# Hagrid's Coaster Queue Updates / Questions / Reviews



## Disxuni

I may be not planning to go until Fall, but I was curious if anyone heard anything yet about soft openings? I believe within one of the posts on this forum they stated their son discovered there was no soft opening when they went (this occurred within the last couple of days), since I haven't seen anything personally in other posts, I wanted to open an official post for people to start to report when it does, if they heard any rumors, and when it happens how crazy the wait times are.

EDIT: As a new milestone in the process of this ride opening occurs I change the title to match the subject of the latest milestone / topic.


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## tink1957

Disxuni said:


> I may be not planning to go until Fall, but I was curious if anyone heard anything yet about soft openings? I believe within one of the posts on this forum they stated their son discovered there was no soft opening when they went (this occurred within the last couple of days), since I haven't seen anything personally in other posts, I wanted to open an official post for people to start to report when it does, if they heard any rumors, and when it happens how crazy the wait times are.


The walls are down now with team members guarding the entrance so softs might be soon!  The TM preview has to happen first but it could be any day now.


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## Brett Wyman

Seems like there may be some issues.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs...-coaster-hasnt-seen-the-typical-soft-openings


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## Disxuni

@Brett Wyman, I agree, as typically soft openings have started a lot sooner in the past. Also, @tink1957 that is some interesting news! I would imagine the time is approaching.


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## MiDigh

I hope so, too. Our last day in the park will be June 10.


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## Disxuni

MiDigh said:


> I hope so, too. Our last day in the park will be June 10.



If it's not doing soft openings by then, I consider that a red flag that definitely something is up.


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## AngiTN

I spoke to a TM (Hogwarts Conductor/Olivander/Tales of Beatle the Bard/and one more I forgot) on Sunday night and he wouldn't give out a whole lot of info (didn't have it to give) other than no TM previews yet have happened yet. He said development TM yes but none other than that. He said they have not been given any info on when they'll be given any dates yet.


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## DisneyLifePapioNe

Received an email this morning saying opening date is still on for June 13, 2019


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## Disxuni

That's good news. It'll be interesting to see what the weekend has in store, since we're closing in on a week until the grand opening.


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## keishashadow

Naturally, disappointing for those who are hoping to catch the new ride during their trips.  However, better to be safe than sorry and make sure everything is solid.


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## CPanther95

I get goosebumps every time I see this thread pop to the top.

Then I open it just to find that someone else has disappointed me.


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## Robo56

My sister sent me a picture on the internet that they took the wall down yesterday.


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## Disxuni

Yeah, it looks as though they're going to do a little bit of something, something for the grand opening, as it looks more like a stage and set with everything in front of the entrance. Hopefully once it's open they'll quickly shove everything out of the way, as it looks kind of awkward right now if all the people had to push through the entrance as it is now.

For those curious as to what it looks like:

__
		http://instagr.am/p/ByT1gF_Az_D/


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## TommyJK

People have started a hash tag of #potterwatch to keep up with info on soft open if/when it happens


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## zebsterama

Has there been "official" word that FOL will not be available for this attraction? 
Going in July - would love if they allowed it ... but I doubt it.

Was there shortly after Gringotts/Diagon was opened ... those early mornings were painful.


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## TommyJK

zebsterama said:


> Has there been "official" word that FOL will not be available for this attraction?
> Going in July - would love if they allowed it ... but I doubt it.
> 
> Was there shortly after Gringotts/Diagon was opened ... those early mornings were painful.



If by FOL you mean "Express Pass" then yes, it has been officially announced that this ride will not have it when it opens.


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## atricks

It looks like they are trying to get Team member preview rides going today, but aren't quite there yet.  Maybe tonight?  They moved the big butterbeer cart closer to the entrance of hogsmeade to make room and are extending the queue line for Hogwarts express on the Kings Cross side in preparation.  June 13th may be insane for crowds.


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## Disxuni

It makes sense for them to do it at night.

Honestly, in my opinion I would temporarily remove the cart until things cool down. Hogsmeade always is congested enough as it is, I can't imagine what it will be like once this ride opens. It's going to be standing room only. I know it's just another source to get the stuff, but they sell enough of that stuff that they don't need a cart honestly considering what's happening right now, but at the same time it would increase the other lines that serve those drinks if they took it away. It's kind of a double edged sword.

Do you know how they're extending the queue? I don't know how they can extend the queue for HE on the KC side, other than making more lines open more than usual, or extending it outside somehow.


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## atricks

AFAIK, outside.


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## SimmerDownNow

Does anyone have experience riding Gringotts during the first week it was open and remember what wait times were at open?   We will be at Universal on Tuesday the 18th and could be there right at open but behind the Universal Hotel guests.   We could also do single rider but not sure that will help much.    We will have Express Passes so not worried about everything else - but also don't want to commit 2-3 hours of a wait in the heat.


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## LandoBlanco

I was at Dragon Alley about a month after it opened and Gringotts had a constant 3 hour wait, even with early access as a hotel guest.  That being said, Dragon Alley is a whole new land, while this is just one attraction.  I'll be there the week of the 17th as well, so hoping it's not quite as bad.


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## atricks

It looks like they are testing it with people right now, however it seems like just folks working the ride.  (Which is a first)


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## Disxuni

You're going to wait 2-3 hours minimum in the heat that much I can tell you. I wasn't there for Gringott's, but you had to wait hours in a separate area in the park just to get into Hogsmeade was when it was first opening due to crowd control. For the grand opening the whole City Walk was flooded. I wasn't there for Gringott's, but I think I saw photos of it being packed as well. 

I would imagine if you're planning to go only days after it opening it's going to be quite a wait, but won't be as ridiculous as the grand opening. However, due to how small the Hogsmeade area as, I would imagine they might do something similar as they did the first time. Once it gets to capacity, have guests wait in another area until they're able to let more gain access.

On Universal Orlando resorts FB page they wrote, "Join us next week for the celebration of Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motor Bike Adventure at #WizardingWorldOrlando LIVE on Facebook." With a promotion photo stating "Tuesday, June 11, TUNE IN AT 8:30pm EST".


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## leiaorgana

SimmerDownNow said:


> Does anyone have experience riding Gringotts during the first week it was open and remember what wait times were at open?   We will be at Universal on Tuesday the 18th and could be there right at open but behind the Universal Hotel guests.   We could also do single rider but not sure that will help much.    We will have Express Passes so not worried about everything else - but also don't want to commit 2-3 hours of a wait in the heat.



I was there opening week of Gringotts. We got to Universal Studios at 5:45am and had to wait for the gates to open at 6:00am. From then we were held in a holding area by Mel’s Diner until EE had finished for hotel guests. By the time we had been walked over by TMs it was showing a 3 hour wait but in reality we only waited 2 1/2 hours and that was only that long because it broke down and we were stuck in the bit with the Goblins for a while.

ETA: Wait times for rest of the day were around 5 - 7 hours


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## 123SA

So...I have zero interest in waiting 5-7 hours for a ride, or even  only 2.5 - 3 hours.   My trip in last the last week in July.  I was planning to get in line at park closing.  Based on past ride openings, should I expect a 3 hour wait then too?   Do they start to close the line before official park closing?


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## Disxuni

123SA said:


> So...I have zero interest in waiting 5-7 hours for a ride, or even  only 2.5 - 3 hours.   My trip in last the last week in July.  I was planning to get in line at park closing.  Based on past ride openings, should I expect a 3 hour wait then too?   Do they start to close the line before official park closing?



I always recommend people to go on an insanely popular ride right before closing during the times in which shows are happening. As most people will be either watching the shows, or have gone for the evening. That's personally what I do rather than going for EE, or "the rope drop". For example, FoP can still be a 2-3 hour wait at AK and I've done this twice. I always get in line before the park is officially closed and never denied. First time I was able to do it within 45 minutes, the second time a little over an hour. That's including wait time and two pre-shows. 

While obviously AK and IoA are different parks all together. I do not see them closing the ride prior to the official closing. I never had that experience at USF/IoA. Unless someone can protest differently in a more recent event?


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## leiaorgana

123SA said:


> So...I have zero interest in waiting 5-7 hours for a ride, or even  only 2.5 - 3 hours.   My trip in last the last week in July.  I was planning to get in line at park closing.  Based on past ride openings, should I expect a 3 hour wait then too?   Do they start to close the line before official park closing?



When Gringotts opened they were closing the line WELL before park closing because of how long it was and so TMs could go home at a decent time.

No one knows what’s going to happen with Hagrid’s ride yet so it’s difficult to say whether it’s going to be as popular as Gringotts or not yet. The lines might be more manageable with it being a single ride instead of a whole land opening or they might not. We won’t know until it opens what the wait times are going to be like.


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## atricks

Info about how they are doing the opening:

From https://blog.universalorlando.com/visiting-us/maximizing-visit-to-hagrids:

We’re very close to opening the highly-anticipated Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Soon, you’ll be able to experience the first-ever story coaster as you join Hagrid on a thrilling journey to the Forbidden Forest to discover magical creatures.
There’s tremendous excitement and anticipation surrounding the opening of this new adventure. For that reason, we anticipate high demand for our new attraction and encourage everyone to download the Official Universal Orlando Resort App in advance and then access our Virtual Line system once on-site in our parks. Below are some tips to maximize your day:

*If You Plan to Join Us on Opening Day, June 13: *Universal’s Islands of Adventure may open earlier than scheduled so that you can begin queueing for the new experience. We’ll have dedicated team members stationed throughout the line to assist you and answer any questions you have.
And be sure to have your camera ready! You never know who you might see…

*Virtual Line: *Beginning June 14, there may be times when our team members ask you to join the Virtual Line on The Official Universal Orlando Resort App to experience Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. This will allow you to enjoy other attractions in the park until it’s your time to join the queue. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Prior to your arrival, download *The Official Universal Orlando Resort App*
Step 2: Once you’re in Islands of Adventure, open the app and tap the icon for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. From there, select how many people are in your party, and then select a return time to join the queue. Please note that you have to be in the park in order to secure a return time.
Step 3: Enjoy the other amazing experiences across Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios until your return time arrives.
Step 4: Upon your return time, head to the designated attraction entrance, where you will wait for your ride. The remainder of your wait time will be posted at the entrance when you arrive. All you have to do is scan your Virtual Line pass on your mobile device, and then you’re ready to join the queue.
We look forward to seeing you out there!


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## SimmerDownNow

For those familiar with Virtual Line, does this work well in practice?   If we are there at open the first week and reserve a spot first thing, are we looking at a mid-late afternoon return time?   Will our wait still be 30 to 45 minutes when we return?


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## atricks

You can sign up to be at the grand opening preview celebration Tuesday night (11th). 

https://blog.universalorlando.com/extras/preview-reception/
It's very limited spots, I'd preregister and then click to join immediately (or just before) 6pm tonight if you want any chance of going.  I can't go since it conflicts with other plans, but I thought it would be useful to anyone at or near the park that may want to go to a very special event there.  IOA itself closes at 6pm on Tuesday for this event that happens after close.

I have no idea how the virtual line will wind up working for  this, it's a very different type of ride than Fallon and Fast and Furious.


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## DoryGirl1963

Is the only way to secure a Virtual return time by using the app? We don't even take our cellphones to the parks.


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## RJstanis

Thanks for the updates @atricks


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## atricks

They just started team member previews of the ride this hour according to uoteam.com  (The Universal team member website).  utnil 8pm today.  There's a very small chance for soft openings tomorrow or late tonight.  (Don't count on it though)


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## AngiTN

DoryGirl1963 said:


> Is the only way to secure a Virtual return time by using the app? We don't even take our cellphones to the parks.


Yes as far as I know


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## verleniahall

DoryGirl1963 said:


> Is the only way to secure a Virtual return time by using the app? We don't even take our cellphones to the parks.



Yes - u have to be in the parks, on the app, and using universal WiFi 

It helps to have your phone - just saying


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## leiaorgana

Just an FYI - I’ve seen on another site that they’re reporting that people with a waistline of 40” or greater might not be able to fit/be accommodated and are strongly advised to try to the test seat first outside of the ride.

However, it also apparently says this in the Uni app for Gringotts, Forbidden Journey and Mummy so if you’re okay with them then you should be alright for Hagrid’s. Just thought I’d give people the heads up.


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## keishashadow

leiaorgana said:


> I’ve seen on another site that they’re reporting that people with a waistline of 40” or greater might not be able to fit/be accommodated and are strongly advised to try to the test seat first outside of the ride.



Absolutely ridiculous to read, what were they thinking?  Ample chests have been an issue on the other rides, would like to think that doesn’t carry over again on this one.


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## leiaorgana

keishashadow said:


> Absolutely ridiculous to read, what were they thinking?  Ample chests have been an issue on the other rides, would like to think that doesn’t carry over again on this one.



I think it’s because of the type of car you sit in. Apparently the side car is much generous  because of the restraint on that. I’m sure most people will be fine though and they’re just saying that as a precaution to cover themselves.


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## keishashadow

Guess we’ll find out soon enough but not optimistic


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## snowwhite84

verleniahall said:


> Yes - u have to be in the parks, on the app, and using universal WiFi
> 
> It helps to have your phone - just saying



Anyone know if we will have to be in IoA to do this? Or could we still sign up for the virtual queue while in Studios?


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## verleniahall

snowwhite84 said:


> Anyone know if we will have to be in IoA to do this? Or could we still sign up for the virtual queue while in Studios?



Ioa


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## kpmdjm

They had team member preview today! My son got to ride he said it universals best ride!


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## DoryGirl1963

Thanks for the info on having to have a phone on us for the virtual cue. It's a bummer but at least we got a heads up! I'm sure hoping EE is at IOA when we're there in September & we can get on it that way.


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## atricks

I'm over there now, the team members are in the line, they are going in behind hippogriff.  Ran into Tim Tracker again too.  No soft opening tonight.

Those I talked to who rode it say best ride in the park, 10/10.  A little less intense than Everest, but much more fun.


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## StephPlum

atricks said:


> I'm over there now, the team members are in the line, they are going in behind hippogriff.  Ran into Tim Tracker again too.  No soft opening tonight.
> 
> Those I talked to who rode it say best ride in the park, 10/10.  A little less intense than Everest, but much more fun.


Anything on if larger patrons will have a hard time riding?


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## KyleAfterAWhile

Brett Wyman said:


> Seems like there may be some issues.
> 
> https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs...-coaster-hasnt-seen-the-typical-soft-openings



YIKES!   
Hope they get that resolved and make sure there will be no accidents.


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## kpmdjm

StephPlum said:


> Anything on if larger patrons will have a hard time riding?


 
My son said the seats are really restrictive ( not sure which side he rode) he also said It is probably the best ride universal has. He also said he will have to find out more info supposedly the test seat is smaller than the actual seat


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## Sehsun

I have heard the motorbike is a bit more comfortable for guests with larger body dimensions (I rode in the sidecar).

The ride is a ton of fun, _fantastic_ addition to the park.


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## Disxuni

kpmdjm said:


> My son said the seats are really restrictive ( not sure which side he rode) he also said It is probably the best ride universal has. He also said he will have to find out more info supposedly the test seat is smaller than the actual seat



This is the reason why I never try the test seats and just go onto the ride itself and go for it, especially since almost all TMs assist with pulling down the bar anyway to ensure you fit and and you do not get that when you're testing the seat.

With the measurements reported I might have to lose a few. While supposedly that waist measurement is reported on all the other rides I've always been able to ride, for some reason I do not trust Hagrid's coaster as being like that, as it seems with each ride that comes out (aside from Kong / F&F) it seems the restraints are getting more restrictive. 

I would think they'd learn their lesson and make it easier each time, but it seems as if they're slowly trying to not include more and more people instead. They can use the safety argument all they want, but you can make a safe ride without restricting the size of the restraint so much, considering Disney can make perfectly safe rides without doing so. I believe some "Pooh" sized people may have issues over there, but not _nearly _as reported as Universal does. 

If anything, I would imagine it would be the opposite, as Disney's target audience is smaller than Universal's.


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## atricks

Random twitter reviews:  Generally most comments about how fun the ride is.

@mechanic_coyote
Anyway I rode the new Hagrid coaster twice yesterday. First time, I got on it in 10 minutes bc it had juuuust opened up for us, and the second time I waited 3 and a half hours. And it was SO SO SO worth it.  Everyone's saying it's a "Slinky Dog coaster, but for adults," and I guess that's a good way to describe it?? But also not??? It's really like nothing else, it's pure fun. Like I can't accurately describe it in any way other than real, genuine fun.
I did both (sidecar and bike)! Bike was a personal favorite I think, for multiple reasons:  it has an interactive element at one point on the ride, I like being higher-up, and it had more legroom. My legs are longer than average compared to the rest of my body, and sitting in the sidecar was --
cool, but I was initially distracted and how cramped I felt. I can't imagine anyone taller than me in there. But the sidecar was amazing still!!! Being lower to the ground made me feel like I was going SO much faster lmfao
-- 



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138070700760207361

I will sing praises to @UniversalORL Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure until something better comes along. Truly the best thing I've ever ridden. If #hogsmeade changed the game for themed lands, this coaster will revolutionize ALL future themed coasters #TMperks  -- 



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1137953520307585026
@xfafi2 not to be dramatic or anything but hagrid’s magical creatures motorbike adventure is the funnest roller coaster experience I’ve ever had  



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1137920986374955009
@Journey_On1, I got to ride Hagrid’s coaster today!! Such a fun, thrilling ride. I loved it. Coaster fans will really enjoy it. Thank you so much, UO, for the preview!! -- 



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1137885920106045440
@ThatJakeKid91, If you took show elements from Mummy and amplify them and took coaster elements from Everest and amplify it you’d ALMOST have Hagrid’s. -- 



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1137798938902368262
@jonathanharvill, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is such a strong addition to one of the best themed lands out there. Thrilling, surprising, and lengthy. Exquisite theming. So. Much. Fun. @UniversalORL – at The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade -- https://twitter.com/jonathanharvill/status/1138066229812498432


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## atricks

They are setting up a special queue line for the ride that reaches all the way to the front of the park


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138103979248889861


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## atricks

Yes they are indeed setting up possible soft openings today.  Depends on the weather (which isn't great today).


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138105214249164801

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138106321046298625

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138105962244530178


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## macraven

Atricks!


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## keishashadow

Looking forward to reports as to how the VR seating plays out.  For some reason utilizing U’s app is problematic for me


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## Mortlives

Does anyone know how rough it is? I can do Everest, but not Thunder Mountain, or Seven Dwarfs, for reference (neck issues). Also no 0-60 launches (Hulk, Rock'n'Roller Coaster).


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## snowwhite84

Deleted


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## glamdring269

Guess this means we will be back to rope dropping IoA once again!


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## SaintsManiac

So ready to see Tim Tracker's video whenever he gets it done. He's been lurking lol


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## Disxuni

keishashadow said:


> Looking forward to reports as to how the VR seating plays out.  For some reason utilizing U’s app is problematic for me



I'm definitely curious about that as well.

General question who's done VR generally for other attractions, is the wait typically long when you go for your particular time? I heard it was a hot mess with VB when it first came out and I was around for Jimmy's ride when it first came out, but I did not use VR and walked on. So, for those who have had experience of it within the actual parks how is the wait time usually? Is it quick, or is it still awhile even going to your specific time?


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## zebsterama

Will be curious to see how early in the morning you'll have to line up to get in the park -- to get a spot using the virtual queue  .... I'm half serious and half joking.

I too did the whole 5:00am special a couple of mornings to check out Gringotts a month or so after it first opened .... that was both fun, and not so much fun.


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## keishashadow

zebsterama said:


> Will be curious to see how early in the morning you'll have to line up to get in the park -- to get a spot using the virtual queue  .... I'm half serious and half joking.
> 
> I too did the whole 5:00am special a couple of mornings to check out Gringotts a month or so after it first opened .... that was both fun, and not so much fun.



5 am? My FOMO gene isn’t quite that strong.  No thank you, but i guess it’s nice to have that sort of option.  Even better to have a few trips planned later this year, hopefully when things may simmer down 

After seeing the above pic of the fencing they are rolling out, have a feeling it’s going to be a hard pass for me during upcoming trip in a few weeks.  Even with the VR access, it’s just not the vibe I want at U, especially when paying for onsite accommodations/FOTL.  Nice to know there should be detailed reviews here posted by more intrepid souls that me lol


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## Liljo22

KyleAfterAWhile said:


> YIKES!
> Hope they get that resolved and make sure there will be no accidents.



There wouldn't be accidents.  They will just need to replace parts more often and a rougher ride.  I was wondering how the unbalanced ride vehicles were going to hold up.  Would not be surprised to see them change the cars to a more balanced setup in the not so distant future.  Especially if they are having to keep replacing wheels and brakes at an abnormal rate.


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## 123SA

The Virtual Line  --  can one member of my family get a time for the 5 of us?     Could I send my family to go ride Rip Ride Rocket, which I don't ride, while I go to IOA to try to get a time for the 5 of us?


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## Sehsun

Thank you, @atricks for including my tweet! 



Mortlives said:


> Does anyone know how rough it is? I can do Everest, but not Thunder Mountain, or Seven Dwarfs, for reference (neck issues). Also no 0-60 launches (Hulk, Rock'n'Roller Coaster).



It is quite smooth. Click below for more details:

There are 7 launches, but I don't know how fast the launches are. They feel kind of like Hulk's launch, maybe not so much as RnR? If you have neck issues, I would be hesitant - so I would definitely read more reviews once it opens to guests and consider watching a POV?


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## atricks

Tom Felton and Rupert Grint (Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley from the films) are at Universal right now, I may stop by there later tonight.  But still very iffy for any soft openings (I.e. it most likely won't open).


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138164828458106880
To follow up I didn't not wind up going to Islands tonight as I realized it wasn't going to happen.


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## TommyJK

Word from those who were there today and taking to people in the know is not to expect any softs before the ride opens


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## SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse

Mortlives said:


> Does anyone know how rough it is? I can do Everest, but not Thunder Mountain, or Seven Dwarfs, for reference (neck issues). Also no 0-60 launches (Hulk, Rock'n'Roller Coaster).



Rode it twice a few hours ago.  I'll put in spoilers below, just in case anyone wants to ensure it's a total surprise, but I won't spoil the fun stuff...

 It really is hard to compare it to most anything out there as the launches that are mentioned happen while you are already moving, so it's an extremely smooth acceleration.  Unlike Rock'n Roller Coaster that launches from a dead stop.  It also doesn't have large big drops like Everest or Mine Train (which is tame to begin with).  There are elements of Tower of Terror, but I won't spoil that.   This ride should not be missed.  If you can handle Everest, you can absolutely handle this ride.  I waited 5 hours on Sunday night and did the whole queue before it was shut down for weather and then twice today very quickly with no queue, due to the fast moving line, and I would absolutely recommend taking standby line at least once.  Universal has knocked it out of the park with this ride and if it is indication of the things to come, all other theme parks should step up their game. Would be happy to answer any specific questions, if anyone is interested.


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## snowwhite84

SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse said:


> Rode it twice a few hours ago.  I'll put in spoilers below, just in case anyone wants to ensure it's a total surprise, but I won't spoil the fun stuff...
> 
> It really is hard to compare it to most anything out there as the launches that are mentioned happen while you are already moving, so it's an extremely smooth acceleration.  Unlike Rock'n Roller Coaster that launches from a dead stop.  It also doesn't have large big drops like Everest or Mine Train (which is tame to begin with).  There are elements of Tower of Terror, but I won't spoil that.   This ride should not be missed.  If you can handle Everest, you can absolutely handle this ride.  I waited 5 hours on Sunday night and did the whole queue before it was shut down for weather and then twice today very quickly with no queue, due to the fast moving line, and I would absolutely recommend taking standby line at least once.  Universal has knocked it out of the park with this ride and if it is indication of the things to come, all other theme parks should step up their game. Would be happy to answer any specific questions, if anyone is interested.



Thanks for this! Leaving in two weeks and so excited to ride this! Appreciate the info coming in


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## Mortlives

SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse said:


> Rode it twice a few hours ago.  I'll put in spoilers below, just in case anyone wants to ensure it's a total surprise, but I won't spoil the fun stuff...
> 
> It really is hard to compare it to most anything out there as the launches that are mentioned happen while you are already moving, so it's an extremely smooth acceleration.  Unlike Rock'n Roller Coaster that launches from a dead stop.  It also doesn't have large big drops like Everest or Mine Train (which is tame to begin with).  There are elements of Tower of Terror, but I won't spoil that.   This ride should not be missed.  If you can handle Everest, you can absolutely handle this ride.  I waited 5 hours on Sunday night and did the whole queue before it was shut down for weather and then twice today very quickly with no queue, due to the fast moving line, and I would absolutely recommend taking standby line at least once.  Universal has knocked it out of the park with this ride and if it is indication of the things to come, all other theme parks should step up their game. Would be happy to answer any specific questions, if anyone is interested.



Thank you. It's good to know. I have a bit more confidence now.


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## zebsterama

123SA said:


> The Virtual Line  --  can one member of my family get a time for the 5 of us?     Could I send my family to go ride Rip Ride Rocket, which I don't ride, while I go to IOA to try to get a time for the 5 of us?



Also interested in finding out the answer to this question in the coming days.

Two virtual line questions that I would be interested in knowing as well:

1. What's the booking limit when placing a virtual pass ride order? Is it single rider ... parties of 5 or 7 etc.? Are your tickets linked somehow (I know it's location based). 

We have a party of 9 going - staying at the Porto-Fino ... but as someone stated no front of the line (understandably) for this ride  yet.

2. If I show up / line up at 5am ... (bring a few phones with me  ) could I book a virtual line pass for my party -- then leave the park location (grab a few ZZZZsss) and come back? ... Is there some kind of location based monitor that negates your passes if you leave the park and come back?

I work in IT/Wireless ... I think of crazy things like this  --- yes I know I need help.

Cheers


----------



## Disxuni

The vertical drop they mentioned when they first released the ride details, is it just one drop? I'm assuming so. If so, do you have an estimated distance on what you think it is by how


zebsterama said:


> Also interested in finding out the answer to this question in the coming days.
> 
> Two virtual line questions that I would be interested in knowing as well:
> 
> 1. What's the booking limit when placing a virtual pass ride order? Is it single rider ... parties of 5 or 7 etc.? Are your tickets linked somehow (I know it's location based).
> 
> We have a party of 9 going - staying at the Porto-Fino ... but as someone stated no front of the line (understandably) for this ride  yet.
> 
> 2. If I show up / line up at 5am ... (bring a few phones with me  ) could I book a virtual line pass for my party -- then leave the park location (grab a few ZZZZsss) and come back? ... Is there some kind of location based monitor that negates your passes if you leave the park and come back?
> 
> I work in IT/Wireless ... I think of crazy things like this  --- yes I know I need help.
> 
> Cheers



It is kind of vague in terms of description as it just simply states select the amount in your party (no mention of linking tickets). When looking at a blog about it, it shows a picture of the select process and it went up to 10. Once again, didn't show anything about linking tickets.

As for booking, you have to be in that park, not even near it. As I believe I read somewhere that someone asked if they were at USF (for example) and tried to book it would it work and someone else stated no. However, someone else can let me know if I'm wrong, or not. As I would imagine there must be a starting proximity point.

As for leaving, the only thing you need to be on site for from what I've read and heard is booking. Just in case, you might want to call to verify with Universal, unless someone else has an experience in the past with booking F&F (for example) and can confirm, or not on whether they were able to leave and keep their spot. However, I would imagine so, because the whole point of doing this is so you can do other things while you wait to go back into the VL.

Also, understandable, as I work in a similar field.


----------



## atricks

I have a feeling how this ride works as far as lines/virtual queue is going to change often at first before it settles down.  There's also the sidecar vs bike seating arrangement, which may make it difficult to sit parties of 2 together, and no row requests.   I'd expect how it works to change nearly day to day while they work it out, especially without any soft openings.

Here's a "review" from someone who did a preview ride yesterday:

http://orlparkpass.com/2019/06/review-spoilers-hagrids-magical-creatures-motorbike-adventure/


----------



## Disxuni

I forgot about that... Does anyone know if it is like "fire" and "ice" with the original DD where everyone splits at the end? How does that work? Cause I forgot that they do mention you get to choose in the end which one you ride in.


----------



## neverenoughtime

From the early reports it looks like Universal has another really good ride.  Cannot wait to try this coaster on our September trip.


----------



## Sehsun

Disxuni said:


> The vertical drop they mentioned when they first released the ride details, is it just one drop? I'm assuming so. If so, do you have an estimated distance on what you think it is by how



I put my answer in the blurred section:
It is just one drop. 17 feet vertical drop. It was over really quick and it's not that bad.  And still fun!



atricks said:


> There's also the sidecar vs bike seating arrangement, which may make it difficult to sit parties of 2 together, and no row requests.



Parties of two will be able to sit together, as long as one person wants the sidecar, and the other one wants the motorbike.



Disxuni said:


> I forgot about that... Does anyone know if it is like "fire" and "ice" with the original DD where everyone splits at the end? How does that work? Cause I forgot that they do mention you get to choose in the end which one you ride in.



Before the last leg of the queue, you are given a card indicating sidecar or motorbike. The last queue is one hallway with a line down the middle. Left for sidecar, right for motorbike.


----------



## atricks

Media is riding the ride now.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138507924911923200

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138514383825453056

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1138513244245700609


----------



## SaintsManiac

It's down for weather. Orlando Informer is live on Instagram right now showing the queue.


----------



## FSU Girl

Sehsun said:


> Before the last leg of the queue, you are given a card indicating sidecar or motorbike. The last queue is one hallway with a line down the middle. Left for sidecar, right for motorbike.


If a party of two can sit together by one being on the bike and one on the side car how does it work when the line is split?


----------



## SaintsManiac

Craig is posting on Twitter about it. Says it's his favorite ride now.


----------



## Valbot

Will be at universal in September. Looking forward to this one. But it does sound like it might be a rough ride. Have a family member that had a C2 neck fracture, I think it sounds like a no go for them.


----------



## Sehsun

FSU Girl said:


> If a party of two can sit together by one being on the bike and one on the side car how does it work when the line is split?



I wish I could explain this better - hmm....so imagine a hallway with a paint line down the middle. I guess you have to make sure you stay side by side with your other rider in the line the entire time up to the load platform? I am sorry, I wasn't in the queue very long to see how the team members handled odd-numbered parties. Hopefully someone can chime in and help clarify?


----------



## skylock

Valbot said:


> Will be at universal in September. Looking forward to this one. But it does sound like it might be a rough ride. Have a family member that had a C2 neck fracture, I think it sounds like a no go for them.



Any roller coaster with someone who has had a C fracture should be a no.


----------



## TB'sWidow

SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse said:


> Rode it twice a few hours ago.  I'll put in spoilers below, just in case anyone wants to ensure it's a total surprise, but I won't spoil the fun stuff...
> 
> It really is hard to compare it to most anything out there as the launches that are mentioned happen while you are already moving, so it's an extremely smooth acceleration.  Unlike Rock'n Roller Coaster that launches from a dead stop.  It also doesn't have large big drops like Everest or Mine Train (which is tame to begin with).  There are elements of Tower of Terror, but I won't spoil that.   This ride should not be missed.  If you can handle Everest, you can absolutely handle this ride.  I waited 5 hours on Sunday night and did the whole queue before it was shut down for weather and then twice today very quickly with no queue, due to the fast moving line, and I would absolutely recommend taking standby line at least once.  Universal has knocked it out of the park with this ride and if it is indication of the things to come, all other theme parks should step up their game. Would be happy to answer any specific questions, if anyone is interested.


Can you elaborate on the tower of terror reference? I hate tower of terror . I have ridden Everest an mine train . Thank you


----------



## Sehsun

TB'sWidow said:


> Can you elaborate on the tower of terror reference? I hate tower of terror . I have ridden Everest an mine train . Thank you



There is one 17-foot vertical drop. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but....Tower of Terror is my favorite ride.


----------



## FSU Girl

Sehsun said:


> I wish I could explain this better - hmm....so imagine a hallway with a paint line down the middle. I guess you have to make sure you stay side by side with your other rider in the line the entire time up to the load platform? I am sorry, I wasn't in the queue very long to see how the team members handled odd-numbered parties. Hopefully someone can chime in and help clarify?


Are you able to see the other person when you go down the separate lines? Is it also explained that if you stay together in line you won't be together on the ride? It sounds confusing.


----------



## Disxuni

FSU Girl said:


> Are you able to see the other person when you go down the separate lines? Is it also explained that if you stay together in line you won't be together on the ride? It sounds confusing.



This is what I heard (someone can clarify if I got something wrong, or can explain better) that for almost the whole time you're with your party. Then at the end, you're given a card, one for being in the seat, one for the bike, then the line is split into two at the very end _briefly. _You're standing right next to each other in the line_. _That is what has been described / what I've read.

For how it actual works, this is my theory. Think of it as FJ, how there is a regular queue line then SR line towards the end. Instead of you being all in one line and the singles being in one line. Think of it as, for example, if you're a couple, you'd be in the regular queue and your partner being in the SR line and each of you go one by one.

As for odd numbers (one again my theory how it'll work), for example, if there was three people, I would imagine the third would either sit in the bike, or car seat depending on what they'd want and sit behind who they're with and have a single next to that person, or they'd pair another odd pairing with one person sitting next to the other odd person and the pair behind. However, more than likely, it will be just easier to match singles with odd number groups, especially since it'd move the SR line faster.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Disxuni said:


> This is what I heard (someone can clarify if I got something wrong, or can explain better) that for almost the whole time you're with your party. Then at the end, you're given a card, one for being in the seat, one for the bike, then the line is split into two at the very end _briefly. _You're standing right next to each other in the line_. _That is what has been described / what I've read.
> 
> For how it actual works, this is my theory. Think of it as FJ, how there is a regular queue line then SR line towards the end. Instead of you being all in one line and the singles being in one line. Think of it as, for example, if you're a couple, you'd be in the regular queue and your partner being in the SR line and each of you go one by one.
> 
> As for odd numbers (one again my theory how it'll work), for example, if there was three people, I would imagine the third would either sit in the bike, or car seat depending on what they'd want and sit behind who they're with and have a single next to that person, or they'd pair another odd pairing with one person sitting next to the other odd person and the pair behind. However, more than likely, it will be just easier to match singles with odd number groups, especially since it'd move the SR line faster.





Thank you for explaining. I was trying to figure it out since I have a 9 year old who will freak if we get separated. I was wondering how it would work.


----------



## FSU Girl

Disxuni said:


> This is what I heard (someone can clarify if I got something wrong, or can explain better) that for almost the whole time you're with your party. Then at the end, you're given a card, one for being in the seat, one for the bike, then the line is split into two at the very end _briefly. _You're standing right next to each other in the line_. _That is what has been described / what I've read.
> 
> For how it actual works, this is my theory. Think of it as FJ, how there is a regular queue line then SR line towards the end. Instead of you being all in one line and the singles being in one line. Think of it as, for example, if you're a couple, you'd be in the regular queue and your partner being in the SR line and each of you go one by one.
> 
> As for odd numbers (one again my theory how it'll work), for example, if there was three people, I would imagine the third would either sit in the bike, or car seat depending on what they'd want and sit behind who they're with and have a single next to that person, or they'd pair another odd pairing with one person sitting next to the other odd person and the pair behind. However, more than likely, it will be just easier to match singles with odd number groups, especially since it'd move the SR line faster.


Thanks for the more in depth explanation I think I understand it better now.


----------



## Disxuni

SaintsManiac said:


> Thank you for explaining. I was trying to figure it out since I have a 9 year old who will freak if we get separated. I was wondering how it would work.



No problem. For how it actually works, once again, my theory, not fact. However, the first part is definitely what I've read from different people of how it works.

Also, when above @Sehsun described it as a line painted in between the two, I just imagined FJ, how the queue and SR lines appear next to each other, only there is a railing between the two. Besides, I would imagine Universal have common sense to not separate parties too much, as regardless of age can cause uneasiness, or if not completely organized, confusion.

Besides, if not for separation anxiety, I've always seen not just parents to children needing prep talks before getting on certain rides, but also couples as well, of all ages. While it's advertised as being "family friendly" I have a feeling this is going to be quite an exciting ride.


----------



## Sehsun

FSU Girl said:


> Are you able to see the other person when you go down the separate lines? Is it also explained that if you stay together in line you won't be together on the ride? It sounds confusing.



Yes, you will be able to see the other person when in the last part of the queue. The last part of the queue is a straight "hallway," so to speak. It is only a blue line down the middle that "divides" you. If the line moves continuously, and you stay side by side in the last part of the queue (the hallway), you should be able to ride together.



Disxuni said:


> Also, when above @Sehsun described it as a line painted in between the two, I just imagined FJ, how the queue and SR lines appear next to each other, only there is a railing between the two.



You are correct!  Same room, same queue, just a small barrier down the middle.

I was hoping that the DIS team would have posted this part of the queue in their full walk-through video (I scrolled through till the last room just before load, and the video cut to the load platform). Perhaps it was different because it was a media preview, and they loaded the ride a bit differently than we did during team member previews.


----------



## TommyJK

For those wondering about the "Virtual Line", on another board I read for those that were at the media previews, it was explained to them a little more clearly:

Virtual Line will only be used when the main queue is full, preventing the line from spilling into Hogsmeade and causing Hogsmeade itself from becoming over-crowded. 

So it won't be like the other implementations of Virtual queue, where when you go back on your return time it's just a small wait from there.  It will be a time to come back and get in the FULL LINE, which could still be hours long wait.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Sehsun said:


> Yes, you will be able to see the other person when in the last part of the queue. The last part of the queue is a straight "hallway," so to speak. It is only a blue line down the middle that "divides" you. If the line moves continuously, and you stay side by side in the last part of the queue (the hallway), you should be able to ride together.
> 
> 
> 
> You are correct!  Same room, same queue, just a small barrier down the middle.
> 
> I was hoping that the DIS team would have posted this part of the queue in their full walk-through video (I scrolled through till the last room just before load, and the video cut to the load platform). Perhaps it was different because it was a media preview, and they loaded the ride a bit differently than we did during team member previews.




Thank you. We are a party of 3, so I think we will have whoever is going SR to stay behind the kid.


----------



## ruthies12

For those who were asking about getting into a virtual line while not in the park, there is a way around that.  I think it is probably not want Universal wants and therefore I'm not going to post it here, but if anyone wants more info you can PM me and I'll explain it.


----------



## xultimatefanx

AH! The ride looks so good, really hoping it won't be too manic in September but I'm sure it's worth the queue especially for the first time you ride it.


----------



## ruthies12

Sehsun said:


> Yes, you will be able to see the other person when in the last part of the queue. The last part of the queue is a straight "hallway," so to speak. It is only a blue line down the middle that "divides" you. If the line moves continuously, and you stay side by side in the last part of the queue (the hallway), you should be able to ride together.
> 
> 
> 
> You are correct!  Same room, same queue, just a small barrier down the middle.
> 
> I was hoping that the DIS team would have posted this part of the queue in their full walk-through video (I scrolled through till the last room just before load, and the video cut to the load platform). Perhaps it was different because it was a media preview, and they loaded the ride a bit differently than we did during team member previews.




Where is this DIS team video you speak of?  I'd really like to see it....


----------



## Disxuni

TommyJK said:


> For those wondering about the "Virtual Line", on another board I read for those that were at the media previews, it was explained to them a little more clearly:
> 
> Virtual Line will only be used when the main queue is full, preventing the line from spilling into Hogsmeade and causing Hogsmeade itself from becoming over-crowded.
> 
> So it won't be like the other implementations of Virtual queue, where when you go back on your return time it's just a small wait from there.  It will be a time to come back and get in the FULL LINE, which could still be hours long wait.



Wow, I was reading that and going along, like yes, this makes sense, to prevent congestion for Hogsmeade would be nice, and suddenly got hit with that shocker at the end.


----------



## macraven

ruthies12 said:


> Where is this DIS team video you speak of?  I'd really like to see it....


It’s the Dis updates for 6/12
Very good video of the walk thru

It ran 10 minutes when I watched it


----------



## TommyJK

So update I've read on TM Previews and potential softs.  There are more TM Previews occurring today from 12:30 to 2:00.  Then after that there *might* be some softs.....

Take with a grain of salt.


----------



## SimmerDownNow

Does anyone want to venture a guess as to what the average wait would be from the sign/entrance to the actual ride?   That is a reaaaaaalllly long queue.


----------



## TommyJK

SimmerDownNow said:


> Does anyone want to venture a guess as to what the average wait would be from the sign/entrance to the actual ride?   That is a reaaaaaalllly long queue.



If that entire queue was full all the way back to the ride entrance, I would speculate 2-3 hrs.


----------



## ray3127

What time would you get to IoA tomorrow (Thursday)?

We are staying onsite at Hard Rock, had this trip booked since last July and lucked out with Hagrid's opening during our trip. We leave Friday, so tomorrow is the day for us.


----------



## TommyJK

ray3127 said:


> What time would you get to IoA tomorrow (Thursday)?
> 
> We are staying onsite at Hard Rock, had this trip booked since last July and lucked out with Hagrid's opening during our trip. We leave Friday, so tomorrow is the day for us.



I would say "as early as they'd let you through security".  If I were you I'd go to the security checkpoint between Hard Rock and citywalk and ask one of the guys working today how early they're starting tomorrow.


----------



## Liljo22

Just watched a video and saw it is a continuous load platform.  Great decision.  I haven't found a video that shows how long it takes the vehicle to dispatch yet though.   They have a continuous load on Wonder Women at the Six Flags.  It definitely adds a little to the notoriously bad capacity of coasters.


----------



## Disxuni

SimmerDownNow said:


> Does anyone want to venture a guess as to what the average wait would be from the sign/entrance to the actual ride?   That is a reaaaaaalllly long queue.



I know @TommyJK said 2-3 hours, but I would imagine it would be much longer than that. As an 3 hour wait can take just the whole queue area for FoP and queues at USF/IoA tend to be better/longer than Disney's. Perhaps, 2-3 hours from entrance/gate to the actual ride entrance (more leaning towards minimum of 3 hours), but I'm assuming you meant including the wait time from gate/entrance to getting onto the actual ride? I would state minimum 6-8 due, including my minimum estimate of 3 hours for gate to ride entrance and estimating minimum 3-5 queue itself (as I've heard reports of TMs waiting for 3 hours, as well as up to 5 and I do not know if that includes inside the queue itself, or being outside of the entrance, as for all I know there could have been even longer waits that I haven't heard of).

That's a very rough estimate based off many different experiences of my own (with general past queues) and from experiences I've read about Hagrid's coaster.


----------



## Sehsun

ruthies12 said:


> Where is this DIS team video you speak of?  I'd really like to see it....



Search for "The DIS" on YouTube. That is where they posted the Hagrid's queue walk-through. 

Also, I have heard that UO is going to open the parking garages at 6:30 tomorrow.


----------



## TommyJK

Disxuni said:


> I know @TommyJK said 2-3 hours, but I would imagine it would be much longer than that. As an 3 hour wait can take just the whole queue area for FoP and queues at USF/IoA tend to be better/longer than Disney's. Perhaps, 2-3 hours from entrance/gate to the actual ride entrance (more leaning towards minimum of 3 hours), but I'm assuming you meant including the wait time from gate/entrance to getting onto the actual ride? I would state minimum 6-8 due, including my minimum estimate of 3 hours for gate to ride entrance and estimating minimum 3-5 queue itself (as I've heard reports of TMs waiting for 3 hours, as well as up to 5 and I do not know if that includes inside the queue itself, or being outside of the entrance, as for all I know there could have been even longer waits that I haven't heard of).
> 
> That's a very rough estimate based off many different experiences of my own (with general past queues) and from experiences I've read about Hagrid's coaster.



I mean, it ultimately comes down to hourly capacity and how many people the full queue holds.

Reports have been that they launch a train every 30 seconds, each train holds 14 passengers, so that's approx. 1600 riders per hour.  If the queue holds 3200 people from entrance to boarding, that would be a 2 hour wait.  If the queue holds 4800 people then that's a 3 hour wait.

With the TMs having ridden and reporting long waits of 3 + hours you have to take into account that in preview mode for them the ride had stopped operating in spurts during their previews for weather, temporary technical issues etc.

But in the end, it's tough to get a proper estimate without knowing how many people the queue holds when it is full.  Mine was just an uneducated guess with some hourly capacity logic thrown in.

Will be interesting to see what it boils down to once the ride is fully up and running in daily operations at peak hourly throughput.

Edit:  Weather forecast doesn't look good for the next few days either, and since it's an outdoor coaster it's likely to not be running for long stretches.  So that is going to put a damper (pun-intended) on throughput for sure.


----------



## skylock

After seeing this, the separated line part doesn't make sense to me.

They are saying the motorcycle is bigger.


----------



## ruthies12

I could be wrong but I don't think the line is actually separated, one person said it was just a painted line on the ground.  Have you ever ridden rip ride rockit?  Right before you get on the moving loading platform they have you stand on those painted dots on the ground and it is just to help you know which car to get into and which side you are on.  I'm picturing the Hagrid que to be like that, just a visual reference so people don't get up to the loading platform and then proceed to hold up the works by having a discussion of whether they want the motorbike or the sidecar with the rest of their riding party (cause you know there are stupid people who would do that lol).


----------



## DisneyPrincess1984

How do I read postings that have been blurred out?


----------



## SaintsManiac

skylock said:


> After seeing this, the separated line part doesn't make sense to me.
> 
> They are saying the motorcycle is bigger.




Thanks for the video. This makes way more sense now.


----------



## Disxuni

TommyJK said:


> Edit:  Weather forecast doesn't look good for the next few days either, and since it's an outdoor coaster it's likely to not be running for long stretches.  So that is going to put a damper (pun-intended) on throughput for sure.



Yeah, it's definitely going to make it even more unpredictable and longer.



DisneyPrincess1984 said:


> How do I read postings that have been blurred out?



All you need to do is click on the blurred post and it should appear. It done to protect others who do not want to be spoiled.


----------



## skylock

Disxuni said:


> Yeah, it's definitely going to make it even more unpredictable and longer.
> 
> 
> 
> All you need to do is click on the blurred post and it should appear. It done to protect others who do not want to be spoiled.



Frankly, if a person doesn't want to see spoilers. they should not click on a thread titled 
*Hagrid's Coaster Soft Openings Updates / Reviews.*


----------



## yulilin3

I'm planning on being at the parking toll by 5:30am. I hope that's early enough to be able to ride in the first 2 hours of the park being open. People on FB are talking about 3am...I have a feeling there will be very little sleep for me tonight


----------



## macraven

_Will the parking garage be open for those going at 3 am?_


----------



## yulilin3

macraven said:


> _Will the parking garage be open for those going at 3 am?_


Last i heard the parking garage opens at 6:30, I'm assuming earlier tomorrow but not sure about 3


----------



## yulilin3

Heading out in a bit. I've read from several fb pages that the garage will not open until 5am but there are people parked in the vicinity waiting so might as well join the party...I'll try and report as often as possible


----------



## yulilin3

The garage opened at 5:30, the park st 6am. We are being held before the entrance to hogsmead


----------



## Disxuni

skylock said:


> Frankly, if a person doesn't want to see spoilers. they should not click on a thread titled
> *Hagrid's Coaster Soft Openings Updates / Reviews.*



You can give updates about the situation of the opening and review without spoiling a lot of information. However, tbh, I think either Universal released, or we have talked about just about everything in terms of what to expect from the ride.



yulilin3 said:


> The garage opened at 5:30, the park st 6am. We are being held before the entrance to hogsmead



Interesting photo you got there. I can't wait to see how long the queue gets, especially since it's almost 9 now.


----------



## mamapenguin

The Universal Ap says Hagrid’s opens at 9:00 (which is now). I think I would be pretty unhappy if that is accurate with the park opening at 6:00. Gringotts was only 30 min.

Edit: Ap reports 600 min wait!


----------



## Disxuni

mamapenguin said:


> The Universal Ap says Hagrid’s opens at 9:00 (which is now). I think I would be pretty unhappy if that is accurate with the park opening at 6:00. Gringotts was only 30 min.



I would imagine Hagrid's does infact open at 9AM (they're probably just now letting people _onto the ride_), but they let people into the park early to _wait_ at 6AM in order to prepare for the long queues.


----------



## atricks

i'm no there now, but they opened the ride at 9AM with a mini grand opening ceremony including a message from Robbie Coltrane, and some of the potter actors (Warwick Davis among them) at the ride entrance:  They let folks up to it that were there, and I think the line goes back behind Poseidon and around into Seuss landing and all the way up to the front of the park, around  8h hours long.  They are handing out water and have fans all along the queue.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1139151520761548804


----------



## TommyJK

Disxuni said:


> Interesting photo you got there. I can't wait to see how long the queue gets, especially since it's almost 9 now.



From another board (where folks in line have been giving a lot of updates) here is an image they drew to show where the queue was to get into hogsmeade before 9:00 am.  They had people wrapped BEHIND Poseidon's Fury into the backstage area!



A person who was in line that was on the bridge between Seuss and Lost Continent was told it would be 4 hour wait from where they were (once the ride started at 9:00)


----------



## atricks

Queue's up to over 10 hours now.  Good luck.


----------



## ruthies12

All I can say is


----------



## SaintsManiac

Good lord.


----------



## C&Jx2

Hahahahaha no.


----------



## Disxuni

It's going to be even more intense this afternoon. Predicting storms / rain today. Which means ride closure / delays.


----------



## neverenoughtime

atricks said:


> Queue's up to over 10 hours now.  Good luck.
> View attachment 408748


Wow, there sure are some dedicated people wanting to ride that today, lol


----------



## Disxuni

I read on another forum someone said that's like waiting until park closing and I was like... "Oh, wow, that kinda is." 

Technically, that would be 12 hours, but I'm sure that won't take long.


----------



## atricks

Well one friend that's out there was met in the line by Warwick Davis, so the actors there are stopping by and saying hello to those in the lines at times.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Poor @yulilin3, sure hope she got there early enough.


----------



## yulilin3

In line.  Quick report
Parked af 5:30 they let us in at 6. Hogsmead opened at 8:30.
They are going in  waves of about 300 people in at a time. I got in in wave 3 closer to 9am. Currently in the room with the motorbike above your head,  about to load.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

yulilin3 said:


> In line.  Quick report
> Parked af 5:30 they let us in at 6. Hogsmead opened at 8:30.
> They are going in  waves of about 300 people in at a time. I got in in wave 3 closer to 9am. Currently in the room with the motorbike above your head,  about to load.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

anyone know if they are utilizing the Virtual Queue today or is it just "stand in a line for 10 hours"?


----------



## Dis_Fan

TheMaxRebo said:


> anyone know if they are utilizing the Virtual Queue today or is it just "stand in a line for 10 hours"?



Stand by only from what I have read. The Virtual stuff does not start until tomorrow.


----------



## yulilin3

TheMaxRebo said:


> anyone know if they are utilizing the Virtual Queue today or is it just "stand in a line for 10 hours"?


No vq today


----------



## yulilin3

About to board and delayed due to weather


----------



## Disxuni

Right now the app says 480. So down to 8. Woo!


----------



## ruthies12

I'm waiting for someone to post a POV video of the ride itself and not just the que.  Hoping it happens today, if anyone sees one online can you post a link here?  I've been doing google searches and coming up empty, only finding the preview videos that are just partials of the ride that universal released awhile back.


----------



## Liljo22

ruthies12 said:


> I'm waiting for someone to post a POV video of the ride itself and not just the que.  Hoping it happens today, if anyone sees one online can you post a link here?  I've been doing google searches and coming up empty, only finding the preview videos that are just partials of the ride that universal released awhile back.



Me too but are they allowing cameras on the ride?  Anyone know if they are running you through metal detectors.


----------



## RAPstar

MCO got the jokes (from their Twitter)


----------



## atricks

Friend got off and they said it was amazing it felt "complete experience", like very few rides do (Splash Mountain is something else they call complete, for example).


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Disxuni said:


> Right now the app says 480. So down to 8. Woo!



queue the news stories of what a failure this ride is for not even being able to maintain the line levels 3 hours after opening


----------



## SaintsManiac

They really should have opened the ride at 8am at least.


----------



## bookgirl2632

SaintsManiac said:


> They really should have opened the ride at 8am at least.



They should have opened earlier for guests staying onsite.


----------



## TommyJK

Disxuni said:


> I know @TommyJK said 2-3 hours, but I would imagine it would be much longer than that. As an 3 hour wait can take just the whole queue area for FoP and queues at USF/IoA tend to be better/longer than Disney's. Perhaps, 2-3 hours from entrance/gate to the actual ride entrance (more leaning towards minimum of 3 hours), but I'm assuming you meant including the wait time from gate/entrance to getting onto the actual ride? I would state minimum 6-8 due, including my minimum estimate of 3 hours for gate to ride entrance and estimating minimum 3-5 queue itself (as I've heard reports of TMs waiting for 3 hours, as well as up to 5 and I do not know if that includes inside the queue itself, or being outside of the entrance, as for all I know there could have been even longer waits that I haven't heard of).
> 
> That's a very rough estimate based off many different experiences of my own (with general past queues) and from experiences I've read about Hagrid's coaster.





> I mean, it ultimately comes down to hourly capacity and how many people the full queue holds.
> 
> Reports have been that they launch a train every 30 seconds, each train holds 14 passengers, so that's approx. 1600 riders per hour. If the queue holds 3200 people from entrance to boarding, that would be a 2 hour wait. If the queue holds 4800 people then that's a 3 hour wait.
> 
> With the TMs having ridden and reporting long waits of 3 + hours you have to take into account that in preview mode for them the ride had stopped operating in spurts during their previews for weather, temporary technical issues etc.
> 
> But in the end, it's tough to get a proper estimate without knowing how many people the queue holds when it is full. Mine was just an uneducated guess with some hourly capacity logic thrown in.
> 
> Will be interesting to see what it boils down to once the ride is fully up and running in daily operations at peak hourly throughput.
> 
> Edit: Weather forecast doesn't look good for the next few days either, and since it's an outdoor coaster it's likely to not be running for long stretches. So that is going to put a damper (pun-intended) on throughput for sure.



So as a follow up on this (about wait time for a full line), I asked someone who rode today for their guesstimate of what the wait-time would would be if the queue was full (from the entrance of the ride itself to load).  They responded with "Probably 2.5/3 hours if running without interruption."


----------



## Liljo22

TommyJK said:


> So as a follow up on this (about wait time for a full line), I asked someone who rode today for their guesstimate of what the wait-time would would be if the queue was full (from the entrance of the ride itself to load).  They responded with "Probably 2.5/3 hours if running without interruption."



They are supposedly(at least through yesterday) running the load belt slow until the CMs get use to the load procedures.


----------



## TommyJK

Liljo22 said:


> The are supposedly(at least through yesterday) running the load belt slow until the CMs get use to the load procedures.



Ooh, that's good news.  It means that they their hourly throughput will continue to increase as time goes on and they get better/faster with load procedures.


----------



## Liljo22

TommyJK said:


> Ooh, that's good news.  It means that they their hourly throughput will continue to increase as time goes on and they get better/faster with load procedures.



That was the report from DIS's Craig in his review.  It looked painfully slow in the media video yesterday.  Also, he said the line is done very weird.  The pre-show is very early in the line and only allows about 40 people in.  That means the outside queue can get backed up with space still on the inside queue.


----------



## Disxuni

So, up to 3 hours for the queue itself was an accurate assessment (for now), but the minimum for 8 hours for the whole ride queue + up to the entrance/gate was off a little, guess it was 10. However, I don't know if the original 10 hour wait included up to the gate, or there were people outside of the park as well. But not too bad of a guess.


----------



## SimmerDownNow

Disxuni said:


> So, up to 3 hours for the queue itself was an accurate assessment (for now), but the minimum for 8 hours for the whole ride queue + up to the entrance/gate was off a little, guess it was 10. However, I don't know if the original 10 hour wait included up to the gate, or there were people outside of the park as well. But not too bad of a guess.



Thanks for the follow-up on this!   We'll be there Tuesday morning first thing and are hoping to get in before the wait builds or ride single rider if it's running.


----------



## ruthies12

I did find a pov video on youtube but it was at night and was horrible quality, you couldn't see anything and people were screaming so you couldn't hear it either.  I did read they do not have a metal detector on this ride, fanny packs were okay, just nothing loose.  Hopefully we'll get some better quality videos soon.

I hope the screaming isn't a problem on this ride, its one of my biggest pet peeves.  I don't know how much there is to hear while the coaster is moving but that is a serious problem on forbidden journey-  If you end up in a car with people who scream you can't hear the actors speaking at all.  Drives me nuts!  It's not a problem on gringotts as much cause the cars stop in front of all the screens so people usually shut up at those points.  

rant over now


----------



## Liljo22

ruthies12 said:


> I did find a pov video on youtube but it was at night and was horrible quality, you couldn't see anything and people were screaming so you couldn't hear it either.  I did read they do not have a metal detector on this ride, fanny packs were okay, just nothing loose.  Hopefully we'll get some better quality videos soon.
> 
> I hope the screaming isn't a problem on this ride, its one of my biggest pet peeves.  I don't know how much there is to hear while the coaster is moving but that is a serious problem on forbidden journey-  If you end up in a car with people who scream you can't hear the actors speaking at all.  Drives me nuts!  It's not a problem on gringotts as much cause the cars stop in front of all the screens so people usually shut up at those points.
> 
> rant over now



I believe the only speaking AA is Hagrid's and that is at a slower part of the ride.


----------



## PoohIsHome

I'm not there, but I'm choosing to believe that, given that this is a ride unlike anything they've done before, Universal is doing the best they can in this moment. The first days and weeks will be painful, but it will continue to get better and better. We'll be back over Thanksgiving week and I can't wait to ride it!


----------



## C&Jx2

Liljo22 said:


> Me too but are they allowing cameras on the ride?  Anyone know if they are running you through metal detectors.


There is one on YouTube by a poster called “ThemeParkBeauty”


----------



## Liljo22

C&Jx2 said:


> There is one on YouTube by a poster called “ThemeParkBeauty”


Thank you.  Looks amazing even with it being a very dark video.  Can't wait to see one in the day.


----------



## GoofyDad_4427

yulilin3 said:


> About to board and delayed due to weather



Don't leave us hanging like that.  How was it?  What was your actual boarding time?


----------



## neverenoughtime

There is a new pov from The Potter Collector.  Ride looks great.  I would love to ride this at night.


----------



## ruthies12

Thank you neverenoughtime!


----------



## yulilin3

GoofyDad_4427 said:


> Don't leave us hanging like that.  How was it?  What was your actual boarding time?


Omg, totally forgot to post. 
I think I rode around 11:15ish.  It's so much fun.  Unexpected,  feels fast, love all the different elements.  Someone described it as a mix between slinky,  mummy and Everest.  Rode on the sidecar comfortably but im 5'1" can't imagine anyone taller being that comfortable,  the bike is roomier.


----------



## Disxuni

yulilin3 said:


> Omg, totally forgot to post.
> I think I rode around 11:15ish.  It's so much fun.  Unexpected,  feels fast, love all the different elements.  Someone described it as a mix between slinky,  mummy and Everest.  Rode on the sidecar comfortably but im 5'1" can't imagine anyone taller being that comfortable,  the bike is roomier.



Does being in the sidecar obscure the view of anything? Cause I know more than likely I'll be getting that seat, as I'm bigger and already been told that is the roomier seat.

I'm curious, because I know that TM/CM always like to preach the idea of "every seat gives you the perfect view" speech when it comes to rides and shows, but we all know that is not true.

Also, 300 minute wait time now! Woo! 

EDIT: Information about people in wheelchairs.
[B]Meg /*[/B]‏ @[B]megadis13[/B] 4h4 hours ago
More
Found out there’s a really cool way to transfer for people in wheelchair. They transfer the person from “their” chair to the ride’s chair. Then the motorbike can extend (in a specific train) and the chair slides in! #*ada* #*HagridsMotorbikeAdventure* (hope that made sense)


----------



## skylock

Actually, it is the motorcycle that seems to have the most room.


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> Does being in the sidecar obscure the view of anything? Cause I know more than likely I'll be getting that seat, as I'm bigger and already been told that is the roomier seat.
> 
> I'm curious, because I know that TM/CM always like to preach the idea of "every seat gives you the perfect view" speech when it comes to rides and shows, but we all know that is not true.
> 
> Also, 300 minute wait time now! Woo!
> 
> EDIT: Information about people in wheelchairs.
> [B]Meg /*[/B]‏ @[B]megadis13[/B] 4h4 hours ago
> More
> Found out there’s a really cool way to transfer for people in wheelchair. They transfer the person from “their” chair to the ride’s chair. Then the motorbike can extend (in a specific train) and the chair slides in! #*ada* #*HagridsMotorbikeAdventure* (hope that made sense)



From the POVs, it looks like most of the show elements are on the left side where the sidecar is.  The motorbike riders should be able to see over their partner.


----------



## yulilin3

Disxuni said:


> Does being in the sidecar obscure the view of anything? Cause I know more than likely I'll be getting that seat, as I'm bigger and already been told that is the roomier seat.
> 
> I'm curious, because I know that TM/CM always like to preach the idea of "every seat gives you the perfect view" speech when it comes to rides and shows, but we all know that is not true.
> 
> Also, 300 minute wait time now! Woo!
> 
> EDIT: Information about people in wheelchairs.
> [B]Meg /*[/B]‏ @[B]megadis13[/B] 4h4 hours ago
> More
> Found out there’s a really cool way to transfer for people in wheelchair. They transfer the person from “their” chair to the ride’s chair. Then the motorbike can extend (in a specific train) and the chair slides in! #*ada* #*HagridsMotorbikeAdventure* (hope that made sense)


The bike is roomier for sure.  But I had a great view on the sidecar


----------



## FSU Girl

yulilin3 said:


> Omg, totally forgot to post.
> I think I rode around 11:15ish.  It's so much fun.  Unexpected,  feels fast, love all the different elements.  Someone described it as a mix between slinky,  mummy and Everest.  Rode on the sidecar comfortably but im 5'1" can't imagine anyone taller being that comfortable,  the bike is roomier.


When you say anyone taller, I'm 5 3'' so I'm not really that tall will I have a problem?


----------



## glamdring269

If the sidecar is really a comfort issue for people taller than 5’1” then there are going to be a lot of disappointed people. Probably a lot of busy chiropractors too.


----------



## yulilin3

FSU Girl said:


> When you say anyone taller, I'm 5 3'' so I'm not really that tall will I have a problem?


yeah no I mean, way taller. There is a test vehicle outside of the attraction entrance and another closer to loading, if you are with a group you can check your comfort level. I was snug not squished, I never felt uncomfortable, I actually liked feeling that snug cause I don't like big rollercoasters where you catch a ton of air, I'm 5'1" 180lbs. The bike has way more leg room and tummy room


----------



## DisneyLifePapioNe

Hope everyone is having a blast on the new awesome ride it sounds!!!!! 

We’ll be there soon enough to give it a go and really full of excitement thanks everyone that is updating so much here!!!


----------



## SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse

glamdring269 said:


> If the sidecar is really a comfort issue for people taller than 5’1” then there are going to be a lot of disappointed people. Probably a lot of busy chiropractors too.


Don't be concerned, because I am 5'10" and 205 pounds and has no issues whatsoever with comfort.  I felt more cramped on The Mummy and Gringotts.  It's an amazing ride.  Ridden it twice on both the motorbike and sidecar.


----------



## xultimatefanx

It looks amazing. Would I have been in that 10 hour wait for it? Hell no but just goes to show how popular Harry Potter still is. Hopefully the new Star Wars hype in Disney will mean the wait time in September isn't so bad.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

FSU Girl said:


> When you say anyone taller, I'm 5 3'' so I'm not really that tall will I have a problem?





glamdring269 said:


> If the sidecar is really a comfort issue for people taller than 5’1” then there are going to be a lot of disappointed people. Probably a lot of busy chiropractors too.





yulilin3 said:


> yeah no I mean, way taller. There is a test vehicle outside of the attraction entrance and another closer to loading, if you are with a group you can check your comfort level. I was snug not squished, I never felt uncomfortable, I actually liked feeling that snug cause I don't like big rollercoasters where you catch a ton of air, I'm 5'1" 180lbs. The bike has way more leg room and tummy room




In case this is helpful, this is what Craig wrote about the seating/comfort in his review of the ride - he is 6'4" and fit in the side car:

"First off, the motorbike is definitely more accommodating for bigger and taller guests. It doesn’t appear to be modified, but the restraint just closes on you differently because of the position you are in. With the motorbike, I don’t see height as an issue at all, but guests with bigger hips and waists may have more difficulties.


The sidecar is a different story. The seating for the sidecar is more traditional, but it is very compact. As a person who is 6 feet 4 inches, I felt like I was sitting down in the car and my legs were slightly elevated because of it. I do carry most of my length in my legs, but I’m not all legs. The problem with this seat is the restraint hit my thighs at about the half way point because of my long calfs. The restraint was still another six or seven inches away from my stomach, so there was plenty of room that way, but even then I’m not the trimmest person out there by any means. That being said, the sidecar still seems pretty accommodating, but the biggest issue will probably be for those who are tall or carry their weight in their hips."


----------



## yulilin3

TheMaxRebo said:


> In case this is helpful, this is what Craig wrote about the seating/comfort in his review of the ride - he is 6'4" and fit in the side car:
> 
> "First off, the motorbike is definitely more accommodating for bigger and taller guests. It doesn’t appear to be modified, but the restraint just closes on you differently because of the position you are in. With the motorbike, I don’t see height as an issue at all, but guests with bigger hips and waists may have more difficulties.
> 
> 
> The sidecar is a different story. The seating for the sidecar is more traditional, but it is very compact. As a person who is 6 feet 4 inches, I felt like I was sitting down in the car and my legs were slightly elevated because of it. I do carry most of my length in my legs, but I’m not all legs. The problem with this seat is the restraint hit my thighs at about the half way point because of my long calfs. The restraint was still another six or seven inches away from my stomach, so there was plenty of room that way, but even then I’m not the trimmest person out there by any means. That being said, the sidecar still seems pretty accommodating, but the biggest issue will probably be for those who are tall or carry their weight in their hips."


what he said


----------



## yulilin3

the ride is showing at capacity, no on else can get in line for the rest of the day


----------



## TwingleMum

are there any ways to reduce your wait? Early entry? Virtual line?? TIA


----------



## damo

TwingleMum said:


> are there any ways to reduce your wait? Early entry? Virtual line?? TIA



Best way to reduce your wait is to get there super early.


----------



## TwingleMum

damo said:


> Best way to reduce your wait is to get there super early.


Thanks. we will be staying on property. Not going till August. So I guess we will see what happens. Not super invested. Certainly not 3 ++hours worth. Will Hagrid's ride be part of virtual line???


----------



## damo

TwingleMum said:


> Thanks. we will be staying on property. Not going till August. So I guess we will see what happens. Not super invested. Certainly not 3 ++hours worth. Will Hagrid's ride be part of virtual line???



By August they may have it as part of early admission.  Lines should have died down substantially by then.  I don't think it will have virtual line at that time.


----------



## Lesley Wake

Any thoughts if it will join Express Pass by the end of the year? I’m going to do a Universal day right after New Years Eve and am leaning towards getting an EP if it is on that system (I know it took a couple years for the other HP things to be added though)


----------



## chimoe

Lesley Wake said:


> Any thoughts if it will join Express Pass by the end of the year? I’m going to do a Universal day right after New Years Eve and am leaning towards getting an EP if it is on that system (I know it took a couple years for the other HP things to be added though)



I’m hoping for express pass also. We plan on going either in December or feb next year.  My understanding is most of the new rides are getting EP not long after opening?


