Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is among the most popular attractions at the Walt Disney World Resort, but it’s not for the faint of heart. Some might even say that only thrill junkies are brave enough to board a limousine at the attraction and take off along the streets of Los Angeles on their way to an Aerosmith concert with VIP access.
But the recent continual closings of the ride have some fans wondering if the replacement of Aerosmith as the attraction’s headliner is inevitable.
Not For the Faint of Heart
Disney’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is an impressive indoor launched coaster that debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in July 1999.
The experience sends guests racing in limousines down a Los Angeles freeway to a concert hosted by the band. It’s their lucky night as they’ve scored backstage passes to hang with the band. The only problem is that everyone’s running late, and as such, there’s an absolute need for speed if they’re going to make it on time to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Thanks to the genius of Walt Disney Imagineering and something they like to call linear motor electromagnetic technology, guests blast off from zero to nearly 60 miles per hour in less than three seconds. They experience up to 5Gs as they twist and turn into crazy inversions like over-banked turns, a corkscrew, and even a sea serpent roll.
Coaster lovers often count Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster among Disney World’s can’t-miss experiences, and for good reason.
As of the time of this post, the ride is again closed, and though Disney World has yet to announce a firm date for the ride’s reopening, a recently filed permit with Orange County may give us an idea about a time frame.
Permits filed for construction, maintenance, and repairs on attractions at Disney World give very little information, but in the case of Hollywood Studios’ Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster ride, that’s probably a good thing–especially for fans of Aerosmith.
The permit, filed in early February, by Buena Vista Construction, aka Disney World, lists Adena Corporation as the entity contracted by Disney to perform the necessary work on the ride. Adena Corporation was responsible for work on Magic Kingdom’s TRON Lightcycle Run and EPCOT’s popular Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind coaster.
Adena specializes in the construction of coaster tracks and was also responsible for work on the guest-favorite rides and attractions at Hollywood Studios’ Toy Story Land.
Closure After Closure After the Pandemic
In the years since Disney World reopened following a four-month closure in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster has undergone a number of closures, leaving some fans wondering if the ride is having safety and/or mechanical issues.
Each time a new closure is announced, some fans who aren’t concerned about the mechanical integrity of the coaster speculate that this time will be the closure that results in the disappearance of Aerosmith from the attraction.
Talk among fans of a total retheming of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios began in 2022 and gained traction in August 2022, when a notice of commencement was filed by Disney with Orange County, Florida.
The permit was for providing “labor, material, and/or electrical for construction,” and the address of the location of the aforementioned “construction” matched the official address of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster attraction at Hollywood.
In 2023, the ride experienced a long closure, beginning on February 21. At the time of the closure, Disney promised a reopening date sometime over the summer, and they made good on that promise, reopening with Steven Tyler and the gang still in place.
For now, it appears that Steven Tyler and the band still aren’t going anywhere, but there’s no telling exactly when the ride will reopen–or when it might close yet again.
What do you think is store for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster’s future? Tell us about it in the comments for a chance to be featured in a Disney Dining article!
