Hollywood Drift Spike Takes Shape! Massive Supports UP & HUGE at USF

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:01]Well, that sure is going to be one huge spike once it's completed. Well, hello everyone. This is Chase with Dueling Park News and I'm [music] back over here at Universal Orlando Resort to check up on the Hollywood Drift construction at Universal Studios Florida and take a look. We've got a giant support already up for what's going to be our future spike. [music] Now, just a few days ago, we came out here to check on the new track that was installed along with the supports that came in. And we still see those supports that are staged below. But the biggest development so far is look at that. Got to zoom right on out of here because that is one huge support for one huge spike. Now the cool thing about this spike is that it's going to be 170 ft tall. Universal claims that it's going to be 17 stories high and it's going to offer some great views over CityWalk.

[00:00:49]And now that we can frame both the globe and the supports in one shot right here in CityWalk, we see that the blues from that globe match the color of the support. So, I'm assuming Universal Creative did this in a way to distinguish this coaster, but yet make it look very pleasant with the overall, you know, I'm not saying the blue is the theme of the park, but the globe is blue here, so why, you know, supports are very fitting for it. Well, let's make our way over to the Hard Rock and take a look from that angle. It is starting to rain here. Well, it was raining this morning. It held off for a bit. Now, it's raining again. Hopefully, I can make it over there, stay dry. Hopefully, it won't downpour. And then we'll make our way into the park. It does look like the rain is holding off a lot of crowds from entering today. Uh, it is really dead out here. Maybe not too long. It's only supposed to rain till noon is what the weather app shows. So, I'm sure it'll pick up once that clears out.

[00:01:46]Wow, this thing is a beast. And look at how far it comes into CityWalk. I mean, I can't imagine that they will extend the path back to what it was. Like, if the supports are this far out behind the wall, then we will for sure just stick with this path. I mean, just panning up to the top of what is already here.

[00:02:04]Like, it's not even done yet, and this is already so tall. The sun is starting to peek out now, so maybe this won't be such a gloomy episode, especially since this is the first time that I have seen the spike supports in person. And here we are on our balcony for the Hard Rock Cafe. And just look at this. Look at how much has changed in like 2 weeks, guys.

[00:02:27]Went from just basically footers to all these supports staged and our spike already taking shape. So, let's try to map this out. We're coming. We're coming. We're coming and we shoot up the spike and then we come back down.

[00:02:43]I guess go backwards, get launched again, and then come around on this track and then around the little spaghetti bowl. That's just my guess by the way all these footers are placed and the track and obviously the way the spike is already basically taking shape with the supports out here. They have not officially released any concept art or anything else about this coaster yet.

[00:03:04]So, all we can do is speculate. We do have some crews out here working today.

[00:03:10]But let's get our shot of the track with the spike supports in the background.

[00:03:14]Look at that. The globe is already spinning this way for us, too. Letting you know that this is a beautiful universal coaster. Now, I will eventually walk back to the back side of Hard Rock, but I do see what looks like even more footers are being staged back there where that old Blue Man Group kiosk or ticket booth is. So hopefully we'll get a better view of that. As we zoom in to look at more of these footers and supports right here, we can follow along. Follow along. We see that the direction of travel is aiming this way.

[00:03:43]Following along, following along. It looks like it's facing the track on those little mini supports. But if I had to take a wild guess, I believe we would probably go up this first, back down again, get launched around the spaghetti bowl with this where this track is. I don't know, guys. What do you think? How do you think this is going to play out? We do have something going on over here. We got a tent set up beside the power stations. Uh I don't know if they're installing another power station or something. I don't know.

[00:04:13]Look, check it out. So, we got the white tent up. We've got air being pumped through there. They must be doing some sort of electrical work in there because why else would they be doing this right now with the tent up? Here is the shot of this spike supports and the track from the backside of the Hard Rock. We can see that it is it looks higher than the NBC Grill and Brew right now. So again, they say it's going to be 17 stories tall. I don't think it's going to go all the way to the top. Obviously, that's not really how spikes work, but if it's 17 stories tall, that's going to be up there. So, you're going to get some great views of the coaster and Citywalk. And honestly, if it faces you back towards the park, you'll get great views of Universal Studios Florida. I thought maybe I would get a good angle on what's going back there where the old ticket booth kiosk is staged. Um, but we do see that they've dug out a bunch of dirt over here, so likely for more supports and footers. Uh, I mean, under the shelter, we can kind of zoom in. We do see what looks like footers over there. So, I guess time will tell. have to check out Bio Reconstructs photos.