----------



## TommyJK

Still unknown when it will get express pass but they already have the location for it (ie the separate entry and where it merges with the regular line for it) setup. 

So let's hope it within a couple of months (like Kong was) after all operations smooth out.


----------



## TwingleMum

It sounds really cool and I hope that it is added to early entry because we only have 2 days. Quick unexpected trip for us. Looking forward to it no matter what happens. If we get to do the ride it will be a big bonus. This is similar to the Avatar ride at AK. The wait times are still crazy. I'm hoping that SW opening will help with getting FP for Avatar.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Uh-oh



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1139327414574694401


----------



## RJstanis

SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse said:


> Don't be concerned, because I am 5'10" and 205 pounds and has no issues whatsoever with comfort.  I felt more cramped on The Mummy and Gringotts.  It's an amazing ride.  Ridden it twice on both the motorbike and sidecar.





TheMaxRebo said:


> In case this is helpful, this is what Craig wrote about the seating/comfort in his review of the ride - he is 6'4" and fit in the side car:
> 
> "First off, the motorbike is definitely more accommodating for bigger and taller guests. It doesn’t appear to be modified, but the restraint just closes on you differently because of the position you are in. With the motorbike, I don’t see height as an issue at all, but guests with bigger hips and waists may have more difficulties.
> 
> 
> The sidecar is a different story. The seating for the sidecar is more traditional, but it is very compact. As a person who is 6 feet 4 inches, I felt like I was sitting down in the car and my legs were slightly elevated because of it. I do carry most of my length in my legs, but I’m not all legs. The problem with this seat is the restraint hit my thighs at about the half way point because of my long calfs. The restraint was still another six or seven inches away from my stomach, so there was plenty of room that way, but even then I’m not the trimmest person out there by any means. That being said, the sidecar still seems pretty accommodating, but the biggest issue will probably be for those who are tall or carry their weight in their hips."



Thanks for these. I'm 6"4 and I know my kids are going to want the ride the bike, so nice to know I won't be choking on my knees in Aug


----------



## bookgirl2632

We go the first week of October, so I hope that it dies down a bit.  We are staying at RPR, so we can get there early to minimize our wait.


----------



## Lesley Wake

Heads up: apparently they won’t be using the Virtual Queue on Friday after all. (Source: 



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1139287075939934213 )


----------



## Scoobie

Also looking at this for December - either express pass or get there early! One way or another, we're riding this. I can't wait to see the details in the queue! Has anyone commented on the looks yet?


----------



## Breezy2

The 10 hour wait for Hagrid's coaster makes Disneyland's Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening day "Reservation" system look like a genius move. Waiting with great anticipation to see what they do for the Disney World/Orlando opening. Let's hope they are equally as smart about it. In the meantime, hopefully Universal's virtual queue will take some of the pressure and stress off.


----------



## macraven

bookgirl2632 said:


> We go the first week of October, so I hope that it dies down a bit.  We are staying at RPR, so we can get there early to minimize our wait.


_Monday and Tuesday of first week of October should be good but then hhn resumes and more will be in the park

Many do the park during the day and hit hhn at night

At that time you will see some move over to IOA as the studios closes at 5:00_


----------



## jacksdadcan

Scoobie said:


> Also looking at this for December - either express pass or get there early! One way or another, we're riding this. I can't wait to see the details in the queue! Has anyone commented on the looks yet?



RixFlix on youtube was one of the first hundred or so on ride with a quick queue walkthrough.  I think DIS also did one the other day.


----------



## makpak42

Registered just to reply.
Here now. We, family of 4, rode Hagrid's yesterday. Yes, it was a 10 hour wait.  We got to the park about 7:30, should have been there by 5 am. That included one mechanical shutdown as all cars unexpectedly stopped midway through the ride. Then two different weather delays due to lightening.  Got to be honest, there was a time around the seventh hour, during a rain delay, we almost bailed. Thinking is this really worth it????
I can tell you folks this that this ride was worth every minute!!!  It is unlike any other ride. So many different elements.   Not just a typical rollercoaster with twist and turns. It's so smooth, and the acceleration...oooh myyy!!! And a couple Big surprises. Don't spoil it for yourself before you ride.
This ride is so much fun. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.. Definitely voted our favorite ride.

Do what it takes to ride it. Best advice get there early 2-3 hours before park opens. Its worth your time.


----------



## TommyJK

Breezy2 said:


> The 10 hour wait for Hagrid's coaster makes Disneyland's Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening day "Reservation" system look like a genius move. Waiting with great anticipation to see what they do for the Disney World/Orlando opening. Let's hope they are equally as smart about it. In the meantime, hopefully Universal's virtual queue will take some of the pressure and stress off.



The reservation system at DL is their version of a glorified month long soft launch.  And what they are finding that many people who scooped up the free reservations are not showing up, which in turn Disney brass has now become concerned about it because numbers are much lower than hoped for during this period (which means less guest spending than they had hoped).

From everything I have been reading WDW is not planning to do this reservation system for when they open.

Let's see how SWGE fairs at DL when this reservation period ends, and see what WDW is like when they open before declaring them genius'


----------



## atricks

The ride isn't open this morning (yet) should be within the next 45 minutes or so.  The line for the ride is, again, all the way back to the front of the park.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1139532000593948675
Approx 7 hours now.  

I don't think they will actually use the virtual line until this type of response settles down.  (I.e. probably not this weekend either)

Ride throughput is pretty good, less likely to rain today than yesterday, so there's a good chance most will get to ride today.  However the amount of people showing up is off the charts.


----------



## Disxuni

I was going to check for the wait time this morning, but it currently says "delayed" on the app. EDIT: See @atricks already reported that now.

One thing I'm curious about is during the "free fall" portion, for those who have ridden it, is it kind of rough with the landing? Multiple people have stated the ride itself is smooth, but I was wondering if the fall portion was kind of graceful landing, or is it rough and harsh when it drops to track?


----------



## ray3127

Disxuni said:


> I was going to check for the wait time this morning, but it currently says "delayed" on the app. EDIT: See @atricks already reported that now.
> 
> One thing I'm curious about is during the "free fall" portion, for those who have ridden it, is it kind of rough with the landing? Multiple people have stated the ride itself is smooth, but I was wondering if the fall portion was kind of graceful landing, or is it rough and harsh when it drops to track?


Not rough at all. Very smooth. You can feel the hydraulics really catch you for the last several feet. It's far tamer than any ToT/GotG drop.


----------



## Disxuni

ray3127 said:


> Not rough at all. Very smooth. You can feel the hydraulics really catch you for the last several feet. It's far tamer than any ToT/GotG drop.



Thanks for easing my mind. I'm not good with free fall rides, but I'm sucking it up for this ride. Not only the fear of dropping, but the last time I went on one (Dr Doom) I hurt my neck.


----------



## TommyJK

Reports are saying the ride is about ready and they have started letting people into the main queue.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Disxuni said:


> Thanks for easing my mind. I'm not good with free fall rides, but I'm sucking it up for this ride. Not only the fear of dropping, but the last time I went on one (Dr Doom) I hurt my neck.




I hate the free fall rides, too. I am going to summon all courage for this!


----------



## Liljo22

TommyJK said:


> Reports are saying the ride is about ready and they have started letting people into the main queue.



The UO app is still saying delayed.  Is it up yet?

NM - its reporting 360 minutes now.


----------



## Disxuni

Liljo22 said:


> The UO app is still saying delayed.  Is it up yet?
> 
> NM - its reporting 360 minutes now.



Yeah, I was going to say, reports is that it was supposed to be running at 11AM. Right now it's almost noon and wait time is 360, which I thought it was going to be longer since previously it was estimated to be a 7 hour wait earlier. Either way, it's crazy.


----------



## SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse

Disxuni said:


> Yeah, I was going to say, reports is that it was supposed to be running at 11AM. Right now it's almost noon and wait time is 360, which I thought it was going to be longer since previously it was estimated to be a 7 hour wait earlier. Either way, it's crazy.



And everyone can probably go ahead and anticipate another delayed opening tomorrow if they cutoff the queue at 5 like last night.  Ride needs a certain amount of time in between closing and re-opening the next day for maintenance and cycling.  If they don't close it till after midnight, it's that much later the next day.  *It is well worth the wait.  *


----------



## TommyJK

SaintsManiac said:


> I hate the free fall rides, too. I am going to summon all courage for this!



Having been on a ride with a similar drop track portion (The Guardian up here at Canada's Wonderland, whose drop is nearly twice as high) I can say you don't really *feel* it as a drop per-se because it's not that big, but more of a jolt to the system like an exhilarating jump into a really cold pool of water.


----------



## SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse

SaintsManiac said:


> I hate the free fall rides, too. I am going to summon all courage for this!


Honestly, it's almost over before you realize that you're dropping. You'll love it.


----------



## Disxuni

SlytherinWasMyBackupHouse said:


> And everyone can probably go ahead and anticipate another delayed opening tomorrow if they cutoff the queue at 5 like last night.  Ride needs a certain amount of time in between closing and re-opening the next day for maintenance and cycling.  If they don't close it till after midnight, it's that much later the next day.  *It is well worth the wait.  *



Tbh, I was surprised they didn't close the queue until that evening. Since the wait time slowly kept decreasing I assumed that meant that whoever showed up in the morning, that was it, and then they were going to let that queue eventually end. To be honest, I think that makes that most sense, or at least to me, to stop letting people into the queue and once the queue is done, or almost done, if they have enough time prior to closing the park to accept more people into the queue until all this hype dies down. Especially with the long waits and the delays due to technical difficulties / weather.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

if anyone is interested, Craig posted his thoughts/first impressions of the ride


----------



## Spike101

Oooo I cant wait for this, I'll be there the first week of October, and will at IOA first thing on my first day, which due to jet lag wont be difficult.

First time I ride I will do the whole queue to get the whole experience a la Forbidden Journey, aaaaand, be a very brave boy and ride on the bike side which I think will terrify me, any rides after that will be single rider and probably in the sidecar, which will be fine by me!

Also I will ride close to park closing to get that night feel, probably on my first 2 nights before HHN kicks back in again at USO, whichever way you look at it I'm wishing the summer away, oh just remembered, are the lockers FJ style (hope not) or EFG style (Hope so) ?


----------



## 22Tink

I’m so excited to ride this in August! It looks amazing!!


----------



## MeridaAnn

I'll be going tomorrow morning! I'm planning to be there about two hours before park opening (it's a two hour drive to get there for me, so I don't think I can manage to get up any earlier than that). I have some movies loaded on my iPad, so I'm not worried about the wait other than trying to go to the restroom if I have to, since I'll be there solo and I won't have anyone else with me in line. I'll just have to make friends with the people next to me in line and ask them to hold my place if I have to go to the restroom. And I guess I should pick someone really recognizable so I can find them again when I try to get back in line.


----------



## mom4fun

We are here now. We got in line a little over an our ago. I was just going to stand in line with my teen. I don’t like roller coasters. About 40 minutes in line, they took everyone that didn’t have bags, much closer. At that point we split up and I got out of line. My son said that he thinks he’s about an hour from the ride. We shall see. If he does get on then the line waits are way off. They told us it would be a 6 hour wait but realistically it will probably be 3 or less.


----------



## Disxuni

There's no telling now. App shows that the ride is at capacity now instead of showing a wait time.


----------



## Cuchman

TwingleMum said:


> Thanks. we will be staying on property. Not going till August. So I guess we will see what happens. Not super invested. Certainly not 3 ++hours worth. Will Hagrid's ride be part of virtual line???


Going in August also (3rd week).  I am willing to ropedrop this every day if I have to, but am curious what kind of waits I will end up with even doing that.  If they did Early Admission at IOA I would love that.


----------



## LandoBlanco

We’ll be there next week. Hoping the virtual line will be happening by then.


----------



## Spaceguy55

I saw this today and couldn't help but think that this seemed more like a Disney ride..I thought I read somewhere that some Imagineers left and went to Universal...maybe they worked on this...
Shows the full ride from the front in case you don't want to see it yet..


----------



## MeridaAnn

One of my friend who rode today said something on FB about not being able to have a bag in line - I’m hoping she just meant in the last section of the queue once we’re past the lockers, right? Or can you not have bags in line at all, because that would really stink. Can anyone confirm? I’ve asked her to clarify, but she hasn’t responded yet and I’d like to know before I get there tomorrow if possible...

Edit: Yes, she finally clarified that it was only the final section of the queue (after the lockers in Hogsmeade) where bags aren’t allowed. But she said you *can* still have things in your pocket on the ride.


----------



## Lesley Wake

Spaceguy55 said:


> I saw this today and couldn't help but think that this seemed more like a Disney ride..I thought I read somewhere that some Imagineers left and went to Universal...maybe they worked on this...
> Shows the full ride from the front in case you don't want to see it yet..


There’s an interesting history with Disney/Universal. Animal Kingdom was originally supposed to have a “Beastly Kingdom” Land, which is why there are dragons on the logo. The land itself looked amazing, with a dark and villainous area, including a dragon roller coaster and some other stuff, and a light fantastical side. This would have been Phase 2, but unfortunately AK didn’t do as well out of the gate so they put the brakes on it. (You can actually see a dragon rock formation on the north side of the bridge from Tiffins-Pandora as a memory of that.) 

After Disney didn’t give the green light, a bunch of imagineers got very frustrated. So they went across town to Universal. And Islands of Adventure turned up with The Lost Continent. When Disney execs did a tour they realized how similar it was to the original AK plans, which is when they officially ended that plan. 

https://themouselets.com/beastly-kingdom
Interesting it can lead to inspiration in both ways. Scott Trowbridge was a head designer for the early development of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Then came over to Disney and was in charge of Galaxy’s Edge. I love Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley and their level of immersion. Galaxy’s Edge blows them out of the world, and I appreciate that imagineers were able to get the ability to do so (probably because Disney realized how much of a competitor had developed at USO).


----------



## dawnnikol

Is there a photo op on this ride?  I haven't seen it mentioned and I'm not watching the videos for the spoilers.


----------



## leiaorgana

dawnnikol said:


> Is there a photo op on this ride?  I haven't seen it mentioned and I'm not watching the videos for the spoilers.



I’ve read there is but it’s not being used yet


----------



## dawnnikol

leiaorgana said:


> I’ve read there is but it’s not being used yet



That makes sense.  Thank you for replying.


----------



## atricks

FYI line is 8 hours again today, and back to the front of the park.   People showed up at 5AM.   The ride is running well so far today, hopefully that fact drops the waits somewhat, but the weekend factor may counter that.


----------



## glvsav37

atricks said:


> FYI line is 8 hours again today, and back to the front of the park.   People showed up at 5AM.


this does not make me very confident for my trip next month. ughhhhh


----------



## MeridaAnn

I parked at 7:30, they started letting people in to start the line 5 minutes before 8, and I'm in the official section of the queue now (9:20), just past Hagrid's hut. Nearly there!


----------



## mom4fun

Reporting back from yesterday. My son got in line at 3:35. They said it was a 6 hour wait. He waited for 3 hours. Because he didn’t have a bag, he was brought way up closer. Everyone with bags had to wait longer. He also, went through the single rider line.


----------



## TommyJK

mom4fun said:


> Reporting back from yesterday. My son got in line at 3:35. They said it was a 6 hour wait. He waited for 3 hours. Because he didn’t have a bag, he was brought way up closer. Everyone with bags had to wait longer. He also, went through the single rider line.



With all of the ups and downs of the ride in the first few days (technical difficulties, rain delays etc) I don't think the app or the employees will have an actually accurate wait time estimator.  

I think for now on the app, instead of stating the wait time they would just show


----------



## MeridaAnn

Just got off the ride - truly spectacular!!! I parked at 7:30 and rode almost exactly 3 hours later. Worth every minute!!!


----------



## luvmy2boyzz

App says 180 minute wait right now. That is my limit so maybe there is hope that we will ride next Thursday or Friday


----------



## atricks

It looks like ride operations has hit a stride now, it's down to 3 hours.  The line starts right at the entrance now and they are adding more trains.


----------



## Ariel620

I’m staying at Royal Pacific next week.  I assume it’s better to be in line at IOA as early as possible rather than go to USF early entry and ride Hogwarts express over. There is no advantage to that is there?


----------



## Spike101

Ariel620 said:


> I’m staying at Royal Pacific next week.  I assume it’s better to be in line at IOA as early as possible rather than go to USF early entry and ride Hogwarts express over. There is no advantage to that is there?



On my  visit in March when early entry was for USF, was to do Gringotts, enjoy Diagon Alley for a bit while it was quiet (bliss) then get the first Hogwarts Express of the day and do Forbidden Journey straight away.

By the time i got to FJ there were already people there but it wasnt manic, besides I used the single rider queue and just walked on (More bliss) but with Hagrid being a brand new ride I would definitely start my day at IOA, even if early entry is at USF, its obvious that everyone through the gates at opening of IOA will head straight there.

Getting the first Hogwarts Express from USF will beat some of the crowds but to really maximise your day, start at IOA, thats what I'll do in October, I will do the full queue my first time to see everything, after that it'll be single rider every time!


----------



## bookgirl2632

I see there is an issue with bags/lockers.  My sister will not ride, but she waits in the queue with us.  She loves the one for Forbidden Journey.  She exits at the end before boarding.  Is there a place to do that for Hagrid’s?  Also, she usually just takes our bags with her, so TMs on Forbidden Journey have always been fine with this.  Anyone have experience with this on Hagrid’s yet?


----------



## MeridaAnn

Today, they started letting us in to IoA at 8 to start the line for Hagrid's (no rides were running yet) - the same time that USO opened. And the line started across from Cinnabon right at the park entrance, so at least for now you wouldn't want to start in USO.


----------



## rlthomas7

Are they particular about saving spots in line? I'm wondering if my husband can go to IoA next week at 8:00 to get in line, while I take my son to US to play with his wand in Diagon Alley, then ride the train over and join him in line. We are staying at Hard Rock, so will have early entry to US and Express Pass for Hogwarts Express.


----------



## Sehsun

bookgirl2632 said:


> I see there is an issue with bags/lockers.  My sister will not ride, but she waits in the queue with us.  She loves the one for Forbidden Journey.  She exits at the end before boarding.  Is there a place to do that for Hagrid’s?  Also, she usually just takes our bags with her, so TMs on Forbidden Journey have always been fine with this.  Anyone have experience with this on Hagrid’s yet?



Yes, she could wait in the queue with you. Once you get to the final room of the queue where the indoor test seats are located, there is a family room/child swap area where she could wait with your bags. When you exit, you will walk by the family room on your right where you could meet up with her again.


----------



## Sith

I saw in an earlier post that you are allowed to keep things in your pockets on this ride. What about hats? Do we have to put them in a locker, or can we just hold onto them?


----------



## MeridaAnn

I had on a big floppy hat that I forgot to put in the locker. I just sat on it and it was fine. You wouldn't want to keep it on during the ride though.


----------



## Sith

MeridaAnn said:


> I had on a big floppy hat that I forgot to put in the locker. I just sat on it and it was fine. You wouldn't want to keep it on during the right though.


Yeah I definitely wouldn’t wear it. Just wondering if they make us put them in a locker or not. I’d prefer to just hold onto it. Thanks!


----------



## MeridaAnn

rlthomas7 said:


> Are they particular about saving spots in line? I'm wondering if my husband can go to IoA next week at 8:00 to get in line, while I take my son to US to play with his wand in Diagon Alley, then ride the train over and join him in line. We are staying at Hard Rock, so will have early entry to US and Express Pass for Hogwarts Express.



Um, please don't do this. That's pretty blatant line jumping and it's not fair to everyone else in line.

And I don't think it would work out for you anyway. 9am is when I reached the lockers and got into the "real" queue, so if the timing's similar next week, your husband would have already passed the lockers and you won't be able to put the wand in one (they are regulating access to the lockers so they don't get super chaotic) and I doubt they would let you into the "real" line section if they didn't see you come out to run to the bathroom or something.



Side note: for those who are waiting in the extended line, there is a bathroom across from the Sinbad theater that seemed to be roped off specifically for those in line. The first table with water cups was set up right there, too.


----------



## yulilin3

Sith said:


> I saw in an earlier post that you are allowed to keep things in your pockets on this ride. What about hats? Do we have to put them in a locker, or can we just hold onto them?


I had a baseball hat and I also just took it off and held it while I rode


----------



## Sith

Anybody take a wand on this? Is there any sort of pouch to put it in, or do you just have to hold it?


----------



## atricks

I finally got to ride tonight, got in the queue at 5:30 and rode at about 8:45pm, a night ride!!  Wow is this amazing at nigh.  I was in the sidecar, and I fit fine.  240lb 6'3".   It really feels like you are on a motorbike and the launches are just fun, you can't wait for the next one.  The spike and drop track are smooth as butter, and the last launch... wow.  The sound, the launches, the surprises, it's just fun and the pacing is perfect.

  Yeah, no hesitation, this is my favorite new coaster in Orlando, it's that good.


----------



## yulilin3

Sith said:


> Anybody take a wand on this? Is there any sort of pouch to put it in, or do you just have to hold it?


No pouch. I doubt they'll let a wand go on,  it's a serious safety issue


----------



## Sith

yulilin3 said:


> No pouch. I doubt they'll let a wand go on,  it's a serious safety issue


Is it possible for one person in party to jump out of line at Hogsmeade to put it in a locker or would that be frowned upon?


----------



## yulilin3

Sith said:


> Is it possible for one person in party to jump out of line at Hogsmeade to put it in a locker or would that be frowned upon?


it's a tricky thing. Me personally if they have been in line with you all the time and they just hang back to put it in a locker and then rejoin, I wouldn't have a problem


----------



## SaintsManiac

rlthomas7 said:


> Are they particular about saving spots in line? I'm wondering if my husband can go to IoA next week at 8:00 to get in line, while I take my son to US to play with his wand in Diagon Alley, then ride the train over and join him in line. We are staying at Hard Rock, so will have early entry to US and Express Pass for Hogwarts Express.




I wouldn't do it. I already told my kid she waits the full time. Period.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Sith said:


> Is it possible for one person in party to jump out of line at Hogsmeade to put it in a locker or would that be frowned upon?



Yes, the line goes right by the lockers so that you can put your things in them. When the line reaches that spot, they let you go to the locker if you need to before heading into the official queue.


----------



## CPanther95

rlthomas7 said:


> Are they particular about saving spots in line? I'm wondering if my husband can go to IoA next week at 8:00 to get in line, while I take my son to US to play with his wand in Diagon Alley, then ride the train over and join him in line. We are staying at Hard Rock, so will have early entry to US and Express Pass for Hogwarts Express.



I think it's pretty universal at all amusement parks that everybody is particular about other people cutting in line.


----------



## DurangoJim

My daughter has type 1 DM and as such we carry a small backpack with her emergency supplies with us. I understand that we can’t take the bag on the ride but I don’t feel comfortable having her stand in line for three or more hours without the supplies. Is the locker station close to the end of the line or is it likely she’d be unable to have the bag in line with us?


----------



## TommyJK

DurangoJim said:


> My daughter has type 1 DM and as such we carry a small backpack with her emergency supplies with us. I understand that we can’t take the bag on the ride but I don’t feel comfortable having her stand in line for three or more hours without the supplies. Is the locker station close to the end of the line or is it likely she’d be unable to have the bag in line with us?



You're allowed "fanny packs" on the ride provided they have 3 prong clasps that secure them around your waist. Would her medical supplies fit in one of those?


----------



## DurangoJim

TommyJK said:


> You're allowed "fanny packs" on the ride provided they have 3 prong clasps that secure them around your waist. Would her medical supplies fit in one of those?


Most likely! Thank you for the insight!


----------



## 0FF TO NEVERLAND

Of course this ride is great. Universal makes all the potter rides amazing. They would be foolish not to. They save the crappy ones for other areas of the park. That train is never late


----------



## Chumpieboy

Spaceguy55 said:


> I saw this today and couldn't help but think that this seemed more like a Disney ride..I thought I read somewhere that some Imagineers left and went to Universal...maybe they worked on this...
> Shows the full ride from the front in case you don't want to see it yet..



I read (forget if it was here or in another thread) that there was a lift hill that sometimes the cars wouldn't make it entirely all the way up and would roll back.  They customize the thrust needed to the weight of the specific riders on at that time, and that if a car did roll back they could recover quickly without having to shut everything down and inspect and that this minimizes overall ride downtime.  

Watching that video, I didn't see any hills high enough that this would seem to be a factor.  Yes, I saw the part where the ride goes backwards (after the Weasley's car) but there you can clearly see the track switch.  

Where is the lift hill where the unintended rollback happens?


----------



## WDW2012

Ariel620 said:


> I’m staying at Royal Pacific next week.  I assume it’s better to be in line at IOA as early as possible rather than go to USF early entry and ride Hogwarts express over. There is no advantage to that is there?


When we were there Thursday and Friday (only rode Friday), they were not running the train until after 10:00 am so no, best bet is to get to IOA as early as possible.


----------



## luvmy2boyzz

I will be at UO Thursday and Friday. Yay  I’ve been watching wait times on the app. It seems like it might be best to not rope drop this ride? For example, today the ride was delayed at open, wait started at 3.5 hours, dropped to 2.5 hrs at noon and dropped to 2 hrs right now.  Even on Saturday that seemed to be the pattern, although waits never got as low as 2hrs. Idk how accurate the app is tho  Anyone else keeping track? I’m starting to feel hopeful that I will be able to ride


----------



## Spike101

luvmy2boyzz said:


> I will be at UO Thursday and Friday. Yay  I’ve been watching wait times on the app. It seems like it might be best to not rope drop this ride? For example, today the ride was delayed at open, wait started at 3.5 hours, dropped to 2.5 hrs at noon and dropped to 2 hrs right now.  Even on Saturday that seemed to be the pattern, although waits never got as low as 2hrs. Idk how accurate the app is tho  Anyone else keeping track? I’m starting to feel hopeful that I will be able to ride



Weather delays maybe at the start of the day?

Certainly on my first day back I'll watch the news, check my weather app, and plan my attack from there!


----------



## MeridaAnn

luvmy2boyzz said:


> I will be at UO Thursday and Friday. Yay  I’ve been watching wait times on the app. It seems like it might be best to not rope drop this ride? For example, today the ride was delayed at open, wait started at 3.5 hours, dropped to 2.5 hrs at noon and dropped to 2 hrs right now. Even on Saturday that seemed to be the pattern, although waits never got as low as 2hrs. Idk how accurate the app is tho  Anyone else keeping track? I’m starting to feel hopeful that I will be able to ride



I guess it depends how you calculate wait time at Rope Drop. For example, on Saturday, I arrived at 7:30, the park officially opened at 9, and I was on the ride at 10:30. So, yes, I was in line for 3 hours, but I only lost 1.5 hours of actual park time. So if you want to minimize the amount of time you are standing up, then maybe you can take the chance and hope that there's a 2 hour wait later in the day. But if your goal is to have as much time left for other things in the park, you might still decide that rope drop is worth it.

And there are other factors, too - what if you wait until that afternoon time, but then there are technical issues or weather delays at the time you wanted to get in line and then your chance to ride is gone. But, on the other hand, if you rope drop something else, maybe you can get a few other big rides done quickly while others are focusing on Hagrid's and you might save time that way.

Personally, I choose rope drop as the most certain way to get on with a lower wait time (and I'm planning to do it again next Saturday) but you might make that calculation differently than I do, based on your priorities and the weather forecast. [Side note that I always recommend checking the forecast for accumulation amounts here in FL, not just % chance of rain, because you could see a 90% chance of rain that's only for 0.01 inches of rain, and it's actually far less risky as far as getting on rides than a 30% chance of 1.5 inches, for example.]


----------



## luvmy2boyzz

MeridaAnn said:


> I guess it depends how you calculate wait time at Rope Drop. For example, on Saturday, I arrived at 7:30, the park officially opened at 9, and I was on the ride at 10:30. So, yes, I was in line for 3 hours, but I only lost 1.5 hours of actual park time. So if you want to minimize the amount of time you are standing up, then maybe you can take the chance and hope that there's a 2 hour wait later in the day. But if your goal is to have as much time left for other things in the park, you might still decide that rope drop is worth it


Yes my boys and I are debating this.  Trying to decide what the chances of getting optimal line placement at open is and how early we’d have to show up before the park opens.  What I have noticed though is that Friday and today the ride did not open when the park did.  It was showing on the app as delayed up until 11 am today. Not sure why that is happening? Weather delays are a bummer and hard to predict. It was delayed for weather almost all day yesterday, again according to the app.  My wait threshold is around 3 hours so I am just happy to see that the 5,8 and 10 hour waits have dropped.  We have express pass for all other rides so not too worried about missing out in park time if we hit this one mid-day.


----------



## Disxuni

Typically I wait until the end of the day, when most people watch the shows and most of the guests have left for the day. This might not be the best course of action right now, as I know the first few days they would close the queue in the middle of the afternoon due to the high wait time. They may not do that since the wait time has been down a lot compared to the last few days, but I do not know if they ever still close it just a little prior to the actual closing, so I wouldn't suggest that quite yet. However, once a couple of weeks, or a month passes, I would imagine just waiting towards the end of the day and hopping on shouldn't be an issue.


----------



## ShadeDK

Here now and trying to keep up with the wait times has been a mess between odd changes to posted times, delays and weather.  Yesterday showed 240 to 280 minutes all morning then dropping to 120 minutes early afternoon (the extended queue through the park was taken down by then) - before rain moved in around 2:30 and shut it down most of the rest of the day.  There were several hundred people waiting outside the entrance in the rain even hours later around 6pm.  Apparently it did open up around 8 pm and then immediately went “to capacity” on the app.  

When we went in today at park opening, the line started just across from Starbucks and we were told it would be a 7 hour wait.  We skipped out but noted the extended queue was filled well back into Seuss Landing.  The app didn’t even post a wait time.  Extended queue was still up around 10:30.  At lunch, we saw wait time posted at 150 minutes for awhile.  Then it hit 100 minutes while we were in Citywalk and we raced back in - posted at 120 min by the time we finally got there, but the queue started right at the entrance and they seemed to think the posted time was too low and were on the radio about that.  Got about 30 minutes in before it started pouring and they closed the ride - still closed now and looks like it might be a repeat of yesterday.  

Very difficult to provide a best strategy this early while everything is working itself out.  The good news though is that it seems the ride is moving people through very well when it’s up and not on a delay.


----------



## Disxuni

Even if it weren't for the fact that it just opened and will have technical difficulties, it would still be uneasy to determine the best method strictly due to the weather aspect.


----------



## Sith

Spike101 said:


> Weather delays maybe at the start of the day?
> 
> Certainly on my first day back I'll watch the news, check my weather app, and plan my attack from there!


It absolutely was not weather related this morning. It was maintenance. We were in line since 7:30. At around 9 they announced ride would open at 10. Then around 9:30 they announced ride would not open until 11. We said screw it and went off to do other things. Ride opened right about 12. 

I believe it did close for weather in the afternoon, though.


----------



## atricks

Just a heads up, Universal is planning for late morning openings of the ride for the next few weeks to sort out issues:


----------



## TwingleMum

Good Lord that will make things worse. They are halving the time you can ride. Yikes. There is going to be a lot of disappointed people.


----------



## TwingleMum

Wouldn't it make more sense to pay maintenance people a big bonus to work during park off hours to do maintenance and pre checks so the ride is good to go for the public.


----------



## honeybiscuit

From reading discussions elsewhere, it sounds like the ride needs fine tuning and testing time on a daily basis for a while until they get the kinks worked out and everything running smoothly on a consistent basis - so this might be a necessary step that can't be sped up with more money. They already do maintenance work after the park is closed, so there's a limit to how much they can do without changing opening times.

I'm glad they are announcing it so they don't have more disappointed guests. It would be very frustrating to not know what time it would open every day, if it was worth rope dropping, etc. I hope it's back to normal soon!


----------



## peteykirch

How is Universal going to handle people "camping" around the ride waiting for the moment it goes live?

I don't understand why they didn't follow the same opening protocol for Kong/Jimmy Fallon/Fast and the Furious where it opened, but they had signs out saying that it was still in the early stages of operation and to expect delays, certain elements not working, etc.


----------



## jlprjlpr

When the opening day was announced we made plans to come one week later on Friday June 21st,  We are from out of town.  Booked the hotel, planned a long weekend all around getting to go on this ride.  Now it looks like there is a good chance we won't be able to do that.  And can't get our money back for the hotel since within the no cancellation time period.  They really messed up.   Amateurish.   Opening "midday".


----------



## atricks

My guess is they'll open whever they can, they just extended the window to noon. By then they may be closer (if not at) the normal time.   Pretty sure you'll get to ride.   Reminds me of when test track opened up originally.


----------



## ShadeDK

Definitely tricky as they work things out - especially with the summer storms that roll through most every afternoon and have led to some significant downtime so far since opening.  The ride was delayed/closed again today from around 3-6pm with storms and heavy rain.  And again the ride was shown on the app as “at capacity” for the day as soon as it reopened.  In hindsight, soft opening to address the issues could have been preferable to more time now where the ride might only be open to guests a few hours a day.  

The area around the entrance has been pretty congested with people waiting during the closures - so guessing it’ll be similar for the late openings.  Universal wants to get it right and has every reason to - and, honestly, seeing some of the people sitting in the extended queue this morning waiting in the sun for it to start running, it’s the right call.  They didn’t look too happy to be there.  But once onboard? Well - every person I saw flying by later had a huge smile - hopefully they get it there soon for everyone.


----------



## Scoobie

So glad the reviews have been good so far, even though there have been some delays. But, I expect it so I don't plan trips around attraction openings. I hope everyone going soon gets to ride and has a great experience! Thank you to all who have been keeping us updated so far!!


----------



## Disxuni

Unfortunately the ride needed work prior to it opening due to unseen circumstances and work was essential for it to be safe and operational, hence why we're here where we are now and they didn't want to delay the grand opening, because a lot of people like @jlprjlpr who booked this way ahead of time and I'm sure would have been more upset if it wasn't operating at all, let alone having delay openings for the day. Technically, they weren't and couldn't put up signs saying it was "early operational state", because this was it, the grand opening. However, they have no choice, but to now being front and honest about it, to lessen the blow to some guests. Also, this isn't just like Jaws constantly malfunctioning during the early days of USF, this is about safety.

"Big bonuses" isn't going to do anything. Maintenance is already being paid to work off hours and during non-operational hours. If the hours of operation increase at night, they're going to need more time to work on it afterward, hence why it's opening mid-day.


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> Unfortunately the ride needed work prior to it opening due to unseen circumstances and work was essential for it to be safe and operational, hence why we're here where we are now and they didn't want to delay the grand opening, because a lot of people like @jlprjlpr who booked this way ahead of time and I'm sure would have been more upset if it wasn't operating at all, let alone having delay openings for the day. Technically, they weren't and couldn't put up signs saying it was "early operational state", because this was it, the grand opening. However, they have no choice, but to now being front and honest about it, to lessen the blow to some guests. Also, this isn't just like Jaws constantly malfunctioning during the early days of USF, this is about safety.
> 
> "Big bonuses" isn't going to do anything. Maintenance is already being paid to work off hours and during non-operational hours. If the hours of operation increase at night, they're going to need more time to work on it afterward, hence why it's opening mid-day.



Anyway you want to spin it its still a major fail.  Delaying open until noon and then shutting the line down hours before park close is a problem.  Especially when capacity on this is easily one of the lowest in the park.


----------



## MichelinMan

On some of the videos, I noticed what looked like some walkways, and even a wooden viewing platform where people could maybe stand. I just wondered whether there are plans to allow people to wander through this area, but more construction work is required to enable that.


----------



## Jrb1979

I am glad that this new coaster is doing well for the park. It's great to see the Harry Potter fans love the new ride. IMO the made a mistake in getting rid of Dragon's Challenge when it was still one of the best rides in the park.


----------



## Disxuni

MichelinMan said:


> On some of the videos, I noticed what looked like some walkways, and even a wooden viewing platform where people could maybe stand. I just wondered whether there are plans to allow people to wander through this area, but more construction work is required to enable that.



I seriously doubt they'll let anyone near this ride in operation. I haven't watched the videos to know what you're referring to, but a lot of rides has those types of areas and are typically for workers to do work on the ride and/or for evacuation purposes if guests need to get off the ride when it breaks down (for a long duration of time).


----------



## MichelinMan

Disxuni said:


> I seriously doubt they'll let anyone near this ride in operation. I haven't watched the videos to know what you're referring to, but a lot of rides has those types of areas and are typically for workers to do work on the ride and/or for evacuation purposes if guests need to get off the ride when it breaks down (for a long duration of time).


This screenshot shows what I was referring to. Looks like a very wide pathway in the foreground, plus on the left is a wooden platform that looks a lot like some sort of viewing platform. You could be right that they are access paths, but the one in the foreground looks very wide for that.


----------



## FSU Girl

MichelinMan said:


> This screenshot shows what I was referring to. Looks like a very wide pathway in the foreground, plus on the left is a wooden platform that looks a lot like some sort of viewing platform. You could be right that they are access paths, but the one in the foreground looks very wide for that.
> 
> View attachment 410046


Could be if the ride breaks down and they have to get guests off and walk out


----------



## Disxuni

MichelinMan said:


> This screenshot shows what I was referring to. Looks like a very wide pathway in the foreground, plus on the left is a wooden platform that looks a lot like some sort of viewing platform. You could be right that they are access paths, but the one in the foreground looks very wide for that.
> 
> View attachment 410046



To me it makes sense as an evacuation path if the ride breaks down (can't have it too small of a path if there's going to be a lot of guests on it), or the path might be needed to move equipment / maintenance like I said. However, I am surprised there isn't a railing on the side where it appears to drop off regardless whether it's TMs, or guests.

Either way, there's no way they'd allow guests in these areas while the ride is in motion, especially that close to the track. On the original ride, people's items dropped, injured people, and therefore we no longer was able to have items on us, they wouldn't even duel the dragons at the same time to prevent injury, and they had bars in the outside queue area on the side where the roller coaster was even though it was nowhere near the queue. 

So, I cannot see them allowing guests on these paths unless it's to get guests off the ride if it breaks down, for maintenance, or transporting equipment.


----------



## skylock

Liljo22 said:


> Anyway you want to spin it its still a major fail.  Delaying open until noon and then shutting the line down hours before park close is a problem.  Especially when capacity on this is easily one of the lowest in the park.



What spin? It is just reality for a new ride. In an ideal situation, they would have had soft openings and worked all of this out. Because of issues they had, that was not possible, so in effect, they decided to chance it and just have the full opening. 

That may be a mistake, but they are trying to make the best of it. You can assume this IS like a period of soft openings while still trying to let people who obviously do not understand how new rides, esp new rides of this type work

Instead of delaying the opening as they probably should have, they gave it a full opening that is obviously not working out as hoped.

Anyone who made plans to travel in for that one ride was delusional if they thought it would be perfect straight out of the box. Remember, they had a couple of teammember trials and I think a press event, but no soft openings like you would expect.

They will get it right, but it may be some time as they try to figure out how to fine tune it. Even in the state they have been running it, it seems to be doing remarkably well. Wait times are dropping daily.

The minute I realized they were waiting so long to do any kind of soft opening, I knew there were issues that would probably not be resolved right at first.

Frankly, I am amazed how well it has been doing. By the time I get there this fall, I am hoping all will be well. If not, no problem for me. There will be another time.


----------



## momtosam

So, my guess is they rushed it open before Star Wars Land.


----------



## skylock

momtosam said:


> So, my guess is they rushed it open before Star Wars Land.



Could have been or it could have been because of not wanting to disappoint people already booked travelling in for the grand opening.

I personally think they should have delayed the opening by at least a week. They had no opportunity to test the ride under load, but they must have thought they could get the problems they were having fixed.


----------



## makpak42

skylock said:


> In an ideal situation, they would have had soft openings and worked all of this out. Because of issues they had, that was not possible, so in effect, they decided to chance it and just have the full opening.


We were there 6/10-6/14.  On the 12th, the day before the official grand opening,  lots of people just "camped out" in the area anticipating  a soft opening.  We even fell victim to the hype and hung around Hogsmeade a little longer than we planned.   We saw and spoke with Youtuber Rix Flix, super nice guy.  Glad we had the opportunity to thank him in person for his great tips and info about Universal.  Ironically we had just used one of his tips about the outside seating area behind Three Broomsticks.  Anyway, he was planning to hang around all day because they were most certainly going to have a soft opening at point in time right? They always do.  Well now we know they didn't because of ongoing issues.

We did get to ride Hagrid's on opening day.  Yeah, we're part of the 10 hour club, almost sounds crazy to say that out loud .  At one point in the queue we saw all three sets of motorbike cars come to a stop mid ride, out on the tracks. That was about an of hour ten hours,  minus the 2 rain delays we had, hell we may have been riding within only 7-8 hours. Ha

Anyway I hope all the kinks get worked out soon. If anyone is going soon, I suggest you do whatever it take to ride because it is so much fun.  We're big Disney fans but I have to say, Universal set the bar with this one.

Good luck to all


----------



## momtosam

Yes, I believe this is correct too. They were working around the availability of HP cast to be there.


skylock said:


> Could have been or it could have been because of not wanting to disappoint people already booked travelling in for the grand opening.
> 
> I personally think they should have delayed the opening by at least a week. They had no opportunity to test the ride under load, but they must have thought they could get the problems they were having fixed.


----------



## skylock

momtosam said:


> Yes, I believe this is correct too. They were working around the availability of HP cast to be there.



I forgot about that. So they had a lot more pressure than they needed all the way around.


----------



## skylock

makpak42 said:


> We were there 6/10-6/14.  On the 12th, the day before the official grand opening,  lots of people just "camped out" in the area anticipating  a soft opening.  We even fell victim to the hype and hung around Hogsmeade a little longer than we planned.   We saw and spoke with Youtuber Rix Flix, super nice guy.  Glad we had the opportunity to thank him in person for his great tips and info about Universal.  Ironically we had just used one of his tips about the outside seating area behind Three Broomsticks.  Anyway, he was planning to hang around all day because they were most certainly going to have a soft opening at point in time right? They always do.  Well now we know they didn't because of ongoing issues.
> 
> We did get to ride Hagrid's on opening day.  Yeah, we're part of the 10 hour club, almost sounds crazy to say that out loud .  At one point in the queue we saw all three sets of motorbike cars come to a stop mid ride, out on the tracks. That was about an of hour ten hours,  minus the 2 rain delays we had, hell we may have been riding within only 7-8 hours. Ha
> 
> Anyway I hope all the kinks get worked out soon. If anyone is going soon, I suggest you do whatever it take to ride because it is so much fun.  We're big Disney fans but I have to say, Universal set the bar with this one.
> 
> Good luck to all



Exactly. On a new ride like this, it would definitely be expected to have soft openings.

No matter how many times they run empty cars, until the ride is run under load, they are never going to catch all the glitches.


----------



## Bubbles3621

Does anyone know what time the ride closed bc of capacity today??


----------



## wendyt_ca

My biggest question is does the ride have any spiders? And if so how are they involved.
I read on article that said it feels like there are spiders crawling all over you and as an arachnophobe that set me into panic mode. But I only saw this in one artlcle.


----------



## MeridaAnn

wendyt_ca said:


> My biggest question is does the ride have any spiders? And if so how are they involved.
> I read on article that said it feels like there are spiders crawling all over you and as an arachnophobe that set me into panic mode. But I only saw this in one artlcle.



Oh my gosh, no. That absolutely did not happen and I would have utterly freaked out. I don't remember even seeing any spiders/acromantulas and I just watched a POV video to confirm and again didn't see any in the video, either. But if there were supposed to be and the effect was off when I rode, someone please correct me, because that would be awful. I can't imagine they would do that, though, with as common as arachnophobia is.

I also realized from watching that POV video that *several* of the effects and animatronics weren't working when I rode it Saturday morning. I'm considering trying again this coming Saturday, and we'll see if I have any better luck this time around.


----------



## Disxuni

Whether they messed up, or not, the fact of the matter is, is that people who know their theme park history know that grand openings for the most part do not work out. Soft openings, or not, there is still always issues in the beginning even after the official opening, whether it's only a few, or a lot of problems. While nothing this drastic has occurred in a long time, all openings had rides with a few kinks in them.

What made me really roll my eyes is the amount of whining, complaining, and groaning of the people on the internet on how much of a disaster it was. While people have the right to feel that way and it only heightens the chances of that happen when you're standing around for hours and having the sun beat on you, I can't help to look away, because these people knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. 

Even if soft openings occurred, the grand opening still would have had the same amount of whining. 

You_ still _had the abundance of people standing in line, you had the heat, you had the rain, and while you could have lessen the chances of technical difficulties, they _still_ could have happened due to it the amount of frequency the ride was operating, or simply breaking down simply just, because it can, because rides no matter how new, or old do have technical difficulties. They would have _still_ had to operate the ride until after hours due to the amount of people in the queue and_ still _would have had to open late the next day due to maintenance.


----------



## wendyt_ca

MeridaAnn said:


> Oh my gosh, no. That absolutely did not happen and I would have utterly freaked out. I don't remember even seeing any spiders/acromantulas and I just watched a POV video to confirm and again didn't see any in the video, either. But if there were supposed to be and the effect was off when I rode, someone please correct me, because that would be awful. I can't imagine they would do that, though, with as common as arachnophobia is.
> 
> I also realized from watching that POV video that *several* of the effects and animatronics weren't working when I rode it Saturday morning. I'm considering trying again this coming Saturday, and we'll see if I have any better luck this time around.



I only saw it on one article so I was hoping it wasn't accurate. Because that's exactly what I said to my husband! Why one earth would the add an element to make it feel like spiders are crawling on you! I have it timed and close my eyes in Forbidden Journey for the spider section (I've never actually seen it lol). But I could never handle feeling like they are crawling on me lol.


----------



## yulilin3

Currently in the single rider line.  Been in it for 30 min,  I think I have another 30 minutes to go. 
The portion of this queue where it goes down stairs is truly stifling,  awful.  There's no air flow and it's very narrow.  There were about 15 min there where I was about to leave the line it was that uncomfortable


----------



## yulilin3

Total wait time was actually 45 min.


----------



## Disxuni

yulilin3 said:


> Currently in the single rider line.  Been in it for 30 min,  I think I have another 30 minutes to go.
> The portion of this queue where it goes down stairs is truly stifling,  awful.  There's no air flow and it's very narrow.  There were about 15 min there where I was about to leave the line it was that uncomfortable



Thanks for the knowledge. So, only do SR if I want to wait only a few minutes. Typically, that is something I aim to do and typically can tell how long the wait will be depending on where the SR has ended, or how many people are in it since I've used all of them so frequently, but I'll definitely be running for the hills if I notice at the minimum of 10 people waiting, as while I can wait a little bit depending on the line, but even waiting 5-10 mins in that situation would probably be too much for me. It doesn't take much to get me sick if I feel hot.


----------



## ThistleMae

I just watched the video someone posted of the ride.  It looks amazing, seems really long!  I don't do any of the rides in Harry Potter land, and typically don't do coasters except for 7DMT at WDW.  This ride looks like something I could do and have a blast riding that motorbike.  As a "not a fan" of Universal except for a few rides, this one may make me a believer.  And...I do love Diagon Alley, it just blows my mind.


----------



## Jrb1979

Maybe cause I don't get the love for Harry Potter but claiming its the best story coaster is beyond me. From the POV I have seen you fly past almost every show scene. 

It's a shame that the best story coaster at Universal is in the studios park but causes its not Harry Potter it gets over looked. That coaster is the Mummy


----------



## skylock

I don't think the mummy gets over looked by most people unless you are one of those people that can only have interest in HP. 

I always feel a twinge when someone comes on and states their only interest at universal is potter stuff. They are short changing themselves so much.


----------



## Sehsun

Bubbles3621 said:


> Does anyone know what time the ride closed bc of capacity today??



I don't know the exact time, but they were a_t least_ at capacity around 7:00 PM on Tuesday night.



yulilin3 said:


> Total wait time was actually 45 min.



That's awesome!


----------



## snowwhite84

Sehsun said:


> I don't know the exact time, but they were a_t least_ at capacity around 7:00 PM on Tuesday night.
> 
> 
> 
> That's awesome!



At 8:20 the app was showing a 160 minute wait, wasn’t saying closed for capacity. Promising?


----------



## Sehsun

snowwhite84 said:


> At 8:20 the app was showing a 160 minute wait, wasn’t saying closed for capacity. Promising?



I saw that! Definitely promising.


----------



## SummerGirl

snowwhite84 said:


> At 8:20 the app was showing a 160 minute wait, wasn’t saying closed for capacity. Promising?



We were at IOA this evening.  The ride had been closed due to weather for several hours.  We had just rode Forbidden Journey & noticed they started a queue for Hagrid's.  The line around 7:20 was almost to the entrance of Hogsmeade.  The employees told us from this point "if they opened the ride", it would be a 3.5 hour wait "because the inside of the ride was full of people".  We decided to wait it out & see if they were going to open it since storms were clearing.  After about 25 or so minutes the ride started up, we were inside the castle at 8:02, & off the ride at 8:33.  Total of 1 hour & that included waiting for the ride to even open.  I felt like they didn't really want a large queue so they were discouraging people to wait.  They also told us that the ride wouldn't start at park opening tomorrow, but to check the app around 12 or so to see what the wait is like.  We initially planned to get to the park early tomorrow morning, but not sure what to do now??


----------



## Disxuni

SummerGirl said:


> We were at IOA this evening.  The ride had been closed due to weather for several hours.  We had just rode Forbidden Journey & noticed they started a queue for Hagrid's.  The line around 7:20 was almost to the entrance of Hogsmeade.  The employees told us from this point "if they opened the ride", it would be a 3.5 hour wait "because the inside of the ride was full of people".  We decided to wait it out & see if they were going to open it since storms were clearing.  After about 25 or so minutes the ride started up, we were inside the castle at 8:02, & off the ride at 8:33.  Total of 1 hour & that included waiting for the ride to even open.  I felt like they didn't really want a large queue so they were discouraging people to wait.  They also told us that the ride wouldn't start at park opening tomorrow, but to check the app around 12 or so to see what the wait is like.  We initially planned to get to the park early tomorrow morning, but not sure what to do now??



Very interesting report. It is a possibility they might have been discouraging people, but the fact that they won't be opening til around 12 is true, as they have officially announced on the website / app that a few days ago that they will not be opening the ride until mid-day for the next couple of weeks.


----------



## TongaToast21

.


----------



## JOCCO

Anybody in the parks who would be willing to mail me a map ? We were there this weekend, and I got my souvenir map with Hagrid's ride on the cover, and it got soaked (just like me!) on Sunday on our way out of the park and I couldn't get another.


----------



## JOCCO

Also, wanted to share our experience with the ride on Saturday and Sunday.
We entered the ride entrance at 11.40 on Saturday (I know exactly because the TM at the entrance gave us a "time tracker" piece of paper to hand in as we boarded the ride). The posted wait was 4 hours, but there was no line outside of the main ride entrance, we walked straight to the back of Hagrid's hut which was where the line started. We were inside the ride building in about 30 minutes, and then we waited while they added more ride vehicles (probably about 30 minutes without moving). After we passed the Arthur and Hagrid screen we kept on moving, but we had frequent stops as the ride was down, and about a 45 minute delay (which they announced). We were on the ride after about 4 hours. Without the stops it would have been more like 2 hours.
On Sunday, about noon the wait was posted at 3 hours, but the line was even shorter than the day before and we joined right after the first snack stop by Hagrid's hut. Moved pretty consistently, only one very brief stop in the last room, and we were on and off in about 2 hours (before the rain started !).
Happy to answer any questions anyone has.

Edited to add: the single rider line was intermittently open and closed, it started way inside the ride entrance, by Hagrid's hut. The TM manning the line on Sunday said there was no guarantee it would be any quicker than the regular line, but the line seemed to be moving pretty quickly in the last room before you board the ride.


----------



## smofy

My boys got in line yesterday around 11:45.   Posted wait time was 3hrs, but the TM at the entrance said single rider was 1.5hrs and they went that route.    My wife and I went and ate lunch at Mythos and took our time.   After lunch, we walked the back way up to the exit for Hagrid and watched the portion of the track you can see by the exit.    Within 15 min we saw our boys riding.   Total time was probably 1.5hrs or close to it.   They both enjoyed it and everyone coming off seemed to be thrilled.    As was mentioned above, my son said one portion of the queue was horrible.   Going down a narrow staircase, 1 step at a time, and very hot/uncomfortable.    Rains started an hour later and I saw the ride was again delayed.


----------



## aac2407

Can anyone who has ridden that may not be a rollercoaster fan (I.e doesn’t like drops) tell me how intense the ride was as far as that goes? The biggest rollercoaster I have ridden is probably The Mummy (LOVE it though) and I ride all the Disney coasters with no problem except for Everest (afraid of heights and the big drop) and Rockin Rollercoaster. I really want to ride at our upcoming September trip since everyone says it’s so cool, but I hate drops and I do not like being stuck on an attraction and freaking out, especially a long one like Hagrids.


----------



## xultimatefanx

skylock said:


> I don't think the mummy gets over looked by most people unless you are one of those people that can only have interest in HP.
> 
> I always feel a twinge when someone comes on and states their only interest at universal is potter stuff. They are short changing themselves so much.



The Mummy is amazing, one of my favourite rides for sure. I can't really compare it to this ride though as this one looks thrilling in a completely different way.


----------



## J'aime Paris

*Does anyone know why this new ride was built with an outside element???? * 
I'm genuinely curious....In Florida with crazy storms/lightening?  With HPotter popularity and extreme high demand?  Who thought that was a good idea,lol???

I realize that the DD coaster was outside, but since that was all torn down, a whole new opportunity existed.
It seems the weather has been a huge factor in Hagrid's operation since it's recent opening.  
And will lead to continual weird time fluctuations, since no one can control the weather.


----------



## Disxuni

J'aime Paris said:


> *Does anyone know why this new ride was built with an outside element???? *



Two words. Forbidden Forest.

I know that you can _technically_ create an artificial forest and probably do a great job, but I think the 'ol natural look looks quite brilliant (as Daniel Radcliffe loves to say) and looks quite amazing from the photos and video I've seen of it. And quite honestly it's a breath of fresh air (no pun intended) how many trees they've put back onto a piece of land that used to be all concrete for the most part.

It isn't the first ride to be open with outside elements and it won't be the last I'm sure.


----------



## wickedwrister

J'aime Paris said:


> *Does anyone know why this new ride was built with an outside element???? *
> I'm genuinely curious....In Florida with crazy storms/lightening?  With HPotter popularity and extreme high demand?  Who thought that was a good idea,lol???
> 
> I realize that the DD coaster was outside, but since that was all torn down, a whole new opportunity existed.
> It seems the weather has been a huge factor in Hagrid's operation since it's recent opening.
> And will lead to continual weird time fluctuations, since no one can control the weather.




I just think there is a big difference with what you can do with an indoor vs outdoor ride.  With both of the other major HP rides being indoor I'm glad that this is more of an outdoor coaster.


----------



## J'aime Paris

Disxuni said:


> Two words. Forbidden Forest.
> 
> I know that you can _technically_ create an artificial forest and probably do a great job, but I think the 'ol natural look looks quite brilliant (as Daniel Radcliffe loves to say) and looks quite amazing from the photos and video I've seen of it. And quite honestly it's a breath of fresh air (no pun intended) how many trees they've put back onto a piece of land that used to be all concrete for the most part.
> 
> It isn't the first ride to be open with outside elements and it won't be the last I'm sure.





wickedwrister said:


> I just think there is a big difference with what you can do with an indoor vs outdoor ride.  With both of the other major HP rides being indoor I'm glad that this is more of an outdoor coaster.



Thank you for those perspectives!  Those were helpful!
I was mainly focused on the fact that weather will impact the ability to keep the ride functioning during certain weather events.


----------



## damo

J'aime Paris said:


> *Does anyone know why this new ride was built with an outside element???? *
> I'm genuinely curious....In Florida with crazy storms/lightening?  With HPotter popularity and extreme high demand?  Who thought that was a good idea,lol???
> 
> I realize that the DD coaster was outside, but since that was all torn down, a whole new opportunity existed.
> It seems the weather has been a huge factor in Hagrid's operation since it's recent opening.
> And will lead to continual weird time fluctuations, since no one can control the weather.



An indoor coaster has a very small footprint and the number of elements involved is very limited.  The track on an indoor coaster generally overlaps a lot which would make a Forbidden Forest atmosphere quite difficult.


----------



## wickedwrister

J'aime Paris said:


> Thank you for those perspectives!  Those were helpful!
> I was mainly focused on the fact that weather will impact the ability to keep the ride functioning during certain weather events.



I hear ya, I'm going in August but with a toddler and my wife and I are already assuming we won't get on the ride despite having close to 4 days there between rain and wait times but will cross my fingers (crossing my fingers express pass is open by then but I doubt it).

Ultimately the ride will be around for 20 years and the wait time issues will decrease but having an awesome ride is paramount.  If the wait time is over 2 hours a few years from now its because something went right not wrong.


----------



## J'aime Paris

wickedwrister said:


> I hear ya, I'm going in August but with a toddler and my wife and I are already assuming we won't get on the ride despite having close to 4 days there between rain and wait times but will cross my fingers (crossing my fingers express pass is open by then but I doubt it).
> 
> Ultimately the ride will be around for 20 years and the wait time issues will decrease but having an awesome ride is paramount.  If the wait time is over 2 hours a few years from now its because something went right not wrong.


I hope you're able to ride and have a great trip!


----------



## Ariel620

I was in the parks all day today and Hagrids was down most of the day (not for weather). It came online for a bit around 8pm with a 160 min wait, but quickly got to capacity before we could get in line.  I am willing to wait in line to ride this ride, but it seems almost impossible.  By the time we could get there after it opened it was at capacity. Any tips?  We have 2 more says to try.  Staying onsite at Royal pacific.  My plan was to arrive at 5 am to wait in line, but no point in doing that with the mid-day opening... right?


----------



## momtosam

Ariel620 said:


> I was in the parks all day today and Hagrids was down most of the day (not for weather). It came online for a bit around 8pm with a 160 min wait, but quickly got to capacity before we could get in line.  I am willing to wait in line to ride this ride, but it seems almost impossible.  By the time we could get there after it opened it was at capacity. Any tips?  We have 2 more says to try.  Staying onsite at Royal pacific.  My plan was to arrive at 5 am to wait in line, but no point in doing that with the mid-day opening... right?


I'm getting  a little discouraged about our 7/27 trip. I'm hoping the kinks will work out quickly!


----------



## yulilin3

aac2407 said:


> Can anyone who has ridden that may not be a rollercoaster fan (I.e doesn’t like drops) tell me how intense the ride was as far as that goes? The biggest rollercoaster I have ridden is probably The Mummy (LOVE it though) and I ride all the Disney coasters with no problem except for Everest (afraid of heights and the big drop) and Rockin Rollercoaster. I really want to ride at our upcoming September trip since everyone says it’s so cool, but I hate drops and I do not like being stuck on an attraction and freaking out, especially a long one like Hagrids.


Not a huge coaster fan.  My limit is RnRC, I also love Mummy.  You will love this one


----------



## ThistleMae

yulilin3 said:


> Not a huge coaster fan.  My limit is RnRC, I also love Mummy.  You will love this one


the only coaster I do is 7DMT, I have done the mummy and everest and don't like either.  what are my chances of liking this one?  It looks awesome except for the going backwards part, which i didn't like on everest but I was also not prepared to go backwards.


----------



## Disxuni

momtosam said:


> I'm getting  a little discouraged about our 7/27 trip. I'm hoping the kinks will work out quickly!



I would imagine a month and a week should be good time for them to work most of it out. However, there might be a minor incident here and there. As I remember a couple times being on FJ and it would hesitate a little bit while on the ride between a month, or two after the grand opening. 

Weather will still be unpredictable and you will still have the crowds, especially since people are speculating that Disney's GE might spike attendance as well, since people who often go to Disney, also go to Universal.

But all in all, I think in terms of an technical aspect it should be relatively good, if not, something else is wrong that we don't know about.


----------



## kittylady1972

We are planning a trip in August and were thinking of doing 1.75 days at the Universal Parks WITHOUT FOTL access.  I don't want to move hotels and I am hopeful that being there mid to late August, and during the week, might work out for us for most of the other rides.  We would love, of course, to try to ride Hagrids but we'll have to see if we can work that out.  I'm going to keep checking back to see how lines and wait times progress for the next two months.


----------



## Sehsun

JOCCO said:


> Anybody in the parks who would be willing to mail me a map ? We were there this weekend, and I got my souvenir map with Hagrid's ride on the cover, and it got soaked (just like me!) on Sunday on our way out of the park and I couldn't get another.



I would be glad to, but unfortunately I cannot send you a private message until you've made a certain number of posts, I think?


----------



## MeridaAnn

ThistleMae said:


> the only coaster I do is 7DMT, I have done the mummy and everest and don't like either.  what are my chances of liking this one?  It looks awesome except for the going backwards part, which i didn't like on everest but I was also not prepared to go backwards.



I found the backwards section on Hagrid to be much gentler than on Everest. It's not trying to whip you around or scare you - your path while going backwards is relatively straight and slows down as you go along. The ride in general is not about startling or frightening you. It's fast, and there are a few sharp-ish turns, but it's all very smooth and, other than one brief moment, in general the ride is not trying to catch you off guard or throw you around the way most other thrill rides do. 

For example, when it reverses direction to go backwards, it's an incredibly smooth transition: I think every other ride I've done with a backwards section will hold you up at the top in suspense for a while (while the track is switching) and then drop you without warning and then try to catch you off guard with a bunch of jerky turns you can't see coming - but Hagrid's is not like that at all! You go up the slope and then immediately come down with gravity again - there's no big dramatic pause at the top or "gotcha" moment of release like on Everest or other rides with that element, and the backwards section is honestly more of just a transition to get you into the next storytelling area. 

I would highly recommend going for it! And that goes for everyone! Unless you hate faster rides in any way shape or form, I think you have a high chance of this going well. If someone is so bothered by faster rides that, say, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train or the end section of Test Track is too much intensity for them, then, no, this might not be great for them, but beyond that, I would truly recommend to everyone to give this ride a shot!


----------



## luvmy2boyzz

At UO yesterday and today. Yesterday they started letting people into the queue just after 11 am initial wait time was 4 hours.  The ride closed around 3 pm and did not reopen until around 8:20 pm. Wait was 2 hrs and shortly after went to capacity.  We did not ride and will probably not ride today as we will not hang around for hours hoping to get a chance to ride.  No rain at all yesterday to cause a delay. Leaves me to speculate that maybe something is overheating with use or outside temperature?


----------



## yulilin3

ThistleMae said:


> the only coaster I do is 7DMT, I have done the mummy and everest and don't like either.  what are my chances of liking this one?  It looks awesome except for the going backwards part, which i didn't like on everest but I was also not prepared to go backwards.


it feels faster than it really is, I have done it twice, and both times sat in the sidecar and felt very safe. The backwards part is short and not as intense as Everest/ The "drop" is seriously super short. I would try it, it's so much fun


----------



## Disxuni

luvmy2boyzz said:


> At UO yesterday and today. Yesterday they started letting people into the queue just after 11 am initial wait time was 4 hours.  The ride closed around 3 pm and did not reopen until around 8:20 pm. Wait was 2 hrs and shortly after went to capacity.  We did not ride and will probably not ride today as we will not hang around for hours hoping to get a chance to ride.  No rain at all yesterday to cause a delay. Leaves me to speculate that maybe something is overheating with use or outside temperature?



Before the ride opened they were doing a lot of work and maintenance and stopped running the coasters for awhile. However, there is a lot of speculation on what it was, since that information we do not know. Due to the work needing to be done, a lot of people have speculated that was more than likely the reason for no soft opening.

That being said, if it was closed for that long and there was no weather issues, more than likely they were needing to be working some serious work. What that might be, or why that is the case we do not know.  It could be related to what they were working on before, or perhaps something new. However, it will be interesting to see if this is going to be an ongoing issue, or not. 

If it lasts too long, this will start to turn out like Jaws when it originally opened. There issues were so frequent and lasted for a certain amount of time that they ended up suing the company who created the ride, as well as closed it for a long refurbishment before reopening it again.


----------



## snowwhite84

Thanks for all the updates from those that are there, really helps us out! I’m headed down Monday for three days. Do you think I should try and be around the ride entrance at 11 am? Is that about when they will start letting people in line for the mid day open?


----------



## luvmy2boyzz

snowwhite84 said:


> Thanks for all the updates from those that are there, really helps us out! I’m headed down Monday for three days. Do you think I should try and be around the ride entrance at 11 am? Is that about when they will start letting people in line for the mid day open?



They are corralling people beginning at park opening so when they open the queue,  yesterday at 11am today closer to 1:00 pm they are the first in line.  So far today the wait time has been posted at 3 hrs.  At this point I think it’s a crap shoot on whether you get on at all unless you are willing to hang out there all day and hope for no delays.  Good luck! I hope you get to ride


----------



## Liljo22

luvmy2boyzz said:


> They are corralling people beginning at park opening so when they open the queue,  yesterday at 11am today closer to 1:00 pm they are the first in line.  So far today the wait time has been posted at 3 hrs.  At this point I think it’s a crap shoot on whether you get on at all unless you are willing to hang out there all day and hope for no delays.  Good luck! I hope you get to ride


Non weather related closure again today as of now.  Didn’t see if it was open before that.


----------



## momtosam

Liljo22 said:


> Non weather related closure again today as of now.  Didn’t see if it was open before that.


I saw it at 180 minutes earlier on the app.


----------



## JOCCO

Sehsun said:


> I would be glad to, but unfortunately I cannot send you a private message until you've made a certain number of posts, I think?


thanks, I appreciate it ! I'm hoping they will be the same when I go back at Thanksgiving, so I'll wait until then.


----------



## JOCCO

I would say decide how long you are willing to wait in line and keep an eye on the time on the app, and if it's around 3 hours head over to the Hogsmeade. If the line of people waiting is not outside the entrance check with a TM that the ride is actually working and quickly find a locker and head inside. If you make it to around the back of Hagrid's hut before you join the line of people waiting, you have a good chance of being on the ride in about 2.5 hours (barring stops to the ride and the weather). You can always take a look and see if the line is moving (you should make some headway in 10-15 minutes) and if it's not, or you hear the dreaded announcements that it's temporarily not working you can bail and you haven't wasted too much time (plus you get to see the ride track and theming up close !).


----------



## yulilin3

I understand what universal meant but they should've worded this better.  Anyways,  I really hope they are finding some solution to the stair portion of the single rider line, it's really awful


----------



## hannahinwales

Are they offering an Express Pass on this or do you just have to queue up (not going until second half August)?


----------



## Ariel620

Is there a height or age requirement for the single rider line?  We at willing to ride single rider in order to have a shorter wait, but wondering if they will allow the kids to ride single rider if mom is on an earlier coaster and dad is on a later coaster.  We all get to wait in line together right?


----------



## MyTwoPrincesses

hannahinwales said:


> Are they offering an Express Pass on this or do you just have to queue up (not going until second half August)?



We will be there at the same time.  My understanding is that EP won’t be available for a while but hopefully virtual line will be up by then.


