While the newest attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, has not officially opened to guests yet, a number of visitors are already expressing their disappointment that Universal continues to design rides that exclude tall or larger people.
The attraction opened for technical rehearsals on Monday, July 27, and fans are flocking to Universal Studios Hollywood for a chance to take a ride. We’re hearing from some unhappy guests.
Universal Size Limits
The first criticism we received was from a guest who traveled from Colorado to ride the coaster. After waiting in a three-hour line and boarding the coaster, team members said the guest was “too tall” to ride and they were forced to exit. The guest, who said they are 6’4″ tall, indicated that they had checked the Universal Studios Hollywood website prior to making the trip, and while it has a minimum height of 51″, there is no maximum height posted. And while 6’4″ is considered above average height, it is surprising that the roller coaster wouldn’t be able to accommodate someone of that size.
Instagram user Thomas Lipscomb (thomasmlipscomb), who said in a comment that he is 6’7″, shared in a video that he boarded the ride but then had to exit the vehicle and go to a separate room. There, team members had him sit in a test vehicle, where he “scrunched” into the seat and was then allowed to ride.
Comments on this Instagram post showing the ride’s test seat share similar stories. User humbi69 said, “Please mention that 6’4″ and over is a no go. I waited 4.5 hours only to be told once in the seat that I was too tall to ride. Very disappointed that not one employee during the technical rehearsals stopped or flagged down tall people in line to check or warn them at some point during that extremely long wait”.
User alxkiddo said they had trouble with the lap bar: “My first ride I nearly got the walk of shame due to not having the lap bar staple me. Thankfully one of the leads let me try the test seat (which I got the clear) so I got to ride (the rideop was literally going to make me do the walk of shame after all the waiting). For the record I’m 215 lbs and 5’08.”
The attraction uses individual overhead lap bars, which fit differently from person to person even at the same height and weight. So thigh size and waist circumference matter just as much as overall stature, and there’s no single number that captures all of that. That’s why thrill rides often have a test seat near the entrance, so riders can check their fit before committing to the line.
Two people of the same build might get different results. It’s understandable why Universal can’t post one clean spec for it. But it’s just as understandable that someone who traveled halfway across the country and got turned away feels burned.
The test seat for Hollywood Drift is apparently near the loading area and not at the ride’s main entrance, which would make it harder for guests to know if they can ride the attraction before waiting several hours.
A Common Problem at Universal
Universal has historically been much less accommodating for larger people that some of their local competitors. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is notoriously bad for taller guests, as well as larger builds.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey features a restraint system that is often criticized for being tight around the torso and even difficult for people with broad shoulders.
These restraint issues are understandable for the thrill rides Universal Parks are known for, but even relatively tame rides like Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge have been criticized for awkward geometry of the restraints.
And even if we are not talking about restraint systems, some other rides receive a lot of complaints for being too cramped for people with longer legs (we’re looking at you, Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls).
Even though this has been an issue for a long time at Universal parks, they still opened Epic Universe with a large number of rides that have the same problem. Former Disney Imagineer Jim Shull was among those who criticized Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge.
Watch our video of Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift below.
Have you ridden Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift? Or maybe had issues with other Universal rides? Let us know on social media.
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