Rockit coaster tapes your ride, produces best YouTube vid ever

While many thrill rides we yearn to strap ourselves into aren't even in the US, a new ride headed to Universal Studios Orlando is apt to thrill the YouTube generation -- on purpose. Reportedly, designers are crafting the so-called Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit to cater to those obsessed with technology (that's us) by enabling patrons to personalize their ride by choosing their own tunes and creating a music video that can be uploaded for all your envious friends to see as soon as you can whip out that 3G card and mash "upload." 'Course, there's a few loops, drops and a 167-foot-tall peak, but it's the "digital audio and video effects" during the ride that you're really anxious to experience, yeah? Clear the calendar now -- this one is set to open next Spring.

[Thanks, Jonathan]

[wireflyer @ Mar 20th 2008 10:35AM]

Other than the ability to upload the video to youtube nothing here is new. Disney has had a similar ride for years. It is in Some indoor attraction at downtown Disney.

[danny @ Mar 20th 2008 10:40AM]

WRONG! What you aRE talknig about is virtual space mountain and thats totally virtual. completely fake. It kinda sucks. This is gonna be a straight up roller coaster. Tallest in central fla! and based on the height of the lift in the concept, its gonna involve some sort of disgusting speed boost. so... go universal!

[rock99rock @ Mar 20th 2008 12:09PM]

@Wireflyer:

Your downtown disney ride is nothing like this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOtX3Fv7Kpg

I recommend anyone who can sneak a camera on board the front seat of a rollercoaster, to take full advantage of it. I just hope the quality of their video is at least 30fps and vga quality...

[PhilxBefore @ Mar 20th 2008 12:10PM]

You're talking about Disney Quest and those are only virtual rollercoasters where you build your tracks and I believe you can purchase the tape, but you don't choose your music. Who would buy a tape of people flipping around in a can anyways?

This will be the real deal.

[The General @ Mar 20th 2008 1:02PM]

@rock99rock:

You're right. Riding on the NYNY rollercoaster next to a super hot chick is much better than this.

[Ghen @ Mar 20th 2008 5:18PM]

she talks too much, but duct tape is man's savior =)

[Alex Padilla @ Mar 20th 2008 10:42AM]

Warning: Shameless college recruiting ahead

This is just another reason for the the kiddies to choose to get their higher education at UCF.

[aeo @ Mar 20th 2008 10:44AM]

A little further... couple more frames... wait! Yeah, freeze frame right here... See this expression on my face? That's the exact moment I realized that I wet myself.

[Steve A. @ Mar 20th 2008 10:47AM]

This looks suspeciously close to Disney's Rock 'N' Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios in Orlando. But with video uploads. Even the logo/artwork looks very similar

[greg @ Mar 20th 2008 11:45AM]

Disney Quest in Orlando allows this already to some extent. You can't upload the final product, but you can get a copy of it to take home and watch. You create the track and then ride in their simulator. You can do things with the track that are NOT possible on a 'real' coaster today.

Very fun!

[TVGenius @ Mar 20th 2008 11:47AM]

Yes, but how much will they gouge for said DVD? $40? $50? More?

[mister_s @ Mar 20th 2008 11:56AM]

hearing ur fav track while riding a roller coaster and getting filmed for a couple of second means you are obsessed with technology?( dat's not me )

thins would practically cause spamming of you tube. park will probably have at least a 1000 visitors a day, and everyone will ve a clip of them riding a roller coaster wid a few flashy colours in the back ground. soon enuf everybody will ve one. gear up to more waste server space you tube

[PhilxBefore @ Mar 20th 2008 12:15PM]

"park will probably have at least a 1000 visitors a day.."

?

Obviously you've never been to Universal Studios in Orlando. With 6.2 million visitors annually that equates to roughly 17,000 a day! 6th most visited park in the U.S.

[mister_s @ Mar 20th 2008 12:19PM]

no i ve never been, thats y i sed probably, i had no idea.

so it ll be at least 15000 crappy videos uploaded everyday on youtube.

u r jus helping me state my point more effectively? how nice...

[David @ Mar 20th 2008 12:20PM]

1000 visitors a day? Comparable coasters in the area have a capacity of close to 2000 riders an hour.

I wonder how they'll handle the videos. Obviously you will not do it in the ride vehicle. Do you get a # like when they take your picture and then go to a computer terminal outside of the ride so that you can type in your email address/youtube account? Maybe they'll set up a website you can go to from home?

I'm curious about the logistics.

[zoara @ Mar 20th 2008 1:09PM]

"ur"? "fav"? "dat"? "thins"? "ve"? "wid"? "enuf"?

Either you're trying far too hard to be cool, or I'm just getting old.

[TK @ Mar 20th 2008 12:34PM]

Just a warning to those deciding to take a camera on a coaster. Most parks will eject you if you get caught. Further, Six Flags bans guests caught bringing cameras on rides for a whole year. Do this at your own risk.

By the way, The tallest coaster in Florida is Sheikra at Busch Gardens Africa at a height of 200'.

Most likely this will be a launching coaster. Maybe an Intamin made coaster.

[FSX51 @ Mar 20th 2008 12:28PM]

Mister_s where did you learn to spell? "Dat's", "Thins", "UR" and "Fav" are not words! Thats just
the people who are too lazy to speak ENGLISH talk. It's not cool just stupid.
1000 people a day. I almost fell off my chair because you don't know anything about amusment parks today. Your local McDonalds see at least 1000 a day.