----------



## Davkind76

Had the awesome opportunity to ride this two times earlier this week.  Got in line both days after the initial opening rush. About 1 PM or so. The wait time said 180 minutes but both days we got in line right near Hagrid’s hut and the actual wait both days was almost exactly the same… One hour and 35 minutes. 
My advice… Being at the park six days last week and watching it very closely, is to get in line in the afternoon if the weather is showing clear for at least three hours and the wait time says 180 min or less.

Great ride BTW


----------



## snowwhite84

Davkind76 said:


> Had the awesome opportunity to ride this two times earlier this week.  Got in line both days after the initial opening rush. About 1 PM or so. The wait time said 180 minutes but both days we got in line right near Hagrid’s hut and the actual wait both days was almost exactly the same… One hour and 35 minutes.
> My advice… Being at the park six days last week and watching it very closely, is to get in line in the afternoon if the weather is showing clear for at least three hours and the wait time says 180 min or less.
> 
> Great ride BTW



Going to take this advice next week, thanks!


----------



## disneylover102

Starting to get better...


----------



## Haley R

disneylover102 said:


> Starting to get better...


I'm wondering when we should go to the park. We just moved to the area (about an hour away) and I want to ride the coaster really bad. I guess I just need to be patient and wait it out for a bit.


----------



## DisneyPhilliesFan

We were there last week, one of the more original and best rides I've been on. Even my wife, who is afraid of bigger coasters tried it and loved it. 
Waited about 30 minutes.


----------



## disneylover102

DisneyPhilliesFan said:


> We were there last week, one of the more original and best rides I've been on. Even my wife, who is afraid of bigger coasters tried it and loved it.
> Waited about 30 minutes.


How early did you get there?


----------



## DisneyPhilliesFan

disneylover102 said:


> How early did you get there?



I have a disabilty and we used my pass. We got a return time about 90 minutes later and waited 30 minutes from that point.


----------



## wickedwrister

Ariel620 said:


> Is there a height or age requirement for the single rider line?  We at willing to ride single rider in order to have a shorter wait, but wondering if they will allow the kids to ride single rider if mom is on an earlier coaster and dad is on a later coaster.  We all get to wait in line together right?




If its like every other Universal ride you will get to wait together and if you get lucky might even be together on the ride but at worst be on different coasters than the kids.  The ride has a 48 inch height requirement.  If you have a child that isn't that tall they won't let that kid ride and one parent would have to wait in the child swap room and can ride after the other parent is done riding.


----------



## TotoGogo

We went Saturday and it’s still showing a 180 minute wait time. There’s no express line for this ride and lineup started from the Lost Continent. On the app they have the delay notice of the ride starting midday. I think we were on a different line que as I didn’t see a lot of scenes from the movie. It was a 45 to 60 min wait time. I made an img album with some videos of our walk up to the ride. People have already lost phones on the ride and I didn’t want to chance it as it does go fast. I loved the ride as it was a great surprise. I don’t want to spoil it ( all week I was trying to avoid reading about what happens ) I will just say that I have never been on a coaster like that before. I rode in the sidecar which felt safe lol. I will try to get better photos/videos next time I go but will ride the motorbike. I have a park to park 3 day pass that expires June 30th. I know some of the passes dates were extended. Do these passes fall under that category?


----------



## ThistleMae

MeridaAnn said:


> I found the backwards section on Hagrid to be much gentler than on Everest. It's not trying to whip you around or scare you - your path while going backwards is relatively straight and slows down as you go along. The ride in general is not about startling or frightening you. It's fast, and there are a few sharp-ish turns, but it's all very smooth and, other than one brief moment, in general the ride is not trying to catch you off guard or throw you around the way most other thrill rides do.
> 
> For example, when it reverses direction to go backwards, it's an incredibly smooth transition: I think every other ride I've done with a backwards section will hold you up at the top in suspense for a while (while the track is switching) and then drop you without warning and then try to catch you off guard with a bunch of jerky turns you can't see coming - but Hagrid's is not like that at all! You go up the slope and then immediately come down with gravity again - there's no big dramatic pause at the top or "gotcha" moment of release like on Everest or other rides with that element, and the backwards section is honestly more of just a transition to get you into the next storytelling area.
> 
> I would highly recommend going for it! And that goes for everyone! Unless you hate faster rides in any way shape or form, I think you have a high chance of this going well. If someone is so bothered by faster rides that, say, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train or the end section of Test Track is too much intensity for them, then, no, this might not be great for them, but beyond that, I would truly recommend to everyone to give this ride a shot!


Thank you for this.  I had a feeling this might be super exciting and nothing like the coasters I won't go on.  For one thing, the new stuff seems to give a smooth ride, with speed, which I love if I'm not traveling upside down.  I also don't like jerking, or overly bumpy rides or those times when your suspended and you know what's coming but the tension mounts as you wait for it to happen.  Hagrids looks awesome.  I'm definitely going to try it, especially since reading your description.  Thanks again.


----------



## glvsav37

So if i'm reading this correctly, they are not opening the ride until around 11am for the next few weeks, which would seems to fall into the dates we are there. So a few questions as we try and figure out the best strategy, we are really only there for 2 1/2 days so not a lot of time to experiment. 

1. Is there an area they have people waiting for the 11 am time or is it mull around the ride and dash in when they open up? 
2. if people are waiting in a predetermined area, what time do they seem to start? 
3. I have not watched the times (but should) is there an initial rush around 11 but then it drops down later in the day? 

I'm just so confused on this whole 11 am opening thing. I was already prepared to get to the park 1.5 hours early (or more) and sacrifice the early part of our day, but now this carves out a whole chunk of mid-day touring, if not the whole morning plus if they are having people queue up before the 11 am opening and still have a multi-hour wait to ride. 

Any advice from those who have experienced this new system is appreciated.


----------



## Spike101

ThistleMae said:


> I also don't like jerking, or overly bumpy rides



I have to admit I didnt particularly enjoy FOTH as I got properly rattled around in it, although the fact that I was on my own (Didnt have anyone to squish me into the side) and in the back carriage (faster) probably didnt help.

I also had the same problem on Kong, which I really enjoyed I have to say, but because it was early in the day, the ride was half empty and I was sliding all over the place as the bus lurched from side to side!


----------



## EddieValiant

I just rode it for the first time. It took about 35 minutes in single rider, but this was after a long downtime. I planned to eat lunch at 3 Broomsticks at 11:30, but it was down at about Noon, and was down again from 6 to 7:30 and this was on a good weather day. 

The ride is not bumpy at all.


----------



## ThistleMae

I'm not a big Universal fan but I really, really want to try this ride.  It sounds super awesome!


----------



## mikejuliestl

Has anyone tried having 1 member of your party stand in line for the entire party?  I dont mind standing there for my kids while they do other things but I dont want to have an angry mob/Universal employee boot us!


----------



## Disxuni

yulilin3 said:


> I understand what universal meant but they should've worded this better.  Anyways,  I really hope they are finding some solution to the stair portion of the single rider line, it's really awful



I personally think they could have definitely worded themselves better. Even if it wasn't meant to be malicious, or sarcastic, it sounds so unsympathetic.

Also, I hate to say it, but I personally think it's done on purpose to lure people away from overusing the SR line (especially after reading that response from Universal), because they know how hot FL is and they can easily air condition that stairwell. I haven't personally experienced this myself, but I've heard it more than once it's quite stuffy. You can't tell me that this was made in error, or even if it was, couldn't and would be fixed by now if they wanted to. However, I would imagine there is some form of air in there, as I think they'd be seriously held liable if there wasn't.



mikejuliestl said:


> Has anyone tried having 1 member of your party stand in line for the entire party?  I dont mind standing there for my kids while they do other things but I dont want to have an angry mob/Universal employee boot us!



Here's a quick answer: No bueno.

Long answer: A Universal employee will either be oblivious, or too chicken to say something (at least from experience at any theme park I've been). For guests, at the minimum you'll have a lot of glares aimed at your way, or at the most, someone will confront and bluntly call you out on it in front of everyone. Typically people get the glare, you_ might _get someone who confronts you about it, however I would imagine due to the heat and increased wait time, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd more than likely have someone be confrontational and say something to you.


----------



## TommyJK

Disxuni said:


> Here's a quick answer: No bueno.
> 
> Long answer: A Universal employee will either be oblivious, or too chicken to say something (at least from experience at any theme park I've been). For guests, at the minimum you'll have a lot of glares aimed at your way, or at the most, someone will confront and bluntly call you out on it in front of everyone. Typically people get the glare, you_ might _get someone who confronts you about it, however I would imagine due to the heat and increased wait time, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd more than likely have someone be confrontational and say something to you.



Supposedly, they have changed this late last week.  Someone who was there last week (and posted on another forum said the following:

"Today they told us one person in your party can wait in line and the rest can enjoy the park until midday. They’ll tell you a password to return to your family. "

So go and ask a TM in front of the ride if they are doing this still.


----------



## mikejuliestl

I like the idea of the password - makes sense!  

I understand why people would be upset though, especially with the extreme circumstances around Hagrid's ride now.  If I saw a dad taking one for the team and joined by his kids and wife I would nod at him for taking the &*!# duty of standing in the sun for hours so his family could enjoy the day.  If I saw 12 kids join 1 friend I would flip the Hell out.


----------



## glvsav37

Now that this thread has me following the app, I see its 12:30 and the ride is showing up as "delayed"......aye carumba. This is not giving me a lot of hope for my short trip


----------



## Disxuni

Was anyone there yesterday and have any further updates? Or noticed anything else about the app like @glvsav37?


----------



## CPanther95

mikejuliestl said:


> I understand why people would be upset though, especially with the extreme circumstances around Hagrid's ride now.  If I saw a dad taking one for the team and joined by his kids and wife I would nod at him for taking the &*!# duty of standing in the sun for hours so his family could enjoy the day.  If I saw 12 kids join 1 friend I would flip the Hell out.



Except there really is no difference between the two scenarios - 12 kids sounds worse, but what if it was a wife and 3 kids vs 4 friends? In your mind, you're the one making the sacrifice for your family. In everyone else's mind, you're asking all our wives and children standing in the sun for hours to also make a sacrifice for your family. You aren't "taking one for the team", you're asking hundreds of other fathers to allow their kids to get screwed over so you can get credit for being the "good Dad making a sacrifice".

I'm not suggesting that is your intent, but it's common for people to focus more on what they're dealing with and completely disregard what everyone around them are dealing with. This came up earlier in the thread and the question posed "is line saving OK?" when the real question was "is line cutting OK?". I'm guessing because everyone knows the answer to the 2nd question, and they know why there is only one possible answer to the 2nd question. But they're hoping to get at least one person to give them justification to do what they know they shouldn't do.

Now if they've officially changed the rules for this ride - rules that are universal around the world for any place where you are standing in line (certainly at least in amusement parks) - then they should make it very clear to all Universal guests standing in line and about to get into line. Because otherwise it will be just like every other ride....there will be a chance that someone could get away with it without someone else saying anything, but an equal or greater chance that there will be someone like me (who also likes to look good in my wife and kids' eyes) that will stand up for their family and say something. Once that happens, they'll immediately have the support of 95% of everyone else within earshot - and that's only if your family makes up a full 5% of everyone within earshot.


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> Was anyone there yesterday and have any further updates? Or noticed anything else about the app like @glvsav37?



Touring Plans has it coming online about 2pm and then I saw it closing for capacity at around 7.


----------



## EddieValiant

No queue formed as of 11:30 today.


----------



## EddieValiant

EddieValiant said:


> No queue formed as of 11:30 today.




Saw wait time drop to 120. Went over to attempt after 2. Single rider line closed, posted wait was then 180. Decided to go back to the hotel on this 96F day.


----------



## zebsterama

Especially with the up again / down again - weird hours - insane heat .... I think it would make sense if a policy were in place to allow a person to hold a spot for a party.

It's not bullet proof, but something like ....

1. Whole party needs to be present when they reach the ride queue.
2. A "designate" wait-in-line-person is identified for the given party.
3. Universal employee provides the "designate" a temporary wrist band with number of "total guests" (again: all guests need to be present when the wrist band/number is assigned).
4. There is no allowance for switching designates. There is no adding number of guests to your list once you receive your wrist band.
5. At the time of boarding, *the onus is on the party to be present to board the ride* - no exceptions. You snooze you lose.
6. The temp wrist band is cut off (one of those bands that can only be removed via scissors) just prior to boarding.

It's not perfect, but with a few policy enhancements, I think it could work.

I don't see the value in a whole bunch of people waiting in line and suffering unnecessarily when they could be enjoying their day on attractions.

As long as the rules are enforced - something like this I think is realistic and not too hard to administer.


----------



## glvsav37

zebsterama said:


> Especially with the up again / down again - weird hours - insane heat .... I think it would make sense if a policy were in place to allow a person to hold a spot for a party.
> 
> It's not bullet proof, but something like ....
> 
> 1. Whole party needs to be present when they reach the ride queue.
> 2. A "designate" wait-in-line-person is identified for the given party.
> 3. Universal employee provides the "designate" a temporary wrist band with number of "total guests" (again: all guests need to be present when the wrist band/number is assigned).
> 4. There is no allowance for switching designates. There is no adding number of guests to your list once you receive your wrist band.
> 5. At the time of boarding, *the onus is on the party to be present to board the ride* - no exceptions. You snooze you lose.
> 6. The temp wrist band is cut off (one of those bands that can only be removed via scissors) just prior to boarding.
> 
> It's not perfect, but with a few policy enhancements, I think it could work.
> 
> I don't see the value in a whole bunch of people waiting in line and suffering unnecessarily when they could be enjoying their day on attractions.
> 
> As long as the rules are enforced - something like this I think is realistic and not too hard to administer.



Universal would jump all over this if, as part of the rule, they had to go buy at least 1 thing in a gift shop and have to show the receipt before getting back in line


----------



## CPanther95

zebsterama said:


> I don't see the value in a whole bunch of people waiting in line and suffering unnecessarily when they could be enjoying their day on attractions.



Market Summary > Walt Disney Co
NYSE: DIS
139.96 USD +0.020 (0.014%)

Mkt cap*251.92B*


Do you see it now?


----------



## Liljo22

FYI...the last two days Hagrid's has opened around noon.  That looks like the time they are shooting for so far.  They had two days in the past week that didn't open until after 2 but those seem like the outliers.


----------



## Disxuni

More than likely 12 is the aim. If they get it together sooner, perhaps 11, or 11:30am, as it's been reported previously sometimes. They state mid-day to essentially cover their tracks, as 11-2pm, all essentially cover that general description. They're already opening midday which I'm sure upsets a few people enough as it is, they do not want to promise a particular time, and make it worse if they do not reach that goal.


----------



## skylock




----------



## Haley R

skylock said:


>


That literally gave me chills. Also, is there a reason all of the guys are the ones riding the bike?


----------



## Disxuni

Haley R said:


> That literally gave me chills. Also, is there a reason all of the guys are the ones riding the bike?



Because the ladies are nice enough to let the guys ride the bike. 

All joking aside. Which one you ride in is personal preference. Also, I'm sure there are plenty of pairings that both want the same thing, but if they want to ride with the other, one of them is going to have to choose to ride one over the other so one of them gets what they really want.


----------



## Haley R

Disxuni said:


> Because the ladies are nice enough to let the guys ride the bike.
> 
> All joking aside. Which one you ride in is personal preference. Also, I'm sure there are plenty of pairings that both want the same thing, but if they want to ride with the other, one of them is going to have to choose to ride one over the other so one of them gets what they really want.


Well I know who in my family would get the bike  lol


----------



## mellyf

Fortunately, my husband is a nicer person than me, so I'll get to ride the bike.  At least the first time through. He can ride it the next time.


----------



## Beignetsandboudin

Please forgive me if I've overlooked it, but I have a question about the queue.  Do they allow folks to begin lining up at park opening?  Or, since it is usually closed until around noon, do they allow people to line up at that time?  Does the line always begin at the park entrance, or does it form near the ride and eventually grow to the front?  I am not trying to complicate the issue, I would like to figure out a strategy before my visit in a few weeks.  Should we be poised to enter the line near the front of the park around noon, or should we hang out closer to the ride entrance?


----------



## Disxuni

Beignetsandboudin said:


> Please forgive me if I've overlooked it, but I have a question about the queue.  Do they allow folks to begin lining up at park opening?  Or, since it is usually closed until around noon, do they allow people to line up at that time?  Does the line always begin at the park entrance, or does it form near the ride and eventually grow to the front?  I am not trying to complicate the issue, I would like to figure out a strategy before my visit in a few weeks.  Should we be poised to enter the line near the front of the park around noon, or should we hang out closer to the ride entrance?



I'm thinking you're allowed to do whatever you want. Even when it comes to soft openings typically they allow guests to do whatever they want and wait as much as they want right outside the queue even though there is no guaranteed, or even a known fact that the ride won't open. I would imagine the same would be applied to a ride that is officially open. 

However, whether you can actually wait in the queue itself, or not, you'll probably have to ask a TM outside the entrance of the ride, however if you want to wait right outside the ride first thing in the morning, or wait around the entrance during mid-day that's your decision. I'm sure someone who has been there can officially tell whether they'll allow people to actually line up, or not.

The mid-day announcement is done probably not only make people aware it's not going to open until mid-day, which could be anytime in the very late morning, or early afternoon, but more likely probably to discourage people from waiting around outside the queue as well.


----------



## Beignetsandboudin

Disxuni said:


> I'm thinking you're allowed to do whatever you want. Even when it comes to soft openings typically they allow guests to do whatever they want and wait as much as they want right outside the queue even though there is no guaranteed, or even a known fact that the ride won't open. I would imagine the same would be applied to a ride that is officially open.
> 
> However, whether you can actually wait in the queue itself, or not, you'll probably have to ask a TM outside the entrance of the ride, however if you want to wait right outside the ride first thing in the morning, or wait around the entrance during mid-day that's your decision. I'm sure someone who has been there can officially tell whether they'll allow people to actually line up, or not.
> 
> The mid-day announcement is done probably not only make people aware it's not going to open until mid-day, which could be anytime in the very late morning, or early afternoon, but more likely probably to discourage people from waiting around outside the queue as well.


Thank you!


----------



## SA mom

We were there on Monday, June 24.  Prior to the ride opening at “midday”, everyone queues up in the area in front of the Sinbad arena.  It is VERY SUNNY!!!!!  There is VERY LITTLE shade.  We bought an umbrella just to have some relief.  Universal places cooling fans and cool water out for people, but it is HOT.  Come prepared with sunscreen, sunhat, cooling towel, etc.  You are allowed to go in and out of the area to pick up food/beverage and used the restroom, but you need to have someone holding your spot.  At a realfeel temperature 106, it was tough.

People are allowed to line up in this area at park opening.  When the ride opens, then you are moved into the ride queue.  

On Monday, we got into the Sinbad line at 10:30.  At 12:15, they made the announcement that the ride would not open until “late afternoon.”  We were welcome to wait.  We left.  The ride opened that day around 4:30.  We went back to get in line but it went down again.  This happened several times throughout the evening.

Every time the ride goes down, they closed the queue.  They allow you to line up outside the queuing area.  

On Tuesday, June 25, we saw a 120 minute wait posted.  We hopped in the queue.  It was right at 85 minutes.  

A previous poster mentioned that once you enter the queue, if you make it to Hagrid's hit, it’s 1 hour 35 minutes.  That must be accurate.  We made it just past the hut for 1 hour 25 minutes. 

AND...it is pretty amazing.  Our daughters hopped in the line at 120 minute wait the next day and it was exactly that.  

Our daughters insisted on riding the bike.  At 4’10” and 4’11”, they felt very insecure up there.  They could reach the handle bars, but it wasn’t comfortable and they felt unstable.  

Good luck everyone!  I hope you get a chance to experience this phenomenal attraction.


----------



## Beignetsandboudin

SA mom, thanks for the detailed information and tips, your post is so helpful.


----------



## Beignetsandboudin

Has anyone heard more about the virtual queue?  Maybe they are waiting until more of the kinks are worked out?


----------



## Erica_Haley

I got in right before the line hit capacity on Wednesday, at 7:50pm with park closing at 10pm. The last group that was let in line was maybe 10 people behind me. The wait time showed 180 minutes but the sun was setting so the heat was so much more manageable! The sun was down behind the trees and buildings so it wasn't beating down on us. I wasn't even sweating. They were also still selling snacks and drinks in the line. There was a delay once when we were inside, however it was back up in about 5 minutes. I was off the ride by 10:15. 
The ride was amazing and definitely worth it!


----------



## Disxuni

Beignetsandboudin said:


> Has anyone heard more about the virtual queue?  Maybe they are waiting until more of the kinks are worked out?



The VQ was intended to be used for when the queue leads outside of the attraction and let guests to eventually come back to the attraction to wait inside the queue (not go directly onto the ride).

I do not believe that counts the time when guests waiting outside the queue for it to open, or when there is a delay, or closed and guests are made to wait outside the queue. That being said, the people who have been there can tell whether the queue still leads outside of the actual queue itself due to the wait. So, if people report that the queue never, or rarely leads outside of the queue anymore that's the reason why they're not doing VQ. If it does often leads to outside the queue (not counting the reasons I listed above) there is an unknown reason why they're not using VQ.


----------



## TommyJK

Disxuni said:


> The VQ was intended to be used for when the queue leads outside of the attraction and let guests to eventually come back to the attraction to wait inside the queue (not go directly onto the ride).
> 
> I do not believe that counts the time when guests waiting outside the queue for it to open, or when there is a delay, or closed and guests are made to wait outside the queue. That being said, the people who have been there can tell whether the queue still leads outside of the actual queue itself due to the wait. So, if people report that the queue never, or rarely leads outside of the queue anymore that's the reason why they're not doing VQ. If it does often leads to outside the queue (not counting the reasons I listed above) there is an unknown reason why they're not using VQ.



Ya.  Universal was only *thinking* about using it temporarily to manage spill over from the actual queue out into Hogsmeade.

If it doesn't do that consistently they aren't going to use it.  So I think it's a dead idea at this point.


----------



## Disxuni

TommyJK said:


> Ya.  Universal was only *thinking* about using it temporarily to manage spill over from the actual queue out into Hogsmeade.
> 
> If it doesn't do that consistently they aren't going to use it.  So I think it's a dead idea at this point.



Exactly. Even if it does spill over, I would imagine for them to want to do VQ, the line would have to be consistently and constantly outside the queue (besides the waiting to get in, or waiting to get in after it's delayed, or closed). While I've never been there to see what it looks like for myself. Considering the most recent reports of wait times from this thread in the past week, or so, they've been sounding as if they should be within the queue area.


----------



## EddieValiant

I did it tonight in 90 minutes. Got in line at 6:45. I made it right about to the hut. One reason the queue appears to not move is they stop it and shut a door to see Hagrid show off the motorcycle. 
I'm liking the strategy of right after dinner.


----------



## SA mom

There was no virtual queue offered while we were there this week.  When the ride was down, they closed the queue. The queue seemed to have more shade than the holding area by Sinbad.


----------



## zebsterama

Does anyone want to predict how long (days/weeks/months???) it will take for this ride to operate during regular park hours?


----------



## Scoobie

Can anyone tell us if people wearing their wizarding robes is an issue? I would imagine they want you to put all that in a locker, but confirmation is always nice. Not sure if many people are even wearing them right now if it's that hot!


----------



## skylock

Scoobie said:


> Can anyone tell us if people wearing their wizarding robes is an issue? I would imagine they want you to put all that in a locker, but confirmation is always nice. Not sure if many people are even wearing them right now if it's that hot!



If you are wearing a robe, you have to ride in the sidecar.


----------



## SA mom

skylock said:


> If you are wearing a robe, you have to ride in the sidecar.


 
Yes, this.  But Scoobie is right, not as many people wearing them right now.  The fall will be a different story.


----------



## EddieValiant

Beignetsandboudin said:


> Please forgive me if I've overlooked it, but I have a question about the queue.  Do they allow folks to begin lining up at park opening?  Or, since it is usually closed until around noon, do they allow people to line up at that time?  Does the line always begin at the park entrance, or does it form near the ride and eventually grow to the front?  I am not trying to complicate the issue, I would like to figure out a strategy before my visit in a few weeks.  Should we be poised to enter the line near the front of the park around noon, or should we hang out closer to the ride entrance?



On Friday it appeared to be a "holding pen" in the Lost Continent with signs directing you to the pens entrance. Prior to that they had a line behind barriers snaking thru out Hogsmeade and into Lost Continent.

I don't know what time they started the pen. Park has been opening at 9. Don't be intimidated by a 180 minute wait time posted at the entrance. If you get in line and make it to the hut before you reach the mob of people, you'll wait less than 2 hours assuming no breakdowns. 

The tricky part will be the rides breakdowns, your heat tolerance during the day and thunderstorms.


----------



## Beignetsandboudin

The app shows “open at 9”. I’m interested to see if it remains open all day.


----------



## chimoe

What’s the deal with Hagrids? Been checking over the last week though out the day and more than 60% of the time the ride is closed(non weather related).  

Is universal having trouble keeping the ride open? Or is it some marketing stint to keep lines 180min when it does open.


----------



## SA mom

chimoe said:


> What’s the deal with Hagrids? Been checking over the last week though out the day and more than 60% of the time the ride is closed(non weather related).
> 
> Is universal having trouble keeping the ride open? Or is it some marketing stint to keep lines 180min when it does open.



We were there last week. I don’t think they have all the kinks worked out.  There are a lot of different elements including big time animatronics, backward sections and a vertical drop.  It’s a continuous loading coaster with a conveyor belt that stops when people need assistance to get on and off.  

Someone previously mentioned treating this time as a soft opening.  I think that was good advice so that we didn’t expect to get on it.


----------



## Wreckem

Beignetsandboudin said:


> The app shows “open at 9”. I’m interested to see if it remains open all day.



Did not open at 9. They are saying anytime between 11 and 4. That is their standard sayingYesterday it opened at 12:20 then went down around 4 and didn’t come back online  till 8:20pm. It originally went down for a brief technical delay then went extended/weather.


I got in the pre opening queue at 10:45. I’ll update the when I actually get done.


----------



## chimoe

SA mom said:


> Someone previously mentioned treating this time as a soft opening. I think that was good advice so that we didn’t expect to get on it.



The issue is, this isn’t a soft opening. And Universal has been advertising the opening when I was there back in April.  

I think one could say the launch of this ride is a prettying big failure.  Not being able to keep the ride open is really bad.


----------



## Wreckem

SA mom said:


> We were there last week. I don’t think they have all the kinks worked out.  There are a lot of different elements including big time animatronics, backward sections and a vertical drop.  It’s a continuous loading coaster with a conveyor belt that stops when people need assistance to get on and off.
> 
> Someone previously mentioned treating this time as a soft opening.  I think that was good advice so that we didn’t expect to get on it.



I honestly think they are having a problem with balancing the load and the timing. Timing is key on this ride(same with other show rides). Yesterday the timing was off on Gringotts and it went down while I was on it. Rode it with the lights on and then got a re-ride. Timing was still slightly off on the re-ride. Today it was spot on.

I can only imagine the challenge they are having with are the show elements and launches to keep Hagrids timed perfectly. They will eventually get it full running and running at max capacity. Hopefully by time I’m back at Christmas.


----------



## minnieluvzmickey

We are here now....got in the holding area near Poseidon around 10:30..still waiting.....and it is hot! No shade!


----------



## Wreckem

Right before noon the corralled everyone and made everyone fill in all available space. Hopefully this means it opens soon or it’s going to get really hot.


----------



## Wreckem

Now they are saying 2:00pm opening.


----------



## Wreckem

Wreckem said:


> Now they are saying 2:00pm opening.



With it being down 2/3rds of yesterday I am still surprised it’s opening so late today.

I think they need to figure out everything that’s wrong and do and extended down time to fix this. It’s beyond clear this coaster wasn’t ready to open.

If it continues like this all summer they need to put up temporary tents covering all of the  pre opening  queue.


----------



## Wreckem

2pm has come and gone. What’s the latest for its first opening of the day?


----------



## minnieluvzmickey

We bailed when they said 2:00....so glad we did as it’s still not open


----------



## Wreckem

Now it’s best case scenario 3. To be fair they said anywhere from 11-4 when we got in line but historically this ride has opened between 12 and 1. Considering storms will be here around 6:30 it looks like it may only be up 3-4 hours today, if it opens.


----------



## Wreckem

They keep pushing back the opening every 30 minutes.


----------



## Haley R

Wreckem said:


> They keep pushing back the opening every 30 minutes.


I really want to ride this ride but we’re just gonna have to wait until they get this all figured out. I’m not driving there for the chance that it’ll be closed most of the day


----------



## Wreckem

Now they are saying they have no idea. They handed out single us express passes good through August 1 as guest compensation. And said to feel free to stay in lines but they don’t have any eta. They are on the 7 or 8 test train. People who were here day one have said this is worse. They definitely need to take this ride down for an extended period or only open it every other day...


----------



## Wreckem

More or less has officially missed its “midday” opening of between 11-4.


----------



## Wreckem

Looks like maybe 4:30 for it to open. The bikes are cycling every 30-45 seconds for the past 10 minutes or so.

Edit: just opened at 4:13. I probably have a hour in the official queue. At least there is AC.


----------



## Wreckem

My advice. Skip re opening queue. Hope it’s doesn’t rain. Get in line at 6:30.


----------



## minnieluvzmickey

In line now...fingers crossed


----------



## Wreckem

Storms rolling through. Hopefully they pass over quick and the ride starts back ups.

Just for the record it opened at 4:13, was only up for 15 minutes before being down another 45. Eventually got on the motorbikes at 5:15. 

Definitely wouldn’t wait again. They really need to get the ride to a functioning level. Being open 5-6 hours a day is not functioning.


----------



## SA mom

Just another warning, there is VERY LITTLE SHADE in the pre-opening holding area.


----------



## Wreckem

Storms still going strong and lighting within the area. Not sure if it’s going to be back up tonight. Which if it doesn’t come back up tonight it will have only been online for about 3 hours and fifteen  minutes or so. So about 8-9 out of the 22 hours the park was open the last two days.


----------



## Wreckem

SA mom said:


> Just another warning, there is VERY LITTLE SHADE in the pre-opening holding area.



If you chose to to do what I did and I wouldn’t do it again. Make sure you have a cool dri wicking type shirt, a cooling towel and drink a ton of fluids(not just water). Oh and sun screen. I reapplies sunscreen four times. Very minimal burning. There were quite a few burnt lobsters before they opened the official line.

Overall it paid off since the ride was only up a minimal amount time today and it was my last full day at universal. If I had all day I tomorrow I definitely would have not waited in the queue. And now I have an express for the three hours in the morning.


----------



## minnieluvzmickey

It rained and stormed so it was a no go for us.....total 4 hours of waiting today and we still didn’t ride the stupid ride !!!!!!


----------



## skylock

It is clear at this point this ride was rushed and not ready for prime time. 

It is tricky. Those that get to ride are mostly very happy when they get off, even if they have waited forever, but on the other hand when you have people waiting in the sun for 4 hours and still doesn't get to ride is leaving those people with a bad taste and I do not blame them.

If it was anything except a HP themed ride, I am not sure what would be happening, but Universal needs to face the facts and shut it down until it can be made to run right. I am almost wondering now if it will ever run right without a major overhaul of the whole thing.


----------



## TotoGogo

I was one of the few (the ride was down most of the day) . I would advise to watch on mute as there is screaming. I wasn’t holding the camera so apologize for angles there’s better videos on YouTube. The day was a mess and it stormed at the last minute so after it started pouring I went home. I’m in the car


----------



## StarWarsJez

skylock said:


> It is clear at this point this ride was rushed and not ready for prime time.
> 
> It is tricky. Those that get to ride are mostly very happy when they get off, even if they have waited forever, but on the other hand when you have people waiting in the sun for 4 hours and still doesn't get to ride is leaving those people with a bad taste and I do not blame them.
> 
> If it was anything except a HP themed ride, I am not sure what would be happening, but Universal needs to face the facts and shut it down until it can be made to run right. I am almost wondering now if it will ever run right without a major overhaul of the whole thing.



Agreed. A day out at Universal is a VERY expensive trip for most families, so to have so many people waiting 3-4 hours and still not getting on is really poor. The lack of shade in the queuing areas suggests they’re lacking care and consideration for their customers!

Sure, new rides are often prone to problems, but Universal appears to be managing this problem really badly.


----------



## Disxuni

It looks like this this heading to be a Jaws experience. It's been three weeks now. Which is give, or take is typically the amount of time soft openings occur. Occasionally after soft openings there is down time on occasion, but it's intermittent and down time is extremely short. So, I would say that after two months max have passed and they still do not have it together, they're going to need to do what they did for Jaws and just shut it down for an extended amount of time, really work on it, and open it back up. Because if they do not have it together by then, either something is wrong with the ride, or they're going to have to change how they operate it to make work.


----------



## mitsukoshi samurai

Same with gringotts and infinity falls


----------



## mrd7896

i was in the queue yesterday. The no tents/shaded areas is really telling for Universal as a company...yes they had JUGS of water that CM's were walking over to people but it was absolutely ridiculous. i saw some people have quite the freak out to some poor workers but 

I made friends with one of the CM's who was corralled over to the lost continent with no prior warning because they needed more people. She made a comment to my party about how she was lucky and took a lunch before being 'voluntold' (her words) to go man the line, whereas some of her coworkers didn't take their lunch and wouldn't be taking one for quite some time. She had zero idea how long she would have to stand there in the sun watching the line but was just doing what she was told. I felt so bad, but really everyone was in the dark. And i'm not sure if all of the CM's aren't allowed to tell any guests information but no one was informed. 

One of the fellow line waiters near me motivated our party to stay as she has been on the ride 4 times and was actively choosing to wait in the 4+ hour line..however she said that because of all the moving parts, some 'newer' technology and the control room not used to everything just yet, the ride takes longer than most (obviously) to get fixed. I'm not sure if that is a load of rubbish but not opening up until after 4, then shortly being shut down again for roughly 30 minutes seems like a bigger problem.

I'm happy i was able to ride it, it was a fantastic ride..honestly one of the best. And not spoiling anything really made it much better. I'm going to have a hard time waiting for the ride again for any thing longer than 2 hours since i know how finicky it is.  

I just feel bad for anyone that got in the line, waited a few hours and then was unable to ride it due to the weather. THEN i would've been pissed.


----------



## Disxuni

I really do wonder why they're so against having people actually wait in the queue itself. The only thing I can think of safety wise is if something went wrong, or they were to close it period and everyone needed to leave it would take longer for people to evacuate (however you kind of have that problem in any queue technically) the building.


----------



## Wreckem

Disxuni said:


> I really do wonder why they're so against having people actually wait in the queue itself. The only thing I can think of safety wise is if something went wrong, or they were to close it period and everyone needed to leave it would take longer for people to evacuate (however you kind of have that problem in any queue technically) the building.



There wouldn’t be room for water stations and it would be much more difficult to get out of line to get food and drinks. Which is necessary if the ride doesn’t open until the end of their midday range(4pm). There are also some very narrow parts of the queue. When it went down after being open for 15 minutes(after opening at 4:13) they had some people with claustrophobia having issues in parts of the queue.

It looks like it opened around noon today. Not sure why as it only operated about 3 Hours and 15 minutes yesterday. Hopefully people have better luck today.


----------



## mrd7896

I also heard people muttering yesterday that that was one of the latest openings for it thus far...just our luck i guess.


----------



## NickC

We are going to Universal in a little over 2 weeks. It sounds like we might not make this one. Unless they have it running full time, I don't see us waiting for it.


----------



## mrd7896

NickC said:


> We are going to Universal in a little over 2 weeks. It sounds like we might not make this one. Unless they have it running full time, I don't see us waiting for it.



honestly, i never would've thought i would've waited 4 hours for a single attraction. we were able to use the extra hour of park opening, went on Gringotts, transformers and despicable me. took the train over to IoA and by about 12:30 we had done forbidden journey, jurassic park, kong and popeye's. there were only a few attractions we had left and about 10 hours of park time. and we weren't rushing, or at least it didn't feel like we were. we stopped and ate, had a butterbeer, mosey'd around some stores, etc.

even after we got off the ride at 6:30 we ate dinner, went on spider man (half the party took the time to go on hulk), hopped back over to the other side and did men in black, mummy, fast and furious and jimmy. 

keep in mind we only had 1 day of park tickets. 

it obviously feels silly spending your valuable time sitting in a queue when you have little to no information about its' operation but i was shocked at how much we were able to get done still!


----------



## Wreckem

mrd7896 said:


> honestly, i never would've thought i would've waited 4 hours for a single attraction. we were able to use the extra hour of park opening, went on Gringotts, transformers and despicable me. took the train over to IoA and by about 12:30 we had done forbidden journey, jurassic park, kong and popeye's. there were only a few attractions we had left and about 10 hours of park time. and we weren't rushing, or at least it didn't feel like we were. we stopped and ate, had a butterbeer, mosey'd around some stores, etc.
> 
> even after we got off the ride at 6:30 we ate dinner, went on spider man (half the party took the time to go on hulk), hopped back over to the other side and did men in black, mummy, fast and furious and jimmy.
> 
> keep in mind we only had 1 day of park tickets.
> 
> it obviously feels silly spending your valuable time sitting in a queue when you have little to no information about its' operation but i was shocked at how much we were able to get done still!



It was helpful crowds were light this past weekend. This morning until 12 was even better. Over the weekend it seem a that most everything in both parks was pretty much walk on till 11ish-11:30ish and ride times didn’t get very long. I rarely saw the two other main potter rides get over a hour. Kong and Hulk hot 75-80 a couples times. I’ve seen Gringots and Forbidden Journey hit 180-210 during Xmas/New Years. I infact waited 1.5hrs in the Gringotts Express line last Christmas.


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> It looks like this this heading to be a Jaws experience. It's been three weeks now. Which is give, or take is typically the amount of time soft openings occur. Occasionally after soft openings there is down time on occasion, but it's intermittent and down time is extremely short. So, I would say that after two months max have passed and they still do not have it together, they're going to need to do what they did for Jaws and just shut it down for an extended amount of time, really work on it, and open it back up. Because if they do not have it together by then, either something is wrong with the ride, or they're going to have to change how they operate it to make work.



The motorbike idea while great for theming is a disaster practically.  The ride must be burning through parts like crazy.  On top of unbalanced trains, from the video you see mostly men riding on the bike and women in the side card.  Not great for weight distribution.  They may need to scrap the bikes and go to regular vehicles.


----------



## 123SA

My trip is at the end of the month.  The reviews are positive.  I'd love to ride this, but...I just can't see spending so much time on one ride.  It costs about $1000 per day (not including food, parking, souvenirs) for my family of 5.  To spend 1/4 -1/2 of day on one ride is just nuts.  If I were local, with an annual pass, I would spend a day on this ride.   If the situation doesn't improve, I think we'll skip it.  I'm not happy about it.


----------



## Disxuni

Liljo22 said:


> The motorbike idea while great for theming is a disaster practically.  The ride must be burning through parts like crazy.  On top of unbalanced trains, from the video you see mostly men riding on the bike and women in the side card.  Not great for weight distribution.  They may need to scrap the bikes and go to regular vehicles.



This maybe a stupid question (bare with me haven't really watched videos), but are you implying that they're actually using the bike as part of the ride vehicle? What I mean by that is, while on most coasters the little wheels are simply on the bottom of the vehicle, but are you implying that the wheels from the bike itself are is part of the ride vehicle and not stationary? If so, I would imagine that would definitely be a conflict.

I don't know about making them regular vehicles as it being Hagrid's bike as being one of the exciting elements to telling the story and "motorbike" is within the title itself. However, they definitely might have to scrap what they have a make a ride vehicle that resembles what they have if what they have now is the ultimate problem with the ride. However, if they scrapped the whole bike idea all together, they'd have to re-name the ride, but do something creatures themed, such as thestrals, or a thestral in front of the guests and guests ride vehicles like the carriages they use to pull Hogwarts students.


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> This maybe a stupid question (bare with me haven't really watched videos), but are you implying that they're actually using the bike as part of the ride vehicle? What I mean by that is, while on most coasters the little wheels are simply on the bottom of the vehicle, but are you implying that the wheels from the bike itself are is part of the ride vehicle and not stationary? If so, I would imagine that would definitely be a conflict.
> 
> I don't know about making them regular vehicles as it being Hagrid's bike as being one of the exciting elements to telling the story and "motorbike" is within the title itself. However, they definitely might have to scrap what they have a make a ride vehicle that resembles what they have if what they have now is the ultimate problem with the ride. However, if they scrapped the whole bike idea all together, they'd have to re-name the ride, but do something creatures themed, such as thestrals, or a thestral in front of the guests and guests ride vehicles like the carriages they use to pull Hogwarts students.



The bike is not part of the ride system.  The bike is attached to a platform that the vehicles wheels are under.  The issue I am seeing is that because the bike has more room than the sidecar, the men are all on that side while the women are in the car.  That makes weight distribution very uneven and is probably wearing down the wheels on one side.


----------



## Disxuni

Liljo22 said:


> The bike is not part of the ride system.  The bike is attached to a platform that the vehicles wheels are under.  The issue I am seeing is that because the bike has more room than the sidecar, the men are all on that side while the women are in the car.  That makes weight distribution very uneven and is probably wearing down the wheels on one side.



That's for clarifying what you meant. Technically that can occur on any ride, but due to the uniqueness on each side in terms of design of the vehicle and if in fact it would be very common for more heavier people riding on only one side of the vehicle it would not only make weight distribution uneven as you said, but definitely would increase the chances of wearing down faster on one side.


----------



## fightinillini229

Thank you everyone for posting their experiences this far. DW and I are heading to Universal for the first time on Friday for a couple of days and I've been trying to figure out what our touring plan should be with Hagrid "open."

We're staying at Royal Pacific and am planning on doing EE both Friday and Saturday. Hopefully the Express Pass helps alleviate some of the crowds we anticipate as a result of the 4th holiday weekend. Looks like we'll just be avoiding Hagrid all together and focus on everything else as I can't imagine spending hours and hours just waiting around for a chance to ride.


----------



## mrd7896

fightinillini229 said:


> Thank you everyone for posting their experiences this far. DW and I are heading to Universal for the first time on Friday for a couple of days and I've been trying to figure out what our touring plan should be with Hagrid "open."
> 
> We're staying at Royal Pacific and am planning on doing EE both Friday and Saturday. Hopefully the Express Pass helps alleviate some of the crowds we anticipate as a result of the 4th holiday weekend. Looks like we'll just be avoiding Hagrid all together and focus on everything else as I can't imagine spending hours and hours just waiting around for a chance to ride.



Sounds like you'll have a great time! I will also mention that when i was there this past sunday and they didn't open up until 4:15, we got off the ride and the wait time was 210 minutes. we went and rode a few things and when we were on our way back to the hogwarts express the wait was now only 120. i know that is still two hours but i was shocked at how much of a crowd they got through in a short period of time. 
i wouldn't completely rule it out, but depending on where you see the queue up to, a lot of the workers (although some had different answers) said that from the preshow you only have about a 45 minutes to an hour left of the queue. once we cleared the pre show it was a rather constant movement


----------



## bellarinah

Here’s my experience. I’m at the park today (July 2). I got to the holding pen in the Sinbad theater area at 9.45am. I was one of the first people there and there was plenty of shade in the area. I couldn’t say the same for people that arrived after 10.15 or 10.30am though. They were a little far back and they had to stand in full sun. There was a water station set up for everyone. The team member manning the perimeter also let people come and go for bathroom/snack breaks. At 11.30am, they started walking us toward the ride entrance, but just to stop us right in front of the Hogwarts Express prop. I had to stand in the sun for another 30 minutes before being let in to the queue proper. Even then, the ride still wasn’t up. I was held again right before the boarding area for another 15 minutes. And then, the ride was ready to go. I boarded the motor bike at 12.25pm. The wait time started at 150 minutes right off the bat and stayed that way till about 2pm when it moved to 180 minutes. I found the whole experience to be worth it. The ride was fantastic and very long for a roller coaster. There were a few surprises to keep it fresh and different. Granted, I was here by myself this trip and this made waiting for nearly three hours so much easier than a family with kids. With that being said, when I’m back here in two weeks with my girls, I’ll do this again if they are willing to wait.  Hope this helps everyone!!


----------



## glvsav37

bellarinah said:


> Here’s my experience. I’m at the park today (July 2). I got to the holding pen in the Sinbad theater area at 9.45am. I was one of the first people there and there was plenty of shade in the area. I couldn’t say the same for people that arrived after 10.15 or 10.30am though. They were a little far back and they had to stand in full sun. There was a water station set up for everyone. The team member manning the perimeter also let people come and go for bathroom/snack breaks. At 11.30am, they started walking us toward the ride entrance, but just to stop us right in front of the Hogwarts Express prop. I had to stand in the sun for another 30 minutes before being let in to the queue proper. Even then, the ride still wasn’t up. I was held again right before the boarding area for another 15 minutes. And then, the ride was ready to go. I boarded the motor bike at 12.25pm. The wait time started at 150 minutes right off the bat and stayed that way till about 2pm when it moved to 180 minutes. I found the whole experience to be worth it. The ride was fantastic and very long for a roller coaster. There were a few surprises to keep it fresh and different. Granted, I was here by myself this trip and this made waiting for nearly three hours so much easier than a family with kids. With that being said, when I’m back here in two weeks with my girls, I’ll do this again if they are willing to wait.  Hope this helps everyone!!


thanks for the update. Silly question though. Seems you waited over 4 hours, and thats w/o really knowing what time they would have opened it, it could have been later. However as soon as they opened the ride, you said the posted wait was around 2.5 hours (150 min). So from maximizing your touring time, wouldn't it be better to just wait for it to open and jump on line right behind those who were in the holding area?


----------



## bellarinah

glvsav37 said:


> thanks for the update. Silly question though. Seems you waited over 4 hours, and thats w/o really knowing what time they would have opened it, it could have been later. However as soon as they opened the ride, you said the posted wait was around 2.5 hours (150 min). So from maximizing your touring time, wouldn't it be better to just wait for it to open and jump on line right behind those who were in the holding area?


My total wait was actually a little less than three hours from the time I got to the holding area and finally boarding the ride. The posted wait time when the ride came online was 150 minutes right off the bat but that was for people that just jumped in line then. For me, it was a walk-on when the ride was officially open. I admit the hardest part of the wait was not knowing what was going on. No one told us anything. You’re right that I got lucky the ride opened on the earlier side than later. It could have opened at 4pm, instead of 12pm. But if you wait till the ride officially opens to jump in line, then you would actually have to wait the same amount of time I did and also running the risk of it closing down due to technical problem, weather, or what not. I hope this makes sense.


----------



## Disxuni

glvsav37 said:


> thanks for the update. Silly question though. Seems you waited over 4 hours, and thats w/o really knowing what time they would have opened it, it could have been later. However as soon as they opened the ride, you said the posted wait was around 2.5 hours (150 min). So from maximizing your touring time, wouldn't it be better to just wait for it to open and jump on line right behind those who were in the holding area?



Yeah, just hopping on when it officially opens comes with plus and minuses, it can be about the same wait time, or if anything, could actually be less time depending on what the official wait time is when it opens, or the downside you could have bad luck and be waiting longer than some people who had been waiting first in line, especially since as @bellarinah said, delays / weather can compromise the wait time and increase it as well. So, if I had no choice, but to pick one path, or the other, I would wait until it opens, because at least you're guaranteed that regardless of what happens that if it opens you'll get to ride it.


----------



## Disxuni

It's been on weather delayed it seems like for about an hour (at least from what it looks like when I've been checking the app out of curiosity, do not know if it's been longer than that), which is sad, considering I checked the radar and it seems to be a few specs in the Orlando area. Anyone in the parks today that can tell whether they've heard thunder, or seen lightning? I thought when rides were closed due to weather it was due to storms, not just rain.


----------



## MariaR3

I’m at RPR. They closed the pool about an hour ago due to thunder within 5 miles. It rained but has been sunny for a while now. Just walked by the pool and it’s still closed.


----------



## Disxuni

The spell as been lifted. It says 180 now.


----------



## Dr.Mickey

How is loading speed when it’s up and running? As a coaster fan, it is really painful to wait for a slow loading coaster. I suspect it can’t load as fast or efficiently as something like Hulk, which holds more riders and loads very efficiently. But how bad is it? Thanks!


----------



## TommyJK

Dr.Mickey said:


> How is loading speed when it’s up and running? As a coaster fan, it is really painful to wait for a slow loading coaster. I suspect it can’t load as fast or efficiently as something like Hulk, which holds more riders and loads very efficiently. But how bad is it? Thanks!



It's a moving belt similar to Rip Ride Rockit and from everything I've read it loads very efficiently.  They launch trains about every 30 seconds (when things are running smoothly) which is much faster than Hulk which takes well over a minute to load and launch cars.

Now to your point hulk holds more passengers per train but take more than double the time than this ride, so it's kind of a wash when looking to calculate hourly ride capacity.


----------



## Liljo22

TommyJK said:


> It's a moving belt similar to Rip Ride Rockit and from everything I've read it loads very efficiently.  They launch trains about every 30 seconds (when things are running smoothly) which is much faster than Hulk which takes well over a minute to load and launch cars.
> 
> Now to your point hulk holds more passengers per train but take more than double the time than this ride, so it's kind of a wash when looking to calculate hourly ride capacity.



Add at least 45 seconds to that time at least. The belt moves painfully slow on all the videos I have seen.  Just the point at the end of the station is taking about 20 seconds before the train releases.  Capacity is between 500-700 an hour based off what I calculated.


----------



## Wreckem

Liljo22 said:


> Add at least 45 seconds to that time at least. The belt moves painfully slow on all the videos I have seen.  Just the point at the end of the station is taking about 20 seconds before the train releases.  Capacity is between 500-700 an hour based off what I calculated.



Each train of bikes can launch every -45 seconds when empty. You can time them when they are doing the ~12 minutes of testing before they open the ride. Obviously with loading it does take longer. They are also only using half of the trains right now. 

It will be high capacity if they can figure out all their problems. I definitely think it’s closer to 750-1000 a hr right now when it’s actually running. The problem is it’s down a lot even when it’s open. It routinely has 15 to 45 minute delays during the time it’s open. Here’s hoping they actually get it to its potential capacity.


----------



## patster734

App is showing only 90 minutes today.


----------



## patster734

I spoke too soon.  Now it is showing Delayed.


----------



## Disxuni

I can't remember if it was Saturday, or Sunday I checked (leaning more towards Sunday), I looked at the app at past 10, but well before 11 and it was already open (believe it was around 10:20). I can't remember the exact wait time (it was either 120, 150, or 180, as those seem to be the typical wait times), but I thought I would mention it as it was well before the typical "mid-day" opening and thought that was interesting.


----------



## Garyjames220

Says it’s closed today. Why is that


----------



## Disxuni

Garyjames220 said:


> Says it’s closed today. Why is that



Three theories of mine:

It's been raining on and off where I am located which is Daytona. Looking at the map, it appears there might have been some weather in the Orlando area earlier too. It looks fairly clear now in the Orlando area from what I see in the radar, but there is more intense weather near the Orlando area. Might have thought it was best to close the full day due to the weather instead of playing yes, no, yes, no, with guests being able to go onto the ride, delaying it when weather is there, then opening when it's clear, and closing it again when weather comes, and repeat.
Closing it in order to perform maintenance on the attraction and really get some work done since it'll be closed for a full day rather than only working on it at night once the park closes.
Or a combination of the two. It's a horrible / unpredictable day for weather, so they use the time to close it for good for a day in order to get some real work done on the ride.


----------



## Garyjames220

Disxuni said:


> Three theories of mine:
> 
> It's been raining on and off where I am located which is Daytona. Looking at the map, it appears there might have been some weather in the Orlando area earlier too. It looks fairly clear now in the Orlando area from what I see in the radar, but there is more intense weather approaching. Might have thought it was best to close the full day due to the weather instead of playing yes, no, yes, no, with guests being able to go onto the ride, delaying it when weather is there, then opening when it's clear, and closing it again when weather comes, and repeat.
> Closing it in order to perform maintenance on the attraction and really get some work done since it'll be closed for a full day rather than only working on it at night once the park closes.
> Or a combination of the two. It's a horrible / unpredictable day for weather, so they use the time to close it for good for a day in order to get some real work done on the ride.



So can this ride not run in any rain what so ever 

Even a wee bit and they close it ?


----------



## Disxuni

Garyjames220 said:


> So can this ride not run in any rain what so ever
> 
> Even a wee bit and they close it ?



Thunder and lightning they close it. If thunder and lightning strikes within a certain amount of distance they close down the ride due to it being outside. I believe it is within 10 miles of the park area.


----------



## mitsukoshi samurai

So is hulk and rrr closed too


----------



## Disxuni

mitsukoshi samurai said:


> So is hulk and rrr closed too



Hulk and RRR do close due to weather, but at the moment, no, they're not closed. They both have a wait time of 15 minutes. Hagrid's coaster is still closed. There is no actual reason / explanation as to why right now. So, it's anyone's guess as to why it's closed for the day. If it was closed due to weather it would say "delayed due to weather", not "closed" as it states right now.

EDIT: It's 5:25PM EST and still says "CLOSED", which means more than likely it is/was closed for the day. It'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.


----------



## Disxuni

Right now Hagrid is open with a 180 wait time.

However, I see storms in the Gulf of Mexico right now, so within a few hours that might change.


----------



## 123SA

When Hagrid does open...does it stay open closing?

If the park is scheduled to close at 10pm, can you get in line  at 9:59 or do they close the line off early?


----------



## Jocelynaus

Liljo22 said:


> The motorbike idea while great for theming is a disaster practically.  The ride must be burning through parts like crazy.  On top of unbalanced trains, from the video you see mostly men riding on the bike and women in the side card.  Not great for weight distribution.  They may need to scrap the bikes and go to regular vehicles.


The ride car is really similar (but themed totally different) to another ride that’s here in Australia by the same manufacturer. The older ride has been running reliably for over 10 years. I will say though most of the train is 2 bikes and then about 3 bike and side cars at the end of the train.

 That rides track is pretty straight forward, I’m more suspicious of the drop track TBH.


----------



## gerryrobinson

123SA said:


> When Hagrid does open...does it stay open closing?
> 
> If the park is scheduled to close at 10pm, can you get in line  at 9:59 or do they close the line off early?



From what I've been seeing, they are closing the queue down well before closing. It is displayed as "At Capacity" on the app. Usually happens between 7-8pm. Maybe someone who has been can chime in.


----------



## TommyJK

123SA said:


> When Hagrid does open...does it stay open closing?
> 
> If the park is scheduled to close at 10pm, can you get in line  at 9:59 or do they close the line off early?



For the last while, Universal has been opening it between 11am - 2:00pm and as the previous poster has noted, they close the line at around 7-8 pm so they can get through the rest of the line by roughly the time the park closes.

This has been because maintenance teams have needed around 12 hours (give or take) for nightly maintenance since it opened.

However, with the full day closure this past Monday, some are reporting they used that day for some significant programming updates, yesterday had very few technical issues, and that they are possibly close to having the ride opening closer to park open moving forward.

We'll have to see how things go over the next couple of weeks to see if they have continued improvement on operating hours and reduced amount of time needed for nightly maintenance


----------



## Disxuni

123SA said:


> When Hagrid does open...does it stay open closing?
> 
> If the park is scheduled to close at 10pm, can you get in line  at 9:59 or do they close the line off early?



Like others have said usually it says "at capacity" prior to closing. However, I would imagine that once things become "normal" that you'd essentially be able to hop onto the ride a few minutes prior to the park closing and being able to enjoy the ride. At least that's how things seem to be typically for any other ride.

At this rate, we'll see how long it'll take for it to operate "normal". A month is about the rage give, or take for a soft opening period. So we've past that point. Right now is roughly estimated the time it would be if it was doing it's grand opening, which would still have a kink here and there, but all in all, a pretty well oiled machine. However, while we're in the realistic time frame of grand opening time, this is definitely not a well oiled machine with only a kink here and there. So it'll be interesting how things develop for the next few weeks.

ATM now it's open with 210 wait time.


----------



## TommyJK

Someone on another message board has noted the following:

"Went to the park on Tuesday and talked to the TM’s while the ride was down for 2 hours at park open. They’re trying to have 7 trains on the tracks at once, but 2 of the trains are having issues with sensors and safety restraints so they have to keep switching them on and off the tracks. They’re working intermittently. The goal is to eventually get to 12. Opening day they only had 3 operational.

Also, the computer and sensors for the backwards launch brakes got fried and they had to take an emergency trip to Switzerland and get new ones From Intamin.

They also plan to start opening with the park and closing around 5:00PM or so now so they can give tech some day light as well as all night to work on the attraction."


----------



## Spike101

Its 90 days til I'm in Florida, I'm keenly optimistic that its going to be running smoothly by then, fingers crossed!


----------



## TommyJK

Today seemed like a pretty good day of operations. 

They opened the ride soon after the park opened, didn't hear/see any mention of downtime, and it's still running (although showing as At Capacity which means they'll be shutting it down once the line empties). 

Also read reports of line running faster than the stated wait times throughout the day. 

Let's hope the good fortune continues.


----------



## kittylady1972

We are about 6 weeks out from our planned visit so here's hoping it's up and running by that time on a more regular basis so we can at least get one ride on it!


----------



## skylock

I have read today that they are going to try to open the ride at park opening or close to, but they will be shutting the line down around 5.

So, don't wait if you really want to ride this ride.

We will see how it goes.


----------



## MumziMom

skylock said:


> I have read today that they are going to try to open the ride at park opening or close to, but they will be shutting the line down around 5.
> 
> So, don't wait if you really want to ride this ride.
> 
> We will see how it goes.


Yes, this was in my news feed today.  From what the article said, they are trying to have more "up" time, and avoid the afternoon storms which are causing some of the down time.  I'd post a link, but not sure if it is ok to.


----------



## FSU Girl

That's great if they open it with the park. You can get in line early and not have to wait super long and waste the day. With it opening at noon I was going to just avoid it completely.


----------



## Beer Me

FSU Girl said:


> That's great if they open it with the park. You can get in line early and not have to wait super long and waste the day. With it opening at noon I was going to just avoid it completely.


 
I rode today. Arrived at IoA gates at about 7:20.  There weren’t a ton of people waiting that early. They let us through the gate about 8:15. Waited near suess landing until 8:45ish. Then went through the extended Hagrid queue but walked straight through until almost to the loading area. They were skipping the preshow entirely - just walked right through. We waited near the loading area about 30-40 minutes with no line movement. After it started we moved quickly and we were done riding by about 9:45.


----------



## FSU Girl

Beer Me said:


> I rode today. Arrived at IoA gates at about 7:20.  There weren’t a ton of people waiting that early. They let us through the gate about 8:15. Waited near suess landing until 8:45ish. Then went through the extended Hagrid queue but walked straight through until almost to the loading area. They were skipping the preshow entirely - just walked right through. We waited near the loading area about 30-40 minutes with no line movement. After it started we moved quickly and we were done riding by about 9:45.


that’s great to hear! You had the rest of the day to enjoy the parks and still got to ride


----------



## zebsterama

We are there in a couple of weeks - I guess there’s still hope for an early entry!

Fantastic


----------



## MeridaAnn

I got to ride again this morning! I parked at about 7:20 (mine was the second car in the parking garage) and was at the front of one of the entry lines. They started scanning tickets at about 8:20 (I was the 7th person through the gates) and then held us at the entry to Seuss Landing until 8:45. For some ridiculous reason they don't use a rope to walk everyone back to the entrance, so a ton of people got ahead of me because they ran (just moments after TMs telling them not to, of course, and two people did fall) - I was probably around 100 people back or so once we were in the holding line in front of Sinbad's. I entered the official part of the queue just a couple minutes after 9:00, took the Single Rider line, where there were about a dozen people ahead of me, and I boarded the ride at 9:10. Posted wait was listed as 3 hours from the end of the line when the park officially opened at 9.

The ride was just as amazing this second time - especially since all the animatronics and effects were working this time (the skrewt and fire blast didn't work when rode during the opening weekend). I was in the sidecar this time, and while it was still great, I preferred the motorcycle last time. The sidecar was a bit "cozy", but not uncomfortable. Both make for a great ride, though and since the Single Riders all end up in the sidecar and that saves a ton of time, I'm sure I'll happily ride in that seat plenty more in the future.

And now I'm off to ride Gringotts and grab a frozen butterbeer!


----------



## MumziMom

I checked the app an hour ago, and it said a 210 minute wait.  No thanks!


----------



## robot1000

From the sound of it, it seems that it would be better to rope drop IOA than use the Early morning hours in US and get the train across. Is that right?


----------



## Beer Me

FSU Girl said:


> that’s great





Beer Me said:


> I rode today. Arrived at IoA gates at about 7:20.  There weren’t a ton of people waiting that early. They let us through the gate about 8:15. Waited near suess landing until 8:45ish. Then went through the extended Hagrid queue but walked straight through until almost to the loading area. They were skipping the preshow entirely - just walked right through. We waited near the loading area about 30-40 minutes with no line movement. After it started we moved quickly and we were done riding by about 9:45.



Follow up - rode again today (sat 7/13) using basically the same plan. Arrived at IoA about 7:30 and was off the ride by 9:25.


----------



## Spike101

I'm going to be watching this thread like a hawk for the next 12 weeks!


----------



## multiculturallit

Just want to chime in with our experience yesterday 7/14.  We entered the line at 4:43 PM  (park closing was 10 pm) (my daughter noted the time exactly), and I was surprised to enter at the ride entrance, not further back in the park.  The posted wait time was 150 minutes, but just under an hour in, we were in a cave type room just before the room with some switchbacks before you enter the room with moving platform to ride.  And then....the announcement of weather and the ride shut down. 

A kind person near us in the line showed the weather radar ( my phone was in the locker), and it showed the storm passing almost as soon as it came through.  The ride was closed for an hour.  Right as we entered the line, many were coming out of the line saying single rider had been closed, dont know why.  Announcement made at hour 2 that ride would reopen.  Cheers ensued. We rode about two hours 15 minutes after we entered the line ( but keep in mind weather delay of one hour.)  My 12, 10 and 7 year old and I all rode.  7 and 12 in sidecar, 10 year old and me on bike.  In a word....Amazing ride, worth every minute in line.  Some aniamotronics not working like Hagrid when we rode,  but we didn't care.  LOVED the motorbike side.  My kids who rode the sidecar loved also....my 12 year old felt the turns felt really fast and fun in the sidecar, and she also felt the hill before falling back would be better in the front as we were in the back and were not far up before the fall back.  Just her two cents.  Seriously, it is not to be missed.  I won't give anything away, but we wished we could have ridden again, but line was closed due to capacity when we came off.  Questions welcomed if anyone has them.


----------



## Disxuni

multiculturallit said:


> Just want to chime in with our experience yesterday 7/14.  We entered the line at 4:43 PM  (park closing was 10 pm) (my daughter noted the time exactly), and I was surprised to enter at the ride entrance, not further back in the park.  The posted wait time was 150 minutes, but just under an hour in, we were in a cave type room just before the room with some switchbacks before you enter the room with moving platform to ride.  And then....the announcement of weather and the ride shut down.
> 
> A kind person near us in the line showed the weather radar ( my phone was in the locker), and it showed the storm passing almost as soon as it came through.  The ride was closed for an hour.  Right as we entered the line, many were coming out of the line saying single rider had been closed, dont know why.  Announcement made at hour 2 that ride would reopen.  Cheers ensued. We rode about two hours 15 minutes after we entered the line ( but keep in mind weather delay of one hour.)  My 12, 10 and 7 year old and I all rode.  7 and 12 in sidecar, 10 year old and me on bike.  In a word....Amazing ride, worth every minute in line.  Some aniamotronics not working like Hagrid when we rode,  but we didn't care.  LOVED the motorbike side.  My kids who rode the sidecar loved also....my 12 year old felt the turns felt really fast and fun in the sidecar, and she also felt the hill before falling back would be better in the front as we were in the back and were not far up before the fall back.  Just her two cents.  Seriously, it is not to be missed.  I won't give anything away, but we wished we could have ridden again, but line was closed due to capacity when we came off.  Questions welcomed if anyone has them.



Glad you were able to ride. You were lucky to have rode it at all. Since they have stated from now on they plan on opening it when the park typically opens and then close it off at 5pm, then on top of that weather got involved. Unfortunately, once they detect lightning 10 miles away, that's when they shut down, and regardless of how big, or small the storm might seem to be, it'll take awhile for that storm to pass. It seems like even when something as a little "spec" appears on the radar that alone might take about a half hour to pass from my personal experience.

Soon the park will be open again in about 15 minutes. It'll be interesting to see what it brings today.


----------



## TommyJK

From every report I've read over the last week (twitter, other boards etc.), wait times have generally been about half of what the posted wait time was.  

So it seems they are for the time being continually overestimating the wait time on the app/in front of the line probably to buffer in case there is temporary downtime (like adding or removing trains or other technical issues).

Also I haven't heard of any major down times due to technical issues in the last little while, just ones for weather.


----------



## jrsharp21

Been keeping an eye on this thread. We are headed to Ft. Meyer at the end of the month. Because of airline ticket prices we are actually flying into Orlando a day earlier. So we thought we would go to a theme park for the day before driving over to Ft. Meyer. The kids chose IOA due to the new Hagrid ride. But after telling them about the long waits and the constant issues they are second guessing if they should go to a park at WDW instead. Continuing to keep them updated. The recent threads are giving me a little bit more hope. One thing we will have to decide is that we will get to whatever park at open, but have to leave around 5pm. So is it worth even all the hustle and bustle of the Hagrid ride or would it be better to just completely forget about it and enjoy a full day of other attractions.


----------



## FSU Girl

jrsharp21 said:


> Been keeping an eye on this thread. We are headed to Ft. Meyer at the end of the month. Because of airline ticket prices we are actually flying into Orlando a day earlier. So we thought we would go to a theme park for the day before driving over to Ft. Meyer. The kids chose IOA due to the new Hagrid ride. But after telling them about the long waits and the constant issues they are second guessing if they should go to a park at WDW instead. Continuing to keep them updated. The recent threads are giving me a little bit more hope. One thing we will have to decide is that we will get to whatever park at open, but have to leave around 5pm. So is it worth even all the hustle and bustle of the Hagrid ride or would it be better to just completely forget about it and enjoy a full day of other attractions.


If they open the ride at park opening and you line up before it opens you should be able to ride it relatively early in the day and still have plenty of time for everything else.


----------



## dbavis

TommyJK said:


> From every report I've read over the last week (twitter, other boards etc.), wait times have generally been about half of what the posted wait time was.
> 
> So it seems they are for the time being continually overestimating the wait time on the app/in front of the line probably to buffer in case there is temporary downtime (like adding or removing trains or other technical issues).
> 
> Also I haven't heard of any major down times due to technical issues in the last little while, just ones for weather.


We lost three hours in line on Saturday before they closed it down and gave everybody ruby passes.  Finally rode it yesterday.  It's still having mechanical issues.


----------



## FSU Girl

dbavis said:


> We lost three hours in line on Saturday before they closed it down and gave everybody ruby passes.  Finally rode it yesterday.  It's still having mechanical issues.


What's a ruby pass?


----------



## dbavis

FSU Girl said:


> What's a ruby pass?


