The screams which now echo through the neighborhood almost daily commence each morning and end each night like clockwork. But in recent weeks, fourth-generation Toluca Lake resident Fred Iberri has been haunted — even as he sleeps — by the psychic residue of hearing human beings shrieking as they hurtle through the air.
“The hardest part is not being able to escape from it,” Iberri says as he recounts waking up in the middle of the night hearing voices in his head. “I woke up and heard the screaming and got out of my bed, walked outside and realized that my brain was tricking me.”
For more than 60 years, residents of Toluca Lake have coexisted in relative harmony with Universal Studios’ theme park which is separated from the 1.2 square mile neighborhood by the Lakeside Golf Course.
But that all changed in June when NBCUniversal started testing their newest ride, “Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift,” which is the park’s first-ever high-speed outdoor roller coaster.
When the ride, which includes 360-degree rotating vehicles that move at a max speed of 72MPH along 4,100 feet of track, officially opened to the public a month ago, a rift formed almost immediately between park officials and local residents and it’s been escalating ever since. That’s because, according to residents, whatever mitigation efforts park officials deployed to minimize the sound that echoes across the golf course and into the neighborhood haven’t worked.
“It’s very disconcerting to hear constant screaming,” said resident Julie Greenwald, who considers herself lucky because she lives in a newly built home with double-paned windows and modern insulation. She can still hear the screams when her windows and doors are closed.
“At a normal operating schedule it’s unbearable,” said Iberri. “There’s no end to it and you start to get paranoid about the screaming. I was born and raised here and I have no plans to move. The only thing that would force me to move is this stinking noise.”
On Sept. 30, Universal hosted a community meeting on the lot to provide stakeholders an opportunity to ask questions and voice their concerns to Universal officials. Around 350 residents showed up. And while the meeting was designed to help smooth over relations, it only made matters worse.
The lowlights, according to attendees, were when officials said their major concession would be starting the ride at 9a.m. instead of 8a.m. and ending it before 10p.m. but only until the end of the year. What enraged residents the most, however, were alleged comments from one Universal engineering exec who told residents that the whole issue could be quickly resolved if everyone would just wear noise-canceling headphones.
In response to Universal’s suggestion, a talented resident has created posters that are being displayed locally depicting a smiling Marie Antoinette on the Universal Studios ride in pearls and Ray-Bans with her hands in the air with the words “Let them wear headphones.” (A NBCUniversal spokesperson declined to comment on the exec’s headphones suggestion.)
“They were the worst spokespeople I’ve ever heard in my life,” said longtime Toluca Lake resident Roy Disney, whose grandfather, Roy O. Disney, provides him with some insight into how urban theme parks should be run. Disney notes that the theme park that bears his name has eight scream rides and yet none of the complaints come from nearby residents in Anaheim.
Disney also says that the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland was originally conceived as an outdoor roller coaster, but Disney officials decided to enclose it due to the noise. “The point is that it can be done — you can be a good neighbor,” Disney told us.
For NBCUniversal, the theme park business — which already accounts for nearly a quarter of its revenue — is going to take on an even greater importance once it’s spun off from parent company Comcast by the end of this year. In a recent earnings call, Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong mentioned that the opening of the Fast and Furious ride would have a material impact on revenue at Universal Studios Hollywood.
More is definitely in the offing. NBCUniversal is only halfway through its 25-year “Evolution Plan,” which means a further expansion of existing park facilities with new rides in the works, part of 1.89 million square feet of new development.
In a statement, NBC Universal said that they are in full compliance with local sound standards and “have invested substantially in additional sound-reduction measures based on community feedback and remain committed to exploring what more we can do.”
A source at the company noted that the ride already has two sizable sound barriers and that the park has committed to further sound monitoring. Yet another meeting is scheduled today between park officials and a small group of Toluca Lake stakeholders to discuss further efforts that the park can take. But residents have indicated that anything short of enclosing the ride would be unacceptable, a resolution which park officials say is impossible.