
and for the people out there that would talk it during the transfer, you would slip it in, and you close the little door, and it would lock itself in, until finished
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10-06-2009 @ 5:57PM
Jen said...
The Raptor @ Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio videotapes your whole ride as well. Not sure on the cost though.
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10-06-2009 @ 10:01PM
Kenneth said...
What kind of thrill is that, going straight up and blinded by the sun and can't see where you're going, NO THANKS.. It kind of reminds me of the Ultra Twister at Astroworld, which had a straight up section in the coaster, which was mostly a bunch of cork screws put together in the track
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10-06-2009 @ 10:38PM
Jennifer said...
This honestly isn't worth the extra money! I mean seriously what were they thinking? It's bad enough you have to pay an arm and a leg any damn way!
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10-06-2009 @ 11:20PM
Wolfie said...
A twist on a loop? Neat
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10-07-2009 @ 12:04AM
Ron said...
I will not go on this ride. Why would I want a picture of myself shit*ing my pants?
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10-07-2009 @ 12:28AM
miah said...
Tony Hawk's Big Spin at Six Flags St. Louis used to record the whole ride but I don't think it does anymore. The price was comparable. And they wonder why theme parks have lost money!
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10-07-2009 @ 3:12AM
Chris said...
Dumb. Would be better without the music and video.
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10-07-2009 @ 7:07AM
tyler said...
a 25$ video tape half computer generated half real will not sell. universal never gets it. just make new rides, and keep the good ones. the ride looks ok, but nothing too special. busch gardens blows universal out of the water when it comes to rides. hopefully they wont close down due to new ownership.
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