It's essentially an Express pass that also covered Hagrids.  We used it to get on yesterday and only had to wait about 30 minutes.


----------



## FSU Girl

dbavis said:


> It's essentially an Express pass that also covered Hagrids.  We used it to get on yesterday and only had to wait about 30 minutes.


oh cool thanks!


----------



## AngiTN

dbavis said:


> We lost three hours in line on Saturday before they closed it down and gave everybody ruby passes.  Finally rode it yesterday.  It's still having mechanical issues.


I was wondering what was up. I have looked at the wait times after it opened each day on the app the past 2, 3 days it's always showing Closed without weather delays or anything. I was afraid that it was closed continually for days but if you rode yesterday then I guess it's still working sometimes.
Trying to decide if we are going to go over one day while we are there later this week


----------



## dbavis

AngiTN said:


> I was wondering what was up. I have looked at the wait times after it opened each day on the app the past 2, 3 days it's always showing Closed without weather delays or anything. I was afraid that it was closed continually for days but if you rode yesterday then I guess it's still working sometimes.
> Trying to decide if we are going to go over one day while we are there later this week


Yeah, its definitely open for parts of the day but it seems to still be having issues pretty regularly. Best bet seems to be to get in line first thing and wait it out.
It really is a fun ride. Once they get it sorted out,  it'll be great.


----------



## NickC

We are leaving on Thursday for a weekend visit to US. At this point, we are planning on pretending this ride doesn't exist and planning our day without it. It's always fun to try new things, but it seems too risky at this point.


----------



## 123SA

NickC said:


> We are leaving on Thursday for a weekend visit to US. At this point, we are planning on pretending this ride doesn't exist and planning our day without it. It's always fun to try new things, but it seems too risky at this point.




I'm having a hard time deciding.  We only visit once per year, and to spend so much time in one queue is a hard decision to make.


----------



## Beer Me

123SA said:


> I'm having a hard time deciding.  We only visit once per year, and to spend so much time in one queue is a hard decision to make.



It’s not too bad if you don’t mind using some early morning time. See my posts above. Last Friday and Saturday I arrived at IoA gates about 7:30am and was off the ride well before 10am. It’s a lot of waiting but now that they start up at 9am it doesn’t waste a lot of your park hours. 

I think it’s worth it!


----------



## 123SA

So they are letting people in at 815 and holding them at Seuss until 845.  What if you are interested in riding Kong or Forbidden Journey first?  Are you still held in that mess and made to walk the long way around?

If I'm not going to Hagrid's first,  what time should arrive?   My trip is last week of July


----------



## jrsharp21

NickC said:


> We are leaving on Thursday for a weekend visit to US. At this point, we are planning on pretending this ride doesn't exist and planning our day without it. It's always fun to try new things, but it seems too risky at this point.



I think this may be the same strategy we take. It sounds like the kids still want to still go to IA. If we happen to run into a chance getting on fine, but not going to waste a big chunk of the day trying to get on the ride.


----------



## Beer Me

123SA said:


> So they are letting people in at 815 and holding them at Seuss until 845.  What if you are interested in riding Kong or Forbidden Journey first?  Are you still held in that mess and made to walk the long way around?
> 
> If I'm not going to Hagrid's first,  what time should arrive?   My trip is last week of July



If you aren’t planning to line up for Hagrid you can just show up at 9 or slightly before. You should be ok to be behind the the Hagrid crowd. They are segregated further into the park and you can bypass the madness and go to hogsmeade, forbidden journey or whatever you want.

Or if you are staying onsite go to universal for early entry at 8am


----------



## BigRed98

Does anyone have any idea on when Universal will open express for Hagrid’s?


----------



## TommyJK

BigRed98 said:


> Does anyone have any idea on when Universal will open express for Hagrid’s?



Nope. And I wouldn't expect it for quite some time. 

They have yet to get this ride running at full capacity for an entire day from park open open to park close (although they keep making good progress as time go's on). 

We'll be lucky if they open up Express Pass by the end of the year IMO but I hope I'm wrong.


----------



## Spike101

So if the Leaky Cauldron is open for EE, I'll definitely be having my birthday breakfast there in October, and really hoping that the warm Butterbeer is back on the menu by then, fingers crossed!


----------



## Sehsun

123SA said:


> So they are letting people in at 815 and holding them at Seuss until 845.  What if you are interested in riding Kong or Forbidden Journey first?  Are you still held in that mess and made to walk the long way around?
> 
> If I'm not going to Hagrid's first,  what time should arrive?   My trip is last week of July



I know for sure they have a special extended queue for Hagrid's that goes through the old Sinbad show courtyard area (and I'm fairly sure they have barricades in the Lost Continent and probably even Seuss for this Hagrid's extended queue, when necessary). You can definitely get to Forbidden Journey and the rest of the Wizarding World, JP, etc. without having to wait with the Hagrid's crowd.

The bridge that cuts over to Jurassic Park is open (across from the Treasures of Poseidon gift shop), and you can take that shortcut to get to JP and Kong without having to walk through the Wizarding World.


----------



## Flyg1rl

I will be there with DH, DD, and DS 8/3-5, and was hoping to ride.  We are APs and will be staying onside, RPH.
Following this discussion avidly.  App is currently stating 180 minute wait.


----------



## cxr

Flyg1rl said:


> I will be there with DH, DD, and DS 8/3-5, and was hoping to ride.  We are APs and will be staying onside, RPH.
> Following this discussion avidly.  App is currently stating 180 minute wait.





We are currently standing in line. Ride delayed due to weather. Stopped raining. But they say lightning delay.  Been in line for about 2 hours in the room with the dragon eggs.


----------



## cxr

*best ride ever *


----------



## Spike101

I cant remember if anyones mentioned this before, but will I be alright on this with my glasses on, kinda feel I probably will be but without them I'd miss all the small details of the ride.


----------



## FSU Girl

Spike101 said:


> I cant remember if anyones mentioned this before, but will I be alright on this with my glasses on, kinda feel I probably will be but without them I'd miss all the small details of the ride.


My husband wears glasses on all the roller coasters, he's never had a problem. I haven't ridden this yet, but I don't see why it would be any different.


----------



## 123SA

Do you go through a metal detector like hulk or can you keep phone in your pocket like MIB?


----------



## Spike101

123SA said:


> Do you go through a metal detector like hulk or can you keep phone in your pocket like MIB?



Theres no metal detector, just the usual locker protocol like Gringotts and Forbidden Journey.


----------



## cxr

In line again this morning.   It’s at 240 min.  and now we are delayed. Does. Single rider move quick?


----------



## mitsukoshi samurai

Spike101 said:


> Theres no metal detector, just the usual locker protocol like Gringotts and Forbidden Journey.


Just mandatory fluffy fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo (lockers)


----------



## Disxuni

cxr said:


> In line again this morning.   It’s at 240 min.  and now we are delayed. Does. Single rider move quick?



Typically I do not suggest SR if there is more than 10-15 people. Even then, you'll probably be waiting a little bit, but not that long. Some SR lines can move, but often they do not move quickly since it is meant to fill in an empty slot. I wouldn't suggest SR at Hagrid's unless it's literally walk on (which I doubt it is) as I've heard it is horrid in terms of feeling hot, since it sounds like it's not air conditioned, or at least not ventilated well, and you'd be enclosed in a stairwell with a lot of people as well.


----------



## MumziMom

cxr said:


> In line again this morning.   It’s at 240 min.  and now we are delayed. Does. Single rider move quick?


I was wondering the same thing.  Not much on the boards.  Post #464 on this thread gives some insight, but elsewhere someone had the experience of SRL being shut down.  Someone else said that there is no fan in the area where you need to stand on the stairs for a while.  Anyone out there who has been on SRL this week have some insight?  Thanks!


----------



## cxr

Well been in line since 935.  And now at the dragon room again . So just waiting. Ride is open. It the rides moves at such a snails pace


----------



## Disxuni

I wonder if they're using less ride vehicles today. I know in the past when they've had issues they have switched carts, as well as take some off, or add them when it's been delayed. It's been reported lately that typically when the ride operates the wait time is typically less than reports to compensate for anything might happen. You're still under the 4 hour mark. However, 240 has been a lot longer than what has been reported lately for wait times. I wonder what's happening today.


----------



## AngiTN

We’d thought about heading over today to give it a go but I’m thinking we’ll skip it. Doesn’t look promissing right now. I mean, I don’t mind standing in line but I’d rather know it’s for something, not waiting around while it’s going down a lot.


----------



## cxr

AngiTN said:


> We’d thought about heading over today to give it a go but I’m thinking we’ll skip it. Doesn’t look promissing right now. I mean, I don’t mind standing in line but I’d rather know it’s for something, not waiting around while it’s going down a lot.



There’s a sign. That it’s closing early today.   That’s why we decided to Jump in line so we don’t miss it.    At 4 hours in the queue line now     Been down on off. About 3 times throughout this wait.


----------



## MeridaAnn

MumziMom said:


> I was wondering the same thing.  Not much on the boards.  Post #464 on this thread gives some insight, but elsewhere someone had the experience of SRL being shut down.  Someone else said that there is no fan in the area where you need to stand on the stairs for a while.  Anyone out there who has been on SRL this week have some insight?  Thanks!



I was able to use the Single Rider line this past Saturday. I was probably only about 100 people back in the main line, so there were only a handful of people ahead of me in the SR line when I reached it, so I can't say how long a normal wait is, but they were sending a single rider with every odd-numbered group in the main line, so our little line was through within a minute or two. The stairs referenced previously are immediately inside the door from outside, which is presumably why they were so hot for the previous poster - the line wasn't back that far when I was there, so I just walked straight on, but it is also a fairly short set of stairs and then you are into the final holding room before loading.

Also, just a reminder that you do miss the preshow and the workshop room if you use the Single Rider line. I went through the main line to see those on opening weekend, so I didn't mind missing them this past weekend, but they are really well done, so it's worth considering that in your calculations when choosing which line to go through.


----------



## cxr

Surprise another  delay soo close not on the ride yet. . Family getting cranky


----------



## cxr

Still a great ride


----------



## JKFLorida

We are going to be there Sun and have EE. Has anyone gone in the morning to get in line via Hogwarts Express from US side? If so, I would love some tips on timing, where to go once we get into IOA, when trains start running.  Would anyone recommend going this route using the train from US during EE? Thank you!


----------



## Flyg1rl

still watching this thread furiously.  2 more weeks till we leave.


----------



## MeridaAnn

JKFLorida said:


> We are going to be there Sun and have EE. Has anyone gone in the morning to get in line via Hogwarts Express from US side? If so, I would love some tips on timing, where to go once we get into IOA, when trains start running.  Would anyone recommend going this route using the train from US during EE? Thank you!


 
Last Saturday they let people into IoA more than 30 minutes before the official opening time and they let us back to the Sinbad holding area 15 minutes before to start the line for Hagrid's. There were people coming off the train at 9:20 when I left Hagrid's, so they seemed to have started the train fairly soon after the official opening at 9, but those people still had to go to the back of the line at Sinbad's with a 2-3 hour wait ahead of them. They did have TMs directing people where to go from the train to get in line, so you'll know where to go, but you won't be able to get to the front of the line or get a shorter wait or anything.


----------



## Beer Me

JKFLorida said:


> We are going to be there Sun and have EE. Has anyone gone in the morning to get in line via Hogwarts Express from US side? If so, I would love some tips on timing, where to go once we get into IOA, when trains start running.  Would anyone recommend going this route using the train from US during EE? Thank you!



I opted to forego EE and line up at IoA at about 7:30am. I hated that in a way but it’s the best way to ride Hagrid without burning hours of the day (I was off the ride by about 9:30 two days in a row). 

It is my understanding that riding Hogwarts express from Universal would not put you ahead of people coming in through IoA.


----------



## JKFLorida

Beer Me said:


> I opted to forego EE and line up at IoA at about 7:30am. I hated that in a way but it’s the best way to ride Hagrid without burning hours of the day (I was off the ride by about 9:30 two days in a row).
> 
> It is my understanding that riding Hogwarts express from Universal would not put you ahead of people coming in through IoA.


Thanks so much to both you. That is exactly what I wanted to know. Early in IA line it is. Though not sure I can do 7:30


----------



## Scoobie

Disxuni said:


> Typically I do not suggest SR if there is more than 10-15 people. Even then, you'll probably be waiting a little bit, but not that long. Some SR lines can move, but often they do not move quickly since it is meant to fill in an empty slot. I wouldn't suggest SR at Hagrid's unless it's literally walk on (which I doubt it is) as I've heard it is horrid in terms of feeling hot, since it sounds like it's not air conditioned, or at least not ventilated well, and you'd be enclosed in a stairwell with a lot of people as well.


I'm shocked you're offering this advice considering what it says under your name.


----------



## jsmla

I’m staying at RPR next month and am naturally a very early (like 4:30 AM early) riser.  What time should I be at the gates to be at the front of the line when the ride opens?

Thanks!


----------



## MumziMom

Does anyone have advice for the following?  We will be at Portofino Bay next month, and I, at least, would like to try the "get in line at 7:30 a.m. strategy.  The boats do not run that early, do they?  I am thinking that I will need to leave the hotel at 7:15 at the latest, and walk on over.  Yes?


----------



## TommyJK

MumziMom said:


> Does anyone have advice for the following?  We will be at Portofino Bay next month, and I, at least, would like to try the "get in line at 7:30 a.m. strategy.  The boats do not run that early, do they?  I am thinking that I will need to leave the hotel at 7:15 at the latest, and walk on over.  Yes?



A month is still a long time out.  The ride by then could be further improved from a capacity and operations standpoint, making current strategies unnecessary.

I would just continue following this thread to see how things are going just before your trip to figure out the best strategy then.


----------



## Spike101

TommyJK said:


> I would just continue following this thread to see how things are going just before your trip to figure out the best strategy then.



Thats exactly what I'm doing, my first day back at the parks is still just over 2 months away, as it stands my plan is to do EE at USO, which if current opening times stand, will be into the park by 7am, do Gringotts, have a mooch around, but then leave USO to get into the queue for IOA no later than 8am.

However if the queue for IOA is starting at 7.30 or thereabouts depending what it says on here, thats what I'll be doing, with jetlag I'll be up like a lark at 5am on my first day so it wont be an issue, and I want to ride both cycle and sidecar, so determined to be among the first on every morning that I decide that Hagrid is my priority.

I really want to ride it at night as well, so we'll see how that goes!


----------



## MumziMom

Sorry!  reposted by mistake.


----------



## macraven

Spike, I see both parks have the 9:00 opening with one having the 8:00 opening for your dates 

No 7:00 ee listed as of today

If UO has large hotel occupancy is the only way they would change ee

But that would not be known yet


----------



## Spike101

macraven said:


> Spike, I see both parks have the 9:00 opening with one having the 8:00 opening for your dates
> 
> No 7:00 ee listed as of today
> 
> If UO has large hotel occupancy is the only way they would change ee
> 
> But that would not be known yet



I based all my timings on what is says on the Universal APP, just double checked, it says USO opens at 8 with EE at 7, and IOA opens at 9 with no EE.


----------



## macraven

I don’t have the app but it would be the most current info to use 

Good for you!


----------



## ashstat

At what point in the queue do you go to the lockers? Is there a holding area for families waiting on one person in locker area like Gringott’s where families wait in the bank? Or do you go to lockers before getting in queue?  Trying to figure out best strategy...can I send family to queue and catch up to them or do they have to wait while I fiddle with locker? Packing really light, but will need a small bag.


----------



## Beer Me

ashstat said:


> At what point in the queue do you go to the lockers? Is there a holding area for families waiting on one person in locker area like Gringott’s where families wait in the bank? Or do you go to lockers before getting in queue?  Trying to figure out best strategy...can I send family to queue and catch up to them or do they have to wait while I fiddle with locker? Packing really light, but will need a small bag.



The lockers are just outside of the main queue entrance. The way it’s set up now, with an external queue for the larger crowds, it goes right past the lockers. My family waited while I put our bag away and we got back in line.

Some people let their groups go ahead and then caught up but it seemed like borderline line cutting.

I should add that when we went through the line wasn’t backed up at  that point so people were walking quickly through the queue. It does get backed up though and if that’s the case you should be able to put your bag in a locker without losing your place in line.


----------



## Fantasy2013

My husband won't do this ride but is willing to stand in line with me.  Can he go through the queue and then not do the ride?  At what point is there a place for him to bail out?


----------



## Sehsun

Fantasy2013 said:


> My husband won't do this ride but is willing to stand in line with me.  Can he go through the queue and then not do the ride?  At what point is there a place for him to bail out?



Yes he can. There is one large room in the queue before the load platform. There is a test seat and a child swap room nearby. There is usually a team member when you enter this room - explain to them that your husband will not be riding, most likely they will have him wait in the child swap/family room. You will walk past this room when you exit the ride and can easily meet up.


----------



## Disxuni

Scoobie said:


> I'm shocked you're offering this advice considering what it says under your name.



I think Fred would consider going on this ride a lot more of a fun version of risk then standing in an un-air conditioned stairwell with dozens of people. I'm risking with my "vertical" drop, so I don't need to die before going on the ride.


----------



## NickC

We got back yesterday. We decided to skip this ride. I'm sure it's a great ride, and we almost waited in line, but decided against it.


----------



## PoohIsHome

NickC said:


> We got back yesterday. We decided to skip this ride. I'm sure it's a great ride, and we almost waited in line, but decided against it.



Did you skip due to the line or the ride itself?


----------



## 123SA

We plan to arrive at 730am for the morning line up, next Wednesday.   I understand that the current process is we'll be through the ticket turnstiles and held around Seuss for sometime before opening.  Then there will be a disorganized running to the ride when the "rope" drops.

My 3 teens will stay at the beginning of the pack unless they literally get mowed down.  There is no conceivable way I will be able to keep up with them.  When the line forms at Hagrid, is there a general reshuffling as people reunite with their groups?  Will I be able to join them?

I'm kind of leaning towards just skipping the ride and being the bag holder.  I find this kind of start to the day stressful, not fun.


----------



## CPanther95

123SA said:


> We plan to arrive at 730am for the morning line up, next Wednesday.   I understand that the current process is we'll be through the ticket turnstiles and held around Seuss for sometime before opening.  Then there will be a disorganized running to the ride when the "rope" drops.
> 
> My 3 teens will stay at the beginning of the pack unless they literally get mowed down.  There is no conceivable way I will be able to keep up with them.  When the line forms at Hagrid, is there a general reshuffling as people reunite with their groups?  Will I be able to join them?
> 
> I'm kind of leaning towards just skipping the ride and being the bag holder.  I find this kind of start to the day stressful, not fun.



I wouldn't risk trying to cut in line.

Tell the teens they should stick with you, not vice versa.


----------



## 123SA

CPanther95 said:


> I wouldn't risk trying to cut in line.
> 
> Tell the teens they should stick with you, not vice versa.



I'd never do this in the middle of the day.  It just seems that when they have this kind of disorganized start, it's difficult to stay together resulting in shuffling around once it settles in the first few minutes.  If this isn't the norm, then I'll just let them go and skip it.   It's a week away and the thought of managing the surging crowd is causing me anxiety.  Seems like if it's bothering me now, it's not a good thing for me.  I really wish the parks wouldn't do this kind of rope drop.  I wish they'd let you through the turnstiles and go lineup at the ride.  It's the crowds the result from the holding pens that bother me.


----------



## Disxuni

123SA said:


> We plan to arrive at 730am for the morning line up, next Wednesday.   I understand that the current process is we'll be through the ticket turnstiles and held around Seuss for sometime before opening.  Then there will be a disorganized running to the ride when the "rope" drops.
> 
> My 3 teens will stay at the beginning of the pack unless they literally get mowed down.  There is no conceivable way I will be able to keep up with them.  When the line forms at Hagrid, is there a general reshuffling as people reunite with their groups?  Will I be able to join them?
> 
> I'm kind of leaning towards just skipping the ride and being the bag holder.  I find this kind of start to the day stressful, not fun.



I understand how you feel. I also just saw your additional post of how it gives you anxiety and I'm right there with you. It's the reason why I always use no bags and go as early as possible, so I do not have to deal with the bag security crowds. I never do "rope drops" at Disney. As they are essentially what you describe as it being like all the time _period_. I am surprised they have not found a way to contain the guests at this point. Typically this is not an issue.

I know in the past for guests at IoA during EE (which has been ages) they would have ropes around the area guests were to walk in when heading to WWOHP, which made things more narrower, which seemed to contain the guests. However, as I said, typically it's not an issue regardless of that being there, or not, as I've never seen this method used at USF and guests are quite chill as well typically.

However, it's just something I noticed that would be useful in today's time, as it would be pretty nearly impossible for someone to get ahead of you unless they purposely tackle you to the ground in order to get you out of the way. As the space was roughly 4, maybe 5 people across, that would be if all those people were standing in line next to each from one rope to another. So, it naturally kind of moved as if you were walking through a queue that had no wait time (steady pace, but no running, or stopping).

Most of the time I suggest people wait until a little prior to closing to hop on the ride to avoid crowds and avoid higher wait time, but unfortunately, that is not do-able at the moment for this ride, since Hagrid's is unpredictable at the moment and they close mid-afternoon (typically 5).


----------



## NJdadof2

123SA said:


> We plan to arrive at 730am for the morning line up, next Wednesday.   I understand that the current process is we'll be through the ticket turnstiles and held around Seuss for sometime before opening.  Then there will be a disorganized running to the ride when the "rope" drops.
> 
> My 3 teens will stay at the beginning of the pack unless they literally get mowed down.  There is no conceivable way I will be able to keep up with them.  When the line forms at Hagrid, is there a general reshuffling as people reunite with their groups?  Will I be able to join them?
> 
> I'm kind of leaning towards just skipping the ride and being the bag holder.  I find this kind of start to the day stressful, not fun.


We will be there next Wednesday at 7:30 as well.
First time doing Universal.  We will bring good vibes for you and your family.


----------



## Flyg1rl

We won't be there until next Saturday, but I will be thinking of you, and looking forward to your reports.


----------



## NickC

PoohIsHome said:


> Did you skip due to the line or the ride itself?



We skipped due to the wait times. We got in line one morning, but the posted wait time was 180 minutes. We talked about it for 10 minutes while waiting, but decided that we could get so much more done in that time.


----------



## disneywithfive

Anyone there now to know why the ride is "CLOSED"?  Wanting to take a trip down on Friday just for this ride but nervous it will be for nothing.


----------



## Beer Me

123SA said:


> I'd never do this in the middle of the day.  It just seems that when they have this kind of disorganized start, it's difficult to stay together resulting in shuffling around once it settles in the first few minutes.  If this isn't the norm, then I'll just let them go and skip it.   It's a week away and the thought of managing the surging crowd is causing me anxiety.  Seems like if it's bothering me now, it's not a good thing for me.  I really wish the parks wouldn't do this kind of rope drop.  I wish they'd let you through the turnstiles and go lineup at the ride.  It's the crowds the result from the holding pens that bother me.



When the crowd is released into suess landing it is a madhouse. However I refused to join in. We walked briskly and let others run and shove past. Do you meditate?  it helps to be zen and let others do their own thing. 

We saw plenty of people cutting line to join their families who ran ahead. Even though staff were right there watching it happen they did nothing to stop it.

It really would help if they took a lesson from Disney and controlled this a bit more - but it is what is is. Just keep calm and you will only be a few minutes behind the idiots.


----------



## Disxuni

Beer Me said:


> It really would help if they took a lesson from Disney and controlled this a bit more - but it is what is is. Just keep calm and you will only be a few minutes behind the idiots.



Took a lesson from Disney and controlled this a bit more?! I don't know how bad it is at Universal it is right now, but it is absolutely insane when it comes to Disney rope drops and CMs can't do anything about it. Now they can direct people to go towards a _certain direction_, but all in all, it's every man for themselves and they can't control any guests in the path they're directing them too. Like I said, I haven't seen the Hagrid coaster crowds, but Disney guests are brutal during rope drops from the experiences I've had, which is why I vow to no longer do it.



disneywithfive said:


> Anyone there now to know why the ride is "CLOSED"?  Wanting to take a trip down on Friday just for this ride but nervous it will be for nothing.



That is interesting, as typically it says "delayed" if they stop for awhile due to technical difficulties, or weather, even if it is an hour, or two.

Checking the wait time now it states 150 minute wait. So, I guess they did open it after all. I'm wondering if they had it closed all morning and it eventually opened, or they did temporarily close it and instead of doing "delay" they did "closed" initially instead, because they thought they might close it for the rest of the day.


----------



## TommyJK

It was a temporary closure mid-day. 

Another board I read had a member speculate it was to put more trains on the track and then test before re-opening.  He counted 8 trains running simultaneously after the re-open which is a new record for them. 

Posted wait time after the re-open was 150 min but he only waited an hour (which included a 10 minute delay while in line).


----------



## Cuchman

We're going in a little less than a month.  I will be anxiously watching ideas and experiences on this thread to know how to deal with the situation when we go.  I am hoping it is a little more settled by the, but who knows?!?


----------



## Disxuni

Looking at the app, it currently states "CLOSED" again. However, it's 4PM and they have been typically closing mid-afternoon, so perhaps they are closing for the evening since it is only an hour from 5 (which is typically when they close).


----------



## Beer Me

Disxuni said:


> Took a lesson from Disney and controlled this a bit more?! I don't know how bad it is at Universal it is right now, but it is absolutely insane when it comes to Disney rope drops and CMs can't do anything about it. Now they can direct people to go towards a _certain direction_, but all in all, it's every man for themselves and they can't control any guests in the path they're directing them too. Like I said, I haven't seen the Hagrid coaster crowds, but Disney guests are brutal during rope drops from the experiences I've had, which is why I vow to no longer do it.



I didn’t mean to make Disney sound perfect when it comes to rope drop by any means. Disney sometimes (it’s hit or miss) will have CMs walk in front of the crowd and somewhat control speed so there’s little full out running. Other times it gets out of their control. At least it seems like they try.

My experience last week with Hagrid’s was worse than a Disney rope drop, for example, compared to FoP when it first opened. There was basically no attempt at control besides an admonishment not to run prior to releasing the crowd, which immediately begins to run. 

What bothered me most was the blatant line jumping - this was in the extended queue outside - especially where it goes through the Poseidon theatre (I think that’s what it is). The line doubles back on itself and even though they had employees posted there appearing to watch the crowd dozens of people, sometimes entire families were jumping the rope and those employees didn’t say anything. I heard a lot of chirping from others in line though. 

There was some confusion around the lockers as well - like one family harped on us for jumping in front of them - my family waited a moment while I put our bag away and then we all rejoined the line, losing a few dozen spots but that’s the price of having a bag. Still these  people seemed to think we had done something wrong and would’t let it go. I guess they didn’t realize we had been in front of them the whole time, just much further up. 

As I said you don’t have to completely give in to the madness. I walked quickly and calmly and tried to ignore any bad actors and it worked out fine.


----------



## disneywithfive

Are fanny packs allowed on this ride?


----------



## TommyJK

disneywithfive said:


> Are fanny packs allowed on this ride?



Yes, as long as it has a 3 prong clasp.


----------



## SA mom

We were there a few weeks ago.  I see no reason to be there at rope drop to get in line for this at this point.  If you get there at 7:30am and wait until the ride opens (if it does) you've still waited 4 hours.  We got there around 10:30 and waited in the Sinbad area for 2 hours before they came out and announced that the ride would not open open until "late afternoon."  It opened around 5pm.  The next day we went back around 5pm and rode in about 85 minutes.  Our daughters did it the next day, also.  There seems to be a sweet spot around 5.  

Also, that holding area around the old Sinbad Arena is not really a queue.  You are sort of in a line, but your are allowed to leave and go to the bathroom, get food, drink, etc.  One of my daughters actually left the queue to purchase a fan and an umbrella.  There is absolutely no shade in some areas of that place.  I didn't see any line jumping there, but there were a lot of families that were splitting off to get food and drinks while some stayed to hold the spot.


----------



## Flyg1rl

The Universal App is stating 180 minute wait again.  Sigh.  Really wanted to ride this, but starting to lose hope.  Is the ride still shutting down at 5pm?


----------



## Disxuni

SA mom said:


> We were there a few weeks ago.  I see no reason to be there at rope drop to get in line for this at this point.  If you get there at 7:30am and wait until the ride opens (if it does) you've still waited 4 hours.  We got there around 10:30 and waited in the Sinbad area for 2 hours before they came out and announced that the ride would not open open until "late afternoon."  It opened around 5pm.  The next day we went back around 5pm and rode in about 85 minutes.  Our daughters did it the next day, also.  There seems to be a sweet spot around 5.
> 
> Also, that holding area around the old Sinbad Arena is not really a queue.  You are sort of in a line, but your are allowed to leave and go to the bathroom, get food, drink, etc.  One of my daughters actually left the queue to purchase a fan and an umbrella.  There is absolutely no shade in some areas of that place.  I didn't see any line jumping there, but there were a lot of families that were splitting off to get food and drinks while some stayed to hold the spot.



That's based off a few weeks ago. They have been good about now opening the ride during opening, then closing it actually mid-day, at essentially five. So, in terms of when they open and close is the complete opposite now. They also have people wait in the Seuss land area before opening. However, after that, I do not know if the line is all the way back to Sinbad, or not, I haven't heard people talk about that area for awhile.

Also, the thing about the "rope drop" is that while trying to get there first might be crazy, you're almost guaranteed a ride regardless of the wait. Where as if you go any other time you're going to wait just as long, potentially get delayed while waiting, or not ride at all if you're behind the pack. Let's say you're one of the first, let's say a hundred, you may have waited as long, or longer than some people, but when it first opens the ride will be in a good place and since you're one of the first hundred you get to get onto the ride faster. However, if you're behind those people, any delays are more likely to fall upon you and if the ride closes hour later of letting guest after guest get on that means all those people got to go on, but not you.


----------



## TommyJK

Flyg1rl said:


> The Universal App is stating 180 minute wait again.  Sigh.  Really wanted to ride this, but starting to lose hope.  Is the ride still shutting down at 5pm?



They have been over-estimating the wait time to account for *if* the ride happens to go down temporarily while people are in line. 

I'm following a board where people are continually reporting stated wait time vs. actual wait time on a daily basis and almost every report that has been given mentions that as long as the ride doesn't have a temp shut down, people have been waiting less than 1/2 of the stated wait time, and the only time the wait time was accurate when people have entered the line and there was a shut down of some kind while in line.

Best strategy I've seen over the last week or so has been that people line up for Rope Drop starting at ~8:00am.  They get taken in around 8:30 to be held at either Seuss Landing or by Sinbads, then at around 8:50 get taken over to the actual queue for the 9:00 open.  And all reports I've read have said the rope droppers are off by ~10:00 or earlier.  Someone today lined up at 7:45 for Rope drop and they were done the ride at 9:30am even though the stated wait time was 180 right at open.

Edit, to answer your other question, they typically close the line off around 5:00 pm and let those who are still in the queue ride, which then shuts the ride down at around 7:00pm for them to start their nightly maintenance.  So around 5:00pm you will see it typically say "At Capacity".


----------



## jpwest

We go August 3rd and I'm starting to lose hope. I don't think the family will have the patience to sign up for this.


----------



## nerdyone

This is my first time going to Universal so this may be a dumb question.  We have the Unlimited Express pass and are staying on property so we get the extra hour.  Has the ride been open during that extra hour yet?


----------



## SPAM

nerdyone said:


> This is my first time going to Universal so this may be a dumb question.  We have the Unlimited Express pass and are staying on property so we get the extra hour.  Has the ride been open during that extra hour yet?


They have only had Universal Studios open for early entry since it has been open, not Islands of Adventure.


----------



## MyTwoPrincesses

Cuchman said:


> We're going in a little less than a month.  I will be anxiously watching ideas and experiences on this thread to know how to deal with the situation when we go.  I am hoping it is a little more settled by the, but who knows?!?



Us too.  We are going to be there the 23-25 of August and hoping to have a strategy in place by then for riding.


----------



## marcais

Cuchman said:


> We're going in a little less than a month.  I will be anxiously watching ideas and experiences on this thread to know how to deal with the situation when we go.  I am hoping it is a little more settled by the, but who knows?!?



Our next trip to FL will be in 3 years time, and I'm not convinced it'll be sorted by then.


----------



## kittylady1972

We are only a few weeks away from our trip and it is sounding a little more promising that we can ride this one.  We will just have to factor in a very early arrival or try to hit that "sweet spot" around 5pm.


----------



## Disxuni

Considering it seems a lot of you have a couple of weeks to a month for your trips in August, while things may not be perfect by then, there has been a lot that has changed in the past few weeks alone. That being said, that is the silver lining in this situation.


----------



## TommyJK

Here's a ride report from another place that speaks in detail to the rope drop strategy being good and just taking a normal pace once the park opens (i.e. not running/pushing your way past other guests)



> Home! I'll do a trip report tomorrow or Friday, but I did want to point out that the part between IOA rope drop and Seuss rope drop (9:00, 8:46, and 8:50 I think for our three runs) is key.
> 
> People are so stupid though; running, outright cutting, it is not fun. We did a focused walk and did not lose much time at all - please do not run here, it is not necessary.
> 
> The line started at Sindbad and they led you into and out of the theater, then by Hogwarts Express. You have a chance to jump into either locker area and only lose a few spots (group-wise) in line; just be quick. Once you go through the arch, and if it does not break down, you do not stop walking. This relatively boring queue (more to come in the TR!) will do the trick once they get this thing running on all fours.
> 
> With 7 or 8 trains running (still not sure if there are 3 or 4 at load/unload) we were through in 30 minutes both times that it did not break down. The first time would have been around 40 (without the hour stoppage); there were 3 or 4 one-minute stoppages in the queue also (maybe people who couldn't get on in time?). Very manageable, even if it does have a sub-2000 hourly capacity.
> 
> Get there at 7:45, walk briskly to Seuss rope, don't cut or run, pray to your god for smooth operations for the first hour, and you'll be out by 9:30.


----------



## jrsharp21

TommyJK said:


> Here's a ride report from another place that speaks in detail to the rope drop strategy being good and just taking a normal pace once the park opens (i.e. not running/pushing your way past other guests)



Thanks for this. Does give a little bit more hope. We go to IA next Thursday. I have been keeping the kids updated on how things are going with the ride. They pretty much said they would rather go do other things in the park than wait in line for 3 hours since we have limited time there that day. Will keep my eyes on the updates. If we can get through at open in less than 2 hours, then maybe we will make an attempt to get on.


----------



## disneywithfive

Leaving in the morning - hoping to be there by 9:30am.  Going to go straight to Hagrid's motorbike.  Will try to keep up with the amount of time it takes and report back.  PRAYING for NO rain though!!  But it is Florida.


----------



## Edsantos710

Today (Thursday the 25) we got to the IOA gate At 8:15. They let us to Seuss and held us till about 9. We were close to the front of the line. By the time it opened , all the malfunctions , exactly 4 hours in line and we did not ride. Fast pass for whenever was the only hope in site so at least we got that.

This ride and every strategy contained herein are a complete gamble. Much luck to all !!!


----------



## Spike101

Righty ho, I'll be at the parks in 74 days time (wahoo!) and as far as Hagrid goes, now have a little plan forming.

On my first day I'll be at USO for rope drop at EE, do Gringotts to get my 'ride legs' going as it were, have a quick mooch around Diagon Alley, a cigarette with Bruce (he doesnt enhale) maybe try and find somewhere to activate my Freestyle cup (Can I do that at the machines?) and then zip out to be in rope drop position at IOA no later than 8am.

I hate, actually HATE being without something to drink for even short periods of time, so I will go into the park with an allowable bottle of water and soda, having said that, if I have to wait a bit once my stuff is in the Hagrid lockers, I'll cope!

Plan is, to do the full queue that day to get on a motorcycle, and then the following day do single rider and the sidecar, all this depending on no rain, so fingers crossed!


----------



## TommyJK

Edsantos710 said:


> Today (Thursday the 25) we got to the IOA gate At 8:15. They let us to Seuss and held us till about 9. We were close to the front of the line. By the time it opened , all the malfunctions , exactly 4 hours in line and we did not ride. Fast pass for whenever was the only hope in site so at least we got that.
> 
> This ride and every strategy contained herein are a complete gamble. Much luck to all !!!



Was it ride malfunction or weather? I read elsewhere  someone said it was shut pretty much all day due to weather.


----------



## disneywithfive

Edsantos710 said:


> Today (Thursday the 25) we got to the IOA gate At 8:15. They let us to Seuss and held us till about 9. We were close to the front of the line. By the time it opened , all the malfunctions , exactly 4 hours in line and we did not ride. Fast pass for whenever was the only hope in site so at least we got that.
> 
> This ride and every strategy contained herein are a complete gamble. Much luck to all !!!


Noticed it was closed for most of the day until late afternoon. They should issue FastPass for this ride in situations like this.


----------



## TommyJK

disneywithfive said:


> Noticed it was closed for most of the day until late afternoon. They should issue FastPass for this ride in situations like this.


They do.  If they empty you out of the line like that, they give everyone a special ruby express pass ticket good for any ride, including Hagrid's (when it reopens)


----------



## zebsterama

There today (getting off a cruise) and leaving on Monday for WDW. If we give the ride a shot, it will definitely be a line up in the am kind of activity. 

Keeping my fingers crossed.


----------



## AngiTN

We are giving it a shot to ride on Friday, Aug 16, so I'm keeping an eye on how it's going between now and then. Lots can change. We got a spot in the GE AP preview on Saturday and the best flight was late Thursday night. We decided it was a great time to grab one of the cheap rooms at Adventura, since EP won't make any difference in this case and just go to Universal for the day and ride Hagrids, hopefully. Hopefully between opening and 4:00. At 4:00 our free EP with our AP kicks in so we can ride the other things we want to then. Surely we can get on by 4:00 that day, LOL



Disxuni said:


> That's based off a few weeks ago. They have been good about now opening the ride during opening, then closing it actually mid-day, at essentially five. So, in terms of when they open and close is the complete opposite now. They also have people wait in the Seuss land area before opening. However, after that, I do not know if the line is all the way back to Sinbad, or not, I haven't heard people talk about that area for awhile.
> 
> *Also, the thing about the "rope drop" is that while trying to get there first might be crazy, you're almost guaranteed a ride regardless of the wait. *Where as if you go any other time you're going to wait just as long, potentially get delayed while waiting, or not ride at all if you're behind the pack. Let's say you're one of the first, let's say a hundred, you may have waited as long, or longer than some people, but when it first opens the ride will be in a good place and since you're one of the first hundred you get to get onto the ride faster. However, if you're behind those people, any delays are more likely to fall upon you and if the ride closes hour later of letting guest after guest get on that means all those people got to go on, but not you.


In addition, while yes you are waiting just as long, if you go early and start part of the wait before the parks open it's not like you are missing out on other stuff while waiting in the line. That's one of the main reasons most folks line up for rides early vs. later.


----------



## TommyJK

AngiTN said:


> In addition, while yes you are waiting just as long, if you go early and start part of the wait before the parks open it's not like you are missing out on other stuff while waiting in the line. That's one of the main reasons most folks line up for rides early vs. later.



Well....... you're missing out on some sleep by having to wake up earlier


----------



## AngiTN

TommyJK said:


> Well....... you're missing out on some sleep by having to wake up earlier


Which is why we never do the "wait at park opening" option, personally. 
We are lucky and fortunate enough to be able to travel often so we can give up an entire day to trying to ride. But I do understand why that doesn't work for others and why early does.


----------



## TommyJK

AngiTN said:


> Which is why we never do the "wait at park opening" option, personally.
> We are lucky and fortunate enough to be able to travel often so we can give up an entire day to trying to ride. But I do understand why that doesn't work for others and why early does.



Ya.  It's a tough call for me.  I love my sleep.  If I *had* to, I would probably sacrifice sleep on one day of my trip to Rope Drop for this (as to maximize the remainder of my time in the parks afterwards).

I'm really hoping this ride is a full operation by my next trip in March AND keeping my fingers crossed for EP by then too......


----------



## Edsantos710

It’s was mainly due to ride malfunction. At one point, they said they had to adjust the carts. After 2 or 3 breakdowns , they announced they had to completely remove and entire cart off of the track to work on it. And so on that went. That was about an hour before they completely closed the ride and made everyone exit. 

The weather wasent that bad. In fact , we went back to the park with our fast pass at about 9pm and it was pouring , the ride broke for just a few minutes before we were able to get on. Two things , we used our fast pass after waiting 4 hours that morning , and we didn’t get to the front of the line , we got put close to the front. Then the ride broke at the end and we sat under the sky and got DRENCHED ! Had to buy shirts and ponchos. We could have got back on but I get motion sickness very easy so we passed. 

Ill end with this , the ride is super super fun, and worth everything we went through to finally experience it.  Definitely want to ride again.


----------



## AngiTN

Edsantos710 said:


> The weather wasent that bad. In fact , we went back to the park with our fast pass at about 9pm and it was pouring , the ride broke for just a few minutes before we were able to get on. Two things , we used our fast pass after waiting 4 hours that morning , and we didn’t get to the front of the line , we got put close to the front. Then the ride broke at the end and we sat under the sky and got DRENCHED ! Had to buy shirts and ponchos. We could have got back on but I get motion sickness very easy so we passed.
> 
> Ill end with this , the ride is super super fun, and worth everything we went through to finally experience it.  Definitely want to ride again.


So trying to follow,
You got in line in the morning, ride was shut down so they gave you a pass to return later
You returned later, got in line. Where exactly? Close to the front but not front? About how long do you have to wait with a return pass
Then, it broke again, but you were ON the ride, sitting in the rain, while they repaired it? 
And they offered to let you get back in line after you got off?

One more question, if the ride is closed while you are in line, is it EVERYONE in line that gets a pass or do you have to have reached a certain point?

Sorry if these are repeat questions I'm trying to remain as in the dark about the ride itself as possible so keeping what I read to a bare minimum. I know if I read or research too much I'll learn more about the ride itself than I want to. I like to go in to new rides as blind as possible. They are making it hard on this one with all the outages.


----------



## Edsantos710

AngiTN said:


> So trying to follow,
> You got in line in the morning, ride was shut down so they gave you a pass to return later
> You returned later, got in line. Where exactly? Close to the front but not front? About how long do you have to wait with a return pass
> Then, it broke again, but you were ON the ride, sitting in the rain, while they repaired it?
> And they offered to let you get back in line after you got off?
> 
> One more question, if the ride is closed while you are in line, is it EVERYONE in line that gets a pass or do you have to have reached a certain point?
> 
> Sorry if these are repeat questions I'm trying to remain as in the dark about the ride itself as possible so keeping what I read to a bare minimum. I know if I read or research too much I'll learn more about the ride itself than I want to. I like to go in to new rides as blind as possible. They are making it hard on this one with all the outages.



Sorry if I don’t type to clear. Ok so let’s see. Yes, in line at park open. 4 hours of on and off breaking down, and they made everyone leave and also gave us all fast pass. How far into the line you have to be , I couldn’t tell you. 

When we came back, they let us in what I believe is hagrids room or work station, right before the “caves” that lead you into the final room before you get on. If it didn’t break, 10-15min if I had to guess. 

Then yes, as soon as the coaster finished and it was bringing us back to the loading bay, it broke and we sat in the carts while it was pouring and we got drenched as the carts were stuck. I saw someone ride it 3 times back to back for whatever malfunction the ride had while they were on it. I could have easily said “hey it broke while we were in” and they would have let us go right to the front of the line essentially. Again, sorry if I made it confusing , hope this helped.


----------



## Fodderlm

Glad I read this forum for tips.  We got there this morning (7/26) at 8:10.  Gates started letting people in at 8:30 and we gathered at entry to Seuss landing  for a short time and then flowed with the group to the rientry point which is marked by workers with signs saying “get in line here”.  The line flowed well but stopped several times for what I assume were breakdowns.  Around 11 we rode and it was worth it!  I had not read any spoilers and it was absolutely awesome.  Have fun all!


----------



## AngiTN

Edsantos710 said:


> Sorry if I don’t type to clear. Ok so let’s see. Yes, in line at park open. 4 hours of on and off breaking down, and they made everyone leave and also gave us all fast pass. How far into the line you have to be , I couldn’t tell you.
> 
> When we came back, they let us in what I believe is hagrids room or work station, right before the “caves” that lead you into the final room before you get on. If it didn’t break, 10-15min if I had to guess.
> 
> Then yes, as soon as the coaster finished and it was bringing us back to the loading bay, it broke and we sat in the carts while it was pouring and we got drenched as the carts were stuck. I saw someone ride it 3 times back to back for whatever malfunction the ride had while they were on it. I could have easily said “hey it broke while we were in” and they would have let us go right to the front of the line essentially. Again, sorry if I made it confusing , hope this helped.


Thanks, that's quite helpful.


----------



## zebsterama

We were in line today at IoA at about 7:30. Entered at 8:40 - followed by the first mad dash, then the other mad dash. Was lucky enough to be at the front of a ride car - so no one was within eyeshot. 

Everything worked - no breakdowns. Was off the ride by 9:25ish. Thanks for all of the tips. 

Very good ride - glad we did it. Would never wait 3 hours to get in it. Great tips on this thread / board. 

Universal has to do a much better job controlling that surge in the am. 

Someone is going to get hurt.


----------



## *MomTo2Princesses*

We are here now and rode yesterday! Had no intention on trying to catch it this trip with the lines but so glad we hopped in line yesterday.  The posted time said 120 but we were off the ride right at an hour. There was no downtime and the line moved pretty much constantly. We couldn’t believe we were in the last room already when we got there. It went by fast!

Edited to add time we rode: We got in line around 2:30 yesterday (Saturday) and were on by 3:30.


----------



## SPAM

*MomTo2Princesses* said:


> We are here now and rode yesterday! Had no intention on trying to catch it this trip with the lines but so glad we hopped in line yesterday.  The posted time said 120 but we were off the ride right at an hour. There was no downtime and the line moved pretty much constantly. We couldn’t believe we were in the last room already when we got there. It went by fast!
> 
> Edited to add time we rode: We got in line around 2:30 yesterday (Saturday) and were on by 3:30.


From what I’m hearing it seems like a lot of people are mentioning around 130-230 as a good time to enter line. Might have to try that on arrival day as I won’t get to parks at opening.


----------



## laughinplace199

SPAM said:


> From what I’m hearing it seems like a lot of people are mentioning around 130-230 as a good time to enter line. Might have to try that on arrival day as I won’t get to parks at opening.



We will try that too.  We're arriving on Aug 10 around lunchtime, so maybe we'll eat lunch and then try to get on Hagrid's ride.


----------



## SPAM

laughinplace199 said:


> We will try that too.  We're arriving on Aug 10 around lunchtime, so maybe we'll eat lunch and then try to get on Hagrid's ride.


Let us know how it goes I will be there on the 18th!


----------



## StarWarsJez

We arrived at the park entrance at 8:35am this morning, eventually got through to the Port of Entry area after an ultra-slow guy on the entry turnstile by 8:50, but after a fast-walk at the 9:00 'rope drop' (not as hectic as it sounded) through to the queuing area were on the ride at 9:40.

So just over an hour for us - and we all thought the ride was absolutely brilliant!


----------



## leastep

We were at Universal early in the week and had decided we weren’t going to wait all day for Hagrid. Walked by around 2 and saw that the line was less than 2 hours so decided to hop in. Once we entered the queue, we discovered they were doing single rider though they were shouting “no Express pass, no single rider” at the entrance. Jumped in the single rider line and were on the ride in 25 minutes! I’m still not convinced I didn’t dream the whole thing.


----------



## 123SA

My gang arrived at 815 today. Held at Seuss for a while walked with determination to ride. They are still in line at 10:20. Ride has been running consistently as far as they can tell. Just got text they are loading next

815 is too late to arrive unless you plan to run push or shove   I was hoping they’d be done by 10 at the latest


----------



## Disxuni

123SA said:


> My gang arrived at 815 today. Held at Seuss for a while walked with determination to ride. They are still in line at 10:20. Ride has been running consistently as far as they can tell. Just got text they are loading next
> 
> 815 is too late to arrive unless you plan to run push or shove   I was hoping they’d be done by 10 at the latest



Yeah, unless you wait at the IoA gate during the whole EE period and also even prior to that, you're not going to be in the "done by 9:30" category, which a lot of people have reported to be done by if they get there well before even EE starts to wait.


----------



## 123SA

123SA said:


> My gang arrived at 815 today. Held at Seuss for a while walked with determination to ride. They are still in line at 10:20. Ride has been running consistently as far as they can tell. Just got text they are loading next
> 
> 815 is too late to arrive unless you plan to run push or shove   I was hoping they’d be done by 10 at the latest



They said it was worth the wait

They also noted that the whole rope drop experience was much better than our experience last year with Slinky at WDW.


----------



## Disxuni

Anything is better than the rope drop for any ride @ WDW.


----------



## disneywithfive

Report from last Friday's experience.  Arrived at Universal and entered the line about 11am.  It was reported a 210 minute wait all morning before we arrived and as we entered the line.  Line moved along until 12:45pm and the weather took over (lighting in the area) causing us to have a delay SEVERAL times.  Finally rode at 3pm but it was worth the wait.  We actually rode again later that night.  First time I rode in the sidecar, second time the motorbike.  If you are a thrill seeker, ride the motorbike.  Going again in two weeks and praying we get to ride again.


----------



## TommyMac_DisneyEdition

We get there in about four weeks. Is it just me or does the DisBoard news and the app info (which I try to check at least a couple times a day) suggest Universal is finally shaking out the bugs on this thing?  (Or am I fooling myself?)


----------



## 22Tink

TommyMac_DisneyEdition said:


> We get there in about four weeks. Is it just me or does the DisBoard news and the app info (which I try to check at least a couple times a day) suggest Universal is finally shaking out the bugs on this thing?  (Or am I fooling myself?)


We're there in a week and a half so I sure hope so!


----------



## Disxuni

TommyMac_DisneyEdition said:


> We get there in about four weeks. Is it just me or does the DisBoard news and the app info (which I try to check at least a couple times a day) suggest Universal is finally shaking out the bugs on this thing?  (Or am I fooling myself?)



Let me put it to you this way, there is *a lot* that can change in four weeks. That's essentially another month. While Hagrid's isn't 100% (I would consider it 100% when it can run fully open til the park closes), it is has improved incredibly since it's start. I would think by that time frame the only issue you should have is the weather.


----------



## Cuchman

We are going in just over two weeks.  I am thinking the right way to go on this is (at the moment!) is to go for rope drop and straight to Hagrid's.  Does that sound right to y'all?
We have no trouble getting up and there for rope drop.  I think we could relatively easily get there for 8:00 AM.
I expect we might do this for more than one morning depending on how it goes and how we like the ride.


----------



## disneywithfive

Yes, the weather seems to be more of an issue now.


----------



## Disneylover99

Cuchman said:


> We are going in just over two weeks.  I am thinking the right way to go on this is (at the moment!) is to go for rope drop and straight to Hagrid's.  Does that sound right to y'all?
> We have no trouble getting up and there for rope drop.  I think we could relatively easily get there for 8:00 AM.
> I expect we might do this for more than one morning depending on how it goes and how we like the ride.



We were at rope drop this morning. We got there about 8:10am. It didn’t seem too crowded at that point, but it filled in pretty quickly about 10 minutes later. We opted to go left to Hulk while almost everyone else went right to Hagrid. The opening was delayed until about 9:30 ish. Then the wait time instantly went to 210 minutes. I’m not sure what the delay was, but it wasn’t weather related.

So I don’t know. The wait time did go down to about 110 minutes some time in the afternoon, but then the ride went down due to rain. I’m no expert, just relaying my experience today.


----------



## Disneylover99

The wait time app said it was a delayed opening first thing again this morning. At about 9:30am, it opened with a 210 minute wait. It’s not weather related this morning.


----------



## disneywithfive

8/2 at 12:17pm. Great wait time!!!


----------



## AngiTN

disneywithfive said:


> 8/2 at 12:17pm. Great wait time!!!


How accurate is the wait time that shows on the app, in general?
I've never paid close attention on any ride as we always have EP.


----------



## damo

AngiTN said:


> How accurate is the wait time that shows on the app, in general?
> I've never paid close attention on any ride as we always have EP.



They have been overestimating the app times.


----------



## jpwest

Ok, we’re attempting it this morning. Should get to IoA at 8 or shortly thereafter. Noticed that the app shows “Closed” - other rides have wait times or “opens at 9.” Is this typical?


----------



## jpwest

jpwest said:


> Ok, we’re attempting it this morning.


In line at 8:10, in the park lined up outside Seuss at 8:40. 8:45 announcement: ride not opening with the rest of the park. Maybe 10 people left the queue/mob.


----------



## jpwest

jpwest said:


> In line at 8:10, in the park lined up outside Seuss at 8:40.


Released into Seuss at 8:50. 9:00 announcement: ride opening at 10:30. Still walking steadily in the mega-extended queue.


----------



## jpwest

Looks like we’ll be in this area for the next 90+ minutes.


----------



## jpwest

They’ve backed off of the 10:30 opening time and are now saying “no ETA.” We’re bailing.


----------



## Disneylover99

jpwest said:


> They’ve backed off of the 10:30 opening time and are now saying “no ETA.” We’re bailing.



Ugh. So frustrating for you. Sorry.

I really think early/mid afternoon is the way to go, or later in the day, when it’s a bit cooler, though not too late because they close the line down at some point. They closed it some time between 7 and 8 pm last week when we were there. 

I’d avoid it at rope drop. It seems like it’s down more then it’s up first thing at this point.


----------



## AngiTN

What confounds me about the ride and it being down so much is what on earth is causing it? Or why it takes so long to adjust/repair when there are outages.
I mean, you'd think by now they'd know exactly what is needed to get it going after all possible problems. There surely can't be new problems coming up, it's had so many that by now it's had every possible one at least once. Wouldn't they'd have to know exactly what is needed for any possible scenario?
Has any other ride ever had issues of this magnitude (keeping ride down for many hours per day) for so long? At either Uni or Disney?
Anyway, mostly just amazing me that they still can't figure out all its problems.


----------



## Disxuni

jpwest said:


> They’ve backed off of the 10:30 opening time and are now saying “no ETA.” We’re bailing.



Do not blame you. I wonder what went wrong, or what they need to work on, because if it was the moving / removing of carts, I do not know how long it would take, but they would definitely provide an ETA.


----------



## jrsharp21

Finally back from Florida and our one day trip to IOA. We went to IOA with no intention of trying to get on Hagrid because of all the issues and the long line. Figured that we could do so much more in the 2-3 hours we would be waiting and not even guaranteed to get on. We got to IOA right when it opened and headed over to Forbidden Journey. We got on that ride in 15 minutes. Then after walking around, having some breakfast at Hog's Head and getting a butter beer, we decided to head out to do other rides. Holly cow, the ride waits were long all over the park. So around 2pm we said screw it, if we are going to wait an hour in line for rides we really didn't even care that much to go on, we may has well wait in line for Hagrid. When we got to the entrance it said the wait time was 120 minutes. Knowing from reading previous posts on here where people have said the line is actually shorter than posted times, we decided to hop in line.  The ride did go down twice while in line, but only for 10-15 minutes each time. We actually got on the ride in about 75 minutes. Well worth it! That ride was awesome! It made my daughter's day. She was so happy that she didn't even care if we got anything else the rest of the day.


----------



## Disxuni

AngiTN said:


> What confounds me about the ride and it being down so much is what on earth is causing it? Or why it takes so long to adjust/repair when there are outages.
> I mean, you'd think by now they'd know exactly what is needed to get it going after all possible problems. There surely can't be new problems coming up, it's had so many that by now it's had every possible one at least once. Wouldn't they'd have to know exactly what is needed for any possible scenario?
> Has any other ride ever had issues of this magnitude (keeping ride down for many hours per day) for so long? At either Uni or Disney?
> Anyway, mostly just amazing me that they still can't figure out all its problems.



The only scenario we have confirmed is sometimes when there is a delay (other than weather) is due to them either adding, or removing / switching carts due to realizing they can increase the capacity, or due to certain carts (I'm assuming) have certain issues, but other do not. It's been theorized that wheels might be the reason as well. Other than that, we have no confirmed reasons for the delays, but have been believe it, or not, seem to have been decreasing.

There were a lot of continued issues on a lot of the rides when Universal Studios first opened. Jaws was the most notorious however, as it got to a point where the ride was closed for a long "refurbishment", Universal hired another company to do the work, and sued the original company who helped build the attraction.


----------



## disneywithfive

jpwest said:


> They’ve backed off of the 10:30 opening time and are now saying “no ETA.” We’re bailing.


Did they give you passes to return later?  They have given those out in the past.  Just wondering.


----------



## Disxuni

disneywithfive said:


> Did they give you passes to return later?  They have given those out in the past.  Just wondering.



Yeah, a few people on here did say that. Out of curiosity, if you were one of the lucky people who did, did you get those in this type of scenario, or in the afternoon when they close shop early unexpectedly? As I would imagine it would depend on what the situation is and how long guests have waited.


----------



## CJK

jpwest said:


> They’ve backed off of the 10:30 opening time and are now saying “no ETA.” We’re bailing.


Thanks so much for the live updates. Sorry that it ultimately didn't work out.  Let us know if you have another chance to ride during your visit!


----------



## osufeth24

Almost went today to try to finally ride it.  Glad I didn't.  May try next week since FL schools are back in session


----------



## KayleeUK

jpwest said:


> They’ve backed off of the 10:30 opening time and are now saying “no ETA.” We’re bailing.




Oh no sorry you didn’t get to ride


----------



## luvsJack

We rode this afternoon. Got there I guess around 2. It had just stopped raining. We arrived in IOA and saw the wait time was 120 according to the app. Made a dash over there and hopped in line. We were in line about an hour tops. 

Absolutely great ride. I am not a roller coaster person at all but being a HP fanatic made it worth the wait and riding a roller coaster! .


----------



## Eeyore2142

*Just back from a trip Saturday-Tuesday.  It was up and down throughout the time. Didn't try Saturday. We got a late start on Sunday and made it to the park about 1.  Was down the whole time.  Monday and Tuesday was up while we were there and were able to ride.  Looked like wait times averaged 120-210.  Weather delays happened.*


----------



## Flyg1rl

The first time we rode, we went at 4:45pm on Saturday.  Wait time posted was 3 hours.  Actual time waiting was 2 hours, 10 minutes.  It started raining while we were in line, though, so that might have caused delays?  

On Monday, we got in the queue at 1:15pm.  Posted wait was 2 hours, 30 minutes (150 minutes). Actual total time in the line was 50 minutes.

The ride, itself, is brilliant!  As noted, we rode twice (so everyone in our party could experience both the motorcycle and the sidecar) and, if possible, I think I had more fun the second time because I knew what was coming, where to look, and could relax, look around, and experience more.  Everyone in my family made comments that seemed to indicate that they felt the same.  

I actually had more fun in the sidecar, as I felt like it took the pressure off or something - I dunno, it was just more relaxing fun. From his grin, I think my husband enjoyed the motorcycle more.  

I don't have good things to say about the queue.  Single rider was not open either time.  I believe they must have closed it at some point, because there were definitely single riders in line when we got to the front.  The ride was truly brilliant, so it's possible that I could change my mind - but I told my family that I disliked the queue so much that I did not plan on riding again until they either had Single rider open, or Express.  It's not the wait that bothered me - it was all the walking.  And, unlike Forbidden Journey or Gringotts, I found the queue to be downright boring and, in many cases, stifling.  I'm not claustrophobic, but a person who is will not be able to make it through this queue.  Also - both times I went through I had very loud talkers in the party ahead or behind me.  So I could not hear what was being said in the last area at all.  If there was non-visual theming going on that you had to be able to hear to enjoy, I missed it.

Again, I won't spoil it for anyone, but the ride itself is well thought out and brilliant.  Plan to ride it at least twice during your trip.


----------



## disneywithfive

Flyg1rl said:


> The first time we rode, we went at 4:45pm on Saturday.  Wait time posted was 3 hours.  Actual time waiting was 2 hours, 10 minutes.  It started raining while we were in line, though, so that might have caused delays?
> 
> On Monday, we got in the queue at 1:15pm.  Posted wait was 2 hours, 30 minutes (150 minutes). Actual total time in the line was 50 minutes.
> 
> The ride, itself, is brilliant!  As noted, we rode twice (so everyone in our party could experience both the motorcycle and the sidecar) and, if possible, I think I had more fun the second time because I knew what was coming, where to look, and could relax, look around, and experience more.  Everyone in my family made comments that seemed to indicate that they felt the same.
> 
> I actually had more fun in the sidecar, as I felt like it took the pressure off or something - I dunno, it was just more relaxing fun. From his grin, I think my husband enjoyed the motorcycle more.
> 
> I don't have good things to say about the queue.  Single rider was not open either time.  I believe they must have closed it at some point, because there were definitely single riders in line when we got to the front.  The ride was truly brilliant, so it's possible that I could change my mind - but I told my family that I disliked the queue so much that I did not plan on riding again until they either had Single rider open, or Express.  It's not the wait that bothered me - it was all the walking.  And, unlike Forbidden Journey or Gringotts, I found the queue to be downright boring and, in many cases, stifling.  I'm not claustrophobic, but a person who is will not be able to make it through this queue.  Also - both times I went through I had very loud talkers in the party ahead or behind me.  So I could not hear what was being said in the last area at all.  If there was non-visual theming going on that you had to be able to hear to enjoy, I missed it.
> 
> Again, I won't spoil it for anyone, but the ride itself is well thought out and brilliant.  Plan to ride it at least twice during your trip.


I agree - the theming isn't much to look at.  And to be in that line for so long, it's quite boring.   We have a member of our party in a wheelchair and it's really tight in parts should be need to leave quickly.  Can't wait for express pass!!!  I too love the sidecar better then the motorbike.


----------



## mrd7896

Flyg1rl said:


> I don't have good things to say about the queue.  Single rider was not open either time.  I believe they must have closed it at some point, because there were definitely single riders in line when we got to the front.  The ride was truly brilliant, so it's possible that I could change my mind - but I told my family that I disliked the queue so much that I did not plan on riding again until they either had Single rider open, or Express.  It's not the wait that bothered me - it was all the walking.  And, unlike Forbidden Journey or Gringotts, I found the queue to be downright boring and, in many cases, stifling.  I'm not claustrophobic, but a person who is will not be able to make it through this queue.  Also - both times I went through I had very loud talkers in the party ahead or behind me.  So I could not hear what was being said in the last area at all.  If there was non-visual theming going on that you had to be able to hear to enjoy, I missed it.



random funny interjection. when i was in line to ride (back in the beginning of july) our total wait time was over 4 hours. in perfect timing fashion one of my co-travelers had to use the restroom right around the time we were picking up steam in the middle of the queue. obviously we never rode the ride before so we had no prior knowledge of how much further into the cue we had to go but we already watched the preshow video and were moving pretty steadily..so we knew we were AT LEAST 60% there. 

due to how narrow some of the cue areas were mixed with him having to use the bathroom, he started freaking out (everyone we were with were laughing but i'm sure it wasn't a fun time). we kept saying that we've been waiting for so long in the event that he couldn't get back to us in the queue that would be horrible.


----------



## luvsJack

Question about the queue—are you supposed to be in the tunnels coming out of Hogwarts?  

We found the queue to be interesting enough but having seen it once, I would probably find it boring if I rode again.


----------



## Disxuni

I'll have to wait until Fall to know my opinion, but generally to me, it sounded as if you'd have to be a _massive _Harry Potter fan to really enjoy the queue, as the designer kept raving about all the little Easter eggs they have hidden within the queue itself and I haven't heard anyone talk about them yet. As a fan that is so into Harry Potter, that for one example likes to read the history of the Potter family and the Black family tree, I have a feeling I might like it if that is really true that it's loaded with Easter eggs.

The only Easter egg I've heard of so far is the reference to the dueling dragons.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Disxuni said:


> I'll have to wait until Fall to know my opinion, but generally to me, it sounded as if you'd have to be a _massive _Harry Potter fan to really enjoy the queue, as the designer kept raving about all the little Easter eggs they have hidden within the queue itself and I haven't heard anyone talk about them yet. As a fan that is so into Harry Potter, that for one example likes to read the history of the Potter family and the Black family tree, I have a feeling I might like it if that is really true that it's loaded with Easter eggs.
> 
> The only Easter egg I've heard of so far is the reference to the dueling dragons.



The queue was pretty cool, and I loved the items that I could see, but the indoor sections seemed so dimly lit that it was tough to really see a lot of the details. The workshop section had a ton of stuff in it, but although I loved the overall vibe, I couldn't really tell you much specifically that was there because it was just too dark. I think that contributes to the claustrophobic feeling that some people are getting, too.


----------



## BillFoldFan05

luvsJack said:


> We rode this afternoon. Got there I guess around 2. It had just stopped raining. We arrived in IOA and saw the wait time was 120 according to the app. Made a dash over there and hopped in line. We were in line about an hour tops.
> 
> Absolutely great ride. I am not a roller coaster person at all but being a HP fanatic made it worth the wait and riding a roller coaster! .



We were there on Tuesday as well.  Posted time was 150 minutes, we were off the ride in 60 minutes.  Definitely worth the wait.  Right now, I would suggest getting in line shortly after the thunderstorms and hope for the best.


----------



## luvsJack

Disxuni said:


> I'll have to wait until Fall to know my opinion, but generally to me, it sounded as if you'd have to be a _massive _Harry Potter fan to really enjoy the queue, as the designer kept raving about all the little Easter eggs they have hidden within the queue itself and I haven't heard anyone talk about them yet. As a fan that is so into Harry Potter, that for one example likes to read the history of the Potter family and the Black family tree, I have a feeling I might like it if that is really true that it's loaded with Easter eggs.
> 
> The only Easter egg I've heard of so far is the reference to the dueling dragons.



There were several that we found. Just have to look really well.


----------



## MyTwoPrincesses

We will be there in 2 weeks.  Current plan is to leave Hollywood Studios and get our luggage from our Disney resort by 5.  Check in at our universal hotel and head into IOA for dinner with the plan to get in line for Hagrid after dinner on our first day.  If this works, we get the ride out of the way and don’t have to worry about it over the next 2.5 days.


----------



## TommyJK

MyTwoPrincesses said:


> We will be there in 2 weeks.  Current plan is to leave Hollywood Studios and get our luggage from our Disney resort by 5.  Check in at our universal hotel and head into IOA for dinner with the plan to get in line for Hagrid after dinner on our first day.  If this works, we get the ride out of the way and don’t have to worry about it over the next 2.5 days.



I think you might find that you won't have success with this approach.

Unless something has changed recently, Universal for the last long while has stopped letting new people into the line around 5-6 pm, so they can have everyone that is still in line finish by around 7-8pm to then close the ride down for the day to start their nightly maintenance.

So unless you're there to get into line by 5-6 pm, you're probably aren't going to get to ride that day.

Things could change by the time you are there in 2 weeks (or they may have already changed their daily operations to have it open later/longer), but just wanted to give you fair warning.


----------



## MyTwoPrincesses

TommyJK said:


> I think you might find that you won't have success with this approach.
> 
> Unless something has changed recently, Universal for the last long while has stopped letting new people into the line around 5-6 pm, so they can have everyone that is still in line finish by around 7-8pm to then close the ride down for the day to start their nightly maintenance.
> 
> So unless you're there to get into line by 5-6 pm, you're probably aren't going to get to ride that day.
> 
> Things could change by the time you are there in 2 weeks (or they may have already changed their daily operations to have it open later/longer), but just wanted to give you fair warning.