[mister_s @ Mar 20th 2008 12:37PM]

sorry FSX51,

guess i am stuck on important thoughts and not dumb obvious stuff like u. I write like i please, not for ppl like u to think m cool. learn a new word today SHORT-HAND, look it up if u dnt know wat it means.

ya i ve no clue about the visitors to modern day amusement parks, cos i dnt store irrelevant statistics off the net. but i do know even 1000 videos per day jus cos of one ride in addition to all the videos uploaded currently would mean trouble for you tube...guess that important detail was totally lost on u.dnt think u wud ve understood it even if i wrote full words

[PhilxBefore @ Mar 20th 2008 1:57PM]

@mister_s

Sorry to seem like I'm trolling your posts but you keep listing hilarious 'facts'. YouTube users upload roughly 100,000 video clips per DAY! 1000 more is a mere fraction compared to its use already. If you're afraid of seeing too many of these videos then include '-rockit' in your search query.

[mister_s @ Mar 20th 2008 5:07PM]

wow u really like it slept out for u

Since u r providing the real facts i can do that for u.

u said 17000 ppl visit the park everyday. It should be safe to assume that atleast 10000 will ride the coaster. So it ll be 10000 extra videos from one single source. thats 10% of ur figure from a single source

Not mention one of these videas wud be deleted on accounts of any violations.

Also not to mention how many other ppl will copy this idea.

Not only is this a serious spamming issue but jus a waste of server space and all the costs attached with it.

now does it make sense?

[PhilxBefore @ Mar 20th 2008 8:27PM]

Mister_S

Lk @ id dis wy;; uTYUEB is pwnd by GOOGLE.

[ehisforadam @ Mar 20th 2008 12:55PM]

Man, just give me a roller coaster without all the gimmicks, the only sound track I need is screaming and the only visual I need are the land scape flashing by me.

[Rob @ Mar 20th 2008 1:03PM]

I always bring my camera with me when I ride roller coasters so I can film little girls crying and screaming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjPf3_tnBqw

[Student Driver @ Mar 20th 2008 1:20PM]

So, it will "open" in spring, but be delayed and open in summer. Then, it will be broken and need service for various reasons, and when it becomes "stable" (that is, v 1.5) you'll need a new version of Flash and Vista SP2 won't be compatible with that roller coaster. But that's OK, as Apple will have its own roller coaster with a multi-touch interface for your ass and only curves and drops that Steve deems "appropriate for our customer base."

Awesome.

[Greg Legowski @ Mar 20th 2008 1:43PM]

@TK - Not Intamin, and not launched. It appears to be using Mauher Sohne X-Coaster cars, which means pain, and have a vertical lift, which means more pain.

That said, I'll give it a spin to get it in my track record, then go ride the probably-still-far-better rides in the area, like the Dragons and Hulk...

Anyone attempting to use their camera/cellphone on ride SHOULD be banned from the park. Getting hit by a flying camera at 50+mph because some numbskull lost their grip is not fun.

[injate @ Mar 20th 2008 1:45PM]

Pranksters are so going to throw food/pennies at the passing coaster. Better add a sneeze guard glass/plastic.

[carl cabbage @ Mar 21st 2008 12:16AM]

You've been able to do something like this for a while on Sheikra at Busch Gardens Tampa.

[midiwall @ Mar 20th 2008 2:53PM]

Only 167'? Umm, no thanks. I'll continue to make my yearly trip to Cedar Point:

You'll find me on these... nothing but front car!
http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/millennium_force/index.cfm
http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/top_thrill_dragster/index.cfm

[Greg Legowski @ Mar 20th 2008 2:59PM]

Size queen.

(In all seriousness, your loss if you judge rides strictly by height and speed, and don't give "lesser" but more fun rides a try...)

[analyzewithin @ Mar 20th 2008 3:16PM]

i second that...
Cedar Point is definitely worth it with the world's second tallest and world's second fastest coasters, plus it has more coasters than any other amusement park. It definitely lives up to it's name as the world's best. I'd take a real coaster over these gimmicks any day, what a joke!

[midiwall @ Mar 20th 2008 3:25PM]

@Greg: "In all seriousness, you're loss if you judge rides strictly by height and speed, and don't give "lesser" but more fun rides a try..."

Yeup, I agree.. In fact the latest ride at CP is Maverick (Just 105' & 57mph) and it gave me one of the best thrills of my visit last year. An AWESOME ride. Very well designed with some neat tricks in it.

But, those thrills are different than a straight-down death drop from 400', or hanging weightless for a very long second 200' in the air on something like Wicked Twister, etc. Being a RC junkie is about knowing the thrill potential of any given ride, and knowing how to satisfy whichever craving you may have. Speed, height, twists, air time, etc. It's all different.

I push CP all the time because it has these options all in one place. Plus it's just a great park all around... clean, safe, fun, etc...

[stretchsje @ Mar 20th 2008 3:34PM]

Maverick isn't as tall as either MF or TTD but it's a better ride than either thanks to its design and atmosphere. Size isn't everything.

That said, Universal's DIY music and video stuff sounds like a rather unexciting gimmick.

[Jonathan @ Mar 20th 2008 3:34PM]

Ok well you sit on the side while I ride it and have fun. Whooooooosh

[For2itous @ Mar 20th 2008 4:27PM]

Folks, why wait wait months, then trans-con trek to Orlando when just the tap of an iPhone's 'stocks' icon can dramatically chronicle your own portfolio's 'roller coaster ride' *today*... even more compelling when you fully 'Grok' that this ride's user-driven, open-ended terminus just might be the uber-bracing 'Broker Leap From Midtown Highrise'!

[John Bergman @ Mar 20th 2008 7:13PM]

Cedar Point, voted the #1 amusement park in the world for the last decade or so, has had this on a select few of their roller coasters for a while.. at least a year and a half.