Residents near Universal Studios are scared by the sound of the new ‘Fast & Furious’ coaster

Leonard R. Garner Jr. he likes roller coasters. And the retired television director and actor has a place in his heart for Universal Studios Hollywood, the theme park atop the studio where he spends days behind the camera.

He also served the tranquility of his home. As a resident of Toluca Lake, a small area below the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Super Nintendo World and other park staples, Garner watched with interest as Universal Studios began setting up Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, its new outdoor, high-speed ride. He continued to follow the construction during the next three or four years while he was out of the afternoon camps.

Finally, when Universal Studios began testing the ride this spring, Garner breathed a sigh of relief. “I was surprised at how quiet it was,” he said. “I couldn’t hear it at all.”

But he didn’t think about one thing: There were no people in it.

Everything changed, Garner and many other Toluca Lake residents said, on a summer day when Universal Studios began operating a coaster with a full slide of passengers. It rang. They were loud – even punching through double-paned windows. And they always were.

“It’s disturbing,” said another resident, Dr. Christopher Zito.

“You think something is going on,” said Patrick Nazari, another resident. “Like someone is being killed over there.”

Garner said he stopped in his tracks. “I heard it, and I thought, ‘There are going to be problems with this.'”

Universal’s new Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift coaster can be seen (and heard) at Toluca Lake.

(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)

A headache to say the least, both for Toluca Lake residents and Universal Studios Hollywood in the days before the ride opens this summer. For residents, there are fears of what, if any, they might have at this late stage, as one man joked he might have to blast loud music all day to mask the shouting of passengers. At Universal Studios Hollywood, the complaints, which were first reported on social media and quickly picked up by the media, have added to the ugly chaos surrounding what was intended to be a 2026 North American tour.

Longtime Toluca Lake residents have had to get used to their high-powered neighbor making changes over the past few decades. During the last 10 years in particular, Universal Studios Hollywood has grown rapidly, from a behind-the-scenes movie-magic show to a park focused on rides, each addition bringing new concerns of disruption to the public. No one, say the residents, has changed the tone more than this one.

Karen Rogers has lived in Toluca Lake for over 20 years. “It was a park that was never a roller coaster,” he said. “When most of the residents came in, it was about the history of the movie, and everything was inside the park. This is different because it hangs in the area. It’s just disappointing.”

Rob Cerny remembers when he heard the screams. He had just gotten off the Metro B Line across the street from the studio.

“Every minute you hear this loud scream,” he said. “When I got home, my wife was upset. We made our place useless. It’s very loud, the noise. I don’t think this will be fixed.”

On the subject of sound, Universal Studios Hollywood has been working on Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, offering on the website how quiet and unobtrusive its roller coaster is. Many efforts were made to reduce noise – sound walls, scream shields and pea stones on the coaster tracks.

And all are welcome, said Garner, Cerny and other residents. They are all eager to talk, but also cautious. They know that others who have gone to the press have been attacked on social media, many people who are not in Toluca Lake seem to have no sympathy for their cause, comparing them to the complainers who are not in my backyard.

Toluca Lake residents fear Universal’s Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will always be loud.

(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)

If you live near a theme park, you’re walking the main drag, what did you expect?

“That’s a good point,” said Cerny, who has lived near Universal Studios for 30 years, when the park opened what is now known as Jurassic World: The Ride, but long before additions like the “Harry Potter” franchise or Nintendo.

“This was not the Magic Mountain,” Cerny continued. “I grew up here. It was a studio tour. Now it’s a big theme park. That’s a different deal.”

And it’s not, he said, background noise, like a faint song from the Wizarding World. “It’s screaming,” he said. “Screaming is a disturbing noise.

Universal says it’s listening.

“We appreciate hearing from the community, and that feedback is an important part of the process,” read a statement from Universal Studios Hollywood. “The coaster is currently in its testing and approval phase, which is designed to test the attraction over time and under various operating conditions. As part of that process, we are actively reviewing noise levels to ensure the coaster is operating in compliance with regulations.”

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift has been almost ten years in the making. It is an engineering project, located on a hill between the upper and lower parts of the park, extending towards Lankershim Boulevard. Universal has its own interest in reducing noise on board, in addition to being a good neighbor, as it is still a working studio.

The theme park has made contact with neighbors over the years in an effort to ease concerns, either by distributing flyers or attending community meetings. And many Toluca Lake residents enjoy theme park benefits courtesy of Universal, such as free parking, and invitations to pre-opening events at the park. Garner is still talking positively about entering Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge in front of a large crowd.

“We all went to meetings about it,” Rogers said of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift. “Universal says they want to be a good neighbor. They’re making a big deal about making it funnier than it’s ever been. That’s great, but you can’t put tape in people’s mouths.”

While residents say the screaming is too loud, there is no indication that the ride currently violates any county standards. The coaster’s path was cleared in 2013 by Universal Studios Direct. Presented and approved by the County of Los Angeles, the documents outline studio, theme park and hotel expansion plans, detailing requirements such as height, sound and more. While there are no potential features in the preview documents, such as a 72 mph coaster with 360-degree spins, district officials note that there was nothing in the Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift scene that would violate the program’s guidelines.

Therefore, county officials said, there was no requirement for Universal to hold public hearings to be granted permission to build the coaster. This left some residents feeling disrespected, saying they were unaware of the attraction until the land was removed.

Universal Studio Hollywood’s Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will reach speeds of 72 mph and take riders through multiple inversions.

(Todd Martens/Los Angeles Times)

However, it should be noted that before construction began, Universal Studios had placed speakers in its old special effects and impressive buildings to see how the sound came down the hill. And according to the documents, Universal Studios Hollywood must monitor the noise at six designated monitoring points outside and around the park. At least three are in the center of Toluca Lake, located on or near Valley Springs Lane.

Residents are also given numbers to call as noise. Zito has contacted the experts of the park near his house, and noticed that they are sitting with microphones and devices to capture sonic readings. “I always go to them and say, ‘You’re not where it’s really loud,'” he said. One resident talked about downloading a smartphone app to track decibel levels throughout the day, with the goal of recording the sound of the coaster and reporting any violations.

Permissible decibel levels in an area vary depending on the time of day, and the type of noise. Active sound, such as that from an attraction, is classified differently from “immediate sound,” such as gunshots from a film production. Screaming, district officials say, is considered active noise, and decibel levels should hover somewhere around 50 dBa during peak hours.

Most decibel charts consider that average noise, somewhere between steady rain and a dishwasher. Over the years Universal has had to make changes to its attractions, such as replacing the live special effects in its “Waterworld” show with pre-recorded digital tracks.

County manager Kathryn Barger’s office is aware of the complaints of Toluca Lake residents. His staff has been interviewing people at Universal Studios and found them to be “very willing partners,” said Helen Chavez Garcia, Barger’s director of communications. “They are very interested in finding common ground to address community issues, while meeting their larger goals of bringing in a new attraction to keep their park successful. They have been great partners at the table and this will be an ongoing project.”

With the coaster scheduled to open in the coming days or weeks, residents are not expecting a change or the sudden construction of more noisemakers. Rogers, for example, said she and her husband have started shopping for water fountains, wondering if putting them in their yard would stop the crying. Coaster fan Garner, however, said the only way would be to find a way to live — and enjoy — the ride.

“I want to get into it,” he said. “I’m sure it’s going to be something I’m going to experience and I’m sure it’s going to be great.”

Then he stopped for a moment. But I don’t want to listen to it all day and night.