Thank you.  I did not realize they were doing this.  My 9 year old has her heart set on riding so I am trying to figure out a strategy.


----------



## TommyJK

MyTwoPrincesses said:


> Thank you.  I did not realize they were doing this.  My 9 year old has her heart set on riding so I am trying to figure out a strategy.



As many have reported here and in other boards I read there seem to be 2 prevailing "best" approaches currently:

  Rope Drop Strategy:
Get in line outside of IOA for around 7:45 - 8:00 am
They let you into the park a bit after 8:00 where they'll have you queue up in the old Sinbads Show area.
Just before official park open they'll bring you to the Ride and have you enter the actual ride queue
If the ride opens on time, and it doesn't have any malfunctions, you'll be done by 10:00am
Downside is that you'll have waited a couple of hours, but the upside is that most of that wait is while the park hasn't opened yet so you haven't sacrificed as much "park time" waiting so you'll have more time to do other things in the park after you've finished.
Risk:  If the ride doesn't open right at 9:00, you'll be waiting longer, and in past posts over the last couple of weeks this has happened once or twice that I've seen where the opening has been delayed

Mid-Day Strategy (like just after lunch some time):
As many have reported, the wait times they post are typically double (or more) of the actual wait time, provided the ride doesn't go down, or it doesn't Rain/Thunderstorm.
I've seen many posts that say things like the wait time posted was 3 hours, but the respondent says they only actually waited an hour.  The line just kept moving (i.e. the ride didn't go down and/or it didn't rain).
So Universal is purposely inflating their wait times estimate to take into account the chance that the ride might go down for a bit to temper expectations.  For instance you enter the line and it says 3 hours, but while in line it goes down for 90 minutes before it comes back up and you proceed, your overall wait could still have been under the stated 3 hours.
Risk here though is if there is rain (and it is the start of rainy season with most showers coming in the afternoon) then you could be waiting 2+ hours.

If it were me, I'd likely go with Option 1 as from what I've ready over the last couple of weeks it's been the most reliable.

But again, over the next 2 weeks before you arrive they may have smoothed operations out more and a better strategy will make itself apparent.  Check back in this thread for more reports over that period of time.


----------



## Spike101

TommyJK said:


> If it were me, I'd likely go with Option 1 as from what I've ready over the last couple of weeks it's been the most reliable.



I've been following this thread very keenly ever since the ride opened, its just under 2 months until I'll be there (wahoo!) for my birthday (wahoo again!) but I'll definitely be doing option 1 on my first day, weather permitting.

If that works I'll be doing it again, just to make sure I've ridden both the motorcycle and sidecar, but I would really like to ride it at night as well, so we'll see how that goes!


----------



## Cuchman

TommyJK said:


> As many have reported here and in other boards I read there seem to be 2 prevailing "best" approaches currently:
> 
> Rope Drop Strategy:
> Get in line outside of IOA for around 7:45 - 8:00 am
> They let you into the park a bit after 8:00 where they'll have you queue up in the old Sinbads Show area.
> Just before official park open they'll bring you to the Ride and have you enter the actual ride queue
> If the ride opens on time, and it doesn't have any malfunctions, you'll be done by 10:00am
> Downside is that you'll have waited a couple of hours, but the upside is that most of that wait is while the park hasn't opened yet so you haven't sacrificed as much "park time" waiting so you'll have more time to do other things in the park after you've finished.
> Risk:  If the ride doesn't open right at 9:00, you'll be waiting longer, and in past posts over the last couple of weeks this has happened once or twice that I've seen where the opening has been delayed
> 
> Mid-Day Strategy (like just after lunch some time):
> As many have reported, the wait times they post are typically double (or more) of the actual wait time, provided the ride doesn't go down, or it doesn't Rain/Thunderstorm.
> I've seen many posts that say things like the wait time posted was 3 hours, but the respondent says they only actually waited an hour.  The line just kept moving (i.e. the ride didn't go down and/or it didn't rain).
> So Universal is purposely inflating their wait times estimate to take into account the chance that the ride might go down for a bit to temper expectations.  For instance you enter the line and it says 3 hours, but while in line it goes down for 90 minutes before it comes back up and you proceed, your overall wait could still have been under the stated 3 hours.
> Risk here though is if there is rain (and it is the start of rainy season with most showers coming in the afternoon) then you could be waiting 2+ hours.
> 
> If it were me, I'd likely go with Option 1 as from what I've ready over the last couple of weeks it's been the most reliable.
> 
> But again, over the next 2 weeks before you arrive they may have smoothed operations out more and a better strategy will make itself apparent.  Check back in this thread for more reports over that period of time.....


This is a SUPER helpful summary. I'm going in a week so this is great info - thank you!


----------



## Disxuni

There definitely are pros and cons to both strategies and @TommyJK's summary is a good over all in what people have been experiencing in the past month. 

However, things have been slowly changing from week to week and sometimes Hagrid has a good groove with getting off of the ride by 9:30am, or suddenly there will be a delay in opening, as it was reported a couple of times recently. I've also seen people report in getting there not early enough, ditching the early plan as it seems too crowded for them personally, and them winging it in the afternoon and it working out too. You never know how things will turn out.

It's just best to keep in mind those two methods in mind and keep checking to see what people report day to day and as each week progresses as things will change and see if one method starts looking better over the other.


----------



## bookgirl2632

Thanks for all of the tips.  We will be there the first week of October, so I’m going to be watching crowd levels and wait times in September to see if wait times go down due to summer being over.  I’ll figure out our strategy then.  We have three days to attempt it, so I’m sure we’ll get it on at least once.


----------



## bellarinah

I got to the ride at 3.15pm today. There is no chance of shower and thunderstorm all day. The posted wait time was 120 minutes. I asked the team member in front of the ride about the single rider line and he said he didn’t know if it was open and for now I needed to get in the standby line. And these were his exact worlds. I was quite perplexed but obediently got in line because  I didn’t want to ask too many questions. The line moved quickly. Once I got to to the ruins part with the merpeople and grindylows statue and right in front of the preshow, a cast member came by to ask if anyone was a single rider. Then she told me to move to a different path and that led directly to the room right before boarding. The total amount of time I waited was about 35 minutes, 15 in the standby and 20 in the single rider line.


----------



## Spike101

bellarinah said:


> Then she told me to move to a different path and that led directly to the room right before boarding. The total amount of time I waited was about 35 minutes, 15 in the standby and 20 in the single rider line.



Ooooo thats good to know, as being a Billy-No-Mates (as we say in the U.K) that would be great for me!


----------



## FFedge

Is it still opening in the afternoons/?


----------



## disneywithfive

Road today. Wait time posted was 210 minutes. Off in 2 hours.


----------



## LaurenT

We are at the gate to IOA right now - been here since 7:45 am, it’s now 8:20 and rhe gate is not yet open.
I estimate that we are about 30 people back in line.  I’ll post our results when we get them.


----------



## CJK

Good luck! Hope it's a successful morning!!


----------



## osufeth24

Think i'm going to finally try to get on the ride Thurs.  I'm thinking of just trying in the afternoon rather than going right at opening


----------



## 22Tink

osufeth24 said:


> Think i'm going to finally try to get on the ride Thurs.  I'm thinking of just trying in the afternoon rather than going right at opening


We’re going Wednesday and I’m thinking the same thing. It seems people are having luck going in the afternoon.


----------



## 22Tink

LaurenT said:


> We are at the gate to IOA right now - been here since 7:45 am, it’s now 8:20 and rhe gate is not yet open.
> I estimate that we are about 30 people back in line.  I’ll post our results when we get them.


Good luck!


----------



## osufeth24

22Tink said:


> We’re going Wednesday and I’m thinking the same thing. It seems people are having luck going in the afternoon.



Just don't feel like waiting around almost 2 hrs before gates open, then on top of that another hour or two


----------



## Disxuni

osufeth24 said:


> Just don't feel like waiting around almost 2 hrs before gates open, then on top of that another hour or two



Well, if you get there well before opening the concept is once it's officially open and there is no delay in opening, you can be done within 9:30-10AM since you're one of the first groups there. That way you spent all your time waiting prior to the park being open and once you're done you can do the rest of what you want to do.

However, at the same time, people have been having good luck in the afternoon and due to them having an over estimation of wait times (to compensate if there is a delay), guests have been having a less wait time if there is no delays, or weather interruption.

At this point, it's the question of how much you wait to wait, when you want to wait, and what kind of risk you want to take, because both methods are still not 100% yet.


----------



## osufeth24

Disxuni said:


> Well, if you get there well before opening the concept is once it's officially open and there is no delay in opening, you can be done within 9:30-10AM since you're one of the first groups there. That way you spent all your time waiting prior to the park being open and once you're done you can do the rest of what you want to do.
> 
> However, at the same time, people have been having good luck in the afternoon and due to them having an over estimation of wait times (to compensate if there is a delay), guests have been having a less wait time if there is no delays, or weather interruption.
> 
> At this point, it's the question of how much you wait to wait, when you want to wait, and what kind of risk you want to take, because both methods are still not 100% yet.



agreed, since I live 25 minutes away, I also just didn't want to wake up that early on a day off from work lol


----------



## 22Tink

Disxuni said:


> Well, if you get there well before opening the concept is once it's officially open and there is no delay in opening, you can be done within 9:30-10AM since you're one of the first groups there. That way you spent all your time waiting prior to the park being open and once you're done you can do the rest of what you want to do.
> 
> However, at the same time, people have been having good luck in the afternoon and due to them having an over estimation of wait times (to compensate if there is a delay), guests have been having a less wait time if there is no delays, or weather interruption.
> 
> At this point, it's the question of how much you wait to wait, when you want to wait, and what kind of risk you want to take, because both methods are still not 100% yet.


I agree and typically like to do my extra waiting before a park opens. We’re coming from western Canada so with the 3 hour time difference the afternoon seems more appealing rather than the early morning! We have Express Pass so I’m hoping that will help us get the other rides done quicker to allow for the wait for Hagrid.


----------



## disneywithfive

We were at both parks on Saturday.  Upon park opening the line immediately was showing 210 minutes on the app so we decided against it.  We were at US about 1:30pm when the app started showing shorter wait times with the shortest being 100 minutes.  We left US and arrived at IOA via Hogwarts Express at 3:11pm and the time had jumped up to 180 minutes.  Got in line anyway.  Several delays, assuming they were technical issues since they didn't say weather delays, but we were off the ride within two hours.  Not bad in my opinion.  

The only complaint is several of the fans in the line were not working.  It's so extremely hot this time of the year, they all should be on.  It was really unbearable at some points without them but we managed.  Hopefully they will be fixed soon.  If you are entering the line now and have a wait, be sure to get something to drink before entering or take a water bottle that you don't mind throwing away (before you board the ride) through the line with you.  You'll need it until you get to the inside portion.  We had to buy a $5 bottle that they sell during the wait.  It was worth it but hate I didn't go prepared.

This is the third time we've ridden.  I still like the sidecar best.  I'm not a thrill ride person but if you are, ride the motorbike.


----------



## AngiTN

I've tried a quick search but nothing has come up.
Is this ride included if you do a public VIP tour? 
I am guessing it's not since there's no EP but really not sure since we've never done a VIP tour. Not sure exactly how they work


----------



## ShastaMan

AngiTN said:


> I've tried a quick search but nothing has come up.
> Is this ride included if you do a public VIP tour?
> I am guessing it's not since there's no EP but really not sure since we've never done a VIP tour. Not sure exactly how they work


It’s included in the tour. You’ll just enter the exit rather than wait in queue.


----------



## AngiTN

Thank you!


----------



## Sarah1024

We are going to be there Friday the 30.  Do you think it'll be slower because of SWGE?  We do have EP but I'm assuming it can't be used on Hagrids.  We just have one day there before going to Disney and I don't want to miss this ride!  We're probably getting to Uni around 10.  What's the best strategy?  All the other rides take EP right??  Thanks!


----------



## AngiTN

No EP and I don't believe GE will have any impact on Uni at all. 
Or, it may make it more crowded. We are going to GE and we are tacking on a day at Uni since we are there anyway. 
But I don't think or see how it will shift crowds away from Uni.


----------



## Sarah1024

AngiTN said:


> No EP and I don't believe GE will have any impact on Uni at all.
> Or, it may make it more crowded. We are going to GE and we are tacking on a day at Uni since we are there anyway.
> But I don't think or see how it will shift crowds away from Uni.


Okay thanks.  So you suggest doing that ride first so I make sure we can ride?  Is any other ride excluded from EP?  I'd love to ride the other HP rides multiple times and drink butterbeer.  Thanks!


----------



## disneywithfive

Sarah1024 said:


> Okay thanks.  So you suggest doing that ride first so I make sure we can ride?  Is any other ride excluded from EP?  I'd love to ride the other HP rides multiple times and drink butterbeer.  Thanks!


All the other HP rides have EP.


----------



## PSN

We were there on this past Saturday.  After following this thread for the past several weeks, I decided to try the early afternoon approach.  We spent the morning at Volcano Bay, left around noon to the hotel to change, then went to Universal.  We arrived at the Hagrid's line at exactly 2:00pm.  The posted wait time was 150 minutes.  The line moved smoothly and we were nearly on the ride when they announced a delay.  Luckily, the delay lasted only 5 minutes and we were on the ride after exactly 65 minutes.  Everyone enjoyed the ride and we were pleased with the wait time strategy.


----------



## LaurenT

22Tink said:


> Good luck!





LaurenT said:


> We are at the gate to IOA right now - been here since 7:45 am, it’s now 8:20 and rhe gate is not yet open.
> I estimate that we are about 30 people back in line.  I’ll post our results when we get them.


we were off the ride at 10:45. Considering that I was with teens that were hard to herd, I’ll take it. I think if I had been at the gate 30 minutes earlier, I would have been off it 90 minutes sooner.


----------



## ericf70

My family rode this morning, Tues 8/13.  We had originally planned to do it in the early afternoon but it just didn't work out.

Got to the gates at 7:30, about 15 people from the front.  We moved up to Seuss Land at 8:30.  At 8:50 me moved towards The Lost Continent and were in the ride que by 9:00.  We got on the ride at 10:00.

Unfortunately, when you move from the gates to Seuss Land a large portion of the crowd will run, disregarding everyone but themselves.  Also, when moving to the Lost Continent many people will run again, until you are corralled in a narrower roped off walkway.  One woman actually put her forearm into my wife's back and pushed her out of the way so her family could "get around the outside".  The couple standing next to us at the gates were runners.  I saw them on the ride as we got to the main ride que.  So acting like an animal did save them an hour.

Great ride!!!


----------



## Martini35

We were crazy and stood in line for 3hrs on Sat in the heat.  We got there at 9:04am and joined the line when you just came over the bridge from Seuss land.  The line moved very quickly but slowed when we hit the talking fountain.  There was one spot where people "joined" the line that really ticked me off.  The staff didn't notice as they had their back to the area so hard for them to see but they should rope it off.  It was where the Kebab house is I think.  They joined the line behind us and some people made comments that they were jumping the line but they didn't care.  Single rider was open and we were going to go that route but decided just to wait it out.  

We got off the ride at 12:04pm and all of us thought the ride was worth the wait.  And totally appreciate the maintenance the ride must have.  It is fantastic.  

We did notice the line didn't seem as long later in the afternoon so if you don't want to wait go that route.  On Sunday it seemed to be down several times but when we were there late afternoon, the line was inside the ride so don't think it was more than 1hr 30mins.  

It is a great ride!


----------



## Disxuni

I'm really surprised they haven't tried to incorporate a line concept from the beginning like they used to do during EE when IoA was open for it ages ago. I think that would stop a lot of the running in front of everyone else issue. You could go to the direction of Marvel (where people with no EE stood), or go towards Suess Land, where they had a roped line / queue, that could probably fit 3-4 people if they stood from one rope to the other.

I would imagine if they adopted that concept, as well as had a line of TA's in front of you, it would definitely decrease the rope drop issue of people running and essentially cutting everyone who had actually waited, especially if it was packed in like a queue, as there would essentially be nowhere to run unless you literally want to plow and purposely shove everyone to get to the front.

While rope drops are just as crazy as Disney, I do notice that when things are officially "open", that in the areas where CMs have held off people, that once they start moving forward (depending on what area and park you're in) people will respect that CM and not plow through, or past them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does, but I would imagine if there were a line of TAs it would definitely lessen the running, especially if they had a big 'ol speech prior to opening the park.


----------



## bookgirl2632

I hate the running.  It’s going to take someone getting hurt for them to put a stop to it.  And it won’t be the people running getting hurt.  It’ll be someone else.


----------



## MeridaAnn

bookgirl2632 said:


> I hate the running.  It’s going to take someone getting hurt for them to put a stop to it.  And it won’t be the people running getting hurt.  It’ll be someone else.



I just don't understand why they're doing it that way. During opening weekend, they had fencing set up so that it was a narrower pathway that prevented people from passing each other (and let them fill up most of the line right away without having to hold the crowd at Seuss).

It's unsafe for people to run, but with the current system, it's the only way to get on the ride quickly, so Universal is causing it to happen - they're telling people not to run with their words, but their actions (doing nothing to enforce that) tell people to do the opposite. Universal is not helpless here - they are causing the running by not having a better system in place.

It's also utterly unfair to anyone with physical/health difficulties that make it impossible to run. Bad enough that they're punishing those of us who choose to follow the rules, but they are making it impossible for someone with a cane or wheelchair, etc. to get to the ride in the front of the group, no matter how early they are at the gate.

It would be such an easy fix - either put the extra fencing back up and keep people in a line right from the start, or at least block off one of the two paths through Seuss and actually walk the group back to the line the way they do at Disney. This free-for-all is dangerous and unfair and starts off a lot of peoples' days with a bad taste in their mouth (for missing out because they're trying to do the right thing). And it's just totally unnecessary.


----------



## Disxuni

MeridaAnn said:


> I just don't understand why they're doing it that way. During opening weekend, they had fencing set up so that it was a narrower pathway that prevented people from passing each other (and let them fill up most of the line right away without having to hold the crowd at Seuss).
> 
> It's unsafe for people to run, but with the current system, it's the only way to get on the ride quickly, so Universal is causing it to happen - they're telling people not to run with their words, but their actions (doing nothing to enforce that) tell people to do the opposite. Universal is not helpless here - they are causing the running by not having a better system in place.
> 
> It's also utterly unfair to anyone with physical/health difficulties that make it impossible to run. Bad enough that they're punishing those of us who choose to follow the rules, but they are making it impossible for someone with a cane or wheelchair, etc. to get to the ride in the front of the group, no matter how early they are at the gate.
> 
> It would be such an easy fix - either put the extra fencing back up and keep people in a line right from the start, or at least block off one of the two paths through Seuss and actually walk the group back to the line the way they do at Disney. This free-for-all is dangerous and unfair and starts off a lot of peoples' days with a bad taste in their mouth (for missing out because they're trying to do the right thing). And it's just totally unnecessary.



Not only that, but even let's say they did not do this at all, I do think (believe it, or not) that if they had a little announcement prior to "releasing the hounds" so to speak I think it would set a different tone.

It's one thing to release everyone and then suddenly shout, "don't run, don't run" as all the guests zoom past everyone and TMs really do nothing against it (more than likely to prevent themselves from getting hurt). However, while it wouldn't prevent everyone, I do believe guests would act differently if TMs did a little announcement prior to letting guests in and would help if at the minimum had a TM 4-5 feet apart from each other leading people to the charge, their arm out if anyone passes.

Do not know what exactly happens now, as I've never been there to see it for myself, but people have mentioned more than once that TMs are involved, but don't do anything, so I wonder where they're walking, or standing when chaos happens, but I have a feeling that if they did even something similar to this, that it might lessen the blow / running a little bit.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Disxuni said:


> Not only that, but even let's say they did not do this at all, I do think (believe it, or not) that if they had a little announcement prior to "releasing the hounds" so to speak I think it would set a different tone.
> 
> It's one thing to release everyone and then suddenly shout, "don't run, don't run" as all the guests zoom past everyone and TMs really do nothing against it (more than likely to prevent themselves from getting hurt). However, while it wouldn't prevent everyone, I do believe guests would act differently if TMs did a little announcement prior to letting guests in and would help if at the minimum had a TM 4-5 feet apart from each other leading people to the charge, their arm out if anyone passes.
> 
> Do not know what exactly happens now, as I've never been there to see it for myself, but people have mentioned more than once that TMs are involved, but don't do anything, so I wonder where they're walking, or standing when chaos happens, but I have a feeling that if they did even something similar to this, that it might lessen the blow / running a little bit.



On my last visit, they did have a pretty extensive shouted speech right before releasing everyone explaining that the ground was wet and that for safety reasons everyone needed to walk and not run. They repeated this multiple times in the 15 minutes leading up to the release and it had absolutely no impact on the runners. 

There were, I think 4-5 TMs at the holding place leading into Seuss, but they stepped out of the way when they released the crowd, a few more TMs at the entrance to the holding area at Sinbad, and some TMs getting ready at shops and other areas along the route in between, but no one doing anything to actually lead/control the line other than occasional shouts of "please don't run".


----------



## Maleficent53

This may have been asked somewhere in the previous 32 pages but I do not have the time to read thru all of them  soooooo we are going to have 2 pre-teen kids with us.   With the long wait time is there consideration to take kids from line for bathroom breaks or is it you leave you cannot go back in?


----------



## Disxuni

MeridaAnn said:


> On my last visit, they did have a pretty extensive shouted speech right before releasing everyone explaining that the ground was wet and that for safety reasons everyone needed to walk and not run. They repeated this multiple times in the 15 minutes leading up to the release and it had absolutely no impact on the runners.
> 
> There were, I think 4-5 TMs at the holding place leading into Seuss, but they stepped out of the way when they released the crowd, a few more TMs at the entrance to the holding area at Sinbad, and some TMs getting ready at shops and other areas along the route in between, but no one doing anything to actually lead/control the line other than occasional shouts of "please don't run".



Good to know a little more insight on what actually happens.

It doesn't help them breaking away once the release happens. While it's the smartest thing to do to prevent themselves from getting hurt, at the same time them breaking away like that invites the idea of guests to make a break for it and run after all and essentially not take it seriously. It's easier said then done, but if they do not trust them and move away, then they're going to give them a reason to not trust them and run.

Going back to Disney rope drop experiences, I noticed that in areas in which are narrower and CMs have their arms out, or bonus if there are two CMs doing that once the official release happens it tends to keep people at bay. It doesn't tend to get hectic until the area gets wider and the CM, or two CMs moves out of the way.

It depends on what park and what areas you're trying to get into the park as some are just purely crazier than others. However, I do believe it's a combination of them standing their ground, how many CMs, or TMs are involved, and how narrow, or big the area is.


----------



## casjen

MeridaAnn said:


> I just don't understand why they're doing it that way. During opening weekend, they had fencing set up so that it was a narrower pathway that prevented people from passing each other (and let them fill up most of the line right away without having to hold the crowd at Seuss).
> 
> It's unsafe for people to run, but with the current system, it's the only way to get on the ride quickly, so Universal is causing it to happen - they're telling people not to run with their words, but their actions (doing nothing to enforce that) tell people to do the opposite. Universal is not helpless here - they are causing the running by not having a better system in place.
> 
> It's also utterly unfair to anyone with physical/health difficulties that make it impossible to run. Bad enough that they're punishing those of us who choose to follow the rules, but they are making it impossible for someone with a cane or wheelchair, etc. to get to the ride in the front of the group, no matter how early they are at the gate.
> 
> It would be such an easy fix - either put the extra fencing back up and keep people in a line right from the start, or at least block off one of the two paths through Seuss and actually walk the group back to the line the way they do at Disney. This free-for-all is dangerous and unfair and starts off a lot of peoples' days with a bad taste in their mouth (for missing out because they're trying to do the right thing). And it's just totally unnecessary.


I was at Universal when Gringotts opened and I had broken my foot and my husband was pushing me in a wheelchair.  We got there insanely early, front of the line and everyone just ran by us.  It was heartbreaking knowing we'd be so far in the back of the line after waiting for so long.  Until we rolled up to the line and a cast member told us to follow her to the handicap entrance.  The look on everyone's face as we rolled right by the line and into the front of the line was priceless.  We didn't ask to go in front, that is what they did then at this ride.  We were so happy that everyone who ran by us and actually bumped our young children as they did watched us roll right by.  So I'm hopeful they still treat people who are handicap or injured the way we were treated that morning.  We did not have an assistance pass and never used one the time we were there.


----------



## StarGirl11

casjen said:


> I was at Universal when Gringotts opened and I had broken my foot and my husband was pushing me in a wheelchair.  We got there insanely early, front of the line and everyone just ran by us.  It was heartbreaking knowing we'd be so far in the back of the line after waiting for so long.  Until we rolled up to the line and a cast member told us to follow her to the handicap entrance.  The look on everyone's face as we rolled right by the line and into the front of the line was priceless.  We didn't ask to go in front, that is what they did then at this ride.  We were so happy that everyone who ran by us and actually bumped our young children as they did watched us roll right by.  So I'm hopeful they still treat people who are handicap or injured the way we were treated that morning.  We did not have an assistance pass and never used one the time we were there.



I've been going back and forth whether or not on December trip whether friend and I should be making a beeline for Hagrids after I get my assistance pass. And the running comments had pretty much leaning towards just starting over at Diagon Alley since between my walker and my friend being a slow mover, in general, we would get outrun even if I sent my friend to follow the crowd while I pick up the pass. But that comment about Gringotts is making me second guess that decision. Oh well at least we have sometime to decide this since I doubt the running behavior will have died down at all by December.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Maleficent53 said:


> This may have been asked somewhere in the previous 32 pages but I do not have the time to read thru all of them  soooooo we are going to have 2 pre-teen kids with us.   With the long wait time is there consideration to take kids from line for bathroom breaks or is it you leave you cannot go back in?



There is a restroom in front of the Sinbad theater that is dedicated only to those in line (at least it was on my two visits). They also had water jugs and cups set up along the line for free and a couple places where you could buy bottled drinks. Once you go past the lockers and get into the "real" queue for Hagrid's, though, it would be pretty difficult to get in and out of line for the bathroom.


----------



## Beer Me

MeridaAnn said:


> On my last visit, they did have a pretty extensive shouted speech right before releasing everyone explaining that the ground was wet and that for safety reasons everyone needed to walk and not run. They repeated this multiple times in the 15 minutes leading up to the release and it had absolutely no impact on the runners.
> 
> There were, I think 4-5 TMs at the holding place leading into Seuss, but they stepped out of the way when they released the crowd, a few more TMs at the entrance to the holding area at Sinbad, and some TMs getting ready at shops and other areas along the route in between, but no one doing anything to actually lead/control the line other than occasional shouts of "please don't run".



This was exactly my experience in July. They gave very stern warnings about running before the suess landing release and explained that the surface was wet and slippery. Many people run anyway.  

One day the inevitable happened and a young teenage girl took a pretty bad fall. While it was stupid for her to run I didn’t like the reaction from some others who laughed at her and told her off, yelling at her etc. The poor crowd control just brings out the worst in some people. 

That being said, me and my family walked briskly and tried to ignore the chaos. Yeah, a lot of people ran past us and we saw a lot of line cutting but still had a pretty short wait.


----------



## bookgirl2632

I’ll be traveling with my 75 year old mother.  Mind you, she is a fit 75 year old and can walk rings around most people.  However, I know that she wouldn’t be able to run to Hogsmeade, nor would I want her to.  So, I’ll be looking at alternatives to riding in the morning unless things change.


----------



## 22Tink

It’s not looking good for us today. Between the mechanical delay this morning and weather, we likely won’t get to ride.


----------



## Sarah1024

22Tink said:


> It’s not looking good for us today. Between the mechanical delay this morning and weather, we likely won’t get to ride.


I will be SO upset if that happens to us.  We've spent like $700 on ONE DAY just to ride this ride


----------



## Disxuni

StarGirl11 said:


> I've been going back and forth whether or not on December trip whether friend and I should be making a beeline for Hagrids after I get my assistance pass. And the running comments had pretty much leaning towards just starting over at Diagon Alley since between my walker and my friend being a slow mover, in general, we would get outrun even if I sent my friend to follow the crowd while I pick up the pass. But that comment about Gringotts is making me second guess that decision. Oh well at least we have sometime to decide this since I doubt the running behavior will have died down at all by December.



I would imagine the "fire" won't be around by then. By December I would imagine people shouldn't be running and ramming into each other in order to get onto the ride as that's months away.


----------



## StarGirl11

Disxuni said:


> I would imagine the "fire" won't be around by then. By December I would imagine people shouldn't be running and ramming into each other in order to get onto the ride as that's months away.



That's what I'm hoping but I also remember my friends talking about the first year of opening of the Hogsmeade section and the wall of people when they did the January trip and were leaving after EE. Which I only have vague memories of from a trip from that same time period if I'm being honest. Probably better to just keep an eye on how its going which is what I was planning to do anyway. I haven't done a December trip to Florida in years, did DL/UH last year around the same time so I'm somewhat familiar with theme parks at this time of year just not Florida.


----------



## robot1000

22Tink said:


> It’s not looking good for us today. Between the mechanical delay this morning and weather, we likely won’t get to ride.



I've been in the queue for 2 hours and the rides been down for nearly all that time. 

Weather doesn't look like it's gonna be improving anytime soon


----------



## Disxuni

StarGirl11 said:


> That's what I'm hoping but I also remember my friends talking about the first year of opening of the Hogsmeade section and the wall of people when they did the January trip and were leaving after EE. Which I only have vague memories of from a trip from that same time period if I'm being honest. Probably better to just keep an eye on how its going which is what I was planning to do anyway. I haven't done a December trip to Florida in years, did DL/UH last year around the same time so I'm somewhat familiar with theme parks at this time of year just not Florida.



I do not know if there was a "wall of people" that were running into the area, or just happened to be just a "wall of people" all around there, but Hogsmeade in general is an overly crowded place _period_. When I went to the parks my plan was to always go to Hogsmeade first in the morning if I wanted to anything over there. Now that Hagrid's coaster has came out, the crowd might be intense no matter what.

Hosgmeade has always had congestion issues due to the fact that it's a narrow walk way with really no place to escape since there isn't other walk ways, or the amount of shops to go into unlike Diagon Alley.


----------



## 22Tink

Sarah1024 said:


> I will be SO upset if that happens to us.  We've spent like $700 on ONE DAY just to ride this ride





robot1000 said:


> I've been in the queue for 2 hours and the rides been down for nearly all that time.
> 
> Weather doesn't look like it's gonna be improving anytime soon


I see it’s back up. We’re heading to get into the queue. Fingers crossed!


----------



## robot1000

22Tink said:


> I see it’s back up. We’re heading to get into the queue. Fingers crossed!


Can you post how long your queue time was when you're out?


----------



## 22Tink

robot1000 said:


> Can you post how long your queue time was when you're out?


I’m at 90 minutes and we’re in the room before you load. I’ll repost when we’re out.


----------



## 22Tink

@robot1000 total time 105 minutes. Worth every minute!!


----------



## osufeth24

Going to head over tomorrow.  Thinking I'm going to try to early afternoon route.  We'll see how it goes


----------



## ksinniger

My daughter and I got to the gates this morning just before 7:45. We were about 19 people back from the gates. They opened the gates at 8:30. We lost some position heading into Suess landing, as one of the people in front of us had trouble with their ticket. They let us go from Suess about 8:45/8:50. The running began, but my daughter I tried to just “walk with purpose” and we made it into the extended queue and then the actual queue without stopping. We actually kept moving pretty steadily right to the last room, where the single Rider line meets up with the end of the stand by line, and were two groups from heading into the loading room when the mechanical issue shut down the ride. We waited out the issue, which ended up being a little more than an hour, and we’re off the ride at 10:50. 

It was amazing!  My 12 year old said it was definitely worth it - best ride ever. I’m not sure I would have been happy about the wait if we weren’t staying at the Hard Rock, and therefore had express pass for the rest of the rides. But because we knew we’d have minimal Waits everywhere else, and we’re SOCLOSE to the loading room, there was no way we were leaving. 

They did let people Leave the line for the bathrooms during the delay, and gave special tickets so they could come back to their place.  But you had to climb over lots of people
To get there!


----------



## ksromack

We plan on spending 1/2 a day the first Wednesday of Sept.  Our only goal is to ride Hagrid’s.  We spent 2 days last December and will have a 1 night/2 day stay this coming December.  Surely we will be able to ride in 2019!


----------



## osufeth24

looking at the radar and forecast, I may just wait and go next week.  Don't feel like getting caught in it


----------



## kittylady1972

We will be in town as of this weekend, and though we have nothing planned for Saturday right now, we will probably just wait and do the Universal parks later in the week.  I'm hoping with visits planned for Wednesday and Thursday we'll have some luck riding this one twice.


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## osufeth24

Decided to come.. Waiting for gates to open.. I've made a mistake lol


----------



## CJK

osufeth24 said:


> Decided to come.. Waiting for gates to open.. I've made a mistake lol


Keep us posted! Hope it works out for you!!


----------



## osufeth24

Delayed opening.. Everyone still full on sprinting


----------



## osufeth24

What a cluster. They tried to direct people to go one way in suess area, but people going around other way and trying to find anyaay to skip 20 people


----------



## CJK

osufeth24 said:


> What a cluster. They tried to direct people to go one way in suess area, but people going around other way and trying to find anyaay to skip 20 people


Ugh, sounds chaotic. I wish they'd find a better way to deal with rope drop for this ride. Good luck!


----------



## osufeth24

CJK said:


> Ugh, sounds chaotic. I wish they'd find a better way to deal with rope drop for this ride. Good luck!


OH well.. It's a delayed opening anyway. They're saying several hours, hopefully just saying that to discourage people from waiting in line

Update.. may just bag it. I'll be back next week too. Don't feel like waiting for an unknown time


----------



## Cuchman

Our first day with our full party (we arrive in shifts ) will be Saturday.  I think we are going to try rope drop each day until we get on the ride, but I am seeing such mixed results the last few days that I am a bit skeptical of our success.
Oddly, when I look at the weather for the next week or so, it is showing storms in the _mornings _which is quite the opposite of what we need for our plans :-/ Our vast experience with traveling this time of year is that the storms normally visit late afternoon.
We'll play it by ear and I will try to post our massive successes! (or crushing failures)

Update - recent checks of weather look more normal - hopefully no morning T-storms!


----------



## osufeth24

Looks like ride finally opened... May head back over. It's posted 220 minutes


----------



## 22Tink

osufeth24 said:


> Looks like ride finally opened... May head back over. It's posted 220 minutes


Good luck!


----------



## osufeth24

Oh God why did I pick single ride line.. Blahg


----------



## xultimatefanx

Really hope this isn't so chaotic by September.


----------



## LavishWig

Going to have lunch and step in line. Will keep everyone posted. Still saying 180 at the moment.


----------



## kittylady1972

LavishWig said:


> Going to have lunch and step in line. Will keep everyone posted. Still saying 180 at the moment.



Sounds like the best thing to do is grab lunch and eat it while in line!  

Can't wait to hear recent reports from today.  Part of me really wants to make one of our 2 Universal Days next week on Saturday, but I'm afraid the crowd levels will be so much worse than if we just do Universal during the week instead.


----------



## LavishWig

Joined the line at 1.32pm


----------



## Minkishly

My husband and I are thinking of doing the single riders line for this next Monday, possibly in the late afternoon / early evening (when the sun isn't so brutal). Has anyone had recent experience as a single rider? Never done this before, so we don't really know what to expect (other than a hopefully more bearable wait).


----------



## LavishWig

LavishWig said:


> Joined the line at 1.32pm



Inside the door at 2.08pm.


----------



## LavishWig

LavishWig said:


> Inside the door at 2.08pm.



Currently suspended due to the weather, hopefully it passes soon!


----------



## osufeth24

So, as can see by my posts, I got in line sometime after 11:30.  Went in single rider line.  The wait posted outside was 180 when I got there.  TM's were saying it's going to be close to the same wait, so if you are a party just jump in regular line.  No one really moved.

I was on the ride in about 90 minutes or so.  I think I saved roughly 10-15 minutes in single rider than regular.  Saw a family that moved over to regular in the last room.  Could have been shorter, but the last 15 minutes was just waiting for an odd number party.  That's the sucky part about single rider, could take a few minutes, could took a while, just depends on the group.  There were streaks were 3 SR's got to go within a 3 minute span, then no one for 10 minutes.

Having said all that, holy.crap.  This is the best ride in Orlando imo.  I had more fun on this than any other ride i've been on.


----------



## DanielNYC

osufeth24 said:


> So, as can see by my posts, I got in line sometime after 11:30.  Went in single rider line.  The wait posted outside was 180 when I got there.  TM's were saying it's going to be close to the same wait, so if you are a party just jump in regular line.  No one really moved.
> 
> I was on the ride in about 90 minutes or so.  I think I saved roughly 10-15 minutes in single rider than regular.  Saw a family that moved over to regular in the last room.  Could have been shorter, but the last 15 minutes was just waiting for an odd number party.  That's the sucky part about single rider, could take a few minutes, could took a while, just depends on the group.  There were streaks were 3 SR's got to go within a 3 minute span, then no one for 10 minutes.
> 
> Having said all that, holy.crap.  This is the best ride in Orlando imo.  I had more fun on this than any other ride i've been on.


Thanks for the "real time" updates.  Helpful!


----------



## LavishWig

I’m potentially crazy but I’ve been in the queue for almost four hours now. It was down for weather for almost two and it’s taken them around 30-40 minutes to get the ride running smoothly. They’ve just announced it should be running regularly now. Think I’m about 30 mins away from riding.


----------



## MamaKate

We may try to ride in November, but I have a couple questions.  Younger DD will be a couple inches shy of riding, do they do the child swap here?  Also, if the wait ends up being 2 1/2 hours or more, I'll need a potty break.  Do they allow 1 person from the party to leave and take a restroom break? Or is there a restroom in the queue lol (I'm assuming no, but doesn't hurt to ask  )?


----------



## LavishWig

Off the ride at 5:52pm - it was incredible!!!! Now I need a beer.


----------



## MamaKate

LavishWig said:


> Off the ride at 5:52pm - it was incredible!!!! Now I need a beer.



After 4 hours and 20 minutes, I would agree!!!


----------



## disneywithfive

MamaKate said:


> We may try to ride in November, but I have a couple questions.  Younger DD will be a couple inches shy of riding, do they do the child swap here?  Also, if the wait ends up being 2 1/2 hours or more, I'll need a potty break.  Do they allow 1 person from the party to leave and take a restroom break? Or is there a restroom in the queue lol (I'm assuming no, but doesn't hurt to ask  )?


Yes one person can leave and come back just ask for the proper way to do that. Child swap is available too.


----------



## disneywithfive

osufeth24 said:


> So, as can see by my posts, I got in line sometime after 11:30.  Went in single rider line.  The wait posted outside was 180 when I got there.  TM's were saying it's going to be close to the same wait, so if you are a party just jump in regular line.  No one really moved.
> 
> I was on the ride in about 90 minutes or so.  I think I saved roughly 10-15 minutes in single rider than regular.  Saw a family that moved over to regular in the last room.  Could have been shorter, but the last 15 minutes was just waiting for an odd number party.  That's the sucky part about single rider, could take a few minutes, could took a while, just depends on the group.  There were streaks were 3 SR's got to go within a 3 minute span, then no one for 10 minutes.
> 
> Having said all that, holy.crap.  This is the best ride in Orlando imo.  I had more fun on this than any other ride i've been on.


Did you ride the motorbike or the sidecar?


----------



## osufeth24

disneywithfive said:


> Did you ride the motorbike or the sidecar?



Motorbike. Think the cast member got screwed up and sent me with someone else.. She ended up staying behind so I actually was by myself!


----------



## DanielNYC

LavishWig said:


> Off the ride at 5:52pm - it was incredible!!!! Now I need a beer.


And not a butterbeer either!


----------



## Scoobie

Does anyone know how they handle people with HP robes on? Do they need to go in a locker, or can they be worn on the ride? TIA!!


----------



## osufeth24

Scoobie said:


> Does anyone know how they handle people with HP robes on? Do they need to go in a locker, or can they be worn on the ride? TIA!!



This won't help answer the question, but when I was in line, I did see the TM talking to a kid that had a robe on and was making a lot of hand gestures almost like telling him to scrunch the robe up or something like that.  He didn't make him take it off right there and put in a locker or anything.


----------



## Haley R

Scoobie said:


> Does anyone know how they handle people with HP robes on? Do they need to go in a locker, or can they be worn on the ride? TIA!!


I thought someone previously said they had to be in the sidecar if they were wearing a robe but I can’t remember. 


osufeth24 said:


> This won't help answer the question, but when I was in line, I did see the TM talking to a kid that had a robe on and was making a lot of hand gestures almost like telling him to scrunch the robe up or something like that.  He didn't make him take it off right there and put in a locker or anything.


Was he riding in the side car?


----------



## osufeth24

Haley R said:


> I thought someone previously said they had to be in the sidecar if they were wearing a robe but I can’t remember.
> 
> Was he riding in the side car?



No idea. I had another 10 minutes in line. You can't see the cars in line.


----------



## Disxuni

Minkishly said:


> My husband and I are thinking of doing the single riders line for this next Monday, possibly in the late afternoon / early evening (when the sun isn't so brutal). Has anyone had recent experience as a single rider? Never done this before, so we don't really know what to expect (other than a hopefully more bearable wait).



Others have already answered the question on what you expect for a wait, but want to warn that waiting in the SR line is a struggle since it's enclosed in a narrow stairwell area and heard there is almost no ventilation, people have reported it feels quite stuffy in there. So, it's the question of do you want sweat it out to wait in SR to possibly shed a few minutes off, or not? You can get lucky, but at the moment, there isn't a dramatic different in SR and the regular queue.


----------



## osufeth24

Disxuni said:


> Others have already answered the question on what you expect for a wait, but want to warn that waiting in the SR line is a struggle since it's enclosed in a narrow stairwell area and heard there is almost no ventilation, people have reported it feels quite stuffy in there. So, it's the question of do you want sweat it out to wait in SR to possibly shed a few minutes off, or not? You can get lucky, but at the moment, there isn't a dramatic different in SR and the regular queue.



Want to clear up something about the stairwell.  The TM's got smart and realized this was an issue.  Right as you go inside before the stairwell they will have it chained off.  They are no longer having people wait in the stairwell.  They will wait til the line goes down a tad inside the last room, and send 5-10 guests down.  Rinse repeat.  Which is why you will be standing there not moving for 10-15 minutes then all of a sudden move a decent amount.


----------



## Disxuni

osufeth24 said:


> Want to clear up something about the stairwell.  The TM's got smart and realized this was an issue.  Right as you go inside before the stairwell they will have it chained off.  They are no longer having people wait in the stairwell.  They will wait til the line goes down a tad inside the last room, and send 5-10 guests down.  Rinse repeat.  Which is why you will be standing there not moving for 10-15 minutes then all of a sudden move a decent amount.



That's good news to know. I'm glad they eventually did something, because whether you want to feel comfortable, or not, it's not just a comfort issue, but health issue, as people can feel ill in those type of situations.


----------



## osufeth24

Disxuni said:


> That's good news to know. I'm glad they eventually did something, because whether you want to feel comfortable, or not, it's not just a comfort issue, but health issue, as people can feel ill in those type of situations.



agreed, the TM that was patrolling the door was saying how they've had several people pass out while waiting in there.


----------



## MikeNamez

Is the SR queue actually shorter than the regular line? I see alot about it being hot and stuffy but nothing about if the wait is actually shorter?  The hotter the better for me so im not to concerned about that just the actual wait time.


----------



## osufeth24

MikeNamez said:


> Is the SR queue actually shorter than the regular line? I see alot about it being hot and stuffy but nothing about if the wait is actually shorter?  The hotter the better for me so im not to concerned about that just the actual wait time.



you may save 10 minutes.  But not much more than that. As I said in my post, I saw a family that was right in front of me in the SR line that moved over to regular in the last room when I was waiting to be grouped with an odd number.  They probably had another 5-10 minutes..15 tops left in line.


----------



## MikeNamez

osufeth24 said:


> you may save 10 minutes.  But not much more than that. As I said in my post, I saw a family that was right in front of me in the SR line that moved over to regular in the last room when I was waiting to be grouped with an odd number.  They probably had another 5-10 minutes..15 tops left in line.



Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks


----------



## Disxuni

MikeNamez said:


> Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks



The SR may eventually get better, as with all SR lines, but since it's a new ride, a very popular attraction, and a lot of people try to use it to cut time it's going to be awhile. The more people who try to go in it to cut time, the longer the wait it's going to be.

It's going to be months, maybe even a year, or so, until the SR line at Hagrid's ends up having an normal SR wait time.

It's been a couple of years since I've been in the parks, but I know last time I was there, Gringott's was notorious to closing it's SR line on and off no matter what day you went, due to so many people trying to use it to cut time and it would fill the SR queue. That was with the ride being already open already for a couple of years.


----------



## MikeNamez

Disxuni said:


> The SR may eventually get better, as with all SR lines, but since it's a new ride, a very popular attraction, and a lot of people try to use it to cut time it's going to be awhile. The more people who try to go in it to cut time, the longer the wait it's going to be.
> 
> It's going to be months, maybe even a year, or so, until the SR line at Hagrid's ends up having an normal SR wait time.
> 
> It's been a couple of years since I've been in the parks, but I know last time I was there,* Gringott's was notorious to closing it's SR line on and off no matter what day you went, due to so many people trying to use it to cut time and it would fill the SR queue.* That was with the ride being already open already for a couple of years.



This is what I was trying to avoid.  My friends don't know any better and would auto elect SR because that's how we do all the other rides. I wanted to make sure it wasn't going hurt us to use the SR.  I was there in July and didn't even bother, Sept we may give it a shot though.


----------



## Davej666

Just to provide another example experience, I entered regular line today at 1.15pm when posted wait was 180 mins, ended up being only 90 mins. Guess I was lucky with no delays for weather or break downs. Also, the single rider who ended up next to me said he'd waited 2.5hrs !


----------



## Disxuni

MikeNamez said:


> This is what I was trying to avoid.  My friends don't know any better and would auto elect SR because that's how we do all the other rides. I wanted to make sure it wasn't going hurt us to use the SR.  I was there in July and didn't even bother, Sept we may give it a shot though.



Yeah, with Gringott's for example, I would only use SR first thing in the morning, cause after that, it was definitely a forget it moment, because you were either going to wait forever, or it was going to be closed. I know several pages back someone got lucky with SR, but generally from what I heard, you'll shed a few minutes, but nothing too dramatic. Maybe you'll have luck in Sept.


----------



## AngiTN

We got to ride today. No wait since we did the VIP tour. Loved the ride and look very forward to riding again soon too see the queue


----------



## Cuchman

My family I are planning to try it tomorrow morning at rope drop. It is our first full day.   We plan to be at the gate at 8am. Fingers crossed.


----------



## Squatmanderswife

Went last weekend and rode on Saturday. The posted wait time was 180 minutes when we joined the line at about 3:30pm. With the afternoon cloud cover and some shade from the trees the wait in the outside part of the queue wasn’t unpleasant.  We only waited for 90 minutes, so half the posted time. We didn’t find the queue to be on par with Gringotts or Forbidden Journey, but the ride is quite good if you like coasters. As far as thrill factor I thought it was similar to the  Mummy.  The family in front of us mentioned that they road it the day before and wait times said 180 minutes but they only waited 40 minutes so it seems like maybe wait times are being inflated to cover breakdowns/ weather events.


----------



## Minkishly

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question regarding SR lines! Since there a significant difference, we'd probably just go with the regular line.


----------



## osufeth24

Minkishly said:


> Thanks to everyone who responded to my question regarding SR lines! Since there a significant difference, we'd probably just go with the regular line.



yup, if you are in a group, no reason to do Single Rider, won't benefit


----------



## Cuchman

In line early this morning. Got to gates at about 7:40. 75-100 people waiting when we got here. I'll try to post updates as to how it goes overall.


----------



## Scoobie

AngiTN said:


> We got to ride today. No wait since we did the VIP tour. Loved the ride and look very forward to riding again soon too see the queue


How was the VIP tour?


----------



## Cuchman

Cuchman said:


> In line early this morning. Got to gates at about 7:40. 75-100 people waiting when we got here. I'll try to post updates as to how it goes overall.


Ok, by 8:15 there were HUNDREDS of people. The whole area between the tickets and the gates was full. 
We all moved to Seuss about 8:30. 
We successfully made it through and we were off the ride by 9:45. 
No tech delays or anything, it went very smoothly. 
The crowd management stopping at Seuss and in between was hectic and there was a lot of rushing, but acceptable. 
The ride itself was super amazing. Better than I expected and I expected a lot!
All in all a huge success.


----------



## DanielNYC

Cuchman said:


> Ok, by 8:15 there were HUNDREDS of people. The whole area between the tickets and the gates was full.
> We all moved to Seuss about 8:30.
> We successfully made it through and we were off the ride by 9:45.
> No tech delays or anything, it went very smoothly.
> The crowd management stopping at Seuss and in between was hectic and there was a lot of rushing, but acceptable.
> The ride itself was super amazing. Better than I expected and I expected a lot!
> All in all a huge success.



Awesome!  So happy that this worked out for you, especially because this is exactly what we plan to do next week.  The only difference is that we'll be doing it on a Thursday morning which I hope will translate into fewer people but we'll see.  Question - when you started moving again after being stopped at Seuss, was it a free-for-all with people taking whichever path they chose through the Seuss area, or was there just one set path?


----------



## Cuchman

DanielNYC said:


> Awesome!  So happy that this worked out for you, especially because this is exactly what we plan to do next week.  The only difference is that we'll be doing it on a Thursday morning which I hope will translate into fewer people but we'll see.  Question - when you started moving again after being stopped at Seuss, was it a free-for-all with people taking whichever path they chose through the Seuss area, or was there just one set path?


The vast majority were herded through the waterfront area in Suess. Some people ran around the other way (between the rides) but not many....and team members were yelling at them not to run.  I dont feel like those folks gained much in the end.
But the big crush rush continued all the way from pre-suess to mystic fountain.  Then we were herded through ropes that kind of wrapped around the Sinbad theater and the chaos lessened a bit.
Also, I think we're going to try the same thing again on Tuesday....also hoping for fewer folks to contend with.


----------



## DanielNYC

Cuchman said:


> The vast majority were herded through the waterfront area in Suess. Some people ran around the other way (between the rides) but not many....and team members were yelling at them not to run.  I dont feel like those folks gained much in the end.
> But the big crush rush continued all the way from pre-suess to mystic fountain.  Then we were herded through ropes that kind of wrapped around the Sinbad theater and the chaos lessened a bit.
> Also, I think we're going to try the same thing again on Tuesday....also hoping for fewer folks to contend with.



Very interesting.  Thanks for all the specifics and good luck on Tuesday.


----------



## kittylady1972

Ok got in line at 11:25am when ride had just opened...it was showing delay and nobody in the first time we walked past.  We entered the building at 11:40am or so and now they just announced a 'slight delay'.  At least we are in a cool place.  Asked DD if she wanted to do single rider she said no.  So we will wait it out.


----------



## AngiTN

Scoobie said:


> How was the VIP tour?


We really enjoyed it.
Learned lots of tidbits about rides, how they work and such.
Both breakfast and lunch were really delicious. 
We overdid our plans for the day but that was our fault. We did this tour and then came over to Disney and did the Halloween Party. I didn’t expect the tour to wear us out so


----------



## kittylady1972

Ok we are now about 90 minutes in...that preshow had me thinking we are Sooo close...Sooo wrong!  Rest of the fam is off doing other stuff.  I've put in the time and will finish it out.  Hopefully we are close.  12:51pm and we got in line about 11:25AM.


----------



## kittylady1972

Ok 1:30pm and about 10-15 minutes into an 'inclement weather' shutdown.  Haven't seen the outdoors in hours.  I hear the rest of the family is huddled at one of the train stations.   Hungry.  Feel like we must be very close.  No need to go out in the rain so here hoping it is a passing shower that ends soon.


----------



## osufeth24

kittylady1972 said:


> Ok 1:30pm and about 10-15 minutes into an 'inclement weather' shutdown.  Haven't seen the outdoors in hours.  I hear the rest of the family is huddled at one of the train stations.   Hungry.  Feel like we must be very close.  No need to go out in the rain so here hoping it is a passing shower that ends soon.



any luck?


----------



## luvsJack

So glad we rode in the afternoon and didn’t have any kind of wait like some of you!  

It was a week day (Tuesday) so probably some better than today but we got to the park in the afternoon right after a short thunderstorm. No waiting outside the actual queu. We put our stuff in lockers and went on in. We weren’t actually in the park during the storm so not sure what was happening during the storm. We were at a water park when it started, went back to hotel, changed and set out for universal. 

Our wait was shorter than the actual posted wait time. More than we had on the inside of the building would have been rough on sil. He isn’t a small guy and is a bit claustrophobic.


----------



## Lexxiefern

Sorry if this has been answered already but I haven’t seen it. Do you have to use a locker? Can you at least bring your phone with you or are there metal detectors? May attempt it this afternoon. Thanks for any help!


----------



## ksromack

Lexxiefern said:


> Sorry if this has been answered already but I haven’t seen it. Do you have to use a locker? Can you at least bring your phone with you or are there metal detectors? May attempt it this afternoon. Thanks for any help!


I’m curious about this too.  We plan on spending a rope drop morning just to ride this ride on a Wednesday  in September...coming from WDW via Uber and I don’t want to mess with lockers.  Will probably just put phone in cargo shorts if I can get away with it.


----------



## osufeth24

Lexxiefern said:


> Sorry if this has been answered already but I haven’t seen it. Do you have to use a locker? Can you at least bring your phone with you or are there metal detectors? May attempt it this afternoon. Thanks for any help!



No metal detectors .  I had the phone in my hands (my pockets are in the short side.)  Not sure what they'll do if you bring a bag with you.  I put my bag in one of the lockers to begin with.  They made me take off my hat (held it in other hand) and tuck my laynard in my shirt.


----------



## bookgirl2632

How about if you have someone who isn’t riding, but may want to wait in line with us?  My sister doesn’t ride coasters, so she often waits with us and ditches at the end, taking our bags with her.  She did this on Forbidden Journey several years ago since she loves seeing the castle.


----------



## Lexxiefern

osufeth24 said:


> No metal detectors .  I had the phone in my hands (my pockets are in the short side.)  Not sure what they'll do if you bring a bag with you.  I put my bag in one of the lockers to begin with.  They made me take off my hat (held it in other hand) and tuck my laynard in my shirt.



Thanks! Would like to have my phone to play charades with my kids during the wait


----------



## Davej666

Lexxiefern said:


> Sorry if this has been answered already but I haven’t seen it. Do you have to use a locker? Can you at least bring your phone with you or are there metal detectors? May attempt it this afternoon. Thanks for any help!


I brought phone and wallet in my pocket. Also had sunglasses in a case in my pocket, g-force going round bends forced me against side of seat hard enough to bend them a bit - still worth it


----------



## SPAM

So 1st day here and I think it hasn’t opened yet today? Hovering nearby for a few.


----------



## 22Tink

kittylady1972 said:


> Ok we are now about 90 minutes in...that preshow had me thinking we are Sooo close...Sooo wrong!  Rest of the fam is off doing other stuff.  I've put in the time and will finish it out.  Hopefully we are close.  12:51pm and we got in line about 11:25AM.


The preshow had us fooled too! It’s so early in the line.


----------



## 22Tink

Lexxiefern said:


> Sorry if this has been answered already but I haven’t seen it. Do you have to use a locker? Can you at least bring your phone with you or are there metal detectors? May attempt it this afternoon. Thanks for any help!


No metal detectors but they wouldn’t even let anyone into the line with a bag when we were there and directed everyone to the lockers. They had a TM posted right near the lockers checking for bags.  Lanyards also needed to be lockered or tucked into shirts. I did take my phone into the line with no issues though.


----------



## Minkishly

Hagrid's has been down indefinitely since park opening this morning. :< There was a huge crowd outside the ride at 9am, but when we walked past around 12, the crowd had completely dispersed. I'm not sure if it'll be up at all today.


----------



## Lexxiefern

SPAM said:


> So 1st day here and I think it hasn’t opened yet today? Hovering nearby for a few.



Everytime I check it says delayed


----------



## luvsJack

Lexxiefern said:


> Thanks! Would like to have my phone to play charades with my kids during the wait



They made us put our bag in the lockers. We all put our phones in the bag but others had their phones and were playing games with them so it’s not required.


----------



## macraven

bookgirl2632 said:


> How about if you have someone who isn’t riding, but may want to wait in line with us?  My sister doesn’t ride coasters, so she often waits with us and ditches at the end, taking our bags with her.  She did this on Forbidden Journey several years ago since she loves seeing the castle.


It's not an issue.
When up to the area before loading into the ride, tell the TM you are taking a pass on the ride.
Wait for your friends at the exit area.


----------



## Cuchman

osufeth24 said:


> No metal detectors .  I had the phone in my hands (my pockets are in the short side.)  Not sure what they'll do if you bring a bag with you.  I put my bag in one of the lockers to begin with.  They made me take off my hat (held it in other hand) and tuck my laynard in my shirt.


We had bags. A quick side trip to the ride's lockers managed by cast members and we were back in the queue. I dont think we lost time because of it.


----------



## seh

Today was a disaster with no opening until 2:30 or so.  This ride has very little demand for single riders so when they do call for single riders to join the single rider queue they pull from right before you enter the building.  We were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time for a pull of 30 single riders just now.  Posted wait time has been at 210 all afternoon but we should get on at around the 2 hour mark at 730 pm. Glad we didn’t try the rope drop strategy today!


----------



## AngiTN

Still so strange that it's having such extensive downtime


----------



## kittylady1972

osufeth24 said:


> any luck?


Sorry for not updating but at the 3 hour mark as we sat in line during a weather delay we finally had to give up and go get food.  Sucks to have spent so much time there for nothing as I do think we were close but the weather wasn't good.  Hopefully  we can try again and maybe better luck on a weekday.


----------



## Davej666

We were in other park when we noticed the ride finally opened. After a long wait for Hogwarts train (going out the front and back in again would have been faster even though we had express), wait time had gone to 210 when we joined at 5pm. Was hoping that was an over estimate, it was, but only by a bit - took 190 mins (in the normal queue)


----------



## Disxuni

AngiTN said:


> Still so strange that it's having such extensive downtime



Yeah, it's strange, because you hear all these reports and sounds like things sound to be running smoothly, then out of nowhere, the ride takes more than half a day to open. I know in the past we've confirmed some delays were due to them adding, or switching ride vehicles, but have a feeling whatever happened Sunday is something else due how long it took for them to open.


----------



## SPAM

Don’t believe it’s opened yet to say either, I’m gonna try again later hopefully it opens earlier than yesterday.


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

Should be interesting next month with HHN at US, and the parks closing earlier.


----------



## Disxuni

As of right now (12:46PM EST) it states "delayed" for the status. Does anyone know if it even opened at all this morning?


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

Right now Touring Plans says closed, but the Uni app says 210 min


----------



## ZuuL

And this why rides have soft openings...


----------



## Disxuni

AuroraluvsPhillip said:


> Right now Touring Plans says closed, but the Uni app says 210 min



Yeah, Universal says 240 for me now. 



ZuuL said:


> And this why rides have soft openings...



Soft opening, or not, this ride is having serious complications, but is believe it, or not, improving. It's way past the soft opening period and more. At most, a soft opening period might be up to a month, it's been over two months.


----------



## ZuuL

Disxuni said:


> Soft opening, or not, this ride is having serious complications, but is believe it, or not, improving. It's way past the soft opening period and more. At most, a soft opening period might be up to a month, it's been over two months.


Have they said what the main issue is?


----------



## AngiTN

ZuuL said:


> And this why rides have soft openings...


Yes, but this is not a soft opening.


----------



## Disxuni

ZuuL said:


> Have they said what the main issue is?



The only times we have confirmed reasons for down time is the few times when people have reported they're removing / changing out the carts. I am not counting weather delays, as those are typically always reported. However, most of the time we do not have confirmation on what is the reason for the delay if weather is not involved. However, awhile back, the ride was closed for the whole duration of the day, which I do not remember all the details, but @TommyJK I believe was the one who reported that there was an emergency shipment of a particular part needed for the attraction.


----------



## ZuuL

AngiTN said:


> Yes, but this is not a soft opening.


I know, I was meaning they should have done one before opening this ride. They'd know of these problems if they did.


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## TommyJK

ZuuL said:


> I know, I was meaning they should have done one before opening this ride. They'd know of these problems if they did.



The rides been open for 2 months now. A soft opening, even for several weeks wouldn't have sussed out all of the issues. 

It's a highly complex ride system with more LSMs than any coaster ever made,  switch tracks, drop tracks etc.

Trying to get it up to top capacity wouldn't have come through in a soft opening period as it seems they continue to find/learn new things I'm sure they have to adjust and tinker with over time adding more and more capacity. 

Top it all off by opening the ride in one of the busiest and rainiest periods of the year and it's thrown more variables into the mix they need to contend with.

Basically its taking them longer to get the ride settled and up to peak capacity than anyone has wanted (park goers and universal alike).  I'm sure it'll get there eventually. 

People have short memories though. 

Gringotts was plagued with issues almost daily for months after opening. 

Flight of Passage still has constant 2-3 hour waits, which if according to insider rumors are true, this is much more to do with the ride rarely operating at full capacity due to over heating issues they still haven't sorted out in its 2+ years of operation. 

Go way further back and Test Track at Disney had 4 months of soft openings trying to work out issues and it continued to have issues for a long time even after its official opening.

Any new/cutting edge ride takes a good long while to sort everything out.  

This isn't anything new.  Things will get fully sorted out.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.


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## Lynne G

90 minutes after a mad dash after reopening from a weather delay.  Absolutely awesome.  And I am not a big coaster person.  Reminded me of a combo of Disney’s Big Thunder and Yeti one, with some faster speed.


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## Leahdb73

We're going in September and staying on property for 2 of the nights.  I'm sure this has probably been asked already, but if US has EPA, can you take the Hogwarts Express over in the am and join the queue?  I imagine this strategy is flawed somehow, just figured I'd ask since we're going to do US first anyway


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## macraven

You can take Hogwarts Express from the Studios to the other park.
(and vice versa)
You usually will see a line starting by  8:30 for that ride.

The train, most of the time, will leave the station to travel to the other park right around 9:00 am

Once you are off the train ride, be ready for more Potter adventures


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## Lynne G

With the bike you sit higher than the side car.  I will say, the seats felt very nice, and secure, much nicer than the one’s at Gringotts, including where the shin restraints were.  Not sure I have the want to be on the bike, but as you can see, my DD, who is a big coaster fan, thought the ride was awesome too.


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## TommyJK

Leahdb73 said:


> We're going in September and staying on property for 2 of the nights.  I'm sure this has probably been asked already, but if US has EPA, can you take the Hogwarts Express over in the am and join the queue?  I imagine this strategy is flawed somehow, just figured I'd ask since we're going to do US first anyway



If you're looking to ride Hagrid's first thing in the morning, this is not a good strategy.  By the time the train boards, gets to hogsmeade and you get off and into line for Hagrids, it's already full with the rope droppers.


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## osufeth24

Goin with a friend on Thursday.  Seems like with the constant delays it's having, not getting there at 730 may be the better move.  Might just try what I ended up doing last week when it was delayed.  Go do everything else, wait a tad bit after it opens, then just get in line and pray there's no delays


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## Spike101

I'm going to be there in just under 7 weeks and I think I'm going to stick to original plan, do rope drop on my first day, with the jet lag and excitement of being there I'll be up at 5am no doubt!

EE at USO on my first day is at 7am, so I'll be there to do Gringotts, have a wander round Diagon Alley, quick cigarette with Bruce (already a tradition) and then head to IOA for about 7.45 and brave the scrum for rope drop.

If that all goes well, and weather permitting, I'll do that at least one more day of my week long stay, if only because I want to ride both the cycle (I'll be scared beyond belief!) and the sidecar, in theory I'd like to think I'll get to ride it more than twice but we'll see.


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## Disxuni

Leahdb73 said:


> We're going in September and staying on property for 2 of the nights.  I'm sure this has probably been asked already, but if US has EPA, can you take the Hogwarts Express over in the am and join the queue?  I imagine this strategy is flawed somehow, just figured I'd ask since we're going to do US first anyway





TommyJK said:


> If you're looking to ride Hagrid's first thing in the morning, this is not a good strategy.  By the time the train boards, gets to hogsmeade and you get off and into line for Hagrids, it's already full with the rope droppers.



What he said. Also, if you want to have any luck with the rope drop you're going to have to be there waiting at the IoA gate even prior to the official EE. So, you're going to have to make a choice of sacrificing EE to wait for it first thing, or enjoy EE, take a risk, and do it later in the late morning / afternoon and hope there's no delays / weather.


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## Lynne G

Or like today, the train was delayed when we got to the ride around 9 this morning.


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## TommyJK

Lynne G said:


> Or like today, the train was delayed when we got to the ride around 9 this morning.



Perhaps they are delaying the first HE trip from USF to IOA on purpose to prevent a double rush to Hagrid's.


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## Disxuni

TommyJK said:


> Perhaps they are delaying the first HE trip from USF to IOA on purpose to prevent a double rush to Hagrid's.



Interesting idea. That would at least be the smart thing to do. Suck for anyone who thinks that would be the best route to go is taking the train, but that would definitely be smart to delay it getting to IoA a little bit to lessen the ambush.


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## SweetJulia23

Did IOA ever have early entry before Hagrid's opened?


----------



## Disxuni

SweetJulia23 said:


> Did IOA ever have early entry before Hagrid's opened?



Years ago occasionally IoA would have EE.


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## Leahdb73

TommyJK said:


> Perhaps they are delaying the first HE trip from USF to IOA on purpose to prevent a double rush to Hagrid's.





Disxuni said:


> What he said. Also, if you want to have any luck with the rope drop you're going to have to be there waiting at the IoA gate even prior to the official EE. So, you're going to have to make a choice of sacrificing EE to wait for it first thing, or enjoy EE, take a risk, and do it later in the late morning / afternoon and hope there's no delays / weather.


Thanks for the tip.  We planned on spending most of the 1st day at US, so we'll see how the wait times look and take HE over in the afternoon.  Since we're staying at Royal Pacific, we'll try for rope drop the 2nd day for Hagrid's.  If we're lucky we'll get to go twice.  I was just kind of curious how they managed the crowds coming from HE into the queue, since it looks like the queue starts so far back.


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## Cuchman

Summary of our Hagrid experience today(not NEARLY as good as Saturday):

Got to IoA gate at 7:40...maybe 100 people waiting
TONS of people waiting by 8:30 when they let is in to be herded just before Suess
Rope dropped from Suess at 8:50 and mad dash to start prequeue by Mystic Fountain. Team members there telling guests we could queue up but the ride was experiencing a delay 
Continued with crowd into the queue. A couple stops but eventually ending up in caves at about 9:30. Ride not operating this whole time. 
We waited a long time in the regular queue. At about 10:10 there was an announcement the ride was back on schedule but there seemed to be some stopping and starting of line movement. 
Eventually rode at about 11:30....exiting queue at 11:40. 
Ride was still awesome in spite of the wait. 

