It’s only in testing, but the neighbors of Universal Studios Hollywood are already complaining about the noise from the new Fast and Furious roller coaster, more specifically the screams. It now appears mitigating those screams permeating across the Lakeside Golf Course to the historic Toluca Lake Neighborhood will delay the opening. Universal Studios Hollywood is somewhat unique in that it is near to some residential areas and has not had an outdoor coaster like this before. NBCUniversal has publicly outlined a number of steps to address noise, including installing 900 feet of sound walls, using pea gravel to help quiet the track and designing the coaster cars to rotate so screams won’t always face the neighborhood. Apparently these steps aren’t doing the trick for some neighbors who claim to hear screams every 30-40 seconds now. It appears there may be more walls coming and potentially programming changes to turn riders more away from the neighborhood.

This is by no means the first time a theme park or amusement park has run into noise complaints from neighbors. Falcon’s Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa bay got complaints about its signature sounds when it first opened years ago. Disney built special “scream tunnels” to contain noise on their Incredicoaster. Parks will also often fill steel roller coaster tracks with sand to quiet them down. Kumba’s tracks are not, leading to its loud signature roar which some neighbors also have complained about. Quieting people is another matter and I’m not sure how Universal will do that and their hype video shows screaming riders. I’m not sure Universal can be held responsible for the screams of guests and what levels are allowed within local code. Hopefully a compromise can be reached that doesn’t involve slowing the coaster down to lessen the intensity/screams (which I’ve unfortunately seen suggested) and Universal can continue to have good relations with its neighbors.