The Incredible Hulk Coaster closed at Universal’s Islands of Adventure on September 8th to undergo an extensive refurbishment. In August, Universal Orlando announced that the coaster would receive enhancements to its storyline, ride vehicles and overall experience though they did not release any specific details about these enhancements. There are some updates that can basically be confirmed because of recent construction photos, however.
Track Replacement
In the past, some have said that the coaster’s track may simply be repainted or slightly enhanced, however, recent photos show the track being entirely dismantled and placed in a recycling center. Because of this, we can confirm that the coaster will receive brand new tracks when it reopens in 2016. Reports from ThemeParkInsider.com insist B&M will be the supplier for this project.
Brand New Ride Vehicles
Universal Orlando’s statement was very limited when they announced enhancements to the coaster’s ride vehicles. The resort simply stated that the coaster would receive enhancements to its storyline, ride vehicles and overall enhancements; they did not indicate what enhancements the ride vehicles would receive. Photos from early October display the coaster’s ride vehicles in the same yard the tracks were placed in. It appears that ride vehicles are being recycled, not reused in the refurbished Hulk coaster. When The Incredible Hulk Coaster opens in the summer of 2016, the coaster will have all-new ride vehicles.
Comments on several theme park forums regarding The Incredible Hulk Coaster’s refurbishment are leaving fans of the coaster in question as to whether the Hulk will receive the same ride restraints on the updated vehicles or new restraints (pictured below) that B&M is using on their newer coasters. This cannot yet be determined as no images or reports picture or describe the coaster’s new ride vehicles. It’s likely we’ll see brand new ride vehicles appear in the park in 2016.
All-New Queue
Photos show major work being completed in the coaster’s interior queue. In the above photo, walls can be seen ripped out. As earlier predicted, The Incredible Hulk Coaster will receive an updated queue perhaps with air conditioning, permanent and/or themed metal detectors to replace the previous temporary devices, and a re-themed interactive environment.
New Supports
Recent construction photos show the dismantling of The Incredible Hulk Coaster’s support beams along the lagoon. As mentioned in one of our past articles (click here to read), we wrote that it is likely The Incredible Hulk Coaster may be completely rebuilt, track piece by track piece, support by support. With the recent dismantling of some support beams, we predict more pieces will be removed in the near future.
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