Side note: there was a LOT of people doing what I would call line cutting....pushing past saying "oh, my husband/son/mother is up ahead" and just pressing on. And we're not talking past a few people....like out of sight in both directions. 
We have some pretty solid shaming and protesting, but it happened anyway. Cast members seemed to ignore it also.


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

FYI for those there, the app says 150 min wait, expected wait on Touring Plans is 128 minutes.


----------



## PollyannaMom

Cuchman said:


> Side note: there was a LOT of people doing what I would call line cutting....pushing past saying "oh, my husband/son/mother is up ahead" and just pressing on. And we're not talking past a few people....like out of sight in both directions.
> We have some pretty solid shaming and protesting, but it happened anyway. Cast members seemed to ignore it also.


----------



## gwoodsy

Since rope dropping hasn’t been working this week we got in line at 6:45pm with a posted 150 min wait but it took 120mins.  They shut line down at  7pm.  My wife, two daughters 10 &13, and I thought it was worth the wait!  We did each take a turn getting out of line to use restroom and were given a yellow ticket to get back in line.


----------



## CDMama3

Just got back from a 5 day trip, here was our experience with the ride:

Saturday we didn’t make it early enough to get in line before the wait was crazy (300 minutes) and from watching the day before I saw that it usually dropped a little after the early rush. Got in line a little after 12 when it was down to 180 minutes with my 7 year old son. After about 30 minutes or so in line it started to rain. Luckily as the downpour started we got inside and out of the rain. The ride obviously got stopped for weather, but we had no plans until 5 so we decided to stick it out. Especially since more and more people in front of us were getting out of line with the ride down, we moved all the way forward to the room with Fang. Rain stopped, we moved forward slowly. Got to the room with the eggs and an announcement came on that the ride was down for technical reasons. Over an hour in that room and we were moving again. Got to another room and thankfully we were able to hop out for my son to use the bathroom and got a ticket to come back to our spot. Made it onto the ride! Pulled forward onto the track about 20 feet, and the ride stopped. After about 15 minutes cast members came over and we had to be evacuated off the ride, the front of the car actually had to have the safety team come out to get them as they were past the barrier. The cast members were all wonderful, so kind, and they gave us the express passes that work on this ride as well, just one use, as we got pulled off the ride. The car in front of us actually got stuck out on the track and we saw medics come out to help get them off. We kept waiting, with cast members again being great to my son, chatting and trying to make the wait better. After 5 hours in line he needed to go eat, but was so disappointed.

The next day the ride didn’t open until almost 4 I believe, we watched all day. As soon as I saw it was open we hurried over. The passes got us to the second to last room through a separate path they sent us down and thankfully the wait was only about 40 minutes. The ride was everything we had hoped for, amazing! Worth the craziness of the day before. And we have a story to tell about getting stuck on the ride.

I’m not sure what the technical issues are, but having seen first hand that the ride literally can stop with riders out on the track, they’ve got something going on that they haven’t figured out yet. The people in line around us who we chatted with and had waited before all had different wait times, some pretty spot on with posted times, some much longer because of delays, a few shorter. The crew said this was a rough week for delays, and not just cause of weather. Give yourself a lot of time, try and make friends around you is my best advice. It’s worth it!


----------



## osufeth24

anyone there today?  Curious if it was delayed opening again.  I see it's at 120 minutes now


----------



## butterscotchcollins

I've been looking at the app every single day out of curiosity, today it seemed to open on time and then the wait dropped to ~140 minutes around 11am - it seems like once that crazy AM rush is over the wait times consistently die down a bit until the afternoon, I could be wrong but it's giving me a lot of thoughts for our plan when we're there next Friday (which never involved rope drop - save it with the running and the madness.)


----------



## TommyJK

CDMama3 said:


> I’m not sure what the technical issues are, but having seen first hand that the ride literally can stop with riders out on the track, they’ve got something going on that they haven’t figured out yet.



I have seen it mentioned before elsewhere that a problem they have had (and may still be occurring) is that the LSMs (the metal plates that do the launches) can overheat at times.  When they're overheated they won't launch trains.  So if you get even one that overheats, that means no trains can launch until it cools down sufficiently or some kind of reset on them can occur.  

So then that means your stuck, and if it's for too long, they have to evac the people off the ride.

But take the above with a grain of salt.  I remember reading that a good month ago and maybe the recent issues are something new.


----------



## Lynne G

Today. We went in around 1:20 and off ride at 2:20pm.  And that was with two delays announced.  

It is a great ride.


----------



## MumziMom

MUCH more active crowd management is needed during park opening because of this great ride...  

We just arrived home from our Wizarding World trip (Orlando) and overall had a wonderful time.  We were celebrating our anniversary, and had also invited a friend who loves the HP books as much as we do (and will do the rides that my husband won't!)  None of the three of us had ever been, but our kids grew up together (we would host Harry Potter parties for book releases, and wait in line at midnight for those amazing books) 

We were glad that we had the opportunity to ride Hagrid's - and I know that there are those out there who were disappointed because the ride was down when they were there.  This is only addressing the crowd control, which should be improved.  My friend and I agree that IoA is opening itself up to a lot of liability during the morning opening - I have no idea what it is like for Hagrid's line during delayed openings, etc.  - this is only about the experience at park opening.

This past Saturday (was it the 17th?):

1) We arrived by 7:20 to wait in line for the 9 a.m. opening.

2) We were the very first in one of the lines.  We chatted with some lovely people from England - it wasn't terribly hot - it was fine being there that early.  Probably better than getting there later, as we had shade.

3) They pre-scanned at least 10 people in our line as the opening family was introduced - there were maybe 18 scanners?  I believe 7 turnstiles on one side, 7 on the other, and between 6-8 portable scanners in front of the gate.  Not really sure.  So then most likely between 150 - 200 people, were pre-scanned.

4)  They had the opening family introduced at around 8:20 or so.  They warned verbally "Don't Run!" as they let us in - there was no one at the front of the line to walk us up to Seuss Land;

5)  At 8:30 they let us go.  Almost every person sprinted who had been pre-scanned, and those who were scanned after ran past as well.  My friend and I walked, albeit at a quick walking pace - we saw a woman who had tripped and fallen and not be able to get up - the ground was wet in that area - she was under the first bridge of some sort, with her family, had obviously hurt her knee, and she was sprawled on the ground, yelling at them to go ahead and save her a spot in line.  I was going to ask if they needed help, but when she yelled for them to go ahead and save her a spot, we looked at each other and just kept walking.  People kept sprinting by.  It felt surreal.  

6) When we got up to Seuss Landing, there was thankfully a rope and two people on the other side.  There was  a large crowd of the runners ahead of us now, next to the rope.  I was feeling a little anxious, as there was also a large growing crowd behind us, and I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if everyone started running again.

7) At a few minutes to 9 we were "walked very quickly" up to the ride, with team members along the side yelling to runners to not run (from behind us) - there were plenty who pushed by, either because they wanted to get there faster, or "to catch up with someone"  - it didn't feel as if there was really much thought into crowd control.  We were packed.  I couldn't see the two Team Members.  I think that they were walking very fast at the front and I'm not a slow walker by any means;  there were many times that team members yelled from the side at people to walk as people ran/wove through the crowd/shoved by.  Quite a few more jostled us as they pushed past than were yelled at.  The pathway narrows, opens up and narrows again - not great for a crowd moving quickly.  I could not have stopped if I wanted to.

My suggestion:  it would have been much better to have a rope strung between at least 5 team members, walking us up at a slower rate - I would even suggest these types of ropes/team member teams spread every 10 to 15 people deep or so; with about 20 people across who want to ride this would give you pods of about 200 - 300 people.  Just until the first groups were up front and a longer line began to form.  Team members with the ropes could move in and out sideways to account for the path-width changing.   It would keep down the ability to shove past others.  Either that, or start a "rope pathway" MUCH sooner - or even hand out color coded cards, like they do with the Jimmy Fallon ride.  Only "Green Cards" would be allowed in the ride line.....etc.  They could be dispensed as people left the scanners.  They could call it "Floo Powder Cards" for some theming fun - There would then be no incentive to run, because only certain colors of Floo Powder Cards could enter first.  They need some disincentive to run besides just having team members yelling at people to stop running.

The ride was great.  We were on and off within 20 minutes of getting to the actual ride line.  (At the front gate at 7:15, off the ride at about 9:30.)  It was smooth; intense; fast and well themed.  A lot faster than I thought it would be.

I was, however, feeling stressed out from the crowd running/shoving earlier.  With that woman falling and others running past/shoving in the line, the lack of crowd management brought out the worst in people.   I don't like to see that, and I'm sure that J.K. Rowling would not like that either.  I wanted to use "Immobulus!" on some of those Slytherins. ("Those cunning folk use any means/To achieve their ends.")  

Universal IoA:  you need to get some Ravenclaw's doing some creative problem solving on crowd control for morning opening of Hagrid's!

Photos: 

2716.jpg:  7:20, the very short lines when we arrived early, and we were first in one of the lines; 
2721.jpg:  8:32, after the "Big Run" up to Seuss Landing, and you can see that after beginning first at being scanned, we were 6th deep, from all the others running ahead, and once again, we are not slow walkers - if everyone had walked we would have been in the front (I want to be very clear that I don't really care about being first - I just don't want to get hurt or to feel anxious about my safety/the safety of others);
also at 8:32 a photo of the crowd behind us- MANY of those people shoved by as we walked quickly.   

We ended up finally stopped in the line "in the room with the slatted ceiling" (there were spiders or blast ended skrewts up there) - also, on the way inside, there were kids who were alone, not with each other, making their way through the line to catch up with their respective parents who had run ahead.  Sigh.

I hope that Universal takes notice.  Someone WILL get shoved down at some point - it felt like a wave of people, and with areas near where the path became narrower becoming challenging, because you couldn't see where the ground rises up (near trees?) - some guy pushing by on my left almost fell because of this.  

It felt better once we were threading through ropes back and forth somewhere up past the Fountain in The Lost Continent - I wish that they had started this "rope pathway" much earlier.

Maybe it was because it was Saturday.  Maybe because the day prior there was a delayed opening for the ride. Whatever it was, they need to re-think park opening procedures.  They know that people are running, or they wouldn't tell them to not run before the park even opens.  I highly recommend that CEO Tom Williams try and navigate park opening/walking up to the ride without telling anyone that he is coming, get in line around 7:35 a.m. on a Saturday, so he could see first hand the issues.  While there has been a lot of coverage of the ride, (and the huge crowds waiting in long lines for this ride), and usually that is great publicity,  they don't want someone getting trampled at park opening as the breaking news.


----------



## macraven

Lynne G said:


> Today. We went in around 1:20 and off ride at 2:20pm.  And that was with two delays announced.
> 
> It is a great ride.



Awesome!


----------



## CraftyWitch

We were very lucky to ride today. My husband noticed the ride time dropped from 210 to 120 and we headed straight over.  Got in line at 11:45 and were off at 12:45. So much fun!! Even though hubby lost his Raybans out of his pocket....still worth it!


----------



## Disneygeek Amanda

Could someone tell me a little more about the process for needing to leave the line? Mainly for going to the bathroom, but also to put something in the lockers. I'll be at universal in three weeks as a solo traveller and I'm wondering how this works if you don't have someone in line to meet back up with.


----------



## glamdring269

I don't know if things will be different by the time we arrive in early October but it sure seems like just waiting in line for 2 hours later in the day is actually more efficient than doing RD.  Will certainly be a lot better for my sleep thanks to late night HHN.


----------



## Lynne G

Disneygeek Amanda said:


> Could someone tell me a little more about the process for needing to leave the line? Mainly for going to the bathroom, but also to put something in the lockers. I'll be at universal in three weeks as a solo traveller and I'm wondering how this works if you don't have someone in line to meet back up with.




If you leave the line, they give you a card at the start of the line, to use the restroom and for us, to get cups of ice water.  If you are by yourself, I would hope those around you would save you a spot.  And no, you are not to leave line to go to locker, as those with bags, wands, creatures or other that cannot be secured, were pointed to the lockers that are a bit before the start of the line.  The team members continue to remind about the lockers and keep asking that only one family member go, as it looks like a very busy place.  Most of the times I saw a team member at the start, stopping anyone that needed a locker, and pointing them to the lockers.

Oh, and I will say, if you are alone, the single rider line is much faster, and the only thing you miss in line is what I consider a cute video, but did not need to be held in line to wait until the group watching it leaves the room.


----------



## DC to Disney

I rode Hagrid’s twice in the last 2 days, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The morning took longer, mostly because they didn’t open up the ride until 10:30 am. I got on at 10:40. 

Yesterday I got in line at 4:15 pm. The posted wait time was 150 minutes, but I was off the ride by 5:15. It wasn’t bad at all. 

I rode on both the bike and sidecar. The bike feels a little more thrilling because you sit higher up.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Lynne G said:


> If you leave the line, they give you a card at the start of the line, to use the restroom and for us, to get cups of ice water.  If you are by yourself, I would hope those around you would save you a spot.  And no, you are not to leave line to go to locker, as those with bags, wands, creatures or other that cannot be secured, were pointed to the lockers that are a bit before the start of the line.  The team members continue to remind about the lockers and keep asking that only one family member go, as it looks like a very busy place.  Most of the times I saw a team member at the start, stopping anyone that needed a locker, and pointing them to the lockers.
> 
> Oh, and I will say, if you are alone, the single rider line is much faster, and the only thing you miss in line is what I consider a cute video, but did not need to be held in line to wait until the group watching it leaves the room.



Well, the other thing missed in the single rider line is the option to choose which side you're going to ride, which most likely means being in the sidecar. If that's where you want to sit anyway or you don't care, then go right ahead! But if you want to be sure you can ride the motorcycle, I think you have to stick to the main line. 

The first time I rode, I went through the full line, I was actually in line behind another solo rider - when we got to the front, they tried to send us both together, but I had to point out that the reason I'd gone in the full line was to ensure a motorcycle, so they pulled people from the SR line to go with each of us instead. I will probably go back to the main line from now on when I ride, because I definitely liked the motorcycle seat better (the sidecar was still nice, but I had more fun on the bike).


----------



## gerryrobinson

Did rope drop this morning and boy did we luck out. On the bus at 7:07. First at our turnstile at 7:26. They start by scanning the first family around 830. Then the dash to Seuss landing. Wasn't as bad as I expected but must walk fast if you don't want to get passed by a hundred people. Then the walk to the que. You still must walk quickly but it's more orderly. In the que just after 9 and off the ride at 9:17. Great ride. Best at Universal by far. The theming doesn't rival Disney in my opinion but the ride is smooth. Adults rode sidecar and kids rode bike. We'll try to ride again to experience other seat.


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## osufeth24

Single rider line  not open at the moment


----------



## andrniki

My DH and DS just did Hagrid's.  It's Thursday.  The posted wait all day was 180 minutes.  They went at 1:19 and finished the ride at 2:10!  He said it was about a 45 minute wait.  No delays, no weather issues.  His comment "Best ride in the world!"

BTW the wait time now says 120 minutes.


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## Lynne G

Some one knew where the camera was:


----------



## acarsme123

So any tips/strategies for being able to get on Hagrid's in March for a spring break trip?  We will be staying on-site, and I understand on-site guests get early access to Wizarding World.....but I also heard Hagrids doesn't open at park opening at this time.  Does anyone anticipate this might change by then?  Are they still having a lot of reliability issues with this ride?


----------



## macraven

I’m sure the ride will be operating smoothly 7 months from now for when you will be there


----------



## TommyJK

acarsme123 said:


> So any tips/strategies for being able to get on Hagrid's in March for a spring break trip?  We will be staying on-site, and I understand on-site guests get early access to Wizarding World.....but I also heard Hagrids doesn't open at park opening at this time.  Does anyone anticipate this might change by then?  Are they still having a lot of reliability issues with this ride?



I'm going down at the same time.

Aside from what Mac has said, we also don't know this far our if IOA might have early entry next March (it does get it sometimes, it just hasn't had early entry in a while).  Also we don't know by then if they might add EP for the ride (keeping fingers crossed).

So no sense in trying to plan a strategy for it now that far out.


----------



## Lynne G

Since the ride is so new, still, I doubt they will have early entry to Islands.  And the castle ride was not given EP until I'd say 3 or 4 years later.  There was also talk about making the ride some day, be a virtual pass, that you book via the app, like Fallon ride, and the Fast and Furious ride.  Apart from weather stops, seems the stops for not working right, were less the causes for stopping while we were there last week.  So, hoping 6 months later, any other kinks won't stop the ride.  

We counted about 16 people for each train, with 2 trains sent out at a time.  So, part of it is also, a slow loader.


----------



## TommyJK

Lynne G said:


> Since the ride is so new, still, I doubt they will have early entry to Islands.  And the castle ride was not given EP until I'd say 3 or 4 years later.  There was also talk about making the ride some day, be a virtual pass, that you book via the app, like Fallon ride, and the Fast and Furious ride.  Apart from weather stops, seems the stops for not working right, were less the causes for stopping while we were there last week.  So, hoping 6 months later, any other kinks won't stop the ride.



Islands has had early entry many times in the past (even earlier this year).  They stopped doing it more recently with the opening of Hagrids.  I'm sure once the ride settles down a bit, they will eventually bring back early entry to Islands and alternate back and forth each month with USF like they have done before.

As for virtual line.  That idea is dead.  They were only considering it when the ride first opened as a way to cope with when the line went outside of the actual queue into Hogsmead so it wouldn't get over crowded.  It never got to that point so they scrapped those plans.

As for EP, Yes Forbidden Journey took many years for EP, Gringotts in USF less so, and more recent big rides (like Kong) only took several months to open up EP.  So while it is unknown when Hagrid's will get EP, most insiders are speculating it will happen more so after ride operations smooth out (and it's running all day consistently without any breakdowns) rather than years like the previous Potter rides.  We'll just need to wait and see.


----------



## Disxuni

I want to say despite being a very popular ride right now, it seems that when things go according to plan, the wait time is traditionally less, or a little more than less than the predicted wait time (posted wait time is to compensate if there is a delay). Which I think it is interesting.

For example, a lot of people who reported to have waited 45 minutes, or even an hour, is a lot better than what I expected period, considering what I remember wait times were like when the other original Harry Potter rides first opened. Not only the 120 -180 minutes waits seemed to be the average for a long time, but they were genuinely that long (at least from my experience).

Of course, it was a whole new land, but I still think that considering how incredibly popular the ride is now, it's actually not that long of a wait in comparison. Once again, when things go according to plan.


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## disneywithfive

Must be a walk-on. Have not seen this short of a wait time yet.


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## Disxuni

Interesting... I wonder if they just opened, however that usually doesn't stop from it being longer than that. There is a little bit of "green" on the radar (barely) in Orlando.


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## jnjusoioa

Will be at the parks the week of November 18th, probably doing Universal/IOA on the 20th, not staying onsite, so was curious as to what people's recommendations are for being able to ride? I don't mind getting there early or anything but just can't afford to stay on site. So awesome to see the added the picture to this ride!!! Thank you in advance for any help.


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## osufeth24

jnjusoioa said:


> Will be at the parks the week of November 18th, probably doing Universal/IOA on the 20th, not staying onsite, so was curious as to what people's recommendations are for being able to ride? I don't mind getting there early or anything but just can't afford to stay on site. So awesome to see the added the picture to this ride!!! Thank you in advance for any help.



Obviously always weather pending, but it seems the best route to go is around 12.  Lines seem to be lower then.  I had a 90 minute wait the first time when I got there around 1145.  I went yesterday around 1030 and it was 2 hrs.  By the time we were done though, the line was A LOT shorter than when we jumped in


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

So I decided yesterday to try an experiment.  I have been following this thread since the beginning when the ride opened.  I am going to be at Universal for a week in September.  I have dedicated a page in my bullet journal to documenting the wait times for this ride every 1-2 hours every day to see if any patterns emerge.  I am using both the official wait time on the Uni app, as well as the waits documented in the Touring Plans "Lines" app, which I have a paid subscription for.  TP will state the posted wait times as well as "actual" or "expected" wait times.  I also am trying to note if downtimes may be due to weather, based on either the Uni app or my own weather app's radar.  
Today it appeared that dinner time was a good time to get in line.  I imagine a lot of people leave the parks at that time.  My family and I are not rope drop people, so I am particularly interested in looking for comparatively "slower" times during the day.  
It's going to be interesting in Sept when the parks close earlier.  I notice that IOA changed their closing time from 8 to 8:30pm on 9/21 and 9/22, Sat and Sun.  Admittedly HHN will force many folks out of US and over to the other park, but I wonder if they expect larger crowds at IOA because of this ride as well.


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## andrniki

Disxuni said:


> Interesting... I wonder if they just opened, however that usually doesn't stop from it being longer than that. There is a little bit of "green" on the radar (barely) in Orlando.


Yes, it had just stopped raining at at time.


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## butterscotchcollins

I’m so curious what crowds are going to look like next weekend during the opening of SWGE. Our Universal day is 8/30 so hoping some curious locals skip Hagrid in favor of Han >.>


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## greg9x

Couple data points... We rode the other day, when got there was in delay and not letting anyone in with posted 120 minute wait.... After about 10 minutes they opened and we went in, waited probably just over an hour.

Today we did single rider, again with posted 120 minute wait.. were on ride in about 20 minutes.

Guess single rider is not always available, but if it is, that's the way to go.


----------



## andrniki

Today my family wasn't going to attempt Hagrids because it was Saturday.  But the posted wait was 90 minutes at around 2pm so they couldn't pass it up. They got off the ride 40 minutes later!  No delays.  

Have they figured out the kinks to Hagrids?


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## gerryrobinson

Been here since Wednesday. Rode twice. Once at rope drop (see post above) and once at 610pm with a posted wait time of 105 mins (lowest I have seen but others have seen 90 mins). Was off at 710 so 60 mins total. Looks like they are getting things figured out finally. Fingers crossed anyway for those coming in the future.


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## gerryrobinson

Been here since Wednesday. Rode twice. Once at rope drop (see post above) and once at 610pm with a posted wait time of 105 mins (lowest I have seen but others have seen 90 mins). Was off at 710 so 60 mins total. Looks like they are getting things figured out finally. Fingers crossed anyway for those coming in the future. Best ride at Universal for sure


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## Spike101

I have to say that the more updates we're getting on this thread, the more I'm thinking that I may avoid the rope drop scrum altogether, and go at lunchtime and in the evening.


----------



## DoryGirl1963

Quick question: Can I keep my waist pack with a 3 prong clasp on me thru the line & on the ride or must it go in a locker? It's small slim & flat - only holds my phone. TIA!


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## kingcole

As Universal has Early Entry what would one expect the waits to be and how would timings work by getting the Hogwarts Express from Universal to IoA?

If this would work, what’s the time of the first express?


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## osufeth24

kingcole said:


> As Universal has Early Entry what would one expect the waits to be and how would timings work by getting the Hogwarts Express from Universal to IoA?
> 
> If this would work, what’s the time of the first express?


Pretty sure the train doesn't run until 9 when IoA open, so you'd be way behind if rope dropping it


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## Lynne G

DoryGirl1963 said:


> Quick question: Can I keep my waist pack with a 3 prong clasp on me thru the line & on the ride or must it go in a locker? It's small slim & flat - only holds my phone. TIA!



Yes, I had my Kipling one, and no issues fitting in the seats wearing it.  So had it the whole time through line as well.  My DD had her phone the whole time, as she put it in her zippered pocket of her shorts just before we got on the ride.  No issues with that in line or on ride either.


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## greg9x

kingcole said:


> As Universal has Early Entry what would one expect the waits to be and how would timings work by getting the Hogwarts Express from Universal to IoA?
> 
> If this would work, what’s the time of the first express?


You won't get over until everyone at the IOA gate is already in line, so you will be at the end.


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## mialovesart

My hubby & I rode for the first time yesterday. The posted wait time was 150 minutes & we were on the ride in about 90 minutes. We arrived at the line at about 5:00 & were off around 6:30. It was totally worth the wait & so much fun!

A couple of notes... I recommend bringing a water into line with you. They do sell Gilly Water but the in-line cart is cash only. We didn’t know this & figured we could use our card. There are water fountains in line but I am immune compromised so I can’t risk the germs. 

Also, some of the queue rooms are not well ventilated & can get very stuffy. Just be prepared in case there is a delay. There were people complaining about feeling faint from the heat & lack of ventilation & some bailed on the ride. 

However, I feel like afternoon is a good time to try to ride. I agree with the previous posters about avoiding the morning chaos.


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## Travel2000

Been following this thread, so wanted to tell others our experience yesterday. Thought Sunday night would be a good time to go...not so much. Got in line around 6:22. We were off at 8:55 or so. FYI line closed at capacity at around 7. Posted time was 150 minutes...but in the aftrernoon in the blazing heat the time posted was 120, so we figured evening without the blazing sun would be better. It was very long wait...we chatted with people on line so that almost 2.5 hr wait did not seem 2.5 hours. The ride was down multiple times while we waited which is why the wait was so long (as reported in other people’s comments in other posts). Other people in line said they got in line with posted 120 waits on other days  and they were off in an hour, so I do believe the speed of the line must have to do with whether or not the ride is having technical difficulties. That being said, the  ride was as AMAZING as everyone has said. So while I am generally not a person who likes to spend time in lines....was worth the waiit for this ride!!!!


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## Disxuni

AuroraluvsPhillip said:


> Today it appeared that dinner time was a good time to get in line.  I imagine a lot of people leave the parks at that time.  My family and I are not rope drop people, so I am particularly interested in looking for comparatively "slower" times during the day.



Traditionally my philosophy at any park and any popular attraction it is to get on it towards the end of the evening / right before closing. As I've been able to successfully get on incredibly popular rides with insane wait times in the past and this method would dramatically decease the wait time, due to the fact that most people are gone for the evening, leaving, or watching the night shows that a lot of parks have. This method wouldn't be the absolute best yet, as the attraction still has issues and closes early, but I hope that once I get AP again in the fall that it'll be closer to being able to successfully do this method.

However, if not, I'll more than likely just shoot for the afternoon and just wait like I always have in the past.


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## Travel2000

_Hi- I am back. Rope dropped this morning...much better than the 2.5 hr wait last night. I got there at 8 (ppl told me they got there at 815/830) and was on the ride by 9:05.  So...didn't wait for ride. I am told yesterday this did not work bc ride kept going down._


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## fantomhamst3r

In line now. FWIW- I heard from someone who "knows someone who works here" that HMCMA doesn't allow longer than a 90 minute queue time in line to allow for delays. The employee who was asked that "didn't know anything about that", which seemed to strongly hint at "would neither confirm nor deny." I got in line at 1, will update when I get off.
Update: was in line at 1, off by 2:10.


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## robot1000

Just rode it! 

Got in the queue at 2pm and only took 45 minutes in total. 

Queue time displayed was 120 minutes


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## osufeth24

fantomhamst3r said:


> In line now. FWIW- I heard from someone who "knows someone who works here" that HMCMA doesn't allow longer than a 90 minute queue time in line to allow for delays. The employee who was asked that "didn't know anything about that", which seemed to strongly hint at "would neither confirm nor deny." I got in line at 1, will update when I get off.
> Update: was in line at 1, off by 2:10.



Not sure what means?  I was in line last week for 2 hrs (had no delays)


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## Disxuni

fantomhamst3r said:


> In line now. FWIW- I heard from someone who "knows someone who works here" that HMCMA doesn't allow longer than a 90 minute queue time in line to allow for delays. The employee who was asked that "didn't know anything about that", which seemed to strongly hint at "would neither confirm nor deny." I got in line at 1, will update when I get off.
> Update: was in line at 1, off by 2:10.



Never heard of this, doesn't make sense, and there's no constant evidence that backs this up, especially as @osufeth24 for example is one person who waited plenty over 90 minutes with no delays. It would be one thing if it was reported that everyone was getting out of the queue prior to their estimated wait time (and prior to 90 minutes), but while a lot of guests are, a lot of guests are still waiting longer than that, whether delays are involved, or not. So, I cannot see this as happening, or at least it's not working if it is, unless it's a suggestion that they're tossing around and it's something they haven't implemented yet.

Also, I do not know about now, but when DD was first created, it had the longest queue in both parks. It would be an incredible waste to only allow the amount of people for a 90 wait in a queue that is designed still (I'm sure) to contain far more than that.


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## fantomhamst3r

Disxuni said:


> Never heard of this, doesn't make sense, and there's no constant evidence that backs this up, especially as @osufeth24 for example is one person who waited plenty over 90 minutes with no delays. It would be one thing if it was reported that everyone was getting out of the queue prior to their estimated wait time (and prior to 90 minutes), but while a lot of guests are, a lot of guests are still waiting longer than that, whether delays are involved, or not. So, I cannot see this as happening, or at least it's not working if it is, unless it's a suggestion that they're tossing around and it's something they haven't implemented yet.
> 
> Also, I do not know about now, but when DD was first created, it had the longest queue in both parks. It would be an incredible waste to only allow the amount of people for a 90 wait in a queue that is designed still (I'm sure) to contain far more than that.



Yea I mean I may have misheard, but it was something to that effect by someone who I didn't know nearby. Thinking about it, you're probably right, it does sound fishy. I think he may have meant that they are currently jacking the wait times to discourage people from queuing past 90 minutes out, specifically to cover for ride delays.


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## Disxuni

fantomhamst3r said:


> Yea I mean I may have misheard, but it was something to that effect by someone who I didn't know nearby. Thinking about it, you're probably right, it does sound fishy. I think he may have meant that they are currently jacking the wait times to discourage people from queuing past 90 minutes out, specifically to cover for ride delays.



They do jack up the wait times, as a lot of guests have reported to being on the ride and having a significantly less wait time, but it's been theorized it's due to over compensating for when the attraction does have delays. However, some guests do sometimes report waiting for the same amount of time reported, whether delays, or not are involved.

I kind of wonder if part of the reason for time differences other than delays is how the line moves as a whole. I've been in queues were it's stop and go, but sometimes it's almost like walking the whole queue and a lot of that has to do with not only the unloading and loading process, but guests being alert while in the queue, being aware when it's their turn, getting loaded properly and quickly into the ride vehicle, and if there is anyone in wheel chairs, or EVCs needing assistance. As I've been plenty of rides (with no delays) to have sometimes been less of a wait, or having a pretty accurate wait time.


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## The Pho

Posted 210, and we waited 95.
Then posted 120, waited 45. 
Then posted 150, waited 35.


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## fantomhamst3r

Posted 150, waited an hour today. But single rider seems to be significantly faster today. People next to me waited 20 minutes. BUT apparantly they are closing down single rider quite often and "opening it for one minute" and then closing it to keep it manageable.

Update: went on it 3 times today- only wait longer than an hour was because of an hour delay. They  closed the ride saying it was "full capacity" at 7:30, because they wanted to close by the end of park hours. So don't go in thinking you can last second queue.


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## greg9x

mialovesart said:


> A couple of notes... I recommend bringing a water into line with you. They do sell Gilly Water but the in-line cart is cash only. We didn’t know this & figured we could use our card. There are water fountains in line but I am immune compromised so I can’t risk the germs.



The water fountains were not working last week when we went, and I was dying of thirst.. stupidly put everything in the locker, so didn't have money to buy anything at the cart.
So, yes.. Bring a drink with you !


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## Jerv73

Arrived at 2pm. Posted waiting time 120 minutes, actual wait time 75 minutes with no ride down time.


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## fantomhamst3r

Looks like they've been accepting express pass today and yesterday.


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## glamdring269

fantomhamst3r said:


> Looks like they've been accepting express pass today and yesterday.



Oh wow if this is correct and they end up having Express Pass implemented by mid-Oct that will be fantastic for our trip.


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## TISHLOVESDISNEY

fantomhamst3r said:


> Looks like they've been accepting express pass today and yesterday.





glamdring269 said:


> Oh wow if this is correct and they end up having Express Pass implemented by mid-Oct that will be fantastic for our trip.


Thinking the same for our November trip! I have been nervous about waits, but EP would be


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## fantomhamst3r

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Thinking the same for our November trip! I have been nervous about waits, but EP would be


Officially response from team members was that I was wrong, the people in express line probably got into express without team members seeing and then were asked to switch over afterwards. I asked them when they were queuing and they said they were express, but might have gotten moved.


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## imprint

Hopefully, even if it was not implemented correctly, it signals that Express will be utilized sooner than later.  Fingers crossed!


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## damo

I wouldn't get your hopes up for express.  These people could have been using a special express pass given to them upon evacuation of the ride at an earlier time.


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## TISHLOVESDISNEY

I am just happy to read things seem to be going a bit smoother. Hopefully by Nov, no issues.


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## ruthies12

damo said:


> I wouldn't get your hopes up for express.  These people could have been using a special express pass given to them upon evacuation of the ride at an earlier time.



That was my initial thought too, but I'm still not happy about it LOL


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## mrd7896

even without the express pass confusion, it sounds like the wait times are great this week! projected wait is wildly over-compensating for delays when in fact riders are getting off the ride in 30-50 minutes


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## Spike101

mrd7896 said:


> even without the express pass confusion, it sounds like the wait times are great this week! projected wait is wildly over-compensating for delays when in fact riders are getting off the ride in 30-50 minutes



Fab news, just over 5 weeks til I'm back there, wahoo!


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## georgina

Well I'll be a Debbie Downer in that I hope they don't implement EP for a while. I will not have EP for my trips in Oct, Nov, and Feb! Maybe in May, I haven't booked that yet. They added EP to the Harry Potter rides a few years ago just before one of my trips; I know it is inevitable!


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## Sarah1024

We're going tomorrow!!  I'm so excited!!  Do you still think single rider isn't worth it??  We're getting to the park around 10am.


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## DanielNYC

We were there yesterday (8/29/19), arrived at the park at 7:30 and were the first in line at our entry point on the left side.  I asked the team member manning our scanner if she would pre-scan us and she happily obliged.  This saved a little time.  When they opened the gates at 8:45 a lot of people started running and got ahead of us but we just power walked it.  I actually never felt jostled or pushed as there seemed to be plenty of space.  I was expecting the second rope at the entry of the Seuss area but there was none so it was a straight shot through.  Literally we did not stop walking until we were almost at the motorbikes as we also skipped the pre-show.  Off the ride at 9:07.  Later in the day I noticed that the wait time went down from 120 to 100 minutes for the first time in the day so we ran over there and got in line at 5:30 and were at the motorbikes at 6:20 so we only waited half the time posted.  I was really glad we got the second shot even with the longer wait because we were able to take in the surroundings more and see the pre-show this time around.

To sum it up, this ride totally over delivered on my expectations.  As a big HP fan it felt incredible to be flying through the trees with that familiar beautiful music in the background.


----------



## TommyMac_DisneyEdition

We got in line yesterday at 5:45pm (posted time was 100 minutes). We were done in less than an hour (57 minutes once off the ride). The ride is really amazing. Love when a ride surpasses already high expectations.


----------



## CDMama3

damo said:


> I wouldn't get your hopes up for express.  These people could have been using a special express pass given to them upon evacuation of the ride at an earlier time.


Yeah, we did the “express pass” line, but it’s a special ticket separate from the regular EP that they hand out if the ride gets shut down or there’s some other issue when you’ve already waited in line on an earlier date. When we got pulled off the ride and then waited in the loading area for a while to see if it would get back up and running we chatted with the team members a bunch. No one had any solid info, but general consensus was EP wouldn’t be added to this ride any time soon. They’ve got to get it running more smoothly first, cause right now the special passes they are having to give out due to issues are making the EP line about a 30-45 min wait all day. Add regular EP to that and that line becomes as long as the regular line.


----------



## Disxuni

Sarah1024 said:


> We're going tomorrow!!  I'm so excited!!  Do you still think single rider isn't worth it??  We're getting to the park around 10am.



I think the last I heard of SR is that there was a couple of reports of it being lower now, but the most recent post reported it was due to them opening it briefly, but then close it and repeat. So, the few that have gotten in do it experience lower wait times, but only because they open it briefly before closing it. That report was from earlier this week on the previous page.


----------



## Sarah1024

My app shows no wait time for it right now, but also doesn't say closed either??


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

On the Touring Plans app, someone posted today at 11:05 that they got on in 15 min. though the posted wait time was 210. I assume they must have apparated?


----------



## DanielNYC

AuroraluvsPhillip said:


> On the Touring Plans app, someone posted today at 11:05 that they got on in 15 min. though the posted wait time was 210. I assume they must have apparated?



Not possible on the regular line.  Perhaps they were on a VIP tour?


----------



## Sarah1024

AuroraluvsPhillip said:


> On the Touring Plans app, someone posted today at 11:05 that they got on in 15 min. though the posted wait time was 210. I assume they must have apparated?


Um no definitely not.  I was there today.  It wasn't even open this morning.  I waited FOUR HOURS in line starting at 1pm between the wait and the weather delays.  It was so amazing though.


----------



## RJstanis

I wish I would have attempted to ride it Sunday/Monday earlier this week now after reading the reports. I made the decision I didn't want to deal with the uncertainty and skipped the ride this go round altogether. Hopefully things will be more consistent the next time we come.


----------



## ELSA711

Has there been any rumors of EP or Virtual Line on this ride?

We are going in February and while we will of course wait in line for it, just wondering.


----------



## TommyJK

ELSA711 said:


> Has there been any rumors of EP or Virtual Line on this ride?
> 
> We are going in February and while we will of course wait in line for it, just wondering.



No virtual line.  That idea was only toyed with during the first opening for the ride to prevent it from spilling out into Hogsmead, but that never happened so the idea of having a virtual line was killed.

As for EP, no one knows.  It could be months, or it could be years. Some insiders are speculating it could come sooner rather than later (once things settle down and the ride is running consistently) but really it's anyone's guess.


----------



## ELSA711

Okay, one more question.  Have guests shared their experiences of taking advantage of early park admission and heading into Studios first to ride the train into Hogsmeade for better start in line queue. vs. starting in IOA main entrance?


----------



## TommyJK

ELSA711 said:


> Okay, one more question.  Have guests shared their experiences of taking advantage of early park admission and heading into Studios first to ride the train into Hogsmeade for better start in line queue. vs. starting in IOA main entrance?



Yes.  Bad idea that has been posted many times in this thread. 

You won't come close to beating the IOA rope droppers as the first train doesn't arrive until a good 10-15 minutes after park open.


----------



## BadgerGirl84

Does anyone know which movie I should rewatch to understand the most references in the ride? I saw the Harry Potter movies about 8 years ago. Deathly Hallows Part 1?


----------



## Alicefan

Disxuni said:


> I always recommend people to go on an insanely popular ride right before closing during the times in which shows are happening. As most people will be either watching the shows, or have gone for the evening. That's personally what I do rather than going for EE, or "the rope drop". For example, FoP can still be a 2-3 hour wait at AK and I've done this twice. I always get in line before the park is officially closed and never denied. First time I was able to do it within 45 minutes, the second time a little over an hour. That's including wait time and two pre-shows.
> 
> While obviously AK and IoA are different parks all together. I do not see them closing the ride prior to the official closing. I never had that experience at USF/IoA. Unless someone can protest differently in a more recent event?


That's what I do. We got in line for FoP 5 minutes before closing time and the wait time said something crazy like 150 minutes but I KNEW that since Disney lets you get in line right up until park closing time, they were just saying that to deter people like me from getting in line because there is no way they were going to stay open 2 hours after closing time.  Our wait ended up being about 40 minutes or so. It's the only way to get to do any of the popular rides like that. I'll NEVER stand in line for more than an hour and that's pushing it. I've never seen fast passes that were available for this ride either. Even at 60 days out. Not ever.


----------



## DanielNYC

Alicefan said:


> That's what I do. We got in line for FoP 5 minutes before closing time and the wait time said something crazy like 150 minutes but I KNEW that since Disney lets you get in line right up until park closing time, they were just saying that to deter people like me from getting in line because there is no way they were going to stay open 2 hours after closing time.  Our wait ended up being about 40 minutes or so. It's the only way to get to do any of the popular rides like that. I'll NEVER stand in line for more than an hour and that's pushing it. I've never seen fast passes that were available for this ride either. Even at 60 days out. Not ever.



Just to be clear, right now waiting until a few minutes prior to official park close is NOT a good idea as it relates to Hagrid's because they do in fact close the ride (the status you'll see on the app is "At Capacity") approximately 2 to 2.5 hours before park close.


----------



## TommyJK

BadgerGirl84 said:


> Does anyone know which movie I should rewatch to understand the most references in the ride? I saw the Harry Potter movies about 8 years ago. Deathly Hallows Part 1?



Kind of a tough one because the main "creature" of the story of the ride never appeared in any of the movies.  You'd have to read Goblet of Fire to find out about it, which I'd recommend as it's a great book. Probably my favourite of the series.

Aside from that you could re-watch Sorcerers Stone as most of the other creatures you see on the ride are featured in that movie.


----------



## CyndiLooWho

Just got back from our trip, and we got to ride Hagrid!

We only rode once, on Wed Aug 28. At 11 am the posted time was 120 minutes and we were on in about 45 minutes. We took the chance based on what we read here, that the line was about half of the posted times, and were thrilled to get through in less time than that. 

That said, there were 4 of us, and we were in the first 2 cars of our train (woohoo!!!). My sis loved the ride, but was too distracted from watching the twists and turns to even notice the creatures, and my past 70s mom and aunt about peed their pants from the acceleration. I thought the ride was AMAZING, and I think I saw all the creatures. I wish we'd ridden again, but I was so happy that we got on it even once.


----------



## Mr. Drauer

Rope dropped both yesterday and this morning - got to the gates around 8:00 both days.  They opened the center gates yesterday but not today, though they opened a gate at the far left stating a new line at around 8:40 when the TM came out to man the tap ins, so a bunch of people got a jump up in line then.  Each TM can be different scanning in 5 or 6 guests while the opening ceremony goes on, or waiting until the go signal, so some lines get a jump on others.  It’s a bit chaotic but you don’t need to run to get a good spot, although some do.  Both days we (family of 4) got to the queue at 8:58, and on the ride by 9:08.  The ride was running fine both days, and many I spoke with got on and off before 9:30 as long as you were in that group who was there in line at opening (first 25 or 30 in each line.   The ride was really fun.  Very cool.


----------



## Disxuni

DanielNYC said:


> Just to be clear, right now waiting until a few minutes prior to official park close is NOT a good idea as it relates to Hagrid's because they do in fact close the ride (the status you'll see on the app is "At Capacity") approximately 2 to 2.5 hours before park close.



I do not know @Alicefan's intentions, but I was simply expressing how I generally do things in other parks. The reply she referenced is something I wrote very early in this post. I have stated it on other pages in this post, but have also expressed that this would not be the best move *as of yet *since Hagrid's at the moment doesn't stay open until the park closes. This strategy would only work until Hagrid's coaster is fully operational and open without no issues open til close.


----------



## macraven

Disx, we all were thinking of what was the best strategy for the new ride days before it opened

I usually skim through posts and start reading reports from those that did ride
(It now sounds like waits of over 2 hours plus in line are not common due to ride breaks)

I know you posted just like you said above 
You did good!

I’ll probably hit the ride a few times when I go late this month
I know there will be waits and it will be worth it


----------



## ruthies12

Well here's a site none of us have seen before.....


----------



## Disxuni

It might have been like that the past few days. A friend of mine who has a boyfriend who's a TM there and who's a APH herself said on Monday (I believe) they rode it three times in the evening.


----------



## DanielNYC

FYI, in case nobody's mentioned it previously, if you have a backpack you're going to get waived over to a locker room at the beginning of the queue (ie, in front of the stone arch entrance to the attraction).  If your backpack is too big for the free lockers that you pop open by scanning your ticket, then you'll have to use the ones that require a credit card and this will definitely slow you down if you are rope dropping.  Just something to keep in mind.


----------



## christophfam

ruthies12 said:


> Well here's a site none of us have seen before.....
> 
> View attachment 432798



I guess there is one advantage to having a hurricane off your coast.


----------



## Disxuni

DanielNYC said:


> FYI, in case nobody's mentioned it previously, if you have a backpack you're going to get waived over to a locker room at the beginning of the queue (ie, in front of the stone arch entrance to the attraction).  If your backpack is too big for the free lockers that you pop open by scanning your ticket, then you'll have to use the ones that require a credit card and this will definitely slow you down if you are rope dropping.  Just something to keep in mind.



I may not typically use bags, but personally, I do not think that is fair, but I guess that's life for ya.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Ugh, according to the app, it's on delay yet again this morning. Over an hour since the park opened. I'm so frustrated by this ride. It's amazing, and I want to ride it as much as possible, but it makes planning impossible when it's a total guessing game when it will be open. 

I'm planning to hit both Universal and Disney tomorrow (I have AP for both) and my plan would work so much better if I could do Hagrid's first thing, but there's just no way of knowing when it will open. I want to watch the parade in Magic Kingdom, so the ideal "early afternoon" time period won't work for me, and I'm afraid that if I wait until after the parade, I risk them closing it before I even get over there. I'll definitely be watching the app to see what time it closes tonight. I have a couple other things I could do in IoA/US to waste time in the morning if it's still delayed, but not a ton, and the main reason I'm planning to go there at all is for Hagrid's, so it's just really annoying to have everything this uncertain.

It's been open long enough - they should really have something more consistent figured out by now.


----------



## blizeH

In a similar position, but have never been on it before... currently at the Islands and it has a 90 minute wait so we wouldn’t get on before the park closes 

Wanted to do Volcano Bay tomorrow and we’re at Horror Nights in the evening- when would you guys recommend we do Hagrid’s please? It’d either be round 9-10am or 4pm-ish. Thanks


----------



## MichelinMan

blizeH said:


> In a similar position, but have never been on it before... currently at the Islands and it has a 90 minute wait so we wouldn’t get on before the park closes
> 
> Wanted to do Volcano Bay tomorrow and we’re at Horror Nights in the evening- when would you guys recommend we do Hagrid’s please? It’d either be round 9-10am or 4pm-ish. Thanks


By all accounts, actual wait times are often less than the posted time (sometimes half the posted time). Also, if you are in the queue they won't close the ride before you have ridden. So personally I think you should have ridden yesterday.


----------



## blizeH

Thanks, that’s good to know - hoping to go on it today


----------



## blizeH

Going to keep an eye on whether it’s open early and if not will head straight to Volcano Bay


----------



## MeridaAnn

I'm here now. They just started scans 10 minutes ago to enter the park. They let us go straight back to the line, no hold at Seuss, but they are telling us it's on delayed opening this morning, so there's no knowing how long we'll have to wait.


Update: 9:15 and they just announced that "class is back on schedule", so thankfully we didn't have the two-hour wait it looked like it was yesterday, at least. Here's hoping it stays running!

Update 2: 9:30 and I just finished the ride. I chose to go through the main line so I could be on the bike and I happened to end up in the first row, which was AMAZING! I couldn't see anyone else from the front, so it felt like my own private ride! I loved it!


----------



## blizeH

*Thanks, today the wait was 120 minutes almost all day and just as we decided to go it and started queueing it broke down. Sigh.*


----------



## WildernessMickey

My experience:

Monday Sept 2nd - Got in line at 9:37 am when the app said 120 min wait and it took exactly 60 min. Later that day we got in line again and then the ride shut down due to rain. We hadn't gotten very far in the line that time so we left.

Thursday Sept 5th - App said 30 minute wait, so we rode the train over from US and got in line at 11:30 am. By then the app said 120 min but we got in line anyway. This time it took 75 minutes. When we got on the ride they said it was raining but let us ride anyway. It was only a light rain and didn't bother us.

Note each time we were in line, the single rider line was closed when we got to it, and yet there were always single riders waiting at the end of the queue. It seemed very random to know when you could use the single rider line and when you couldn't, and since they don't start the single rider line until you've been through most of the outdoor queue, you can't just walk up and find out. If I were a single rider that would be a bit frustrating.

I LOVED the ride. It was worth the wait. We didn't time things very well and seemed to get in the queue when it was the longest, so many people timed it better than we did. But the queue was fun and the ride was worth the wait. I liked the bike better than the side car, but both are fun.


----------



## Artygal90

We are in the airport having dinner before our flight to Orlando! We are hoping to ride Hagrid either tomorrow afternoon or during rope-drop sometime this week. Any tips on the most consistent strategy that is working for folks? Seems like things have been all over the place!


----------



## blizeH

Made it a bit further through the queue today and actually got to see the ride... are actually people queuing for 2 hours to go on a themed runaway train?!


----------



## DanielNYC

Artygal90 said:


> Any tips on the most consistent strategy that is working for folks? Seems like things have been all over the place!


You're right.  It IS all over the place, and you never know what's going to work on any given day.  I think that the best strategy really depends on your personal situation.  We only had one day at Universal and riding Hagrid's was our top priority, so for me that meant that we had to rope drop because at least that would increase the odds of our getting to experience the attraction.  We ended up getting to ride both at rope drop and later on in the day as well which was great.  Now, if you have multiple days planned at Universal then maybe you can be a little more loosey goosey and just keep your eye on wait times during the day and not bother with rope drop.  Just depends.


----------



## HuskieJohn

The wait has been posted on the app at 75min for most of this afternoon 9/9 (12pm - 4:30pm)

Just for reference FJ & Hulk are both posted at 10min during that same time.


----------



## xultimatefanx

blizeH said:


> Made it a bit further through the queue today and actually got to see the ride... are actually people queuing for 2 hours to go on a themed runaway train?!



What a weird observation, obviously you haven't been hearing all the great reviews for the ride.


----------



## Artygal90

DanielNYC said:


> You're right.  It IS all over the place, and you never know what's going to work on any given day.  I think that the best strategy really depends on your personal situation.  We only had one day at Universal and riding Hagrid's was our top priority, so for me that meant that we had to rope drop because at least that would increase the odds of our getting to experience the attraction.  We ended up getting to ride both at rope drop and later on in the day as well which was great.  Now, if you have multiple days planned at Universal then maybe you can be a little more loosey goosey and just keep your eye on wait times during the day and not bother with rope drop.  Just depends.



Reporting back...we saw the ride was posted at 75 minutes and hopped in line around 6:00 after we saw the parade at USO. Waited about 40 minutes and we were off the ride at 6:45. It was awesome and we were really happy we stuck it out. Crowds elsewhere have been very low today so we are fine waiting longer for the brand new ride. Planning to do it again on another’s day this week so I can be in the motorcycle!


----------



## marymouse

My daughter said if the wait was under 75 minutes we'd be inside the castle for the wait.  She was right thank goodness it was unbearably hot today.  75 minute posted wait around 2 pm and we were off the ride at 50 minutes. It was AMAZING.  We would have ridden again but the wait was up to 90 and we still have 3 more days so we'll go back later this week.


----------



## Disxuni

xultimatefanx said:


> What a weird observation, obviously you haven't been hearing all the great reviews for the ride.



Yeah, I was going to say, regardless of how great it is, or not, I wouldn't even describe this ride as a "run away train". The ride vehicle itself is not even a "train".

Interesting to see that it is still relatively consistent on having a significant less wait time if there is no delay due to weather, or anything else. As a reminder, the delay in weather is due to storms, not rain, which is the reason why, as someone reported above, they were able to ride even though there was light rain. If there is lightning detected within 10 miles *all* outside attractions do not operate.


----------



## Pages26

There now it's been down all morning with no update, weather is lovely. Was the same last Tuesday down most of day with weather not the issue. With it being down so much and closing at 5pm everyday anyway, they should really remove the adverts for it until is more reliable, as people are coming just for that ride and being disappointed


----------



## crostorfer

Pages26 said:


> There now it's been down all morning with no update, weather is lovely. Was the same last Tuesday down most of day with weather not the issue. With it being down so much and closing at 5pm everyday anyway, they should really remove the adverts for it until is more reliable, as people are coming just for that ride and being disappointed


Gringotts was horrifically unreliable it’s first year of operation as well. If you got to ride it, with zero issues, you won the lottery. With Hagrid’s being outdoors, it’s even more of a wild card. Unfortunately, all guests can really do is hope for the best, and not expect the overall success of their trip to hinge upon one ride only. 

I totally understand where you are coming from though, it is disappointing to not be able to ride something you’ve been looking forward to.


----------



## blizeH

xultimatefanx said:


> What a weird observation, obviously you haven't been hearing all the great reviews for the ride.


How is it a weird observation? I’m sure there’s a lot more to it, but from you can see in the queue it literally looks like a runaway train.

Since there’s no Express Pass it’d be good if they could do something like everyone gets one express pass for this ride per ticket


----------



## Disxuni

blizeH said:


> Since there’s no Express Pass it’d be good if they could do something like everyone gets one express pass for this ride per ticket





Even after realizing what you meant that still doesn't make any sense. 

Everyone getting one EP for Hagrid's + per ticket = EP queue being as long as a regular queue since_ everyone_ has a ticket.

Even if you exclude one ride per duration of the whole trip, or excluding AP holders the queue would still be riddikulusly (yes, did that on purpose) long.


----------



## Esmerelda

We got in line this evening at 6:40pm with 180 minute wait time posted.  We had been in line about 30 minutes when a worker came by and asked if anyone wanted to do the single rider line.  We jumped right into that.  We waited another 22 minutes, then boom we were on.  She went in the car before me then I got on.  As soon as our car took off, the rain started.  We were the last car then they shut it down due to the weather. I was done and off by 7:35pm. .  By the way, the ride ROCKED!  We both loved it and it was worth the wait


----------



## rwalker1304

Hi everyone. We are headed to Universal next Sunday for a Harry Potter focused tour of both parks. Wanting to ride Hagrid's and wondering about what everyone thinks would be the best strategy?

IoA opens at 9am, however US opens at 8am.

So, should we go into US at 8am and try some (one or two) of the HP rides there, before heading over to IoA for rope drop? Would that be possible? Or, would it be better to ride Hogwarts Express around 8:30 or so to get over to IoA? Is that even possible? Or would it be best to exit US and head to the IoA turnstiles for rope drop? 

Newbies to Universal here, so pardon the rookie questions.

Thanks in advance!


----------



## blizeH

Hagrid’s is very rarely open at the start of the day... my personal advice would be that trying to get on the ride is just too stressful and totally not worth it - since you’re newbies I’d just focus on the other things at the parks


----------



## DanielNYC

rwalker1304 said:


> Hi everyone. We are headed to Universal next Sunday for a Harry Potter focused tour of both parks. Wanting to ride Hagrid's and wondering about what everyone thinks would be the best strategy?
> 
> IoA opens at 9am, however US opens at 8am.
> 
> So, should we go into US at 8am and try some (one or two) of the HP rides there, before heading over to IoA for rope drop? Would that be possible? Or, would it be better to ride Hogwarts Express around 8:30 or so to get over to IoA? Is that even possible? Or would it be best to exit US and head to the IoA turnstiles for rope drop?
> 
> Newbies to Universal here, so pardon the rookie questions.
> 
> Thanks in advance!



If riding Hagrid's is a priority for you (if so, I can relate because it definitely was for me) then you should arrive at IoA at 8am in order to rope drop and be among the first to get into the Hagrid's line (they will let you into the park at around 8:45 to 8:50 give or take).  You will beat the folks who are coming over from US.


----------



## macraven

The train won’t leave the studios for IOA until close to 9


----------



## damo

rwalker1304 said:


> Hi everyone. We are headed to Universal next Sunday for a Harry Potter focused tour of both parks. Wanting to ride Hagrid's and wondering about what everyone thinks would be the best strategy?
> 
> IoA opens at 9am, however US opens at 8am.
> 
> So, should we go into US at 8am and try some (one or two) of the HP rides there, before heading over to IoA for rope drop? Would that be possible? Or, would it be better to ride Hogwarts Express around 8:30 or so to get over to IoA? Is that even possible? Or would it be best to exit US and head to the IoA turnstiles for rope drop?
> 
> Newbies to Universal here, so pardon the rookie questions.
> 
> Thanks in advance!



Read a report from someone yesterday who rope dropped it and was off the ride by 10:15.  Another report from today had a person rope drop it and was off the ride by 9:14.


http://forums.insideuniversal.net/t...al-creature-motorbike-adventure.14146/page-33


----------



## julie28

I rope dropped today and was off the ride by 9.15. We got to the gates by 8.15, gates opened at 8.50 and then walked straight to Hagrid’s. We pretty much a walked through the queue and no pre show. I appreciate we were lucky as know it can be down but worked well for us this morning.


----------



## DanielNYC

julie28 said:


> I rope dropped today and was off the ride by 9.15. We got to the gates by 8.15, gates opened at 8.50 and then walked straight to Hagrid’s. We pretty much a walked through the queue and no pre show. I appreciate we were lucky as know it can be down but worked well for us this morning.



This was us a couple of weeks ago.  Glad it worked for you as well.


----------



## JoeBruin23

Went Friday, Sept 13th. IOA opened at 9 AM, was in line by 8:15 AM...got to ride Hagrids twice within 2 mins of each other, due to the ride breaking down for a few seconds towards the end of the 1st round. They allowed us the option to ride it one more time right away. Got to ride sidecar first and then bike (best) second. I believe I was done with both rides (times) before 9:30 AM. When i got off, the line was already pretty long. Throughout the day it was a 120-180 min wait time. Stayed at Hard Rock, but did not take advantage of extra hour at Universal because I was able to ride most of the rides the night before at HHN.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Do they lead you to the ride, or do you fend for yourself once the park is open?


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

julie28 said:


> I rope dropped today and was off the ride by 9.15. We got to the gates by 8.15, gates opened at 8.50 and then walked straight to Hagrid’s. We pretty much a walked through the queue and no pre show. I appreciate we were lucky as know it can be down but worked well for us this morning.



Was "walking with purpose" enough to be that close to the front?


----------



## julie28

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> Was "walking with purpose" enough to be that close to the front?



There are cast members along the route telling people not to run. You get the odd one doing it but most are at a quick walk. When we got close to the queue had a cast member say to everyone “thanks for power walking and not jogging”. Definitely want a bit of purpose to the walking but I made it near the front without any running.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

julie28 said:


> There are cast members along the route telling people not to run. You get the odd one doing it but most are at a quick walk. When we got close to the queue had a cast member say to everyone “thanks for power walking and not jogging”. Definitely want a bit of purpose to the walking but I made it near the front without any running.



That's great to hear. Thank you!


----------



## DanielNYC

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> Was "walking with purpose" enough to be that close to the front?



So when we went a couple of weeks ago there were a lot of people running but I think that's because we were right up at the front (we were the first family in our line).  Having said that it didn't really bother me because since we were in the front there was plenty of room and nobody was knocking into us.  Things became sane and more controlled once we got to the Mystic Fountain.  Anyway we just power walked the entire way and that was enough to be among the first to ride.  Didn't stop in the queue until the very end close to the bikes.


----------



## kevdad

My son and daughter arrived at the gate about 10 minutes before opening today. They walked fast to the ride and were done in 30 minutes.  They absolutely loved it.

Otherwise, the wait has been 2 to 3 hours during the past 4 days and we hadn't done it


----------



## The Pho

kevdad said:


> Otherwise, the wait has been 2 to 3 hours during the past 4 days and we hadn't done it


Was the wait was 2-3 hours or did the sign say it was 2-3 hours?  Because those are very different things.  It seems that if the ride isn’t breaking down, that the posted wait time is inflated 200-500%.   We’ve waited a few times now and a posted 150 minute wait would take about 30-45 minutes.


----------



## kevdad

The Pho said:


> Was the wait was 2-3 hours or did the sign say it was 2-3 hours?  Because those are very different things.  It seems that if the ride isn’t breaking down, that the posted wait time is inflated 200-500%.   We’ve waited a few times now and a posted 150 minute wait would take about 30-45 minutes.


Posted time.  Not sure why they need to inflate it 200-500%!  How would us mere mortals know that was the case?


----------



## Disxuni

kevdad said:


> Posted time.  Not sure why they need to inflate it 200-500%!  How would us mere mortals know that was the case?



They do it in order to compensate if something goes wrong and there is a delay. That way if it happens it appears as part of the wait time and it's a pleasant surprise when they get off the ride much sooner than expected. Luckily, while there has been technical issues here and there still, it's been happening much less than it has previously, but Universal clearly still doesn't feel enough confidence in the attraction and therefore still does inflate their wait time to ensure guests are either prepared when something goes wrong, or thrilled when they waited lesser than expected for the ride.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

I have a phone lanyard I usually wear and have worn on rides at Universal before. (I don't ride Hulk or RRR )
If I put it inside my shirt, will I be allowed to wear it, you think? Just trying to save time at RD by not needing a locker. If not, I may leave my phone at hotel.


----------



## Disxuni

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> I have a phone lanyard I usually wear and have worn on rides at Universal before. (I don't ride Hulk or RRR )
> If I put it inside my shirt, will I be allowed to wear it, you think? Just trying to save time at RD by not needing a locker. If not, I may leave my phone at hotel.


----------



## kevdad

Disxuni said:


> They do it in order to compensate if something goes wrong and there is a delay. That way if it happens it appears as part of the wait time and it's a pleasant surprise when they get off the ride much sooner than expected. Luckily, while there has been technical issues here and there still, it's been happening much less than it has previously, but Universal clearly still doesn't feel enough confidence in the attraction and therefore still does inflate their wait time to ensure guests are either prepared when something goes wrong, or thrilled when they waited lesser than expected for the ride.


Well, bummer for us that we didn't know the system was rigged like that!  Live and learn I guess.


----------



## DisneyElite4

We will be there next week! Are they still allowing 3-prong fanny packs on this attraction? We bought one specifically for this trip.


----------



## Squirlz

Today we went in with the plan to ride Hagrid's.  Wait times were long all morning as I checked.  Then it showed "Delayed" as we were on the boat in.  We entered IOA and when we got to the split the sign read "90 Minutes".  We hoofed it to Hagrid's and the line stopped just inside the building.  From there the wait was only 30 minutes and we got to ride the front car for our very first ride ever!  It was awesome!!    Then we went to Forbidden Journey and rode that.  Then we thought we should check Hagrid's again and it still said 90 and this time it only took 40!  So we both got to ride each side.  All this only took 1:45.   It was fantastic!!


----------



## crostorfer

In line now. Went through the queue entrance at 10:25. Walked straight through the queue to the area before the pre-show and waited about 5 mins. It’s now 10:44, Heading down towards the stables. Sign at the front of the park said 180 mins. At the ride entrance it said 120.

ETA: on and off the ride in 35 mins. Best ride in Orlando, absolutely would have waited 2 hours for that.


----------



## supamaki

crostorfer said:


> In line now. Went through the queue entrance at 10:25. Walked straight through the queue to the area before the pre-show and waited about 5 mins. It’s now 10:44, Heading down towards the stables. Sign at the front of the park said 180 mins. At the ride entrance it said 120.
> 
> ETA: on and off the ride in 35 mins. Best ride in Orlando, absolutely would have waited 2 hours for that.


 Please update when you get out...I'll be hopefully doing the same thing tomorrow.


----------



## Squirlz

crostorfer said:


> In line now. Went through the queue entrance at 10:25. Walked straight through the queue to the area before the pre-show and waited about 5 mins. It’s now 10:44, Heading down towards the stables. Sign at the front of the park said 180 mins. At the ride entrance it said 120.
> 
> ETA: on and off the ride in 35 mins. Best ride in Orlando, absolutely would have waited 2 hours for that.


We slept in today but we'll be heading in shortly.


----------



## marymouse

Yes, 3 prong fanny packs are allowed!


----------



## crostorfer

Not quite as lucky today, but still really good. Wait time posted was 180 mins. Real time more like 60. Took about 30 mins to get to pre-show, another 30 to get to the loading area. Single rider is saving people time today, but they are only opening the single rider line sporadically.


----------



## wareagle57

Going to Universal Sunday for the first time since moving here 2 months ago. I have any AP but my wife will just have a single day ticket so we want to make it count. It’s been killing me not to ride it but I had to wait on her or she would have killed me haha. 

I just want to make sure Hagrids is in the same locker procedure category as Mummy, and not Hulk or RRR where everyone MUST use lockers. Is that the case?

And just from reading the last several pages it sounds like it DOES open with the park most of the time now. Is that correct? It also seems like they’ve gotten control of the breakdowns. Usually when I check wait times it only says 90 minutes and per the people on here it sounds like it’s actually considerably less than that as long as it doesn’t break down. So hopefully we’ll get to ride multiple times without too much of a time suck. 

Also, why does the universal site list the IOA opening as 9am with “early entrance” at 9am also? Then other days it says no early admittance. I just want to make sure they aren’t letting resort guests in first even though there is not technically EA.

Thanks!


----------



## Disxuni

wareagle57 said:


> Going to Universal Sunday for the first time since moving here 2 months ago. I have any AP but my wife will just have a single day ticket so we want to make it count. It’s been killing me not to ride it but I had to wait on her or she would have killed me haha.
> 
> I just want to make sure Hagrids is in the same locker procedure category as Mummy, and not Hulk or RRR where everyone MUST use lockers. Is that the case?
> 
> And just from reading the last several pages it sounds like it DOES open with the park most of the time now. Is that correct? It also seems like they’ve gotten control of the breakdowns. Usually when I check wait times it only says 90 minutes and per the people on here it sounds like it’s actually considerably less than that as long as it doesn’t break down. So hopefully we’ll get to ride multiple times without too much of a time suck.
> 
> Also, why does the universal site list the IOA opening as 9am with “early entrance” at 9am also? Then other days it says no early admittance. I just want to make sure they aren’t letting resort guests in first even though there is not technically EA.
> 
> Thanks!



Hagrid's is like MIB, not Mummy, or Hulk/RRR. Not all belongings need to be in lockers, *but *if you have a bag, you'll have to put in a locker. Three prong bags, as seen above are approved.

Yes, the target is open when the park opens unless something goes wrong and typically the wait time is lower than what is projected. However, as you seen sometimes things get a little hairy and not go according to plan, but I would imagine you'd have no issues with at least getting to ride it.

Also, on the offical USF website right now it says unavailable for IoA. So, I do not know where you're looking, perhaps the app, but traditionally EE is always at Universal, not IoA. It hasn't switched to IoA in ages.


----------



## sheepy19

Disxuni said:


> Hagrid's is like MIB, not Mummy, or Hulk/RRR. Not all belongings need to be in lockers, *but *if you have a bag, you'll have to put in a locker. Three prong bags, as seen above are approved.
> 
> Yes, the target is open when the park opens unless something goes wrong and typically the wait time is lower than what is projected. However, as you seen sometimes things get a little hairy and not go according to plan, but I would imagine you'd have no issues with at least getting to ride it.
> 
> Also, on the offical USF website right now it says unavailable for IoA. So, I do not know where you're looking, perhaps the app, but traditionally EE is always at Universal, not IoA. It hasn't switched to IoA in ages.



Could you please tell me what the deal re: lockers and belongings for Mummy is?!?!  Thanks xx


----------



## Disxuni

sheepy19 said:


> Could you please tell me what the deal re: lockers and belongings for Mummy is?!?!  Thanks xx



The Mummy's lockers are merely there (for the most part) as a suggestion of where to put your belongings.

I think they try to encourage people to use lockers for bags, but they have a pouch in front of your locker for items and you can put your bags in between your legs. However, going along with the subject of encouraging people to use them for bags, after a certain size they'd probably tell you it's a requirement to place your bag in your locker. As there is space between your legs for a bag, but if you have a huge backpack, or other bulky / awkward items, it might make things difficult, or impossible to store safety especially with the safety restraints.

