9 Best Rides at Universal Studios Hollywood, Ranked (2026)

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Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is the best ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. This outdoor rollercoaster that opened in September 2026 is unlike anything else at the park. Prior to this the best ride was Mario Kart down in Super Nintendo World which is still the number one choice for kids or those wanting to avoid intense thrill rides.

1. Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift

📏 Minimum height: 51″ (130cm)
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 20 minutes, in technical rehearsal
🧍 Single rider: Not confirmed at opening

Hollywood Drift opened on 16 September 2026 as the park’s first outdoor roller coaster, and it is the best ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. Universal’s own figures for it:

• Up to 72mph
• 4,100 feet of track
• Cars that rotate through 360 degrees as they run
• One inversion, visible from the path outside
• 51 inch minimum height, the tallest in the park

I rode it twice in preview and it is smooth rather than rough, so I came off without a hint of motion sickness. The over-the-shoulder harness says thrill ride, and it is the one I would run for at opening.

For its first few months it will hold the longest queue in the park, so make it your first stop if you are there for thrills. If you are nervous, it tops my list of the scariest rides in the park for a reason, so build up to it through the Mummy.

2. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge

📏 Minimum height: 40″ (102cm), 40 to 48″ with a companion
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 10 minutes
🧍 Single rider: Yes

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge was the best ride here until Drift arrived, and it is still the one everyone can ride together. You wear an augmented reality visor, steer a kart through Bowser’s courses and throw shells at the other team.

It takes a couple of goes to get the hang of the visor, so do not judge it on your first score.

The queue through Bowser’s Castle is an attraction in itself. Its first year ran past two hours, but on the quiet Tuesday I visited it posted 10 minutes at 5:14pm, and Universal Express now covers it, which it did not at first.

A Power-Up Band tapped on the steering wheel saves your score to the app. The lap bar has to close around your waist, and there is a test seat at the entrance on the right before the stairs.

3. The World Famous Studio Tour

📏 Minimum height: None
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 5 minutes
🧍 Single rider: No

The World Famous Studio Tour is the one thing here no other theme park can copy. The tram takes about an hour through the working backlot with a live guide, and it has no height requirement, so it is the one attraction the whole group rides together.

The fixed scenes on my September 2026 tour were:

• The Bates Motel and the Psycho house
• The War of the Worlds plane crash
• Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives
• The flash flood, which comes far closer to the tram than you expect
• Jaws
• King Kong 360 3-D, the only 3D segment left

Fast & Furious: Supercharged, which used to close the tour, shut in March 2025 and has not been replaced.

The last tram goes well before park close. On 2 September 2026 the entrance sign said the last tour departs at 4:15pm, and the day before the board already showed it closed at 5:14pm with the park open until 6pm, so ride it before lunch.

4. Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride

📏 Minimum height: 48″ (122cm)
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 5 minutes
🧍 Single rider: Yes

Revenge of the Mummy is an indoor coaster in near darkness that launches to 45mph and runs backwards for a stretch. It does not go upside down and it has no big drops, which is why it is the thrill ride for anyone who cannot stomach the simulators, me included.

Seats are four across with a lap bar each, and there is a test seat at the entrance. It was the scariest ride in the park until Drift, and it is still the right step up from Flight of the Hippogriff for a child who wants more.

5. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

📏 Minimum height: 48″ (122cm)
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 5 minutes
🧍 Single rider: Yes

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey hangs you from a robotic arm and swings you over Hogwarts with Harry, Ron and Hermione. It is a simulator, but a gentler one than Transformers and The Simpsons, and I can stomach it.

If the standby wait is short, walk through the castle queue even if you do not plan to ride, because Dumbledore’s office and the Gryffindor common room are the best sets in the park. The over-the-head restraint is tight across the chest, and there is a test seat at the entrance.

6. Jurassic World: The Ride

📏 Minimum height: 42″ (107cm)
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 5 minutes
🧍 Single rider: Yes

Jurassic World is the only water ride in the park. You drift past dinosaurs in a boat in rows of five until the Indominus rex gets loose, and it ends with an 84 foot drop into a pool, the biggest drop at Universal Studios Hollywood.

You will be wet for an hour afterwards, so ride it in the afternoon and after the Mummy, not before. The Raptor Encounter runs next to the exit, which is a good way to test a nervous child before you queue.

7. Flight of the Hippogriff

📏 Minimum height: 39″ (99cm)
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 5 minutes
🧍 Single rider: Yes

Flight of the Hippogriff is the family coaster. The queue winds past Hagrid’s hut and the pumpkin patch, the train is styled as a Hippogriff, and one hill gives you the best view of Hogwarts Castle in the park.

It is short and mild, over in under a minute, and the 39 inch height limit makes it the first real coaster most children are tall enough for. If it goes well, the Mummy is next.

8. Despicable Me Minion Mayhem

📏 Minimum height: 40″ (102cm)
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 35 minutes
🧍 Single rider: No

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is a motion simulator inside Gru’s house that turns you into a Minion and sends you through the laboratory with Margo, Edith and Agnes. The simulation is mild, and there are stationary seats if you need them.

It drew the longest posted wait in the park on 1 September 2026, 55 minutes at 4:45pm, while most rides showed five, so ride it first thing or in the last hour. Minion characters are often outside the entrance for photos.

9. The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash

📏 Minimum height: 34″ (86cm)
⏱️ Wait on 1 Sept: 15 minutes, Virtual Line or standby
🧍 Single rider: Yes

The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash is a slow dark ride through the streets of New York in a pet carrier, trying to get adopted. It seats four in two rows with a lap bar, and at about five miles an hour it is the gentlest ride in the park and one of the best for little kids.

It runs a Virtual Line through the app, but on 1 September 2026 the standby queue was open too and posted 15 minutes. Check the app when you arrive and take whichever is shorter. The full list with waits and heights covers all 12 rides at Universal Studios Hollywood, including the three that did not make this cut.

The Three Rides That Did Not Make the List

Universal Studios Hollywood has 12 rides, and three of them are not on this list:

• Transformers: The Ride 3-D, a 3D simulator with no drops that is a known motion sickness trigger. I skip it, and if you ride it, do it before The Simpsons rather than after
• The Simpsons Ride, a domed-screen simulator whose constant motion is the worst in the park for anyone prone to sickness. It is the ride I rate lowest at Universal Studios Hollywood
• Silly Swirly Fun Ride, the spinning bug ride in Super Silly Fun Land with no height requirement. It is for toddlers, and my son loved it at 14 months, but it is not a ride to queue for as an adult

If you have children under 40 inches, Silly Swirly is worth the walk. Nobody else needs any of the three.

The Best Ride for Every Kind of Visitor

The ranking above is mine. If your group is not me, this is the one to head for:

• Thrill seekers, Hollywood Drift, then the Mummy
• Families riding together, Mario Kart, from 40 inches with a companion
• First-timers with one hour, the Studio Tour, because nothing else here exists at another park
• Children under 40 inches, The Secret Life of Pets, with Flight of the Hippogriff from 39
• Anyone who gets motion sick, Revenge of the Mummy, the thrill ride with no screens
• Harry Potter fans, Forbidden Journey, and walk the castle queue even if you skip the ride

To fit all nine into one visit, ride Drift or Mario Kart at opening, take the tram before lunch and leave the Upper Lot for the afternoon, which is the order in my hour-by-hour plan for one day at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions I get asked most about the best rides at Universal Studios Hollywood.