Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith

This Article Was Contributed by Greg Collins

Have you ever been in a car in which a family member or friend was sitting at a red light, one foot on the gas and one on the brake? If you recall that "jackrabbit start" feeling you experienced when the light turned green, multiply by about 100, and you may come close to the G's experienced when you ride "Rock 'N' Roller Coaster", the latest addition at the Disney-MGM Studios park at Walt Disney World in Florida.

R&R is truly a breakthrough attraction for Disney as its previous attempts (Space Mountain-28 mph and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad-40 mph) have been, shall we say, much less aggressive. I, for one, applaud Disney for designing a coaster of which any coaster park in the country would be proud, yet while sticking to its beautiful theming and "family-centered" philosophies.

We had the pleasure of visiting the park on R&R's official opening day, August 1, 1999, and entered the queue at 7:30am, as it is now featured on Surprise Mornings for those guests staying on Disney property. But, I'll have to admit, I was almost sorry that we did not have to wait in line, at least for a while, because we missed a lot of the entertaining items we may otherwise have seen had we been waiting in line. There is rock and roll paraphernalia and other items that will make your wait seem much shorter.

The story line is this: You are touring G-Force Records when you are shuffled into an area where you can visit rock group Aerosmith's sound studio. Just on the other side of the glass, you see a room filled with musical instruments, as the band has just finished a jam session. The band, including lead singer Steven Tyler are just beyond this room in their sound mixing room, also behind glass so that they are in your plain sight - and I do mean your PLAIN sight. Due to the latest technology, almost like 3D with real people, you actually feel as if you've seen the real band - no film clips, no animatronics, THEY MUST REALLY BE THERE! You have to see it to believe it! Meanwhile, their touring manager enters their room and harps on them for running behind schedule - they're due at a concert IN A HURRY! But, Mr. Tyler refuses to leave his friends behind (that's us), and insists that we come to the concert, too. So the manager orders the super stretch limo, and our ride is about to begin!

So, now the excitement begins! We are ushered to our limo, strapped in, looping safety bar over us just in case. The cars are individual, not joining each other (Space Mountain style vs. Big Thunder style) , and we actually get to watch the car in front of us accelerate while we are waiting in our car. The ride makes use of one of the latest coaster technologies, Linear Synchronous Motor (LSM), to propel us from 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds (as the traffic light changes from red to green). You experience a G-Force that's stronger than that astronauts experience when they lift off in the space shuttle. We probably slowed down after the initial thrust, but it feels as if you maintain your acceleration throughout the ride. At the end of the first straight stretch over which you are brought up to maximum speed, you head immediately into the first of three inversions (coaster talk for turning you upside-down), and at the same time head into darkness as the ride is enclosed fully inside the building. The ride is simulating a very fast trip through Hollywood, and the speakers in your car blast a special Aerosmith tune that the band recorded exclusively for the ride. There are three inversions in total throughout the ride, and the track eventually takes you right through one of the O's in the infamous Hollywood sign. Now, I've been on coasters with inversions before, but this is a new sensation - I've never been inverted in the dark. It's almost as if you don't know when you're right-side-up vs. when your upside-down. My boys thought for sure that they felt themselves go upside down about six times. You WILL enjoy it!

Try Rock 'N' Roller Coaster early as the wait later in the day is usually at least one hour. There's no extremely long plunges, so you never really feel that "free fall" sensation - just lots of speed and lots of excitement. You won't want to ride it JUST ONCE!! Good luck, or should I say, ROCK ON!! - Greg

High Speed (3 inverts) Coaster; Must be 48" tall (122 cm); For safety, you should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back, or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure. Expectant mothers should not ride.