With the addition of WWoHP I do not know if there is any rules in regards of wands, so if anyone can comment on that please do. I believe it shouldn't be an issue, as there are plenty of rides that have pouches and no lockers, so you can bring a wand on, but it might be different since it is a ride with lockers.


----------



## supamaki

Just got off Hagrid's. Not gonna lie, that was amazing. I loved it. We followed most of the advice here and got to the gate at 8 and were about 15th on line, pretty quickly the line grew to hundreds, so if you're thinking of doing rope drop, get there at 8 for a 900 opening. The ride was delayed until about 940 and then when it finally opened we were on and off in about 20 minutes. Pictures are the line at about 8:30.


----------



## ruthies12

Just got back last night.  Here was my experience- we arrived Sunday 9/15 at 6 in the evening and it was already closed for the day.  On Monday the posted wait was 240 but we got in line anyway and waited about 2 hours from 11 am to 1 pm.   Then it was posted at 120 at around 2 in the afternoon and rode again and only waited one hour.

Tuesday we had other stuff going on and didn't attempt it.  Wednesday we got in line at 11:28 am with a 180 minute posted wait and was on the ride at 12:08.  Rode it again an hour later with a half hour wait, same posted wait.

Thursday posted wait was 120 minutes but we only waited 35 around noon.  But then when we tried to ride later it was closed for the day saying "at capacity" at 3 in the afternoon.

Each day this week it seemed to close really early in the day, there was no opportunity to ride at night for us.  

They were randomly pulling people out of line and making them try the test seats, even "skinny" people and little kids.  They said they were trying to cut down on the slow downs with the people not fitting by seeing how many green lights they get on the test seat.  I'm not sure I understood what they were doing, they tested us once even though I told them I had already ridden the ride and the rest of the time they asked if I had ridden it before but didn't make me test again (I'm bigger).  No rhyme or reason that I could see.

Anyway I thought the side car was more comfortable, though I fit in both, but the motorbike seemed to squeeze my thighs more and I felt like I had to push harder on the bar to lock it.  

The que is rather boring and the parts in the tunnels can be very, very loud if you get a loud group near you.  We were stuck next to some teenage girls in one of the lines and I had a headache by the time we got out of the tunnels cause of the echo in there.  Any kids with sensory issues should most definitely bring noise blocking headphones.  

From what I could tell from my timing of the que, if you are outside and all the switchbacks are open it is anywhere from an hour and a half to one hour before getting into the building.  Once you are in the building it is about a 30 to 40 minute wait depending on how long it takes to walk into the next pre-show.  Once you are through the pre-show it is about 25 minutes.  This is, of course, assuming no delays and I'm sure those times can change depending on how may cars they are running, this was just my experience on this past week.  

Hope this helps!


----------



## ruthies12

Want to add we wore three pronged running belts with our cell phones in them with no problem and had lanyards on that we were told to tuck into our shirts.  There was NO cell service inside the buildings at all, be forewarned.  I have verizon and my sister has sprint and neither of us had any bars at all once we stepped inside the building.


----------



## wareagle57

So is there any rhyme or reason to the early closings? It seems like if the wait times are as inflated as they are (actual waits of only around 30 minutes) it makes no sense to close that early. With USO closing early for HHN, I really would have liked to get 1 ride in on Hagrids in the morning and then save the evening time for 2-3 re-rides but it sounds like that is unlikely.


----------



## crostorfer

wareagle57 said:


> So is there any rhyme or reason to the early closings? It seems like if the wait times are as inflated as they are (actual waits of only around 30 minutes) it makes no sense to close that early. With USO closing early for HHN, I really would have liked to get 1 ride in on Hagrids in the morning and then save the evening time for 2-3 re-rides but it sounds like that is unlikely.


Maintenance was testing and tweaking the ride this week. They closed the line at like 3:30 every day so maintenance could have from 5ish-close to work on stuff.


----------



## Disxuni

wareagle57 said:


> So is there any rhyme or reason to the early closings? It seems like if the wait times are as inflated as they are (actual waits of only around 30 minutes) it makes no sense to close that early. With USO closing early for HHN, I really would have liked to get 1 ride in on Hagrids in the morning and then save the evening time for 2-3 re-rides but it sounds like that is unlikely.



Initial reason for closings was not due to the long waits, but in order to give them more time to work on the ride during the evening and be able to open (relatively) on time when the park opens due to the complications and to provide maintenance to the ride. If the ride is still closing early then clearly they still feel they need it. Although there are less complications, they might still feel the need for maintenance for the ride to upkeep how things have been running.


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## ruthies12

There were signs out in the front of the park saying that Hagrid's would be closing early that day every day we were there.  So they are warning people.  They don't specify what "early" means but it seemed to be always around 3 or 330, at least this past week.  I don't personally know the reason for the early closings but if you see the sign out front then don't wait to ride for sure!


----------



## lvdis

I came on here to check if it was running more consistently now (as in all open park hours), but I guess not if they've been closing early every day.


----------



## sheepy19

lvdis said:


> I came on here to check if it was running more consistently now (as in all open park hours), but I guess not if they've been closing early every day.


Apparently they were scheduled early closes for this week to get work done in daylight!  It was open yesterday from opening to closing so hopefully this will keep going!!


----------



## TommyJK

The word I've heard elsewhere is that during the week they are closing it earlier for longer meainteneace and keeping it open the full day on weekends for the next little bit.

This past weekend it was running from open until close from the reports I've read.


----------



## baseballgal

Guess no more rumblings of going to the virtual line system??  I was hoping that would be up and running before we go in October.


----------



## TommyJK

baseballgal said:


> Guess no more rumblings of going to the virtual line system??  I was hoping that would be up and running before we go in October.



It was only considered as a temporary measure when the ride first opened in case the line spilled out into Hogsmead. After the first couple of days once it was found that the line consistently fit into the ride queue itself, the idea was killed.

It's not happening.


----------



## baseballgal

I didn't realize that was the reasoning behind it.   We will just plan to wait in line.   
Thanks for the info!


----------



## Monykalyn

FWIW-We rode twice these past 2 days and waited ~80 minutes (posted time ~120 minutes) at 4pm, and 64 minutes (posted 90 minutes) around 130pm. No breakdown in ride at all during our wait times.
Very cool ride-worth the wait!!


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## AuroraluvsPhillip

We rode it the past two days, early afternoon, each time with posted 120 min waits. On Sunday it was a 65" wait, and today it was an hour. We hit Moaning Myrtle's before getting into line, and I brought some wet paper towels to keep cool with, as well as water to sip on.  It took about 30 minutes to get inside the building, and another 30 to get to the ride.  
Awesome ride, didn't expect it to be as fast as it is, like the Hippogriff on steroids. The bike is a much more intense ride. I did the bike yesterday. Today my daughter rode the bike and I did sidecar. We also got front row by chance, really cool!
We're going to try to ride it each day. It's so much fun!


----------



## JasonH

I just got back from a 4 day 3 night trip.  Rode Hagrids once, on Friday the 20th September.  Got in line around 1:40 PM-ish.  Posted 90 minute wait, took about 100 minutes.  Ride broke down three times while waiting in line, and once again while we were on it, right after the drop in the cave.

The first time the ride broke down in line it was around a 5 minute wait before it came back up.
2nd time it was around a 25 minute wait.  A lot of people left the line.
3rd time it was around 10 minutes.
While on the ride, we were stuck for around 3-5 minutes (but at least it was inside the cave)

I enjoyed the ride, I did not enjoy the breakdowns.


----------



## wareagle57

TommyJK said:


> The word I've heard elsewhere is that during the week they are closing it earlier for longer meainteneace and keeping it open the full day on weekends for the next little bit.
> 
> This past weekend it was running from open until close from the reports I've read.


 Nope. Not on Sunday anyway. It closed around 3. We had to balance USO closing at 5 and the possibility of Hagrids closing early. Decided to just ride it once and jump back if it stayed open but u fortunately that did not work out.


----------



## wareagle57

I’m curious to know where the line was backed up to for all these people saying the rode in 30-45 minutes with a posted 2 hour wait. It didn’t seem
To break down any while we were in line as it was constantly moving and while I was outside I could see cars going every 30ish seconds. It still took us about 80 minutes. Also, why is the preshow so far back in the line? It seems to me unless you walk straight into the preshow, you’re waiting at least 30 minutes.


----------



## Disxuni

wareagle57 said:


> Also, why is the preshow so far back in the line?



Unfortunately, there is no answer for that. ET is designed the same way and so was Twister for a couple of examples, but I do not think a lot of people think about it, because ET is usually not packed and for Twister, unless the attraction was packed the pre-shows essentially felt as if it was the queue. I've only waited outside the doors of Twister once out of the many times I went.

All we know is what the point is for pre-shows, which is giving guests entertainment while guests are in an attraction, or to entertain guests to delay a queue in order to give more time for guests to enter an attraction. The placement and need for a pre-show is determined I would imagine is determined by whether they have content / necessity to explain things, as well as estimated popularity of an attraction. I'm sure if Universal had any idea on how popular these rides would be from the beginning FJ would have a pre-show too, just like Gringott's and Hagrid's.


----------



## wareagle57

By the way, I forgot to mention the ride is absolutely worth the wait, including the 3 months I’ve waited living here with an AP until my wife could go. It was killing me, but stayed completely spoiler free. It was only slightly spoiled by seeing part of the track from the queue. 

I thought all the “best ride in Orlando” talk was going to overhype it for me and I’d come away disappointed. But I 100% agree. I can’t wait to ride it again. It probably helped that I got to ride the bike and on the front row my first time. I wish everyone could have a chance to wait for it but I feel so blessed that it worked out that we got to do the front row. 

I went back today to try and ride it but as soon as I got there it was delayed, and never reopened.  They said there were honey bees on the track!


----------



## wareagle57

Well I said it never reopened. I just got a notification from my my couch right after I posted that it just reopened. I just assumed since they’ve been closing at 3 that they wouldn’t bother. Maybe with so much downtime they’ll leave it open and a trip back tonight is warranted...


----------



## DisneyElite4

We are in line now! Team members said they had to close for an extended time today due to the bees. We got in line right before they closed it for the night.


----------



## DisneyElite4

I’m a tad nervous! I don’t like big coasters typically.


----------



## DoryGirl1963

DisneyElite4 said:


> I’m a tad nervous! I don’t like big coasters typically.


I like big coasters but they don't always like me any more sometimes, lol. For reference, I held my husband's stuff while he went on Hulk & I can do all the coasters at Disney, though the backwards portion on Expedition Everest makes me a bit too aware of my tummy & Space Mountain is just too jerky/rough for me.

I had no issues at all on Hagrid's - it was truly just pure fun & enjoyment from beginning to end!


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

Got right in line when they reopened today around 4 or a little before. Got a locker first, expected a huge wait as there were a ton of people hanging around the entrance while they ran a few test runs. Turns out we got all the way to right before Hagrid's workroom before the line slowed. They weren't running the preshow, just moving people right through.  23 minute total wait, I was pleasantly surprised. The posted wait after we got out was 45 minutes.


----------



## Jrb1979

wareagle57 said:


> By the way, I forgot to mention the ride is absolutely worth the wait, including the 3 months I’ve waited living here with an AP until my wife could go. It was killing me, but stayed completely spoiler free. It was only slightly spoiled by seeing part of the track from the queue.
> 
> I thought all the “best ride in Orlando” talk was going to overhype it for me and I’d come away disappointed. But I 100% agree. I can’t wait to ride it again. It probably helped that I got to ride the bike and on the front row my first time. I wish everyone could have a chance to wait for it but I feel so blessed that it worked out that we got to do the front row.
> 
> I went back today to try and ride it but as soon as I got there it was delayed, and never reopened.  They said there were honey bees on the track!


I have yet to ride but from the POV, IMO, it maybe best family ride in Orlando. The POV that has been leaked for the Jurassic Park new coaster will have it beat. Multiple launches and multiple inversions. Right now so would rate Mako as best Orlando's best ride.


----------



## rad91

On Jan 3, 2020, touring plan is showing a 3 hour wait at opening.  I'm typically not concerned since TP cant accurately measure rope drop times, but I'm concerned that early admission by resort guests will actually make rope dropping ineffective.  Is the lines caused by early admission guests really that bad for this ride?


----------



## ruthies12

wareagle57 said:


> I’m curious to know where the line was backed up to for all these people saying the rode in 30-45 minutes with a posted 2 hour wait. It didn’t seem
> To break down any while we were in line as it was constantly moving and while I was outside I could see cars going every 30ish seconds. It still took us about 80 minutes. Also, why is the preshow so far back in the line? It seems to me unless you walk straight into the preshow, you’re waiting at least 30 minutes.



We rode a couple times where the wait was posted at 120 but the line was not outside at all, we walked right into the indoor part.  One time we waited about 10 minutes for the pre-show, then after getting through the pre-show we walked all the way straight to Hagrid's workroom without stopping and ended up only waiting 30 minutes total.  Other times we walked into the pre-show within a minute or two of getting in line but then the line was full after the preshow and we waited about 30 to 40 minutes total.  One time we rode they didn't have all the switchbacks open in the last room.  

So I would say that usually if you walk directly into the indoor part without any outdoor wait then your wait is likely to be about 30 to 40 minutes total if there are no breakdowns.


----------



## DisneyElite4

Bees are back! Ride hasn’t opened yet today due to the safe relocation of a hive of bees. This is certainly a new one for this ride! I like to think this goes along well with the theme of the ride - I’m sure Hagrid is an expert on this stuff!


----------



## Disxuni

DisneyElite4 said:


> Bees are back! Ride hasn’t opened yet today due to the safe relocation of a hive of bees. This is certainly a new one for this ride! I like to think this goes along well with the theme of the ride - I’m sure Hagrid is an expert on this stuff!



It does make sense given the nature of how much nature they have involved with the ride with all the trees. Eventually another thing they're going to have to do for upkeep purposes is trimming the trees. I do not know if a lot of trees are near the track, or have the potential to growing enough to conflict with the track, but I have a feeling a lot of TLC is going to have to be involved in the ride if not to make sure trees do not conflict with the ride, but to at least ensure it looks healthy and attractive for the guests.


----------



## pepperandchips

rad91 said:


> On Jan 3, 2020, touring plan is showing a 3 hour wait at opening.  I'm typically not concerned since TP cant accurately measure rope drop times, but I'm concerned that early admission by resort guests will actually make rope dropping ineffective.  Is the lines caused by early admission guests really that bad for this ride?


As far as I know, there hasn’t been early entry for resort guests at IOA since Hagrid’s has been open. The early admission information only goes through October right now so I don’t think anyone can answer your question.


----------



## JOCCO

I've seen some really cute ride photos here and on a trip report. How did I miss these, are they new ? (we were there opening weekend and I don't recall seeing them) For our next trip-where can you view them once you have ridden ?


----------



## Lynne G

Ride photos are not new.  Was happy they worked so good when we were on the ride.  You can view them shortly after getting off the ride.  I have the Photo Pass, so it was easy to get them to put it on my pass, though the second time we rode, there was a line to get the photos.  You can have them printed out there.  Since I have the Photo Pass, it seems to go into my account, pretty quick, though some take longer than others.  Not every ride has them, but we have had some fun ones. Mummy and MIB are some of our favorite ones.  Once in my account, I can download and print the pictures as many times as I want.  Have all of the 188 in my account so far, this past year, downloaded.  We've printed a few, and posted here in the DIS sometimes.  There's a stickie for the Photo Pass info.


----------



## JOCCO

Thanks Lynne G, yes, we too have the pass and we've managed to get some pretty good photos. I guess I didn't do my homework on the photo for Hagrid's. Sad we missed it, but we will be back !


----------



## lvdis

JOCCO said:


> Thanks Lynne G, yes, we too have the pass and we've managed to get some pretty good photos. I guess I didn't do my homework on the photo for Hagrid's. Sad we missed it, but we will be back !


As far as I know, Hagrid's ride photos weren't available when it first opened. It came later.


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

Got in line today a little before noon as TP said the lines were probably going to be the same all day ( Friday plus HHN at US).  Switchbacks after Hagrid's hut outside were closed. Preshow running. Total times in line about 50 min. with a 120 min posted wait. A word of caution: twice I've had folks in the single rider line try to take the bike (even though I am alone and waited in the standby line specifically to ride the bike)


----------



## pepperandchips

AuroraluvsPhillip said:


> twice I've had folks in the single rider line try to take the bike (even though I am alone and waited in the standby line specifically to ride the bike)


Uhhh that’s awkward! I haven’t ridden yet - how did they end up in front of you?


----------



## MeridaAnn

pepperandchips said:


> Uhhh that’s awkward! I haven’t ridden yet - how did they end up in front of you?



It has to do with the way the line is set up. The person from the standby line has to actually swap sides with the person from the single rider line at some point and it's awkward, especially if you don't realize that it's coming and you're trying to swap at the last minute and you don't want to seem confrontational.

It's hard to describe, so I just drew up an approximation of the layout to visualize it. (I drew what happens naturally, if they don't swap sides, which puts the SR person closer to the ride vehicle at the end.) When you're in the hallway right after the two lines meet, there's nothing telling you which side to stand on, or even mentioning the two types of seats until the end of the hall. I really wish they at least had a line down the middle of that hall with markings showing which side is which - then they would send the standby person first, they would choose their side (typically the motorcycle, but I some people might actually choose the sidecar), then the single rider could be sent after them to fill in whichever side they didn't pick. Instead, right now they're paired up immediately and you just naturally end up standing with the single rider on the motorcycle side unless you intentionally switch.

There's also nothing outright stating in the SR line that single riders will likely be in the sidecar or that they get the second choice, so it's just kind of awkward establishing that the person from the standby line gets to step in front at some point.


----------



## pepperandchips

MeridaAnn said:


> It has to do with the way the line is set up. The person from the standby line has to actually swap sides with the person from the single rider line at some point and it's awkward, especially if you don't realize that it's coming and you're trying to swap at the last minute and you don't want to seem confrontational.
> 
> It's hard to describe, so I just drew up an approximation of the layout to visualize it. (I drew what happens naturally, if they don't swap sides, which puts the SR person closer to the ride vehicle at the end.) When you're in the hallway right after the two lines meet, there's nothing telling you which side to stand on, or even mentioning the two types of seats until the end of the hall. I really wish they at least had a line down the middle of that hall with markings showing which side is which - then they would send the standby person first, they would choose their side (typically the motorcycle, but I some people might actually choose the sidecar), then the single rider could be sent after them to fill in whichever side they didn't pick. Instead, right now they're paired up immediately and you just naturally end up standing with the single rider on the motorcycle side unless you intentionally switch.
> 
> There's also nothing outright stating in the SR line that single riders will likely be in the sidecar or that they get the second choice, so it's just kind of awkward establishing that the person from the standby line gets to step in front at some point.
> View attachment 439396


Thank you for the awesome drawing! Yes that seems really crappy that the standby guest has to say “excuse me I was waiting for the bike seat”. Good to know in advance though!


----------



## Disxuni

I'll have to always stand in the regular queue even though I'm a SR as I heard the bike is more comfortable and roomy than the cart so I'll have to wait like everyone else. However, I'm surprised by the layout, especially since typically a TM does establish usually who steps in first and who goes in next when it comes to numbered line arrangements which avoids confusion. 

Are you saying that essentially there are the two queues and TMs just go, you and you go, and then two guests are supposed to walk over and decide where to stand? Or do TMs do know how to direct the guests and tell them where to go, but it's just the guests themselves trying to take over one seat over another? I ask, because I've seen plenty of people being confused (or maybe even pretending) when being directed where to stand, but I've also seen plenty of scenarios where guests are told what to do and simply do not do it.


----------



## The Pho

MeridaAnn said:


> It has to do with the way the line is set up. The person from the standby line has to actually swap sides with the person from the single rider line at some point and it's awkward, especially if you don't realize that it's coming and you're trying to swap at the last minute and you don't want to seem confrontational.
> 
> It's hard to describe, so I just drew up an approximation of the layout to visualize it. (I drew what happens naturally, if they don't swap sides, which puts the SR person closer to the ride vehicle at the end.) When you're in the hallway right after the two lines meet, there's nothing telling you which side to stand on, or even mentioning the two types of seats until the end of the hall. I really wish they at least had a line down the middle of that hall with markings showing which side is which - then they would send the standby person first, they would choose their side (typically the motorcycle, but I some people might actually choose the sidecar), then the single rider could be sent after them to fill in whichever side they didn't pick. Instead, right now they're paired up immediately and you just naturally end up standing with the single rider on the motorcycle side unless you intentionally switch.
> 
> There's also nothing outright stating in the SR line that single riders will likely be in the sidecar or that they get the second choice, so it's just kind of awkward establishing that the person from the standby line gets to step in front at some point.
> View attachment 439396



When I was there a couple weeks ago, they very clearly instructed everybody to get into a single file line with the bike seat in front and the side car behind.    Singles were always sent after the main line group, so they’d wind up naturally in the sidecar seat.


----------



## MeridaAnn

The Pho said:


> When I was there a couple weeks ago, they very clearly instructed everybody to get into a single file line with the bike seat in front and the side car behind.    Singles were always sent after the main line group, so they’d wind up naturally in the sidecar seat.



Ah, that would definitely work better. The three times I've been on, they just asked the standby group how many, then if it was an odd number, they would say something like "single rider go with them", and everyone in the hallway was standing two across. Hopefully they're standardizing to the single file method you got, as that sounds much less awkward.


----------



## UniversalDuder

So glad to hear that the wait time seems to be getting down to 50-60 minutes, even with a 120-min posted wait. This is my most anticipated ride for my upcoming vacation in October.


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

If you are in the standby line as a single person, you will get to the TM and they will ask how many. I say "One for the bike" then the TM will direct someone from the SR line in behind me. The line from then on is narrower so as long as you stay standing in front of the person from the single rider line, you will get on the bike. But like I mentioned, some single riders will still try to coerce you to change places with them. So make sure if you want the bike you are the first one of the two people in line.


----------



## The Pho

MeridaAnn said:


> Ah, that would definitely work better. The three times I've been on, they just asked the standby group how many, then if it was an odd number, they would say something like "single rider go with them", and everyone in the hallway was standing two across. Hopefully they're standardizing to the single file method you got, as that sounds much less awkward.



The single file seemed to work great but maybe it was just the way the employees wanted to run it that day if that’s not standard operations.   I’ve only been one day but 3 separate times on the ride.


----------



## nikkita

following for updates (been stalking)
21 days till we fly, and so looking forward to this ride


----------



## pepperandchips

AuroraluvsPhillip said:


> But like I mentioned, some single riders will still try to coerce you to change places with them


----------



## imprint

We will be a party of 3 (two adults and one child).  We will be going through the regular line.  What should we expect if we are wanting one adult to be in bike with the child in sidecar while the other adult is in another bike (since I will most likely be the odd one out and need the roomier bike)?  The stress of getting in and secured in these moving walkways makes me nervous.


----------



## AngiTN

The Pho said:


> The single file seemed to work great but maybe it was just the way the employees wanted to run it that day if that’s not standard operations.   I’ve only been one day but 3 separate times on the ride.


I think single file is SOP and any other way is an exception
We did the VIP tour and got to ride and they explained that it was loaded from a single file line. 
But there was nothing there to keep us in a single file line and most everyone tried to go on side by side instead. It's all so fast that it's hard to stay organized. It's one of the things I hate about moving loading lines. I appreciate they load quicker but you don't get a second to think and when it's new that's hard


----------



## aroundtheriverbend

Hmm, Hagrid was down from 10 - about 1:30 today then was up to 150 min which seemed legit.  Going to try tomorrow which is our last day.  Hopefully better luck.


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

I don't know if the single rider line is made aware that they should take the sidecar, which I thought was what was supposed to happen.  My daughter and I waited in standby, we both wanted the bike, when they paired us with single riders, the guy that was paired with my daughter didn't seem to have a clue which vehicle he should ride.  This could be causing some of the issues.  I'm waiting longer in the standby line for the specific purpose of getting the bike.


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

aroundtheriverbend said:


> Hmm, Hagrid was down from 10 - about 1:30 today then was up to 150 min which seemed legit.  Going to try tomorrow which is our last day.  Hopefully better luck.


The ride was down for several hours earlier last week due to the bee situation.  When the ride opened again around 4pm the posted wait went to 120 pretty quickly.  We got a locker and got into line, figuring that if it was mobbed, we'd leave.  But with no preshow, we were on the ride in about 23 minutes.  I was pleasantly surprised.  So don't give up hope.  You may have better luck on a weekday.


----------



## Leahdb73

We went to the parks last week and we were able to ride Hagrid's 3 times.  First, let me say that the ride is awesome and lives up to expectations.  The first day we went was Monday.  We started our day at USF and at around 1pm, the wait time showed 75 minutes, so we hopped on the train and went over to IOA.  We got in line at 1:35 and we waited about 45 minutes to get on.  The second time we tried to rope drop on Thursday.  However, my family of five couldn't get their butts out on time, so we didn't get to the park until 9:17 and the wait time was 2 hours and the line was back into Jurassic Park, past the kebab stand.  It only took an hour though and we were on at 10:17.  The third and last time, we did get to the park early, around 8:40 on Friday.  We got stuck at the turnstile with a family trying to get their new passes activated and we got in line at 9:03.  We got on the ride at 9:37.  It seemed like the line expands to 2-3 hours somewhere between 9 and 10 and usually settles down to around 90 minutes for most of the day.  While it felt better in the morning, once you factor in the time to wait before the gate opens, it would probably be better to go early afternoon.  Just one guy's opinion.


----------



## AVanstraten

So, I'm reading through a lot of the various posts as I'm trying to learn as much as I can prior to taking our kids in late January.  There has been a lot of discussion about the bike and the sidecar...  I apologize if this is outlined somewhere but are the experiences really that different on one versus the other.  So we will have two adults and two kids, one of which is only 9 and tiny.  I'm a bit nervous she will get anxious/nervous... so what does one recommend for her to make her feel more secure.  Also, my husband is 6'/6"1 and about 230.  Is there a recommendation for him as well?  I'm excited but now after reading all of these reviews nervous we might be overwhelmed or make someone in the line mad as we have no idea what we are doing!  TIA!


----------



## Disxuni

AVanstraten said:


> So, I'm reading through a lot of the various posts as I'm trying to learn as much as I can prior to taking our kids in late January.  There has been a lot of discussion about the bike and the sidecar...  I apologize if this is outlined somewhere but are the experiences really that different on one versus the other.  So we will have two adults and two kids, one of which is only 9 and tiny.  I'm a bit nervous she will get anxious/nervous... so what does one recommend for her to make her feel more secure.  Also, my husband is 6'/6"1 and about 230.  Is there a recommendation for him as well?  I'm excited but now after reading all of these reviews nervous we might be overwhelmed or make someone in the line mad as we have no idea what we are doing!  TIA!



If you want to feel safer, more secure: Sidecar. If you want more room, feel more comfortable, and feeling more adventurous: Bike.


----------



## Lesley Wake

I had hoped they would have gotten the ride working better by now, but I checked today and saw it was delayed opening, then a 90 minute wait, and then an hour later it was "at capacity". With that sort of schedule, I'd probably only be able to get 1 ride in, and the whole purpose of a potential visit one of the first days of January would be to see the Christmas decorations and ride Hagrid's.


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

To feel more secure, ride in the sidecar. It's a much more exciting ride on the bike.  Also, if you're wearing robes or a sundress, you have to ride in the sidecar. I normally wear sundresses at UO, but because of this ride, this trip I wore tees with leggings.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

Question for you all.  How does it work at rope drop if you need to put bags in the lockers?  Is it the kiss of death?  500 people pass you by?


----------



## Disxuni

Lesley Wake said:


> I had hoped they would have gotten the ride working better by now, but I checked today and saw it was delayed opening, then a 90 minute wait, and then an hour later it was "at capacity". With that sort of schedule, I'd probably only be able to get 1 ride in, and the whole purpose of a potential visit one of the first days of January would be to see the Christmas decorations and ride Hagrid's.



While it seems it has it bad and good days still, it's made a lot of progress believe it, or not. I'd say keep checking and then form more of an opinion when it's closer to that time. You still have a few months until your trip if it's within the first week of January. Considering how much has changed since it's first opened, I would imagine a lot would change by the time you're here as well.


----------



## Fall1

I've been reading over this thread, but still can't decide if we should try to ride at park opening or late morning.  We'll be at the parks this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and ideally we'd really like to ride once.


----------



## contemporarymom

Fall1 said:


> I've been reading over this thread, but still can't decide if we should try to ride at park opening or late morning.  We'll be at the parks this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and ideally we'd really like to ride once.



We did opening on both 9/27 and 9/28.  On 9/27 we got to the gates aproximately 8:30AM.  We were let in at 8:50 and got through the entrance by 9:10 on line at 9:15 and were off the ride by 10:05, a 50 minute wait.  On 9/28 we were at the gates by 8:15, let in at 8:50, through the entrance by 8:55, online by 9:00 and offthe ride by 9:25, a 25 minute wait . Those15 minutes were huge!

Got to ride both the cycle and the sidecar.  I likedthe cycle, DH didn't have a preference.  Fantastic ride!  Would have waited even longer for it andI hate lines.  Did FOP also for the first time last week and even though both DH and I loved it, we both agreed Hagrid's was better.


----------



## glamdring269

Disxuni said:


> While it seems it has it bad and good days still, it's made a lot of progress believe it, or not. I'd say keep checking and then form more of an opinion when it's closer to that time. You still have a few months until your trip if it's within the first week of January. Considering how much has changed since it's first opened, I would imagine a lot would change by the time you're here as well.



We have 3 chances next week (Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10/10 - 10/12) surely we'll get lucky on one of those days. It's hard to believe they're still having so many problems.


----------



## Leahdb73

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> Question for you all.  How does it work at rope drop if you need to put bags in the lockers?  Is it the kiss of death?  500 people pass you by?


If you're by yourself, a few people will definitely pass you by, but it's not like a tsunami of people will go in front of you.  There are 2 types of lockers... the free one is smaller (think Kavu bag, purse) and the large one (backpack size) requires a $2 payment.  Either way, you'll need your park ticket to open one (ticket on phone will not work), so just be prepared as you approach and it won't be bad.  My family elected to wait around the corner while my daughter and I got 2 lockers so we wouldn't have to fight through the line to find them as it moves fairly quickly at the front.


----------



## MaryAnnV

Leahdb73 said:


> Either way, you'll need your park ticket to open one (ticket on phone will not work),



If you buy online or through the app, how do you get the paper ticket? I will be there next Tuesday (10/8) and hoping to ride Hagrid's as well. We're going to try right after lunch and hope for a 60 minute wait or so. Crossing our fingers!


----------



## Empo24

Hi everyone ! 
At universal right now  arrived at the front entrance to IOA at 8.35 but had to pick up my tickets... got into the line around 8.40 at the front entrance.. they started letting in to the park at 8.50. Had a power walk to the queue and was on and off the ride really fast was back at the lockers at 9.35. Was well organized no one was running or pushing and shoving. Ride was excellent and was surprised how quickly we did it.


----------



## Disxuni

MaryAnnV said:


> If you buy online or through the app, how do you get the paper ticket? I will be there next Tuesday (10/8) and hoping to ride Hagrid's as well. We're going to try right after lunch and hope for a 60 minute wait or so. Crossing our fingers!



You can show / scan your phone, but most recommend a paper copy that you can print at home just in case.


----------



## Leahdb73

Disxuni said:


> You can show / scan your phone, but most recommend a paper copy that you can print at home just in case.


If you only have a ticket on the phone, there are attendants that will give you a paper pass to use for the lockers.


----------



## DanielNYC

FWIW, my ticket on my phone worked just fine for popping open the locker.


----------



## DanielNYC

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> Question for you all.  How does it work at rope drop if you need to put bags in the lockers?  Is it the kiss of death?  500 people pass you by?


Like another poster replied, it just depends if you're with someone else or not.  If you're alone and you're able to use the free lockers (the ones you have to pay for will delay you a bit more) then you might have like 20 people or so pass you by.  I had my wife and kids continue on in the line ahead of me while I handled the locker.  I was able to catch up to them with no issues.


----------



## Leahdb73

DanielNYC said:


> FWIW, my ticket on my phone worked just fine for popping open the locker.


To be honest, I didn't try it at Hagrid's, but it definitely didn't work for the Gringott's lockers, so I just assumed it wouldn't work.  Gringott's had attendants handing out passes to use, but I had my paper ticket with me anyway


----------



## Empo24

Quick update from IOA HagridS been closed for a few hours now! Clear blue skies so must be a technical problem


----------



## AngiTN

Empo24 said:


> Quick update from IOA HagridS been closed for a few hours now! Clear blue skies so must be a technical problem


I saw photos of another swarm of bees this morning


----------



## BruinsDad

According to another board, the bees are back.


----------



## Empo24

Oh wow more bees ! Yep been closed all day just open a couple of hours this morning


----------



## Disxuni

As of right now, it appears to be "closed" at the moment. All other attractions that are intended to be open are showing their wait times on the app.


----------



## Lynne G

Yesterday, entered line at 12 noon, got into single rider, waited until 12:20pm and got first car, bike.  Awesome, as I thought when I rode a few times in August, though never in the front until yesterday.


----------



## Lynne G

Oh, and checked my photo pass account, and saw a video in it.  It is a short video of Hagrid on his bike, then shows the whole train of cars I was first in.  Is that new?  Did not get that when I did the photos in August.


----------



## Loopster

Disxuni said:


> As of right now, it appears to be "closed" at the moment. All other attractions that are intended to be open are showing their wait times on the app.


Looks like it’s still closed. Anyone know if it’s been open at all today? We just landed and are headed there in the morning. Hoping it’s back up by then!


----------



## damo

Loopster said:


> Looks like it’s still closed. Anyone know if it’s been open at all today? We just landed and are headed there in the morning. Hoping it’s back up by then!



Apparently there was some kind of accident (not a safety issue one) and it won't be opening today but should be tomorrow.


----------



## Disxuni

damo said:


> Apparently there was some kind of accident (not a safety issue one) and it won't be opening today but should be tomorrow.



Like a Code V, or P? Just kidding. You said it wasn't a safety issue, so I couldn't help to think.


----------



## flortlebap

It hasn’t opened at all today.

Shame because I wanted to ride before flying home tonight!


----------



## GolbatOfFire

They opened it tonight, unannounced, right when the dark arts show started at 7:45. Got in the queue at 7:55, took about an hour. I can't stop thinking about it, the whole experience was amazing.


----------



## The Expert

Here today. Heard the cheer when it opened about 10:45am but we were boarding Hogwarts Express. It's still up but they closed the line at 3pm. We're going to try hanging around in the area tomorrow morning before heading over to Disney.


----------



## stlrod

Really disappointing to be closed yesterday and a 180 minute wait this afternoon with it closing early today, our only two days at Universal.


----------



## The Expert

Tried again this morning. We checked the app at 7am and it said Hagrid would open at 9. We got to the gate around 8:20 and they announced that Hagrid would be delayed, but the app didn't change to Delayed until after 9. We grabbed Starbucks and hung out near Bob the fountain with the crowd until 9:45, then took a chance on going back to the hotel (Royal Pacific) to check out and store bags. Got back about 10:45, still delayed. They finally opened the line about 11:30 and we were able to jump in the staged queue. I got the alert and the app reported the ride open with a 90 minute wait at 11:40.

They held the crowd from Hogsmeade until we all passed. We walked steadily until just before the classroom, now seems to be moving at standard pace.

UPDATE: Got on in about 30 and got the front car! Wait time posted now at 120.


----------



## georgina

The Expert said:


> Got back about 10:45, still delayed. *They finally opened the line about 11:30 and we were able to jump in the staged queue. I got the alert and the app reported the ride open with a 90 minute wait at 11:40.*
> 
> They held the crowd from Hogsmeade until we all passed. We walked steadily until just before the classroom, now seems to be moving at standard pace.


I'll be there this week, and am totally confused by this part. How do you get in a virtual queue for this ride? This is the first time I have seen anyone mention it.


----------



## TommyJK

georgina said:


> I'll be there this week, and am totally confused by this part. How do you get in a virtual queue for this ride? This is the first time I have seen anyone mention it.



Staged queue, not virtual queue. They basically held everyone back in a holding area before they opened the actual line to let them in once they resumed operations.


----------



## The Expert

TommyJK said:


> Staged queue, not virtual queue. They basically held everyone back in a holding area before they opened the actual line to let them in once they resumed operations.



Yes, this @georgina . They have a staged queue over to the right of the path before you get to Hogsmeade, near the bathrooms and behind the talking fountain. Signs were up to guide people there as the park opened, and cast members were yelling that it was going to be on "extended delay" but that they could wait if they wanted.

There were people waiting in that area from park opening, with many people giving up and others who had family come and go while they held a spot until it opened. We were just over on the other side of the queue area on a wall near the fountain and were able to jump in that area when it started moving as the cast members had seen us over there most of the morning. They allowed family to join others in line, but then closed it.

We were about three people from the end, and cast members guided the whole group over into the land through a fenced off path and into the regular line, THEN they opened it up behind us to people waiting over by the regular line. It was after that the app finally updated to say the ride was open. We were 10 minutes into the queue by then and the wait time said 90 minutes. Ultimately from the time we started moving to when we got on, it was about a 30 minute wait (plus the 2.5 hours hovering).


----------



## christophfam

I rode last night. Entered the queue at 5pm. Wait time said 60 minutes and it took just over that.. Tired to go back around to ride again but it was closed at capacity. I would hate to be the tm at the gate after it closed. I couldn’t believe the number of people hanging around talking to him.  Didn’t get close enough to hear what was being said but nobody looked happy.


----------



## Fall1

We just got back from a 3 day trip and we didn't get to ride it.  We all really wanted to, but it was closed all day one of the days.  The other 2 days we never saw the wait less than 120 minutes and on the app it said that it was closing at 3pm. 

Too bad they are promoting the ride so much without all the kinks worked out. We had a great trip and decided just to forget it, but it's a shame it's such a disaster.


----------



## Disxuni

Fall1 said:


> We just got back from a 3 day trip and we didn't get to ride it.  We all really wanted to, but it was closed all day one of the days.  The other 2 days we never saw the wait less than 120 minutes and on the app it said that it was closing at 3pm.
> 
> Too bad they are promoting the ride so much without all the kinks worked out. We had a great trip and decided just to forget it, but it's a shame it's such a disaster.



I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. It seemed to be getting better and better than it was attack of the honey bees. However, we do not have the fully story (at least one here) on why it was closed for that whole day. Either way, it seemed to be getting better and last week was definitely a step back, especially since it seems to be going back to closing early (or should I say earlier) as well. So, I'm thinking there is a new development of something they're working on. I guess we shall see this week what Hagrid's has in store for guests. Once again, sorry it didn't work out.


----------



## disneywithfive

We were there on Saturday and they announced almost immediately that it was down for an extended delay and they didn't know when or if it would be running that day.  We hadn't planned on riding it but I could tell MANY others where.   Once we got over to Universal, after lunch, there was a sign at Hogwarts Express saying it would be closing early that day.  Didn't see that sign at IOA though.


----------



## fujamaga

We were at the park 4 days, the first day it was shut down completely because of the bees, the second day I think it opened for a little bit, but we didn't know.  The third day it opened up mid-day, but the lines were posted at 180 minutes.  We rope dropped the last day we were there (Sunday) and we were told there were extended delays.  People were able to leave and go so long as your neighbors in the line agreed.  They finally opened up the ride at 11:30am.  I liked the ride, but it was a huge hassle for one ride.


----------



## acarsme123

This ride sounds like a disaster. Maybe universal needs to shut it down until they can get with the manufacturer to figure out how to make it more reliable. Sounds like really poor planning on their part to make a ride that’s so unreliable.


----------



## pepperandchips

acarsme123 said:


> This ride sounds like a disaster. Maybe universal needs to shut it down until they can get with the manufacturer to figure out how to make it more reliable. Sounds like really poor planning on their part to make a ride that’s so unreliable.


Since nearly everyone who’s waited to ride have reported back that it was worth it, the scope of the disaster is personal perception. Things like bees are totally outside Universal’s control. I’m glad they haven’t shut it down entirely as thousands of people are glad for the opportunity to wait to ride it.


----------



## acarsme123

I guess what worries me is that we will be going in March. I’m trying to figure out strategy for definitely getting on this ride. We will be there for two full days and two half days. But it seems like the opening and closing times of this ride are all over the place from what I’m seeing. Just trying to come up with a strategy


----------



## pepperandchips

acarsme123 said:


> I guess what worries me is that we will be going in March. I’m trying to figure out strategy for definitely getting on this ride. We will be there for two full days and two half days. But it seems like the opening and closing times of this ride are all over the place from what I’m seeing. Just trying to come up with a strategy


Honestly they are still working out the bugs so I think it is way too early to be working on a strategy for March. I don’t say that to be unkind or to troll in any way - this ride has new technology and I’m sure that the operations schedule will change a lot over the next 4-5 months. It’s good to keep an eye on this thread but I think this month’s short hours and delays and so forth probably won’t inform your March decisions too much. Who knows, there might even be Express by then! I’m certainly hoping that it will be operating for the full park open hours by spring.


----------



## The Pho

pepperandchips said:


> Since nearly everyone who’s waited to ride have reported back that it was worth it, the scope of the disaster is personal perception. Things like bees are totally outside Universal’s control. I’m glad they haven’t shut it down entirely as thousands of people are glad for the opportunity to wait to ride it.


A great ride shouldn’t give them operational leeway.  It should be far more reliable than it is, and it’s certainly come a long way in the past few months.  But there is only so much they can do about the bees unfortunately.   Definitely better open a few hours a day than closed for months though.


----------



## Disxuni

Going along with everyone is saying about the bees. It seemed that Hagrid's for the most part seemed to be on track. We were getting a lot of reports on here that (for the most part) Hagrid's was opening with the theme park and while it was still closing prior to the parks official closing, it wouldn't close as early as it's been recently reported, as well as was frequently reported that the actual wait times were either half, or more than half of the wait time Universal would inform the guests.

However, that changed when the bees got into the picture. Bees have no relation to the operation to the physical ride themselves and they cannot exterminate them since bees are at high risk of extinction.

I won't admit that Hagrid's was perfect prior to this, but Hagrid has come far along since where it has been and was getting dramatically better, but this kind of threw it off. For anyone who keeps getting worried about their future trips, especially those that are projected to be more than a couple of weeks away I feel they should not worry. If they want a more accurate assessment of what the ride's status will be like when they arrive they should check on reports, or this post (if it still exists then) within a week, or two, prior to their actual trip.


----------



## georgina

Went to US at 7 this morning, rode Minions, Gringotts 2X, MIB, Mummy, and RRR. Had breakfast at Today Cafe and caught the train to Hogsmeade at 9:30. Hagrids line said 60 at 9:30, 90 when I got on the train, and 120 when I got off. In line now, up to 150.  There was a sign in the Kings Cross station that said Hagrids would be closing early today. Says enter queue before 3.  App says 180 now!


----------



## tony67

Was able to ride it 3 times over a week - never saw the wait below 90 - but it usually took about 70.
They do a good job of breaking it up IMO, there is a "show" early in the line and a few other areas to break it up.
The ride itself was much better than I expected, I am glad I waited.
After riding it I dont miss dueling dragons as much.
Never saw the single rider line open - I think it was always full .


----------



## mfly

georgina said:


> Went to US at 7 this morning, rode Minions, Gringotts 2X, MIB, Mummy, and RRR. Had breakfast at Today Cafe and caught the train to Hogsmeade at 9:30. Hagrids line said 60 at 9:30, 90 when I got on the train, and 120 when I got off. In line now, up to 150.  There was a sign in the Kings Cross station that said Hagrids would be closing early today. Says enter queue before 3.  App says 180 now!


How long did the line actually take you at 9:30?


----------



## georgina

mfly said:


> How long did the line actually take you at 9:30?


Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the line until 10 AM when it turned 120 minutes. Then after we had wound around for about 40 minutes we were told it would be 180 for us. I decided to stay since I wanted to ride and rain was predicted in the afternoon.  It did start to rain lightly around 11:30 but not enough to stop the ride. I made it to the single rider line by 11:45, and got on the ride around noon, so 2 hours using single rider. There were only 10-12 people ahead of me in single rider line. I got lucky being paired with a woman with some mobility issues who wanted the sidecar. I’m sure it was at least 2.5 hrs if not 3 for the regular line. It was a great ride but I won’t wait that long again for it.


----------



## DD6334

Rode yesterday morning (Wednesday Oct 9)
-Arrived pre park open around 8:25
-Was about 20 people back on one of the entrance lines for park. 
-they began letting people into park at 8:50 or so
- went straight to Hagrid (as did everyone else)
- when we arrived at ride we were told the ride was not currently running but they were only expecting a short delay, they let people line up outside of cue - we were outside of Hogsmead by the lost continent theater at that point, when we settled in to wait. 
- After 15 mins a loud cheer ahead of us and the ride was opening. 
- Crowd was allowed to enter the actual line at ride  at this point- We past the lockers at about 9:30 (the sign at that point was posted with a 60 min wait)
- the wait took about 45 mins from there 
- we were off the ride by about 10:25

First time riding and we made it a top priority the first day of our trip, in case it didn’t work out we would try again another day. 

All agreed it was a great ride and worth the wait and hassle. Glad we made it. 
May try it again Friday morning.


----------



## emmabelle

We're doing Universal on 10/26 and we're trying to decide if we should just bail on the whole plan to try and ride Hagrids.  I know my husband and daughter probably side more with quantity of rides over quality.   We have preferred AP's so I'm trying to figure out a plan of attack since we can get into USO at 7am. Any advice?


----------



## Disxuni

emmabelle said:


> We're doing Universal on 10/26 and we're trying to decide if we should just bail on the whole plan to try and ride Hagrids.  I know my husband and daughter probably side more with quantity of rides over quality.   We have preferred AP's so I'm trying to figure out a plan of attack since we can get into USO at 7am. Any advice?



Unfortunately, I (personally) still do not see a particular method that is a clear cut answer so I'll explain the pros and cons for each method:

*If you go early*, you could get on relatively immediately, or there could be a slight delay, however, if you go early, you know you'll at least be one of the many firsts in line to be able to get onto the ride regardless of whether you get on immediately, or there is a little bit of a delay. Where as anyone who hops on once they realize it's open are behind you. If anything goes wrong you're at least more than likely to get a ride than those behind you. However, if something too drastic does happen that means you waited for nothing (although some of that waiting is prior to park opening).
*If you go later*, you have the potential of having a lesser wait time than projected. Before the bee situation, a lot of guests were reporting that their wait times were significantly less than reported. It's been suggested the reason is they add more time in case there is delays and if there aren't any, you'll be able to get on quickly. However, you have the risk of there being a delay and you're behind more people so you're waiting longer, or if they decide to close early for the day, it means you wasted an opportunity to be one of the few who got on, or if you're in line, you just waited that time for nothing.
It all depends on how much time you have in the parks and what chances you're willing to take. Either way you'll have to wait, so it really depends on what you think is the less risky, or what time you prefer to ride all the other rides you're wanting to get on.


----------



## wisblue

DD6334 said:


> Rode yesterday morning (Wednesday Oct 9)
> -Arrived pre park open around 8:25
> -Was about 20 people back on one of the entrance lines for park.
> -they began letting people into park at 8:50 or so
> - went straight to Hagrid (as did everyone else)
> - when we arrived at ride we were told the ride was not currently running but they were only expecting a short delay, they let people line up outside of cue - we were outside of Hogsmead by the lost continent theater at that point, when we settled in to wait.
> - After 15 mins a loud cheer ahead of us and the ride was opening.
> - Crowd was allowed to enter the actual line at ride  at this point- We past the lockers at about 9:30 (the sign at that point was posted with a 60 min wait)
> - the wait took about 45 mins from there
> - we were off the ride by about 10:25
> 
> First time riding and we made it a top priority the first day of our trip, in case it didn’t work out we would try again another day.
> 
> All agreed it was a great ride and worth the wait and hassle. Glad we made it.
> May try it again Friday morning.



Thanks for the first hand report.

I have been following the wait times on Touring Plans for the last few days in anticipation of a visit to Universal on Tuesday, the 22nd. It looks like your experience is what has happened the last 3 days with TP showing the ride as Offline at opening but with a posted wait of about 120 by 9:30.  So, the ride has been opening sometime between 9 and 9:30.

So, my advice is to not plan on going to IOA on Tuesday the 22nd. Because getting to ride the Hagrid ride is our top priority, we plan to get to the park early, go right to Hagrid, and wait it out if there’s a delayed opening. That will likely be the day the delayed opening will last for hours.

I should add that, checking from time to time during the day, the posted times at most of the other rides seem to be pretty low, especially if you’re willing and able to go single rider. So, using up 90 minutes or so when the park first opens to ride Hagrid should still leave a lot of time to do other things the rest of the day.


----------



## Nanceliz319

following this....Is Hagrid always a delayed opening? Are they working out the kinks or is this expected to be the norm?  Thank you!


----------



## Disxuni

Nanceliz319 said:


> following this....Is Hagrid always a delayed opening? Are they working out the kinks or is this expected to be the norm?  Thank you!



I cannot say 100%, as we do not get knowledge of what happens every day, but before the bees showed from the reports it was relatively consistent with opening on time in the morning for the most part. An occasional report in being delayed. 

However, it seems the past week, or so, there have been more reports than usual of delayed openings. However, there is differences into how long, or short that may be. I do not know if it's due to bees, or something is going on and it's just a coincidence that this started around the time when the bees started to become an issue.


----------



## wisblue

The “delayed openings” of the last few days could just be a line blocking tactic to encourage some people to go somewhere else. Show people a large line with no promise that it will be moving soon and they might spread out.


----------



## glamdring269

One thing I really don’t like about this queue is that once you get inside you have no idea what is going on. We’ve been standing in place now for 10 minutes and have had 2 extremely loud announcements. Both regarding some type of safety.


----------



## AngiTN

Ugh. Still can’t figure out what to do
Tomorrow is our only chance to ride. Had hoped to get over there in time to ride today but DH has had work issues all week that have caused us lots of delays doing things. So tomorrow is it. We check out and fly home late. I’m thinking maybe go over about 8:00, 8:30. Hope it opens


----------



## BruinsDad

We'll be there Saturday and plan on trying it early afternoon.  I've been following this thread for months and was optimistic until the delay reports starting coming in last week.  A couple of weeks ago, I was seeing a lot of reports like 90 posted/45 wait.  Last week 120 posted/75 wait (plus extended delays closures).  And now 120+posted/120 wait.  Going in the wrong direction.  Hoping for good news to share this weekend.


----------



## glamdring269

Ok managed to ride today and it was awesome. Posted 135 minutes and I believe we waited around 95.  Honestly can’t wait to do it again.

Out of curiosity... I understand there is no express pass right now but who are the people that the cast members kept letting bypass the line?  I want to be one of those people hah.


----------



## AngiTN

glamdring269 said:


> Ok managed to ride today and it was awesome. Posted 135 minutes and I believe we waited around 95.  Honestly can’t wait to do it again.
> 
> Out of curiosity... I understand there is no express pass right now but who are the people that the cast members kept letting bypass the line?  I want to be one of those people hah.


When we did the backstage tour we entered through a different line
I believe those with disability passes do too


----------



## emmabelle

AngiTN said:


> Ugh. Still can’t figure out what to do
> Tomorrow is our only chance to ride. Had hoped to get over there in time to ride today but DH has had work issues all week that have caused us lots of delays doing things. So tomorrow is it. We check out and fly home late. I’m thinking maybe go over about 8:00, 8:30. Hope it opens




It's so hard to decide if we should take the chance and wait or just do the things we know we can get on.


----------



## glamdring269

AngiTN said:


> When we did the backstage tour we entered through a different line
> I believe those with disability passes do too



Must have been the backstage tour then.  They basically entered just before the last large queue room prior to boarding.


----------



## Lashed34

Has anyone been on the VIP tour when the ride's been down and not gotten on it, or did they get to ride it when it was back up and running? Thinking of having a VIP day just to get on this ride, but it's a lot of money to spend if it's down on the day we do it.


----------



## AngiTN

Lashed34 said:


> Has anyone been on the VIP tour when the ride's been down and not gotten on it, or did they get to ride it when it was back up and running? Thinking of having a VIP day just to get on this ride, but it's a lot of money to spend if it's down on the day we do it.


I checked in to this before booking and there’s no guarantee. Our guide was checking constantly on his phone to check status and confirm our group got to ride. He finally told us the good news that yes it was running and we were heading there next. We were so busy I had not been checking its status myself so I’m not sure if it had been down or not


----------



## Lashed34

AngiTN said:


> I checked in to this before booking and there’s no guarantee. Our guide was checking constantly on his phone to check status and confirm our group got to ride. He finally told us the good news that yes it was running and we were heading there next. We were so busy I had been checking its status myself so I’m not sure if it had been down or not


Very helpful, thank you. May leave it until we're in resort (HRH), we are there for 2 weeks so will see if we can get on before booking VIP.


----------



## osufeth24

Have friends coming down next week, and was hoping they'd be able to ride it.  I'm meeting them at Universal next Friday.  Hopefully it gets a little better by then

Had no idea they were having such a bee problem


----------



## AngiTN

So far so good this morning. Showing opening on time. We are in the park in the crowd ready to go in the sueues area to head back to the ride

And nope. Delayed open. They have not given us in line any info. Just saw the app updated. Would be nice if they make an announcement

Still waiting. No updates from staff. Is this normal? I though others got info while in line. Did they just go ask someone?

Just opened. We are in line next to the bathrooms in lost continent. We’ll see how long it takes. 

45 min and we are in the building at the video


----------



## wisblue

Forbidden Journey has been reported closed this morning too. 

When Hagrids opened Touring Plans reported it as posted 240, expected 180.


----------



## Disxuni

Yeah, I see that everyone has wait times on the app, but FJ is reported as opens at 9AM, even though it's past 10AM.


----------



## AngiTN

Must not be running at full capacity or something. They had said we’d be 30 from where we were in line waiting on things to open. It’s been an hour already and we aren’t on yet. Snaking through the room with the eggs


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## AngiTN

Guess we’ve made it to the inside of the hut. After the never ending tunnel. 70 min since it opened. TM at the photo stop told us 25 min from here

that was about right. We were done by 11:15


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## blondie511

Too busy to write yesterday, but here goes.....   yesterday we were in line at the entrance to Islands of Adventure at 8:00.  At 8:30 they scanned our park tickets and let us walk ahead a few yards and then stopped us.  At 8:45, they let us loose and we ran (sorry, yes, we are runners!).  Got on at 9:30 exact.  At the end of the ride, it slowed down of course, but stopped just shy of the unloading platform.  For five minutes, we sat on the ride and the announcement came on that they were having an issue.  When we got off, the lady attendant asked us if we wanted to ride again since being stuck at the end left us not having the “perfect” ride.  We would be fools to turn her down!  She took us to a special entrance to the side and put us on the ride AGAIN one minute later!!!!  So we rode it twice in 45 minutes.  
Today we tried the same strategy and it backfired. Got there at the same time...... then they stopped us near Lost Continent and said the ride is down and no idea when back up. It could be five minutes, it could be HOURS! i waited ten minutes and gave up, but my parents waited an hour before the line even moved. They rode it and liked it. 
     On a side note the line stretches so far it is almost mind boggling during the day.  At 9:40,end of the line was at If I Ran the Zoo.  I know that because the employee was holding a sign that said this is the end of the line for Hagrid.  Hope my post helps ya’ll.


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## AngiTN

I gotta ask since you admit to doing it, why do you run when they say do not? I’ve always wondered why some just don’t follow rules? And please don’t say because others were cause you know what comes after that kind of reason


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## gotomu212

glamdring269 said:


> Ok managed to ride today and it was awesome. Posted 135 minutes and I believe we waited around 95.  Honestly can’t wait to do it again.
> 
> Out of curiosity... I understand there is no express pass right now but who are the people that the cast members kept letting bypass the line?  I want to be one of those people hah.



Its not exactly an EP, but we were in line for 3 hours through numerous technical problems and then they closed the ride for good. Everyone still in line got a re-entry ticket good for 1 month. When we used the ticket the following day we were taken to bypass the line and joined In the last big room.


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## hhoope01

We road this past Wednesday.   The app said 90 minutes, but after 30 minutes we were at the main room just before you get on the ride.  Right as we entered the main room, we were asked if we were willing to go through their "test" seating procedure (which took all of a couple of minutes.)  We then were ushered right up to the ride.  So we had a total of 35 minutes of waiting.

Unfortunately for us, it started to rain just after we got on the ride (and it started raining pretty hard.) Since we were already on the ride, we finished it.  But we were totally soaked by the end of the ride.     It was an interesting ride in the rain and they did shut it down right after us though.


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## georgina

Arrived at IOA around 11 this  morning, app said 180. It went down to 150 and then 135, where it has stayed consistently. I got in line at 12:40, single rider was closed but just as we were about to enter the building they let us switch over. My wait was about 90 minutes total. Lucked out again by being paired with a woman who wanted the sidecar.
Parks quite crowded today being Saturday afternoon, FJ is up to 120 min.


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## auralia

Saturday October 12 we were at gate at 8 about 40 people back gates opened at 830 for a 9 am opening. General dash through suess straight into a line for hagrids if that was your destination.... we walked it fast pace many went in front of us...... the ride opened at 9 or sooner.... we were off at 945. Wait when we got off was listed at 150 minutes. Right now at 140 pm it says 135 minutes.


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## MaskedRacer

First time poster - we live about 2 hours away on the beautiful east coast of Florida and have been going to Universal 3, sometime 4 time a year for close to about 20 years.  The last several we’ve enjoyed it with our awesome daughter 


So last trip was about a week after Hagrids had opened and that was still when they were experiencing insanely long times (relatively speaking vs. now)  and many more technical issues. We attempted to ride back then, got in the line with like 270 minutes showing, decided to shift over to the single rider. We stalled a few times after waiting ~3 hours - finally made it down the stairs, it was a hot one that was back in June!  We finally made it into the final staging room and the line stopped and we got the technical issue messages - hung tough for another hour or so And it finally shut down, total time about 4.5 hours 

I’ve been following this thread for several weeks, since we were headed back in October, excited about what appeared to be some improvement.

Well, we are here now, came in yesterday evening, our only real plan this trip was to ride Hagrid’s before we leave (on Monday). 

We decided on queuing up early this morning - keep in mind it’s a bit crowded this weekend - so when we got to the gates at 8:30a there was already a big line, probably 250+ people packed up at the gate area.

The staff opened a touch early about 8:50a and everyone kind of flowed into lines, or line-like groups . We were into the park and at the end of the Hagrid’s line by about 9:10a at they had ropes starting that led us into the Sinbad attraction (which was kind of fun), by about 9:30a and at that time the app was showing 135 minute wait time.

From there it was an hour - we went through the regular line - got on the ride right at 10:30a.  So 8:30a - 10:30a but other course 30 minutes of that was not park time.

The ride is spectacular!  I’ll write up some additional thoughts later 

Bonus:  we hopped over to Forbidden Journey that showed 130 minutes- we went into the single rider line and we’re off it before 11a !  My wife and daughter even rode together 

For the rest of the day the times mostly showed 135, there was a small window it was 150, and later this afternoon it dropped to 120 and had been like that till right now - still open at 5:42p.


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## glamdring269

Managed to ride this morning before heading to the airport.  This time I took the sidecar and now know for sure that I definitely prefer the bike. Either way the ride is awesome and I hope they find a way to create more experiences like it.


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## georgina

I will echo the 2 posts above - it is a great ride!  Home now and woke up to frost this morning


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## BruinsDad

We got in line a little after opening (9:15) and were told 4 hours so we got out. I ran into someone I was in line with later and they said it was actually 2.5 hours. We got back in line at 2:20 with a posted wait of 100 minutes actual wait time was 90 minutes.  The water fountains and refreshment cart were handy.


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## NYDisneyKid

What I don't understand is why the single rider line doesn't start till half way through the line


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## Disxuni

NYDisneyKid said:


> What I don't understand is why the single rider line doesn't start till half way through the line



Well, technically SR queues are typically really short anyway.

They might change so you can go directly into the SR line once it's popularity cools down a little bit. For now, I have a feeling it's a tactic to lessen the chances of people using it strictly to get a lower wait time. Also, like I said, usually the queues for SRs are short, which is done as they're deemed unnecessary as they're not intended to be long and probably to know when a good cut off is when to stop accepting SRs.


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## AngiTN

Disxuni said:


> Well, technically SR queues are typically really short anyway.
> 
> They might change so you can go directly into the SR line once it's popularity cools down a little bit. For now, I have a feeling it's a tactic to* lessen the chances of people using it strictly to get a lower wait time.* Also, like I said, usually the queues for SRs are short, which is done as they're deemed unnecessary as they're not intended to be long and probably to know when a good cut off is when to stop accepting SRs.


What does this mean? Is there some rule that says a guest can't opt to go single rider on any ride just to get a lower wait time? Does Universal care why a particular person gets on the single rider line. To my knowledge the only stipulation attached is you will ride single. As in not with your party, though sometimes you get really lucky. I'm unaware that there is any other requirement to use it.


----------



## Disxuni

AngiTN said:


> What does this mean? Is there some rule that says a guest can't opt to go single rider on any ride just to get a lower wait time? Does Universal care why a particular person gets on the single rider line. To my knowledge the only stipulation attached is you will ride single. As in not with your party, though sometimes you get really lucky. I'm unaware that there is any other requirement to use it.



No, there isn't a rule, but we all know very well that a lot of people do use it only to get a lower wait time. Universal created it for a specific purpose and I think Universal is seeing a pattern of it becoming an issue of people excessively using it, which is causing them to shut it down. While it's been two years since I've been to the park, Gringott's was notorious for this issue, even with it being open for a couple of years.

Does Universal care why people use it? Probably not. What we do know is regardless it is a problem and while Universal supports the right for people to use it (as they do not create rules for those lines, nor remove the SR option all together) they might at the same time think it might be necessary to think of other ways on how to keep it under control. As regardless of the rights of the guest, they do not spend the time and effort in creating an SR queue only to use it a minimal of the time due to excessive use and have to have TMs distracted on spending extra time and effort on keeping an eye on it and opening / closing it.


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## Starlite66

Our experience was different from what I've followed over the last few weeks so something must have been off. Arrived at entrance at 8:10, followed crowd in, were in line by the Kebab House when queue and ride opened at 9:30. TM had told us it would be 30-45 mins from that point once the ride opened, that ended up being 2 hours and we didn't get on the ride until 11:35. Had we have realized that we would not have waited. We had never ridden before so the queue was very frustrating not knowing what was next or how close we were to the end. We were doing baby swap which was painful, Disney's process is much better as the non riders don't have to wait in line. We hadn't used it all week since we had express pass. Our 5 year old qualifies for a disability pass but again we didn't get one since we had express pass. Now realizing that our 2 and 5 year olds had to wait in line with us at Hagrid's we would have gotten and utilized the disability pass just for that ride.


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## baseballgal

Because I followed this topic intently before our trip last week, I decided to post about our experience this past week.  We rode Hagrid's twice, so everyone in our party of 4 got to ride in both the motorcycle and the side car.  We arrived last Thursday and were staying at Loews for the first part of our trip, so we had both the express pass and early entry on Thursday and Friday.  (Not that it helped us ride Hagrid, but did affect the decisions we made as what we wanted to do with our time.)  Since we knew we wouldn't have express on our last day (which was Sunday), I knew we could wait in the line without "wasting express pass time" BUT I also didn't want to take the chance of the ride being down and missing it all together.  We went to the studios both Thursday and Friday morning for the early entry first.  Then despite what I read, decided to try taking the train back to IOA and getting in the line for Hagrid.  First mistake was not getting to the train station quick enough.  Even with the express pass, we missed the first train of the day.  Second, as was mentioned here, once we got to IOA we had to walk down past the line to try find the end as more and more people were getting in the queue.  At that point (around 9:25), the cast member was saying to expect at least 2 hr wait.  We didn't want to spend our first morning waiting, so we decided to try later.  Since it was my kids (ages 9 and 11) first trip to Universal, we instead tried to get on as many rides as possible using the express pass and enjoyed riding their favorites multiple times.  On Friday, I knew I wanted to try and get on Hagrids but still didn't want to give up the early morning hours to wait in line, so I set my phone to notify me if the line went below 90 minutes.  Around 1:30 (close to the 2:00 parade, maybe??), I saw it was at 85 minutes.  We had just finished lunch at 3 Broomsticks, so we headed there.  The line queue said 120 but my app still said 85, and we got in line.  We waited just a little less than the 2 hours (but more than the 85 minutes) and as far as I know, there were no delays on the ride.  So the app was off a good bit.  We all LOVED it but the line was back at 180 when we got off and no one wanted to wait again.  Sunday morning, we went straight to IOA arriving at the entrance around 8.  About 30 people in front of us.  They started letting us in about 8:50 and we walked as quickly as possible (with a good many running past us) and got in line.  Waited about 35 minutes - with a lot of that being steady walking through the queue.  Everyone loved it again but the line was at 4 hours shortly after we got off!  We were thrilled we got to ride it twice and decided to head to Volcano Bay to end our weekend. (Unrelated, I loved the tapu tapu system there!)  As for the ride - I loved the smoothness (especially after all the jerky motion simulator rides), the speed and without giving away details, it definitely provided the thrills my kids are always looking for.  All in all, a successful trip.


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## georgina

I agree with the above about single rider lines. If so many people get in it that it is essentially useless, might as well make everyone go through the regular line. As a frequent solo traveler/single rider, I appreciate Universal having SR lines. I don't mind if groups of adults go in it if it is significantly shorter, but if it becomes overwhelmingly long it doesn't do anyone any good. I did see an issue with the SR line at FJ on Saturday, as a whole family with small children were in it, not understanding what it was.


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## Lashed34

Maybe they should give out single rider passes for people to use on entry.


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## mfly

Rode today. Hagrid’s was listed as opening at park open until a few minutes before the park actually opened - then it changed to delayed. Reopened ~9:30, but the line jumped nearly immediately to 120 minutes. Team Members we’re reporting that they expected the line was closer to 3 hours. We waited to ride until right at 1, since the ride was posted as closing early today. Wait time was still posted as 120 minutes, actually took 75 minutes. We loved it! All of us said it was definitely worth the wait and was the best of the HP rides (even one of us who hates thrill rides).


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## pepperandchips

We got in line today at 11:54 with a posted wait time of 105 minutes. We actually waited about 65 minutes and did not hear any announcements of delays or breakdowns. We loved it!!!

The TM who was asking about party sizes was proactively asking the odd numbered groups of people whether the single from that party wanted the bike, and if so, was instructing the person from the single rider line to follow them and take the sidecar.


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## Disxuni

georgina said:


> I agree with the above about single rider lines. If so many people get in it that it is essentially useless, might as well make everyone go through the regular line. As a frequent solo traveler/single rider, I appreciate Universal having SR lines. I don't mind if groups of adults go in it if it is significantly shorter, but if it becomes overwhelmingly long it doesn't do anyone any good. *I did see an issue with the SR line at FJ on Saturday, as a whole family with small children were in it, not understanding what it was.*



Yes, this is another issue that gives TM a little extra work / awkwardness to deal with. I've had moments where at the end there is the moment of having to tell a family they would all be separated only for this to be complete news to them, as well as several people starting to head for the SR line simply, because they happen to see one, or two people around the same time go into that line. With situations such as this, I've even seen TMs ask guests if they were SRs with them confessing of being unaware it was a SR line, walking out, and go to the regular queue.

