Universal Studios: No Rockit on Halloween Horror Nights evenings

Last Friday during Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, the new Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit coaster was dark. A train was running -- but without lighting or people. Kinda eerie, actually.

But at the same time, maddening because I haven't ridden HRRR after dark, which is said to be an entirely different experience.

Universal confirmed today that Rockit will not run at all during Horror Night events. (And to clarify, it is still scheduled to run during the day on HNN dates.) A spokesperson says they'll only focus on a few non-Halloween attractions at night: Revenge of the Mummy coaster, Men In Black: Alien Attack, the Simpsons Ride and sometimes Jaws.

There had been Internet reports that Rockit would fire after the first two weeks, and that they were waiting to contruct a safety net over the queue that leads to the haunted houses over in the park's soundstages. I'm having trouble swallowing that because although the public isn't typically in that area of the park, team members are, and if there were danger, wouldn't there be a net already? (Meanwhile, there are no nets at all where the coaster curves above the New York street scene.)

And a suspicious type might look at the guide map posted online for Horror Nights, where Rockit is prominenty marked -- along with the four other open attractions -- along with a red starbursted NEW! device. (Of course, one could argue that they just want guests to know they have something NEW! ... something NEW! that you can't ride right now...)

Bottom line: Looks like we won't be visiting the dark side of Rockit until the time change. Daylight Savings Time ends Nov. 1. Sunset is 5:40 p.m. that day. The park closes at 6.

This would help all of you