Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift coaster (USH) - Opening 2026

[Jerroddragon]

Nice

Makes sense and will be nice on rainy days if you still want to walk up the stairs

 

[simon]

Universal doesn't need to theme its roller coasters and as people on the forums will quickly point out, most guests don't care. But what they chose to do with this building is pursue the uncanny valley of themed architecture and split the difference. For theme park fans that love theming and post-Harry Potter, post-Epic Universe, expect that, it's not enough. For guests for whom theming never crosses their minds, it could just look dirty.

There are things about the building look brand new like they could be in a modern mall, even City Walk, like the retail store with it's modern signs and modern door:
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There are things that look almost kitschy or cartoonishly themed from the 1990s (I'm getting DCA vibes here), like the entrance sign:
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There are aspects that are unclear if they are themed or just a mistake, like the "damaged" concrete where the railings are mounted. I honestly don't know if this is intentional or not, as this kind of deep-cut Joe Rohde-style weathering and structural history is not typical elsewhere in this project:
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Overall, the building just looks like a slightly dirty brick building that could have been built any time in the past 100 or so years, especially early in the 20th century or in the post Camden Yards retro-architecture revival of the late '80s-'90s. That is, it looks like this is just a building Universal Studios built in 1993 and it's due a power washing.
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Because if it's themed as "dirty" rather than "really dirty" then it would be useful to make that clear with something more obvious like these actual old buildings in Los Angeles like a faded painted sign on the brick walls or water tower:
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Very good analysis! I don’t have high expactation for theming and facade finishes. My only problem is those ugly fences in waitlines and one in sky bridges, blocking studio, coaster view.

 

[DrStarlander]

Very good analysis! I don’t have high expactation for theming and facade finishes. My only problem is those ugly fences in waitlines and one in sky bridges, blocking studio, coaster view.

Thanks! I had an experience happen in my career when I designed a product and the creative idea was that it would look vintage and distressed. So I bought a bunch of real antique packaged products from the 1930s-1940s and studied the distress of the paper, the cracks and worn edges, and even the slightly misaligned printing plates (colors) and painstaking simulated all that in the brand new product. And it looked very realistic and cool! At retail that was fine, probably because there were several identical boxes and consumers could tell it was all intentional. But online orders were a different story. Consumers got the one package in the mail and, without context, many believed it was actually used and worn, and that the effects were real and not just printed. So there were complaints in the online reviews and returns.

The point is that people who like theming and are on the lookout for it will see it in this building -- here and there -- and maybe give it the benefit of the doubt. Yet many regular people will just see "old and dirty" because it's not obvious enough it's themed and too many things (egreess stairs, roll-up doors, retail entry...) are modern.

The lesson I learned was that if you're going for "old and worn" it needed to be obvious, a bit over the top (in a Joe Rohde way) to be perceived as intentional by regular people. So I don't have high hopes in terms of theming in terms of transportive, immersive entertainment (they're not going for that) but I have high hopes they'll realize they're being too subtle...that splitting the difference is not a good approach here!