[00:05:24]Behind the power stations, we can kind of see where some supports are staged for the switch track area, but nothing really new as far as that footer placement. We still see that they've got their stakes in the concrete or rather in the ground where the concrete is. But nothing new yet, at least from my view up here. I still can't get over this spike. I mean, again, I guess it's the spike supports if I'm being technical, but when we're going up, do you think we're going to be drifting and then drifting back down, or do you think we'll be drifting up and the cars will turn facing downwards and we'll come back down and shoot back across all the way to the switch track. And then we'll get relaunched all the way back through this little spaghetti bowl portion where this track has been placed. There's just so many options. What could they be?

[00:06:18]They can drift us and turn us around anywhere with the power of the drifting vehicles. Well, let's head into the park now and go back to the New York side and see what's going on with that new building that had risen since the last video. Before I enter, I was going to come over here and get another angle of the spike supports. But check it out.

[00:06:37]They've already started painting the little like media walls over here to the color of the entrance. So, it is slowly making its way to all where the, you know, the areas where the posters were.

[00:06:50]And now it might reach the arch before too long. Okay. So, it's starting to rain a little bit harder now. So, I'm going to make my way over to New York, check out what's going on back there, and then possibly ride supercharged depending on how the rain does. And remember, the walls are down right here showing the new concrete that they just poured. And it sounds like we've got some heavy machinery running back here.

[00:07:14]So, we might be in for a treat today.

[00:07:17]Wow, we are in for a treat. They are actively working on that new I don't want to say station. I don't want to say entrance, but the metal building that was rising out of the ground a few days ago has already been extended out and it's connecting to the station. And they've already added some metal roofing over top of it. And they're currently adding more right now. Here is a better shot of how far it's already been pushed back. Now, when we were here last, all we saw was the one right here in the front. Now, they've got two, three, four. There's four rows of those metal beams with all uh receiving roofing and siding right now as we speak. Look at it come down. Come on down. We got room for more.

[00:08:03]While they installed that piece, if we look back down right here, we can see that that white cover is still covering the end of the track right here above what we thought was originally the entrance.

[00:08:16]Here's a better shot of that white cover. We see that there's no track connecting to that area yet. And it looks like they have finally put that piece into place now and they're about to add it to the building. I'm also trying to peek inside the well I guess it's not inside but behind the firehouse facade right here to see if they've added anything else. Uh we do see that they've added more of that roofing and what looks like some cable wires holding up some of the rafters maybe. I don't see any more track or siding going anywhere though. So looks like they've just pushed it out this far.

[00:08:53]And standing here in New York, I can actually see how adding more facade or its own facade to cover the track right here could work. It would do a very good job of hiding it from the main New York road area.

[00:09:09]Well, before I make my way over to Supercharge, check it out. They've added posters to the construction walls for the Finnegan's refurbishment.

[00:09:16]All right, guys. Let's go ahead and get this over with and see if anything's changed in the queue. Well, that was actually pretty quick. Supercharged is down right now and they don't know when it'll come back up. They told me to check in later. However, I have a feeling I probably won't hit it in this video. So, we'll just go ahead and make our way to the store to see if anything else has changed in there. I always forget that this gift shop is called the custom gear shop. And then, of course, family.

[00:09:43]Well, as far as the store goes, there's not much changed. We still have the photo op right here. You know, our cars are being moved around, and I would expect this one will probably get moved around as well. Uh, we do have some merch that has been moved over here towards the exit, like the cool Fast and Furious jackets and the t-shirts, but that is pretty much as it goes for the gift shop. They do have some Michelle Rodriguez posters that are signed or some artwork that's signed, and I don't think I've seen that yet, but it's pretty cool. Well everyone, that's going to wrap up my Hollywood Drift update here today at Universal Studios Florida.

[00:10:19]Obviously, the biggest highlight of it all being the spike supports that have gone up behind me. And again, if you look at it from CityWalk, I mean, this thing is going to be massive. It's going to be up in the air 170 ft and heading right back down. So, you'll get some great views of CityWalk. You'll get some great views of hopefully some of the areas back here of Universal Studios Florida. And obviously, you'll probably get some great views of all the office buildings and soundstages, too. Well, if you enjoyed this video, please let me know by liking it and commenting down what's your favorite part about the spike so far. How do you think we're going to go up it? How do you think we're going to go down? And what do you think about the spaghetti bowl that it's going to lead into? How is this all going to work? So, hey, again, Universal hasn't released anything official yet.

[00:11:03]So, speculation is always fun to see and hear. But like always, thank you for watching. Thank you for following along.

[00:11:09]and I will see you in the next update video. [music]