Roller coasters are frequently the most popular attraction at any amusement or theme park. Some parks, like Cedar Point, Magic Mountain and Silver Dollar City, pride themselves on the number and quality of their coasters. Universal Orlando and SeaWorld fight over which is the better coaster park. The question of what is the best roller coaster in Florida is maybe an unanswerable one, and yet a recent viral TikTok claims to know what the worst roller coaster in Florida is, but I have a bone to pick. with this
A TikTok making the rounds claims that Universal Studios Florida’s Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster is the worst in Florida, and honestly, I don’t know what to do with this. I’m not even sure that I’d accept that it’s the worst coaster at Universal Orlando Resort, never mind the worst in Florida, but here we are.
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It should be pointed out that this TikTok was posted in July, and Rip Ride Rockit underwent a refurbishment in August, so it’s possible that the video’s creators might have a different view now than they did then. Having said that, the refurb was only minor, so it’s unlikely there were changes to the ride experience enough to cause people to have different opinions.
Honestly, if anything, Rip Ride Rockit actually is a worse coaster now because after the refurbishment, the list of songs that were previously available was removed and replaced with a much smaller list. Still, the fact that you can select the music you listen to on the ride is the key feature of the coaster and the simple reason that Rip Ride Rockit is better than the worst coaster in Florida.
Part of the problem may be that Universal Orlando Resort actually has two of the best coasters in Florida, with both the Jurassic World Velocicoaster and the amazing Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. By comparison, everything else is going to seem lesser, but I’d still probably list the Incredible Hulk coaster lower in a ranking than Rip Ride Rockit, even if only because it doesn’t have any unique features like the music option. Sometimes it’s the little things that put a coaster over the top. Revenge of the Mummy wouldn’t be nearly as good if Brenden Fraser wasn’t there screaming for a cup of coffee.
Between Universal, Disney World, Bush Gardens in Tampa and Sea World Orlando, there are so many great coasters in Florida that I would certainly have to put Rip Ride Rockit on the lower end of any complete ranking (and I certainly haven’t ridden every coaster in Florida). To say this one is the worst is doing a clear disservice to it.
Honestly, roller coasters are so different that trying to rank them is nearly impossible, which of course didn’t stop me from trying to rank all of Silver Dollar City’s roller coasters this year. But what makes a coaster work for one person and not another can vary wildly. Still, this ain’t it, chief.