Once again, all guests have the right to do whatever they wish and misunderstands happen all the time, but it's just something else to consider why Universal might want more control on the SR line. Considering how many stories I've heard on this thread of people saying they would be in the regular queue, a TM would randomly ask them if they were a SR and take them off to the side to join the SR line when it was stated it was closed. Whether it was then announced open after the fact and that is why, I do not know, but it's a story I've heard multiple times from different guests.


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## Spike101

I rode it last Wednesday, got to the gates at IOA at 7.25 so was right at the front, they let us in at about 8.45, I half speed walked/ran, terrible I knew but got caught up in the frenzy and excitement of it all, anyhoo got to the bit where they hold you just before Hogsmeade about 7th in line behind half a dozen kids, obviously all younger and faster than me!

However, very shortly after, most of these kids were joined by the rest of their families, who the team members let in the front of the queue to join their little darlings, who they'd obviously sent ahead to bag a place at the front, very unfair I thought, it seems petty to moan, but I knew I'd drop back a few places having to put my backpack in a locker, but still, if the ride had gone down after the first couple of cycles, the fact that I'd been pushed even further down the line would have left me feeling a tad unhappy to say the least.

Anyhoo, they let us into Hogsmeade at about 9.20 and I was on the ride at 9.35, I could have had the cycle but opted instead for the sidecar on the back row, much to the surprise of the chap I sat next to, and in hindsight that was the right decision, I wouldnt have felt secure on the bike but in the sidecar I was fine, and wow, in the back row, that ride is FAST!

So all in all loved the ride, glad I got to do it but in all honesty wouldnt put myself through all that again.


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## MaskedRacer

Back home!  What a __great__ long weekend, HHN '19 was epic   We had terrific luck with lines, weather was amazing, food was all delicious (highly recommend checking out Bar 17 on top of the Aventura, it's semi-open and a spectacular view).

So per my post above, we rode Hagrid's saturday, we skipped trying on Sunday, and figured we'd give it a shot Monday.   This time, we didn't do an early gate,  slept in, figured we'd try a late morning / early afternoon ride.   We got over to the park, zero lines to get in (it was kind of quiet-ish), checked the time for Hagrid's saw a 120 minutes, figured we'd give it a shot, walked into the actual outside queue and stopped in line right at 11:45a.   The line chugged along pretty decently, a few extra pause here and there - when we got to the SR split, it was closed, we had intended to try that this pass.

At least one time in the first 30 minutes, we saw the wait time drop to 105, but it was mostly 120 (we checked it as long we could before we lost connectivity). 

When we got down to the the last part of the line, under the see through ceiling, there were actually people over in the SR line. <meh_face>

Same drill as Saturday, 3 of us, wife and daughter had a car, I was the odd man out   I got asked this time if I wanted sidecar or cycle, I almost took the sidecar since I did the cycle previously, but decided to ride it again, the ladies swapped seats this time!

We were off the ride at 12:55p, so 1h 10m with 120 minute wait time shown - I will say we had a couple of what felt like slightly longer pauses in the line movement than I recall from Saturday (even knowing there's a controlled stop in the middle of the line for a mini show).  I did check when we sat down at Cowfish around 1:45p, and it was showing 150 minutes.

2nd time was even better than the first, the coaster elements are spectacular, the theming is good, it's nice and long, riding the bike is very open and thrilling, but the wife said the sidecar actually felt faster and a little more intense/kinetic vs. more flow on the cycle.  I'll definitely have to try it next time.


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## Scoobie

Spike101 said:


> I rode it last Wednesday


How was your trip? Did you end up riding more than once? We won't be there until Dec., but really excited to ride this - although we wear robes so will have to have a  plan if we don't want to end up in the side car.


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## tjmw2727

georgina said:


> I agree with the above about single rider lines. If so many people get in it that it is essentially useless, might as well make everyone go through the regular line. As a frequent solo traveler/single rider, I appreciate Universal having SR lines. I don't mind if groups of adults go in it if it is significantly shorter, but if it becomes overwhelmingly long it doesn't do anyone any good. I did see an issue with the SR line at FJ on Saturday, as a whole family with small children were in it, not understanding what it was.



OT - Since when do SR lines have "rules" other than that the guest is willing to fill in the otherwise empty seats/spaces?   Some rides are slower loading than others to allow TM's to group odd/even parties from the standby/EP lines together; others benefit from the TM having the ability to quickly 'grab" singles to fill the seats quickly.

I would say that the more people who use the single rider line it the more useful it is! 

The SR lines are not for anyone's benefit except to keep the standby/express line moving quicker by loading otherwise empty seats.  If TM's (or CM's) aren't loading properly that's a procedure issue and not a guest abuse issue.

We use them all the time especially on 2 seater attractions as we are a party of 3 and one of us would always be seated with a SR anyway 

AFAIK there is no rule against families using the SR lines as long as all riders are old enough and willing to ride alone and fill in an otherwise empty seat.

Back On Topic - we will be in the parks mid November and Late December and I am watching this thread closely for tips on riding this - it sounds amazing!  As a party of 3 we would definitely use the SR line if available since we don't care where or with whom we sit


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## blondie511

Rode it last week.  for you disney fans........if Expedition Everest, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and Thunder Mountain Railroad all combined ....you would get the Hagrid’s ride!  Everyone that I spoke with agreed!


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## Disxuni

tjmw2727 said:


> OT - Since when do SR lines have "rules" other than that the guest is willing to fill in the otherwise empty seats/spaces?



It's not a debate on if there are rules, or not rules. We've already established there are no rules. Simply theorizing reasoning of why Universal (potentially) might want to do subtle things to keep better control of the SR line as clearly we've seen the numbers of people using these lines dramatically increase when certain rides are popular which causes them to be shut down and defeats the purpose of the line.


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## osufeth24

Anyone know the status toddy? Doesn't seem it's open at the moment. We're on our way now


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## FireflyTrance

Can someone give me a strategy for riding this when we have a toddler? We can get there at park opening but probably can't get to the ride as quickly as fast walking adults without kids. We have 3 people that want to ride and one toddler that won't be able to. Any tips/ideas on what to do?


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## donnegirl

As anyone had experience riding/attempting to ride with an assistance pass recently? How was the process? I was able to find a few reports from right after opening but nothing more recently.


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## Lashed34

I've been watching this thread so intently - any experiences over Sat & Sun people can tell us about?


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## 3doodlebugsmom

So we were at Universal Thursday October 17th thru Sunday October 20th.  Saturday we went to IOA.  It was pouring buckets all morning and Hagrids was closed. When the rain slowed down, (it was about 11:00) they opened the line telling people that the ride was still closed, but they were hoping to open the ride as weather permitted.  Rain stopped around 12:30 and we decided to enter the line.  The ride was still closed.  I'm happy to say they finally opened the ride and we were done by 2:15! Awesome ride...  best in the park.  We went back to the park on Sunday about 11:00.   The park was packed and the line was at 150 minutes.  We didn't bother getting in line.  They also had a sign out saying hagrids would be closing early.  It looks like they close the line around 6 or 6:30 each night.
A couple of notes
On the single rider line.... as per a TM, that line closes when it gets too long.  When it shortens they open it back up.  If you get to Hagrid's hut, you missed the single rider line.  Also when you just get past hagrids hut, the wait is about one hour and twenty minutes.


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## Linkura

3doodlebugsmom said:


> So we were at Universal Thursday October 17th thru Sunday October 20th.  Saturday we went to IOA.  It was pouring buckets Saturday morning and Hagrids was closed. When the rain slowed down, they opened the line telling people they were hoping to open the ride


I was looking at the wait times and it looks like it did open eventually, and even stayed open later than usual (still closed before park close of course).

Less than 2 days before I finally get a chance to try this out!


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## Erica_Haley

I rode it for the 3rd time Saturday, my grandmother's first time. I think it was right before 4pm when we were in line at the Butterbeer cart and saw they opened the line again. So of course we made a mad dash to jump in line. After we passed the lockers and walking through the arch, the wait time said 90 minutes. But we were getting onto the ride in an hour with no delays! My grandmother absolutely loved it and said it's her new favorite ride


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## Insert Name Here

I rode it first thing this morning. Got in line outside the park around 8:10. My line  already had about 15 people in it. They started letting people in the gates at 8:45. Once I reached the Hagrid’s line, TMs were announcing it was in extended delay and they did not have an estimated open time. Stayed in line and glad I did because the delay was short. I was off the ride by 9:40. Went to check back later around 3:30 and the ride was already at capacity (not sure when this happened). I overheard a TM say they had to have everybody off the ride by 5 PM for scheduled maintenance.


----------



## ksromack

FireflyTrance said:


> Can someone give me a strategy for riding this when we have a toddler? We can get there at park opening but probably can't get to the ride as quickly as fast walking adults without kids. We have 3 people that want to ride and one toddler that won't be able to. Any tips/ideas on what to do?


We will be in the same boat for our 1.5 days in December.  It'll be dh, myself, ds, d-dil, and dgd (who will be too short to ride ANYTHING)!  I understand all need to get in line together to do the child swap but I'm not thinking that will be feasible with a 15 month old.  Has anyone had luck and what was your strategy for this?


----------



## damo

FireflyTrance said:


> Can someone give me a strategy for riding this when we have a toddler? We can get there at park opening but probably can't get to the ride as quickly as fast walking adults without kids. We have 3 people that want to ride and one toddler that won't be able to. Any tips/ideas on what to do?



You're going to have to break up and take the toddler to the play areas while the others ride.  I don't think you want to be taking the toddler with you through the line.  This is one time where the child swap isn't the best.  I'd have a couple of people do it at opening and then watch the ap.

We're going to be in the same boat in December and we'll just break up.


----------



## Matthew81

What is there to do while waiting in line for my impatient 12 year old son?  Is a 3prong fanny pack with phone inside allowed on this ride so he can play on phone while waiting?


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## nikkita

Got in line for IoA at 8am today 
Waiting to get in park. 
App says ride opening at 9am currently 
Will report back intermittently

Gates opened 840am

Was told delayed open for ride (lies) 
In cattle queue at 850am
Told 45min from Lockers 
Lockers by 9am
At front of queue 910am, didn't even see pre show as line just kept moving 
Off ride 915am

App says 150min wait now 

Bammmmm 

Getting brekkie at Three Broomsticks now!


Aaaaand ride is "at capacity" at 3pm today


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## TommyJK

Matthew81 said:


> What is there to do while waiting in line for my impatient 12 year old son?  Is a 3prong fanny pack with phone inside allowed on this ride so he can play on phone while waiting?



Yes.  You can do the above.


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## Linkura

Got in the DAS/express line around 2:50. Saw trains going as I walked through the queue. As soon as I get indoors I hear a “minor delay.” At 3pm sharp I checked and it’s at capacity. They just said at 3:17 it’s going to be “an extended delay.”

Of course.

I’m gonna wait till a few minutes after 3:30 a just come back tomorrow if we’re still stuck. I got through Saturday morning.


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## Beckyjthomas

I really appreciate all of you who report your experience. We have one day at universal (I know it's not enough - but it is what it is) we are doing both parks and can get in early to USF . . . but we really want to ride Hagrid's.

Or should we get that extra hour in at USF and head over mid-day and get right in the line for Hagrids? We'll be there November 4th.  Appreciate all your help!

I'm leaning toward skipping the early morning and waiting to rope drop Hagrids then doing all the other stuff we can . . . thoughts? We won't be doing much of the huge roller coasters, but do want to do all the Harry Potter and Jurassic stuff.


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## Linkura

Left the line at 4 fwiw. It’s my first day so.....


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## Linkura

Beckyjthomas said:


> I really appreciate all of you who report your experience. We have one day at universal (I know it's not enough - but it is what it is) we are doing both parks and can get in early to USF . . . but we really want to ride Hagrid's.
> 
> Or should we get that extra hour in at USF and head over mid-day and get right in the line for Hagrids? We'll be there November 4th.  Appreciate all your help!
> 
> I'm leaning toward skipping the early morning and waiting to rope drop Hagrids then doing all the other stuff we can . . . thoughts? We won't be doing much of the huge roller coasters, but do want to do all the Harry Potter and Jurassic stuff.


I’d do rope drop for Hagrid’s. Already experienced what it’s like if you wait until midday... you might never get on. Lots of gutted people who left the line and it was their last day....


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## nikkita

Beckyjthomas said:


> I really appreciate all of you who report your experience. We have one day at universal (I know it's not enough - but it is what it is) we are doing both parks and can get in early to USF . . . but we really want to ride Hagrid's.
> 
> Or should we get that extra hour in at USF and head over mid-day and get right in the line for Hagrids? We'll be there November 4th.  Appreciate all your help!
> 
> I'm leaning toward skipping the early morning and waiting to rope drop Hagrids then doing all the other stuff we can . . . thoughts? We won't be doing much of the huge roller coasters, but do want to do all the Harry Potter and Jurassic stuff.


Rope drop. We are gonna do it again on Thursday


----------



## wisblue

I agree with the recommendations to start the day at Hagrid’s.

Today was our Universal day and, after following this thread and watching wait times for the last few weeks, we decided to get to UO early and hope for the best in terms of the ride actually opening on time and staying open long enough for us to get on.

We arrived about 8, bought our tickets, and got in line at the IOA entrance gates. There were 6 people ahead of us in line, and about 12 lines forming. They did not let anyone into the park until about 8:40 and, unlike what some others have reported on their park days, they let people go unchecked all the way from the gate to the Hagrids ride. That probably worked out well for us. Although we are not inclined to ignore the rules and safety considerations, my 67 year old arthritic knees preclude me from going any faster than a fast walk. After we got through the gate, dozens, if not a few hundred, people sprinted past us. But, after a while we had gotten enough of a head start on the folks going through the ticket scanning process that only an occasional group was able to charge past us. If there had been an intermediate stop that would have allowed another wave of runners to get ahead of us.

As we entered the Lost Continent  area, the parade to Hagrid was funneled into a narrow path that circled around the Poseidon building before heading to Hogsmeade. We did not have to stop walking until we were well inside the building immediately preceding the ride. We got there about 8:55 and the ride was operating. We were on an off the ride at 9:07, much earlier than I imagined in my most optimistic moments.

So, we waited about an hour to get on the ride, but it was all before IOA‘s official opening time. With that start we were able to ride Forbidden Journey, get the train to Kings Cross, and ride Gringotts, all with short waits and all by 10:15. That allowed us to spend the rest of the very hot day doing other rides and walking through Hogsmeade  and Diagon Alley.

BTW, the ride was as good as advertised. By far my favorite of the three main Harry Potter rides.


----------



## StarGirl11

Linkura said:


> Got in the DAS/express line around 2:50. Saw trains going as I walked through the queue. As soon as I get indoors I hear a “minor delay.” At 3pm sharp I checked and it’s at capacity. They just said at 3:17 it’s going to be “an extended delay.”
> 
> Of course.
> 
> I’m gonna wait till a few minutes after 3:30 a just come back tomorrow if we’re still stuck. I got through Saturday morning.



Question were you in that line due to DAS or because of a return express ticket? I’m asking because I have yet to find anything about DAS and riding Hagrids with all the going down.


----------



## Linkura

StarGirl11 said:


> Question were you in that line due to DAS or because of a return express ticket? I’m asking because I have yet to find anything about DAS and riding Hagrids with all the going down.


Express ruby pass, but most people were in there with DAS. Not sure what type of recompense was given to DAS people. I at least didn’t have to give up my pass, but I still wasted over an hour with no recompense.

I leisurely got to the park around 930 today since I had my pass. Unfortunately around this time even ruby pass people need to go in the Lost Continent line to the lockers, when they can go in the DAS/express line. Thankfully this only took like 15 minutes, though the first person I asked said a half hour, which I find unacceptable for someone who already got a pass for waiting and not riding.

At any rate, probably another 15 minutes after the lockers and was finally on. 150 minutes posted. By the time I got out, there was no extended queue. So my suggestion is #1: go at rope drop and if you can’t make rd, go after 10 to avoid the extended queue. But not much later because you don’t want to end up getting screwed by a breakdown and unable to ride for the rest of the day.

Ride is phenomenal and I’d wager the only reason why Universal’s poor ops management is trapping people in lines for hours with almost no info and getting away with it. Imagine if they did this with something like Jimmy Fallon or F&F.


----------



## istillbelieve

We had a great experience today!  We got to the parks a bit after 1 ish and stopped to get some snacks and water and headed to the ride. We had to use the lockers, which was a bit of a mess. We got into the line with our snacks and water at 2:03 with a posted wait time of 90 minutes. We were off the ride at 3:10 and it seemed to go by really fast. The ride was worth every minute we were in line. We should have gotten back in because they were letting people but as much as we loved it, my kids wanted to go hit up other rides.
We just arrived today so this was our first day in the parks and hagrids was just amazing. I am so happy we didn’t research the ride in advance so it had so many surprises. Can’t wait to ride it again!


----------



## kittylady1972

Finally posting also about my Hagrids experiences.

Monday got in line around 1:20pm with a 120 minute wait shown.  Pretty much took that long.  There was a time when I got just inside the building that we didn't move for  forever.   It is right before they release you to the room for the way too early preshow.  There was no announcement about a delay but rain was approaching as I entered the building.  Met another single rider in line and chatted with her so by the time we reached the front we were a party of 2.  This was her second time riding so she gave me the bike.  It was awesome.  Also the way they do that single rider line opening and closing at random times is just a joke.

Today for in line at 3:08pm with a 90 minute wait shown.  Line was clearly moving very well.  There was NO preshow operating.  I was on right around 60 minutes and rode sidecar with a rider from the single rider line.  Still awesome. 

Glad I was finally able to experience it and hope they continue to improve the coaster and the wait.


----------



## C&B Young

Rode it on Tuesday. Had a 90 minute posted wait time most of the morning. Entered queue at 12:12, was in show building at 12:31, on ride at 1:10, total wait 58 minutes. By the time we were finished wait time was posted at 120 minutes.


----------



## nikkita

Riding for second time this morning. In line at IoA by 745. DH was eager to get here today!

My turn for the bike today 
I let DH ride bike first time around 

Updates later/below....

App saying ride "closed" at 815am. Expecting delayed opening maybe?  (other day opened right on time)

Park opened 840am
At Lockers 845am
Walk onto ride by 850
Off ride by 857am

Heading to Gringotts now! 

P. S the bike is definately the more intense experience
P. P. S, we never run. We just walk as fast as we can. Plenty of others run ahead though


----------



## CPanther95

What are the restrictions for what needs to go in a locker (fanny pack? as restrictive as Hulk?) 

... and does it make a significant difference in wait time at opening if you don't require a locker?


----------



## nikkita

CPanther95 said:


> What are the restrictions for what needs to go in a locker (fanny pack? as restrictive as Hulk?)
> 
> ... and does it make a significant difference in wait time at opening if you don't require a locker?


Fanny pack fine. Everything else, put it away or risk losing it 
Tuck lanyards into shirt

Designate one party member to be locker person while the rest continue in line and then they can catch up.
Takes about 30-60 seconds depending how much stuff you have


----------



## MeridaAnn

CPanther95 said:


> What are the restrictions for what needs to go in a locker (fanny pack? as restrictive as Hulk?)
> 
> ... and does it make a significant difference in wait time at opening if you don't require a locker?



You're allowed to have items in your pockets as well, unlike on Hulk, but no bags other than the 3-prong fanny packs (and they do check the clasp). If you're wearing a hat, they'll ask you to hold it or sit on it. And, the last I saw, you're allowed to wear the wizard robes on the sidecar, but not on the motorcycle.

The lockers only take a few seconds - if you're there solo and you have no one else in the group to catch up to, you might slip back a couple places in line, but it's totally negligible compared to the overall wait. The lockers at Hagrid's use your park ticket, not a fingerprint, so have the ticket out already as you approach the lockers to make it as quick as possible, and make sure you have a pocket or lanyard where you can keep the ticket while you ride.

Also note that the free lockers have *very* low clearance top to bottom. I've had to take items out of my purse before and set it in the locker separately because otherwise my bag is too "fat" to fit in, even though everything fits fine in the locker separately. I wouldn't recommend a backpack, unless it's very small and flat or unless you're willing to pay for the larger locker.


----------



## istillbelieve

Rode again today with a 75 minute wait at 2pm and waited less than 45 minutes and my kids agree, it is worth it!


----------



## Candycane83

I heard you can put a notification on the app to alert you when the wait is a certain time? Is this true? And how do you do it if it is?


----------



## The Pho

Candycane83 said:


> I heard you can put a notification on the app to alert you when the wait is a certain time? Is this true? And how do you do it if it is?


Go into the App and select the ride, it’s the first option within the ride screen.


----------



## Hopingforpixiedust

When does everyone thing the Express Pass will be allowed for this ride?


----------



## nikkita

Hopingforpixiedust said:


> When does everyone thing the Express Pass will be allowed for this ride?


Well, I believe Forbidden Journey only received express in 2017 (opened in 2010), so I'd say Hagrid's will have a long wait too


----------



## imprint

I don't remember how long it took for Gringotts to get Express, but it wasn't too long (2 years?).  Since the new park is scheduled to open in 2023, I assume it would have Express in 1-2 years.  Fingers crossed it will have Express next fall, because it is a ridiculously awesome ride.


----------



## MeridaAnn

I rode again on Saturday and it was great! (I tried to post my timeline as soon as I got off, but the popups on this site are so awful on my phone that I couldn't even click on the text box before being redirected, so I had to wait to get back to a real computer.) Here's my timeline - 

8:35 - got in line at entrance (I had been aiming for an 8:00 arrival, but I got off to a later start than I had intended and some rain during the drive from St. Pete slowed me down a bit, too.)

8:40 - gates open, start scanning guests in

8:47 - I scanned in and started at a quick walk towards the back. The extended queue was set up, but they didn't make us go down beside or into the Sinbad theater - we only had to use the section in front of the theater. One of the TMs stated that the wait time was 90 minutes (though I actually waited much less than that).

I didn't have pockets, so I had to put my phone in the locker and I don't know the exact times for the line after this, but they had us walk straight through the preshow room without running the show and the line didn't stop moving until I was in the cave hallway after the egg room. The Single Rider line wasn't open when I passed it, although I wouldn't have used it anyway because I wanted the bike.

They have rearranged the very last segment of the line since my last visit, as some other people have mentioned in here, so you have to be single file, eliminating the problem I had last time with the person from the Single Rider line ending up closer to the bike when we reached the car. This time, there was no question of who went where, and it went very smoothly.

I got the front seat again, which is just so cool! You can't see anyone else behind you and it feels like you're on your own private ride. The spur for the reversal definitely feels a bit more intense from the front, with nothing in front of you but sky, contrasting with when I rode closer to the back, where it felt more like just a gentle rocking motion before we started going backwards. For anyone concerned about heights or drops, this is the only part I think might be a bit of an issue - just try to get towards the back of the train where it's more mild.

9:40 - Already off the ride and back at the lockers. The listed wait was over 2 hours at this point, though I don't remember the exact number they said. As a side note, I really dislike the new lockers that scan your ticket. Like I said, my outfit didn't have pockets (I got dressed in a hurry and didn't think about it), so I had to stick my ticket in my shoe. I guess I need to get a lanyard, but I find them really uncomfortable.

The ride was as awesome as on my previous visits. I still won't call it my absolute favorite ride, because Flight of Passage holds that place in my heart, but Hagrid's is definitely in my top 3! 

My gut impression from following this thread and from my own visits is that they seem to have the ride ready to go at park opening more consistently on Saturdays than on weekdays, but I haven't done any formal tracking to be able to back that up - it's just the general feeling I've gotten.


----------



## NYHeel

Anyone know if they're going to start having IOA be the early park opening for Universal hotel guests? We're going in mid-January and plan to be at Universal 1/20-1/21. The only issue is that 1/20 is MLK day and 1/21 is our last day in Universal and I really don't want to miss Hagrid's. We do have Express Pass so if we have to wait 2 hours, at least we can do the other stuff quickly.


----------



## Linkura

NYHeel said:


> Anyone know if they're going to start having IOA be the early park opening for Universal hotel guests? We're going in mid-January and plan to be at Universal 1/20-1/21. The only issue is that 1/20 is MLK day and 1/21 is our last day in Universal and I really don't want to miss Hagrid's. We do have Express Pass so if we have to wait 2 hours, at least we can do the other stuff quickly.


Keep checking the website, but they haven't had early park opening at IOA since this has opened I believe.  And I wouldn't count on it being open even if they have early opening at IOA.


----------



## Disxuni

NYHeel said:


> Anyone know if they're going to start having IOA be the early park opening for Universal hotel guests? We're going in mid-January and plan to be at Universal 1/20-1/21. The only issue is that 1/20 is MLK day and 1/21 is our last day in Universal and I really don't want to miss Hagrid's. We do have Express Pass so if we have to wait 2 hours, at least we can do the other stuff quickly.



It's been_ ages _since they had EE over at IoA. If they didn't do it for the opening of Hagrid's I doubt they'll do it anytime soon. If it happens at all in the future it would be out of the blue. You can always check before your trip. On the website Universal only shows two months at a time, so you wouldn't be able to see EE information for January right now anyway.

The only reason I can think of them not wanting to do EE for IoA anymore is the fact that Hogsmeade fills up fast and while it will always happen eventually, I guess they don't want it to be packed and filled already before regular guests get a chance to get inside the park. It's a very claustrophobic section compared to Diagon Alley. That is honestly the only reason I can think of as to why it's been so long since they have had EE at IoA.


----------



## NYHeel

Disxuni said:


> It's been_ ages _since they had EE over at IoA. If they didn't do it for the opening of Hagrid's I doubt they'll do it anytime soon. If it happens at all in the future it would be out of the blue. You can always check before your trip. On the website Universal only shows two months at a time, so you wouldn't be able to see EE information for January right now anyway.
> 
> The only reason I can think of them not wanting to do EE for IoA anymore is the fact that Hogsmeade fills up fast and while it will always happen eventually, I guess they don't want it to be packed and filled already before regular guests get a chance to get inside the park. It's a very claustrophobic section compared to Diagon Alley. That is honestly the only reason I can think of as to why it's been so long since they have had EE at IoA.


Thanks. Last time I was at Universal in January of 2016, they had early park admission in both parks. But I can see that Hogsmeade fills up very quickly. Just thought that this would be a nice hotel benefit if it helps get guests get on Hagrid's a little easier.


----------



## Disxuni

NYHeel said:


> Thanks. Last time I was at Universal in January of 2016, they had early park admission in both parks. But I can see that Hogsmeade fills up very quickly. Just thought that this would be a nice hotel benefit if it helps get guests get on Hagrid's a little easier.



Yeah, last time I was an AP is when they had EE at IoA and while I haven't been in the parks in a couple of years, on and off I've been checking and keeping on eye out of curiosity and never noticed it going back and has been strictly Universal for quite sometime. I cannot confirm when was the exact last time it was at IoA, but it's been awhile. A lot of people thought they'd finally bring it back due to the opening, but it never did. So, if it didn't happen for that I would imagine if it ever magically happens again it be quite random. 

The only event I can think of them opening it up again (for non-random reasons) would be when EPIC opens since then there would be even more variety of parks for people to branch off to, but who knows.


----------



## Linkura

NYHeel said:


> Thanks. Last time I was at Universal in January of 2016, they had early park admission in both parks. But I can see that Hogsmeade fills up very quickly. Just thought that this would be a nice hotel benefit if it helps get guests get on Hagrid's a little easier.


At this point they need to have the ride closed for maintenance for as long as they humanly can every day.  Even an extra hour would be too much.  It's still not working reliably.


----------



## Candycane83

The Pho said:


> Go into the App and select the ride, it’s the first option within the ride screen.
> View attachment 447553


Thanks! Hmmm, not sure why but mine doesn’t show that... wonder if it’s because I’m in Canada?


----------



## The Pho

Candycane83 said:


> Thanks! Hmmm, not sure why but mine doesn’t show that... wonder if it’s because I’m in Canada?
> View attachment 448428


The park is closed so you can’t set it.  Check again when they open.


----------



## FSU Girl

I'm going in a week, have the lines gotten any better for this ride? I won't wait in a line that's over an hour and we'll only be in the park for one day. Trying to figure out a game plan to get on this. I was following this thread for a while when it opened, but haven't for the last few weeks, hoping its improved.


----------



## Disxuni

FSU Girl said:


> I'm going in a week, have the lines gotten any better for this ride? I won't wait in a line that's over an hour and we'll only be in the park for one day. Trying to figure out a game plan to get on this. I was following this thread for a while when it opened, but haven't for the last few weeks, hoping its improved.



Unfortunately, it's too unpredictable to absolutely determine the best time to go that will give you a less than an hour wait. The only thing I can think of as more of a guaranteed is if you go first thing in the morning and do all your waiting in line prior to the official opening and if there is no delay in the morning you can hop on quickly. It will take a lot more time, but technically with that method you'd be waiting definitely less of an hour during park hours at least. Also, if they announce there is a delay (which usually they announce rather quickly in the morning if they know) you can ditch and go about your business. It'll suck if that happens since you waited all that time, but at least most of it would have been during non-operating hours and not during park hours where you could have been enjoying the park.

Other than that, I wouldn't guaranteed anything. Too many mixed reports still to determine that going in the afternoon will guaranteed a less of an hour wait. We have reports of that it being less of the posted wait time, but have also still getting reports of being close of the reported wait time due to delays, which still on average 120 seems to be the posted wait time.

While it's improved a lot, there is still too many mixed reports and stories on this thread to guaranteed a method, especially if you have one day to enjoy the park it's risky. I would suggest to check and read the thread for the next week on what other's experiences have been and then determine what might be best for you.

However, I will also add that if you're wanting to wait period less than an hour wait whether during operating hours, or not, I do not believe there would be no method, or 100% guaranteed for that at this time.


----------



## lvdis

FSU Girl said:


> I'm going in a week, have the lines gotten any better for this ride? I won't wait in a line that's over an hour and we'll only be in the park for one day. Trying to figure out a game plan to get on this. I was following this thread for a while when it opened, but haven't for the last few weeks, hoping its improved.


If you have the Universal Orlando app; when you go in to view the wait time for a ride you can set a wait time alert. Here's a screen shot I found (for Hulk), but it should be the same for any ride. I haven't had a chance to try it myself, but I've read reports of others using it successfully. I hope this helps!


>


----------



## Linkura

lvdis said:


> If you have the Universal Orlando app; when you go in to view the wait time for a ride you can set a wait time alert. Here's a screen shot I found (for Hulk), but it should be the same for any ride. I haven't had a chance to try it myself, but I've read reports of others using it successfully. I hope this helps!


It's highly unlikely it will be 60 minutes or under.


----------



## lvdis

Linkura said:


> It's highly unlikely it will be 60 minutes or under.


True, but you never know!


----------



## Disxuni

lvdis said:


> True, but you never know!



Yeah, anyone can always do it just, because they can. It doesn't hurt to try. However, in the case that people do report waiting less than an hour, the wait time posted (which is the time on the app) has always been over an hour. So far I've only seen one report of a posted wait time on this particular forum as being under an hour (45 minutes) and that was at the least over a month ago. I do want to give hope, but at the same time people need to have realistic expectations. In the case, the wait time was posted as an hour, or less if anyone wants to take advantage of it they should be near Hagrid's to some extent as well.


----------



## nikkita

FSU Girl said:


> I'm going in a week, have the lines gotten any better for this ride? I won't wait in a line that's over an hour and we'll only be in the park for one day. Trying to figure out a game plan to get on this. I was following this thread for a while when it opened, but haven't for the last few weeks, hoping its improved.


Your best bet is rope drop at IoA. Be in queue no later than 8am
They told us both mornings we did rope drop there was a delay, but there was actually none


----------



## CPanther95

Candycane83 said:


> Thanks! Hmmm, not sure why but mine doesn’t show that... wonder if it’s because I’m in Canada?
> View attachment 448428



"Aww, Canadian. They don't need wait times, they'll just politely wait in line indefinitely without complaint."


----------



## Linkura

Disxuni said:


> Yeah, anyone can always do it just, because they can. It doesn't hurt to try. However, in the case that people do report waiting less than an hour, the wait time posted (which is the time on the app) has always been over an hour. So far I've only seen one report of a posted wait time on this particular forum as being under an hour (45 minutes) and that was at the least over a month ago. I do want to give hope, but at the same time people need to have realistic expectations. In the case, the wait time was posted as an hour, or less if anyone wants to take advantage of it they should be near Hagrid's to some extent as well.


Yeah, I think I've only seen it at 45 minutes once ever.  That's it.


----------



## mackabee77

We just returned from a long weekend and rope-dropped on Sunday 10/27 and Monday 10/28 and had two very different waits:

We arrived at the gate area at 8:31 am on Sunday, headed to the leftmost 'line' and found ourselves backed up to around the ticket purchase booth.   They opened the gates around 8:45 or so and we walked briskly to the Hagrid's line.  We spent maybe 10 minutes snaking around until reaching the lockers and after a few more minutes we were inside the castle?  ruins?  whatever.....it was air conditioned and we were thankful for that.   The timestamp on a pic I took when first on the coaster is 9:33 am.   Not too bad.

And we had a nice bonus - the ride broke down for like 8-10 minutes right at the end so they gave us a pass to skip the line - which we used later and waited like 10 minutes.  

On Monday we arrived in the same spot right at the same time - 8:30 am.    Same deal...leftmost line and headed right there.   However this time they announced a delay in opening the ride as we queued up.  We were outside for a very long time and snaked through several areas we had not on the prior day.  Eventually we stopped cold outside (actually it was incredibly warm) but we could hear them testing the ride.  Once we heard screams we knew it was back up and going.   I don't have an exact time but it was closer to 10:15 am before we stepped off the ride.   Not so cool.  The late opening crushed our morning.   

I will say the CMs did a great job managing who is on the cycle and who sits in the sidecar.  Once you communicate your party size the single riders are filled in behind you single file as needed.  First in the pair is the cycle.  Second is sidecar.   It only gets as awkward as the single rider might want to make it.  My wife had a couple of single riders try to swap with her as they noticed we knew each other but she shut them down.   The cycle is totally the way to go in our opinion.  Way, way better than the sidecar.


----------



## christophfam

I think we need to start a new thread - “Team Motorbike or Team Sidecar!”

I’m sure the motorbike would win but I actually preferred the sidecar. Maybe it’s because I’m short. I felt slightly uncomfortable on the bike and couldn’t figure out where to put my short legs. The floor was just too long a stretch lol.


----------



## mackabee77

Ha!  Definitely thread worthy christophfam.  No offense was intended to those who prefer the sidecar : )  Clearly my 'Way, way better' comment is a little over the top.  Also, we split our party up to all ride the bike.  I'd have to weigh the possible shorter single rider wait time vs. guaranteed motorbike/longer regular line wait time.   We find riding with a stranger on this coaster is less awkward as you're not on the same bench seat.   

As an aside - we rode the Slinky Dog Dash for the first time on Saturday and thought it the best new coaster in a long time.   Then we rode Hagrids the next morning and forgot about the other coaster.  Universal hit a home run.    

(Huge RPR fans over here too!)


----------



## pepperandchips

FSU Girl said:


> I'm going in a week, have the lines gotten any better for this ride? I won't wait in a line that's over an hour and we'll only be in the park for one day. Trying to figure out a game plan to get on this. I was following this thread for a while when it opened, but haven't for the last few weeks, hoping its improved.


It’s about 45 minutes or so once you go inside, so you can kinda eyeball the accuracy of the wait time by physically walking into the queue and seeing how far the line is outside of the entrance into the building. When we rode we waited about 65 minutes and the physical end of the line was at the top of the incline to your left when you enter the line. It wasn’t bad at all and there’s plenty to look at in the line. You can bring in phones to the line to entertain yourselves and if the girls are with you. If you guys absolutely can’t wait more than an hour I’d skip it. It was worth the 65 minute wait and I wouldn’t say that about anything at Disney, for what that’s worth. DH agrees and he’s even more line averse than I am!

Edited to add that if they are using any of the overflow queue (outside the former entrance of dragons to the left) it’s way more than an hour, move on!


----------



## planningjollyholiday

Will they let you get in line right before closing and ride it like at Disney? Or do they cut off the line before the park closes?


----------



## Disxuni

planningjollyholiday said:


> Will they let you get in line right before closing and ride it like at Disney? Or do they cut off the line before the park closes?



For _now_, they are closing the attraction prior to closing. However, traditionally with most attractions (as well as potentially in the future with this one once it's fully operational) you can get onto the attraction prior closing.


----------



## mackabee77

planningjollyholiday said:


> Will they let you get in line right before closing and ride it like at Disney? Or do they cut off the line before the park closes?



This past weekend the CM standing watch at the entrance line nexus told us they were shutting down at 3 pm.   We didn't ask if he meant the line shut down or the ride itself.  The park closed at 8 pm I believe on that particular day.


----------



## FoxC63

Sorry for just jumping in.  I did go back a few pages but I'm confused on the 45 minute wait time, is this when using the app? 

Also if I'm at Universal Studios for Early Entry will the train get me to IoA quicker or should we rope drop for "_Step 2: Once you’re in Islands of Adventure.._" ?

   I'm such a Universal Newbie!


----------



## FoxC63

Also are fanny packs allowed on Gringotts?


----------



## DoryGirl1963

FoxC63 said:


> Sorry for just jumping in.  I did go back a few pages but I'm confused on the 45 minute wait time, is this when using the app?
> 
> Also if I'm at Universal Studios for Early Entry will the train get me to IoA quicker or should we rope drop for "_Step 2: Once you’re in Islands of Adventure.._" ?
> 
> View attachment 449599   I'm such a Universal Newbie!


Hogwarts express won't start running over to IOA until 9, so you'll be BEHIND the  rope drop folks - if your goal is to be as early in the Hagrid's line as possible, you'll need to rope drop IOA, possibly sacrificing most or all of early entry at Studios.


----------



## DoryGirl1963

FoxC63 said:


> Also are fanny packs allowed on Gringotts?


Yep


----------



## FoxC63

DoryGirl1963 said:


> Hogwarts express won't start running over to IOA until 9, so you'll be BEHIND the  rope drop folks - if your goal is to be as early in the Hagrid's line as possible, you'll need to rope drop IOA, possibly sacrificing most or all of early entry at Studios.



Got it, but if I use the app for the Virtual queue which gives me a return time, will I be waiting 45 minutes once I enter the queue?


----------



## DoryGirl1963

FoxC63 said:


> Got it, but if I use the app for the Virtual queue which gives me a return time, will I be waiting 45 minutes once I enter the queue?


So sorry but we didn't use the app wait thing....hopefully someone else who has can help you out!


----------



## christophfam

FoxC63 said:


> Got it, but if I use the app for the Virtual queue which gives me a return time, will I be waiting 45 minutes once I enter the queue?



There isn’t a virtual queue for this ride. Some people will use the universal app which lists wait times for the rides as a guide for when to head over and line up. I was there mid October and the shortest wait I encountered as over an hour. If I remember correctly, you are going at Thanksgiving. I wouldn’t count on wait times being under two hours at that time. This ride is still closed at times so it’s difficult to make a plan on when to go. You can try rope drop, but could encounter a delayed opening. If I was going at Thanksgiving time, I’d rope drop and hope for the best. If it is delayed, just try again another morning or keep an eye on the wait times using the app and head over if it’s ever under two hours.


----------



## nikkita

FoxC63 said:


> Got it, but if I use the app for the Virtual queue which gives me a return time, will I be waiting 45 minutes once I enter the queue?


There is no virtual queue for Hagrid's right now. It just a wait time alert. It just alerts you when the wait time is down to that time.
Other rides, I assume the virtual line works like a fast pass /express pass


----------



## FoxC63

nikkita said:


> There is no virtual queue for Hagrid's right now. It just a wait time alert. It just alerts you when the wait time is down to that time.
> Other rides, I assume the virtual line works like a fast pass /express pass



Now I get it, thanks so much!  Reading Universal's site makes it all sound easy peasy.  Even when we made new reservations for late November the  guy on the phone said "Be sure to down load the app and get a return time for Hagrid's!"      Seriously, if CM and TM don't know what they're talking about they should simply not say anything.


----------



## nikkita

FoxC63 said:


> Now I get it, thanks so much!  Reading Universal's site makes it all sound easy peasy.  Even when we made new reservations for late November the  guy on the phone said "Be sure to down load the app and get a return time for Hagrid's!"      Seriously, if CM and TM don't know what they're talking about they should simply not say anything.


They shouldn't, but they do! 

Your best bet is rope drop. We lined up once at 8am, once at 730am, with the park scheduled to open at 9am both days. 
They actually opened both times at 840am and the dash starts. Both times we were off the ride no later than 910.  My reports are two or three pages back if you wanna read a bit more detail/breakdown. Only recent, went a couple weeks ago.


----------



## FoxC63

nikkita said:


> They shouldn't, but they do!
> 
> Your best bet is rope drop. We lined up once at 8am, once at 730am, with the park scheduled to open at 9am both days.
> They actually opened both times at 840am and the dash starts. Both times we were off the ride no later than 910.  My reports are two or three pages back if you wanna read a bit more detail/breakdown. Only recent, went a couple weeks ago.



I did go back and read more.  Thanks for posting so much information.


----------



## FSU Girl

Disxuni said:


> Unfortunately, it's too unpredictable to absolutely determine the best time to go that will give you a less than an hour wait. The only thing I can think of as more of a guaranteed is if you go first thing in the morning and do all your waiting in line prior to the official opening and if there is no delay in the morning you can hop on quickly. It will take a lot more time, but technically with that method you'd be waiting definitely less of an hour during park hours at least. Also, if they announce there is a delay (which usually they announce rather quickly in the morning if they know) you can ditch and go about your business. It'll suck if that happens since you waited all that time, but at least most of it would have been during non-operating hours and not during park hours where you could have been enjoying the park.
> 
> Other than that, I wouldn't guaranteed anything. Too many mixed reports still to determine that going in the afternoon will guaranteed a less of an hour wait. We have reports of that it being less of the posted wait time, but have also still getting reports of being close of the reported wait time due to delays, which still on average 120 seems to be the posted wait time.
> 
> While it's improved a lot, there is still too many mixed reports and stories on this thread to guaranteed a method, especially if you have one day to enjoy the park it's risky. I would suggest to check and read the thread for the next week on what other's experiences have been and then determine what might be best for you.
> 
> However, I will also add that if you're wanting to wait period less than an hour wait whether during operating hours, or not, I do not believe there would be no method, or 100% guaranteed for that at this time.


Thank you! I was hoping since it's been a few months now that things might have gotten a little smoother. I haven't waited in a hour+ line in a long time, usually have the express pass. My husband is not a morning person so I don't think he'd want to get there super early before the park opens. 



lvdis said:


> If you have the Universal Orlando app; when you go in to view the wait time for a ride you can set a wait time alert. Here's a screen shot I found (for Hulk), but it should be the same for any ride. I haven't had a chance to try it myself, but I've read reports of others using it successfully. I hope this helps!


Thanks! I'll try this. 



pepperandchips said:


> It’s about 45 minutes or so once you go inside, so you can kinda eyeball the accuracy of the wait time by physically walking into the queue and seeing how far the line is outside of the entrance into the building. When we rode we waited about 65 minutes and the physical end of the line was at the top of the incline to your left when you enter the line. It wasn’t bad at all and there’s plenty to look at in the line. You can bring in phones to the line to entertain yourselves and if the girls are with you. If you guys absolutely can’t wait more than an hour I’d skip it. It was worth the 65 minute wait and I wouldn’t say that about anything at Disney, for what that’s worth. DH agrees and he’s even more line averse than I am!
> 
> Edited to add that if they are using any of the overflow queue (outside the former entrance of dragons to the left) it’s way more than an hour, move on!


A little over an hour would be fine. It'll just be the two of us, going for our first wedding anniversary. I'm going to have to try and see if we can do it early in case there's a long wait we are going over to Victoria and Albert's at Disney for dinner that night so we can't stay in the park really late. I think the longest line I've waited in was 80 minutes, it was doable but not enjoyable lol.


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## Alicefan

I keep seeing posts about doing the majority of your waiting before rope drop. Is there a trick to this or a particular line they have set up for Hagrid's? Is it far more crowded at the gates now since this ride opened?


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## gorkt

Grrrr.  Trying to balance out my morning on Friday, 11/8 to see if we can't ride this ride.  I am staying at Universal Endless summer.  I have to grab express passes at Hard Rock that morning (dummy reservation) so I was thinking I could go out early, like around 6:30am (I heard I can show up to check in as early as 6am), take the shuttle down to citiwalk, walk to Hard Rock and check in, grabbing the passes.  Walk back though Citiwalk and maybe grab some Donuts and coffee from Voodoo donuts, and meet my family around 8am at the front of IOA.  

Can you bring food through security into IOA?  My guess is no, but I figured I would ask.


----------



## The Foolish Mortal

gorkt said:


> Can you bring food through security into IOA?  My guess is no, but I figured I would ask.


Maybe I am missing something in your plan, but aren't you already past security to get VooDoo donuts? I have never had the ticket scanners at the theme park gate ever stop me from bringing in food. That said, I was always either carrying something small in my hand or it was in my bag and they could not see it. Never tried carrying a whole box of donuts


----------



## Disxuni

Alicefan said:


> I keep seeing posts about doing the majority of your waiting before rope drop. Is there a trick to this or a particular line they have set up for Hagrid's? Is it far more crowded at the gates now since this ride opened?



I'd suggest get there _way _prior to opening time for IoA. It seems that once you go through the gate, there is a process / line of where the TM guides you over to Hagrid's and what not, but prior to that there is no separate Hagrid line outside the gates of IoA from what I read in any reports (at least there's no mention of there being one). Also, yes, I'd imagine that the gates are much more crowded since the opening of the ride. Which is why anyone wanting to go to Hagrid's and attempting to be the first few need to get there way earlier than opening time for IoA.


----------



## Linkura

1 hour before park opening seemed to work well upthread.  And yes, you can bring food to the gates to have breakfast while you wait.


----------



## gorkt

> Maybe I am missing something in your plan, but aren't you already past security to get VooDoo donuts?



Possibly.  It's been a few years so I can't remember where security is.


----------



## Disxuni

gorkt said:


> Possibly.  It's been a few years so I can't remember where security is.



If you're going through security through HRH since you said you're doing that prior to getting your food, yes, you should be able to do security through HRH (if you're just walking to City Walk it's near the Universal entrance), get your eats, and get in line for IoA. You can even bring it into the park. Any food is good as long as it doesn't get onto the ride itself.


----------



## FireflyTrance

Read through some of the thread. So it seems like there is basically no benefit to staying at one of the Universal Hotels if you are trying to ride Hagrid's Coaster? No early morning admission for IoA and you can't use the skip the line pass? 

What if you entered early at the other park and then took the Hogwarts train over to IoA? Would that get you there any faster than waiting in line outside IoA?


----------



## Lashed34

I've been following this thread since the ride opened thinking that I'm going to be there in December so things will be worked out by then - but at the moment I'm unsure.

Is there still downtime/problems/issues with the ride or is it now just the sheer volume of people trying to ride it, I'm not sure I understand what the issue is now.

@FireflyTrance The Hogwarts Express won't get you to IOA until the queues have reached it, so you're better rope dropping IOA for a "shorter" wait.


----------



## briggscreek

We were there Wed-Sat and rode twice. On Thursday we rode around 2pm with a posted wait of 90 minutes, but I think the actual wait was more like 75. Saturday we rope dropped, arrived at the gate at about 8:20. We were near the front of our line, but it moved super slow for some reason and lots of people got in before we made it. The ride showed a delay but we got in line and it started up around 9:15, we were off the ride before 10. I did notice several delays off and on through the week, but it always came back up. We absolutely loved it, totally worth the wait.


----------



## Disxuni

FireflyTrance said:


> What if you entered early at the other park and then took the Hogwarts train over to IoA? Would that get you there any faster than waiting in line outside IoA?



No. The train doesn't leave until 9am, then you have to complete your ride, then you walk the rest to Hagrid's. By then, a lot of people who waited at the gate prior to opening will be ahead of you. On top of that there will be even more guests ahead of you if the train is delayed and doesn't take off exactly at 9am. Essentially if anyone wants to wait for Hagrid's and do it at "rope drop" they'd have to sacrifice their entire (or at least most) EE time and wait at the gate of IoA until it opens.


----------



## Linkura

FireflyTrance said:


> Read through some of the thread. So it seems like there is basically no benefit to staying at one of the Universal Hotels if you are trying to ride Hagrid's Coaster? No early morning admission for IoA and you can't use the skip the line pass?


Correct, zero benefit.


----------



## Lashed34

Disxuni said:


> No. The train doesn't leave until 9am, then you have to complete your ride, then you walk the rest to Hagrid's. By then, a lot of people who waited at the gate prior to opening will be ahead of you. On top of that there will be even more guests ahead of you if the train is delayed and doesn't take off exactly at 9am. Essentially if anyone wants to wait for Hagrid's and do it at "rope drop" they'd have to sacrifice their entire (or at least most) EE time and wait at the gate of IoA until it opens.


Maybe an idea, to benefit resort guests, run the 1st Hogwarts Express from 0830 a couple of times a week. It's not a lot but resort guests would feel they're getting something extra.


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## Linkura

Lashed34 said:


> Maybe an idea, to benefit resort guests, run the 1st Hogwarts Express from 0830 a couple of times a week. It's not a lot but resort guests would feel they're getting something extra.


Wouldn't be a bad idea since they can't really increase the hours of Hagrid's at this point.


----------



## macraven

Running the trains early sounds great but since the other park would not be open yet, doubt UO would consider that


----------



## Linkura

macraven said:


> Running the trains early sounds great but since the other park would not be open yet, doubt UO would consider that


It would allow hotel guests to queue for Hagrid's first, I think is the idea.


----------



## Lashed34

macraven said:


> Running the trains early sounds great but since the other park would not be open yet, doubt UO would consider that


It would just be a special for Hagrid's, I'm sure they could accommodate an a couple of trains from 0830 twice a week or so to relieve the queue race.

This is just for EE resort guests - it would be a great perk.


----------



## macraven

I like the idea but don’t know if UO would be willing to open both parks with full staff for HE for select days of the week 

I do remember a few years back they did have both parks open for HE for select days

Never found out why it was only done for a limited time


----------



## Lashed34

macraven said:


> I like the idea but don’t know if UO would be willing to open both parks with full staff for HE for select days of the week
> 
> I do remember a few years back they did have both parks open for HE for select days
> 
> Never found out why it was only done for a limited time


It's difficult because 3 hotels already have UEP & priority reservations which are enormous bonuses, and the other hotels have EE and everyone has transport access so staying on site does have its rewards.

I just feel that any kind of advantage for resort guests getting on Hagrids would be such a huge selling point - even if 1 train ran at 0845 it would be hugely advantageous, the trouble would be the queue to get on it while others miss out.


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## Beckyjthomas

We went yesterday Mon Nov 4th. Did both parks in one day, no express passes, It was a full day but great day. We left our resort at 7:00 and with no traffic we got there earlier than expected. We were in line - first in one of the turnstiles by 7:30. They opened the gates at 8:30 and people ran and ran till the start of the line. No one asked anyone to walk until they got close. We needed up being about 20th or so on line. They did tell us there was a brief delay - on the way to the park the app said opens at 9:00, but when we were waiting at the entrance it changed to closed. Thankfully by the time we wound all around there was no delay. We were off the ride by 9:10. And it was amazing! My kids were a little annoyed at the wait at the gate but once off the ride everyone was so thankful. The line died down to about 90 later in the day per the app, but it also closed about 3:00. We went all day and did almost everything else without express passes. We could have done more but we were all tired and left about 6:30.


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## ksromack

Question:
If we are planning rider switch for Hagrid's and we are at the turnstiles before park opening, are we able to go through the queue with a stroller?  Trying to figure out the logistics when we go next month.  Also trying to decide if our party should just split up and do the ride in 2 sets of 2 instead but realizing park opening may be our best bet as we only have 1.5 days here.  DH and I want to make sure our adult kids have fun and the two of us just want to make sure we ride Hagrid's.....the baby will sadly miss out on a lot of the parks since she's probably only going to be 33" tall or so.  I haven't heard anyone speak of the queue and whether or not strollers are able to go through it or if it'll need to be parked for the queue.


----------



## Disxuni

If they never considered to allow access to IoA for EE for guests in the first place, I doubt they'd run HE at 8:30am for EE park guests now, or anytime in the future in relation to Hagrid's.

Besides, I feel as if it would create more chaos, conflict, and work.

Technically guests at IoA do not get entry into the park at exactly 9am, but are let in a little early in order to line up at Hagrid's, as we have read in various person accounts on this post. If we chose 8:30am for an example and take into consideration when IoA guests are let in and the time HE guests take off and travel time, the two will flood into the park at the same time (this is if HE is not delayed). Which means a lot more work for TMs to attempt to do crowd control, will cause more congestion, and has a higher chance of injury with the amount of people entering the park and the guests who run when told they are not to. I would imagine this already occurs to a certain extent, but would be more chaotic if this would to occur.

At the moment, I feel as if they have it the way it is so people have a fair chance regardless of what kind of guest you are. I find that to be good and fair. People who have EE can either enjoy their hour of early entry as they have always been promised, or they can wait at the gate at IoA like the other guests.


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## Lashed34

I think the most frustrating thing is that, apart from the bees issue, Universal haven't said anything official about why the ride is having so many issues - maybe if they did people would be more understanding - and I do fully appreciate how complex this ride is.

I think people are just frustrated because although they expect long queues for such a new ride, they never actually know if it's going to be operational AM or PM, so it's very difficult to know what their best plan is - arrive early for rope drop and hope, wait until evening and hope it doesn't close at 3pm...it's just so difficult to predict - and therefore hugely frustrating whether you are a single rider, a couple or a family.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Lashed34 said:


> I think the most frustrating thing is that, apart from the bees issue, Universal haven't said anything official about why the ride is having so many issues - maybe if they did people would be more understanding - and I do fully appreciate how complex this ride is.
> 
> I think people are just frustrated because although they expect long queues for such a new ride, they never actually know if it's going to be operational AM or PM, so it's very difficult to know what their best plan is - arrive early for rope drop and hope, wait until evening and hope it doesn't close at 3pm...it's just so difficult to predict - and therefore hugely frustrating whether you are a single rider, a couple or a family.




This 100%.

We arrive Friday, 11/22 and are hoping to get to IOA by 12:30. Our plan is to head straight to Hagrid's. Then we plan to rope drop it on Saturday, 11/23. I've been following this thread religiously and I am super nervous about both of these plans!


----------



## Lashed34

SaintsManiac said:


> This 100%.
> 
> We arrive Friday, 11/22 and are hoping to get to IOA by 12:30. Our plan is to head straight to Hagrid's. Then we plan to rope drop it on Saturday, 11/23. I've been following this thread religiously and I am super nervous about both of these plans!


Absolutely, we are there early December and feel the same.

The problem is, the more it goes on, the more people panic. I do wonder if Universal have any idea of just how stressed people are feeling/getting.

I know it's only a ride, but come on, this is like getting the golden ticket for the chocolate factory for so many people.


----------



## Lashed34

I also think people are more than happy to queue, but they just don't know if it will be operational when they go to the park.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Lashed34 said:


> I also think people are more than happy to queue, but they just don't know if it will be operational when they go to the park.




Yep. We don't mind waiting at all. We have Express Pass for the rest, so we don't care!


----------



## Lashed34

SaintsManiac said:


> Yep. We don't mind waiting at all. We have Express Pass for the rest, so we don't care!


Same as us, well good luck I really hope you have a fantastic time and get on the ride, preferably a few times.


----------



## damo

ksromack said:


> Question:
> If we are planning rider switch for Hagrid's and we are at the turnstiles before park opening, are we able to go through the queue with a stroller?  Trying to figure out the logistics when we go next month.  Also trying to decide if our party should just split up and do the ride in 2 sets of 2 instead but realizing park opening may be our best bet as we only have 1.5 days here.  DH and I want to make sure our adult kids have fun and the two of us just want to make sure we ride Hagrid's.....the baby will sadly miss out on a lot of the parks since she's probably only going to be 33" tall or so.  I haven't heard anyone speak of the queue and whether or not strollers are able to go through it or if it'll need to be parked for the queue.



No strollers in any queue, unfortunately.


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

*Two Complete Data Points of Rope Dropping Hagrid's:*

- Sunday Nov 3rd

8:15 am - Arrived at Park entrance. We were approx. 3/4 of the way back from the entrance to the ticket booths
8:40 am - gates opened, people began full out sprinting to the coaster after scanning their tickets. There was no crowd control whatsoever to slow people down.
8:45 am - (approx.) we got through the turnstiles after scanning our tickets and briskly walked to the coaster. We were passed up by a bunch of runners and I had to really protect my short 9 year old from a few folks who were darting in an out of groups.
8:50 am - (approx.) we entered the extended queue for the ride and could hear people on it already, we continued to slowly move forward without stopping, we went past the lockers (which was a cluster of people separating from groups then pushing their way to join back up...) They DO NOT make you leave your cell phone in a locker and DO NOT have metal detectors. You just need to put bags in the lockers.
9:05 am - we stopped moving finally. We already were past the pre-show movie at this point. They were not showing the pre-show movie this early which was super dumb because we still were going to wait 25 minutes from this point...a 5 minute movie would have been nice to watch...
9:29 am - we boarded the ride - IT WAS AMAZING. Very well done in every way imaginable. I literally have no criticisms whatsoever of this ride.
9:34 am - on our way to meet up with my wife and younger daughter who wouldn't (wife) and couldn't (daughter) ride.
- Monday Nov 4th

8:15 am - Arrived at Park entrance. We were approx. 3/4 of the way back from the entrance to the ticket booths again.
8:40 am - gates opened, sprinting occured again. We picked a bad line where EVERYBODY in the first group had ticket issues. We managed to merge in with the line beside us instead but got moving a little slower than the day before. There was again no crowd control whatsoever to slow people down.
8:55 am - (approx.) we entered the extended queue for the ride and were told that it was experiencing a delay. We continued to meander forwards at a much slower pace than the day before.
9:05 am - we heard the first people go by on the ride. This indicated to me that we were at least 15 minutes behind schedule from the day prior (plus we took awhile to get in the park due to the stupid ticket issues).
9:24 am - NO PRESHOW MOVIE AGAIN! I seriously was angry about this. We literally were not going anywhere in the midst of 30 more minutes of line and yet no preshow movie for us.
9:48 am - we boarded the ride - got the very back seat - it was so fun and more thrilling than a middle seat in my opinion!
9:53 am - on our way to meet up with my wife so despite the delayed start still not terrible. We were able to get over to Pteranodon Flyers before the line backed up there. It was 10 minutes when the girls got in line (with my mom/sister) and ballooned to 50 minutes before they got off 15 minutes later.
If I had it to over again, I'd have tried to get to the park entrance prior to 8am both days.
*Some Potential "Marker Points" to know how long you'll wait (assuming no operational issues):*

Approx. 30 minutes once you exit the Pre-show movie if the line is fully backed up to that point
Approx 10-15 minutes once you enter the final room
In a fully backed up queue probably about 45 minutes from when you enter the queue area by Hagrid's hut


----------



## Matthew81

what is the pre-show movie I have done this at rope drop twice and have not seen a movie?


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

SouthFayetteFan said:


> *Two Complete Data Points of Rope Dropping Hagrid's:
> .
> .
> .*



Thanks for the detailed info!  We go in 2.5 weeks and I can't wait.


----------



## TommyJK

Matthew81 said:


> what is the pre-show movie I have done this at rope drop twice and have not seen a movie?



It is a little pre-show similar in style to the one they show on Escape from Gringotts, but it has Arthur Weasley and Hagrid chatting about creating the multiple bikes (ie the coaster train) and some fire lizards wandering around. 

You can find it in YouTube if you want to see it.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Matthew81 said:


> what is the pre-show movie I have done this at rope drop twice and have not seen a movie?



It's almost immediately after you enter the indoor section of the queue. It's a really fun interaction between Hagrid and Arthur and establishes the plan for the "lesson" and how there are so many motorcycles available. I've ridden the ride 4 times, all at rope drop, and they were only running it once (and that was during the opening weekend). When they're not showing the preshow, you just walk straight through the room and out into the next area (where the fireplace and stacked wood are). The screen is still visible when the preshow isn't being shown and might have some filler material showing, like Hagrid's dog, Fang, walking across, but not the scene with the conversation between the two characters.

I agree with SouthFayetteFan that it doesn't make sense for them to skip this. It's a cute show and is a nice setup for the ride. Maybe they're just trying to get as many people indoors as possible due to the heat, but if that's the case, I don't know why they didn't put the video further along in the line.


----------



## mrd7896

i went at the end of June only a few weeks after it opened. We waited FOUR hours. 
in line behind us, we made friends with a few Disney CM's as well as a Universal hotel employee who all have ridden hagrids many times 
they were taking bets on if they were going to show the pre-show movie or not because of how long the line was

they were running the pre-show (which i was happy about-we waited 4 hours might as well get the whole experience)

i'm not sure why they wouldn't show it? the pre-show is supposed to break up the waiting and make your queue a little more interesting while setting the stage for the ride. going in the pre-show for our case was literally just to break-up the waiting and give us something to watch. as soon as we got out of the show there wasn't much 'catching up to the queue' we had to do

but as PP explained, i'm not sure why they didn't show it. would it back up the line in the morning?
if you still had to stand around and wait what difference would it make?

correct me if i'm wrong-but do they ALWAYS show the pre-show in gringotts?
i know i have asked before to not have my picture taken and they've let us bypass it. but you always have to go in the 'elevator'..what about the pre-show in that case?

unsure!


----------



## Disxuni

Like @MeridaAnn mentioned I believe that the pre-show doesn't happen sometimes to keep the line moving. The point of a pre-show isn't just to educate people on why they're there, but the key point to have it is in order to entertain people while having a little bit of a delay while others are still on the ride, or in another part of the queue. It gives time for people to leave the ride, or show, or gives more time to have the other part of the queue have less people and make room before having more guests fill the space.

If they're wanting to just pump people through, especially when they know they have no delays, and feel as if the pre-show is unnecessary at the moment then they're not going to show it. I'm sure that will eventually change once Hagrid's is running at 100% and the wait times are not so unpredictable/high.


----------



## FireflyTrance

So does that mean if you have a baby you have to carry them through the whole line? 


damo said:


> No strollers in any queue, unfortunately.


----------



## hopemax

Rode today!  We hit up Cinnabon, about 7:50 and then got in line.  We were the 2nd party in our line at the Front Gate. We lined up in the center, where the mobile, ticket gates are. We didn't run, so we weren't right at the front, by the time we got to the queue, but still pretty far up.  My Dad was impressed with how far the line went back toward Margaritaville, before we were let into the park.  

They were telling people the ride was experiencing an extended delay.  We made it all the way into the final room, just where the small corridor opens up to the big room, and the test vehicle is on the right.  So we had a nice open space to wait. The ride didn't start operating until right at 10.  But once it started, the line moved quickly and we were off by 10:15.  The app said 180 minutes.

So much fun!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

hopemax said:


> Rode today!  We hit up Cinnabon, about 7:50 and then got in line.  We were the 2nd party in our line at the Front Gate. We lined up in the center, *where the mobile, ticket gates are*. We didn't run, so we weren't right at the front, by the time we got to the queue, but still pretty far up.  My Dad was impressed with how far the line went back toward Margaritaville, before we were let into the park.
> 
> They were telling people the ride was experiencing an extended delay.  We made it all the way into the final room, just where the small corridor opens up to the big room, and the test vehicle is on the right.  So we had a nice open space to wait. The ride didn't start operating until right at 10.  But once it started, the line moved quickly and we were off by 10:15.  The app said 180 minutes.
> 
> So much fun!


Can I ask what the "mobile ticket gate" is?
I ask because we have our tickets in the wallet app. Nervous about using this for the first time...


----------



## damo

FireflyTrance said:


> So does that mean if you have a baby you have to carry them through the whole line?



Yes.


----------



## ninafeliz

damo said:


> Yes.  Just like at WDW.


But at WDW kids doing the rider switch don’t wait in the line at all.  The non rider and adult wait anywhere they want while the first riders ride, then you come out and switch with them and the second group rides while the baby still waits anywhere with the second adult.  Just a different way of doing it, I’m sure it has plusses and minuses, but a big plus is not having to simply hold the young non riders through what could be a very long, slow line.

Edit: I just noticed the post I quoted has been edited while I replied!


----------



## hopemax

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Can I ask what the "mobile ticket gate" is?
> I ask because we have our tickets in the wallet app. Nervous about using this for the first time...



I mean mobile, in that they aren't permanent.  The screen, scanning gun, finger scanner, etc are on a unit that are wheeled out when they need extra gates.

They are right in the center, with the permanent turnstyles on the left and right.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

hopemax said:


> I mean mobile, in that they aren't permanent.  The screen, scanning gun, finger scanner, etc are on a unit that are wheeled out when they need extra gates.
> 
> They are right in the center, with the permanent turnstyles on the left and right.


Ahhh, got it!


----------



## damo

ninafeliz said:


> But at WDW kids doing the rider switch don’t wait in the line at all.  The non rider and adult wait anywhere they want while the first riders ride, then you come out and switch with them and the second group rides while the baby still waits anywhere with the second adult.  Just a different way of doing it, I’m sure it has plusses and minuses, but a big plus is not having to simply hold the young non riders through what could be a very long, slow line.
> 
> Edit: I just noticed the post I quoted has been edited while I replied!



Yes, I edited it for the exact reason you posted.  However, for any ride that the baby can go on, you still have to carry them through the queue.  We actually love the baby swap at Universal and just pass the baby around.  We'd rather all be together in line than be splitting up for every ride.  

It would be lovely to be able to keep the baby in the stroller but you can see what a problem it would be with so many strollers.


----------



## FireflyTrance

Pros and cons to each but I think the WDW is more friendly if you have a heavy or tired little one. Can you bring a baby carrier through the line?



damo said:


> Yes, I edited it for the exact reason you posted.  However, for any ride that the baby can go on, you still have to carry them through the queue.  We actually love the baby swap at Universal and just pass the baby around.  We'd rather all be together in line than be splitting up for every ride.
> 
> It would be lovely to be able to keep the baby in the stroller but you can see what a problem it would be with so many strollers.


----------



## ninafeliz

damo said:


> Yes, I edited it for the exact reason you posted.  However, for any ride that the baby can go on, you still have to carry them through the queue.  We actually love the baby swap at Universal and just pass the baby around.  We'd rather all be together in line than be splitting up for every ride.
> 
> It would be lovely to be able to keep the baby in the stroller but you can see what a problem it would be with so many strollers.


I agree, strollers in the line would be a mess.  

I'm not a fan of carrying babies through the line like you are, but I still don't want strollers allowed in line.  My kids didn't ever happily lay in my arms, they squirmed and cried, and I got 90% while my DH got 10% (if that!).  Now we have twin toddlers, so having them in a long line to use rider switch would be a nightmare for us and everyone around us, but they aren't going on our universal trip so i don't have to worry at this point.  We were saving Universal for when our youngest was 48", but then the twins came along.  So our youngest is now our middle, he's now 48", and we had the opportunity for a short trip without the twins, so here we are


----------



## ninafeliz

FireflyTrance said:


> Pros and cons to each but I think the WDW is more friendly if you have a heavy or tired little one. Can you bring a baby carrier through the line?


yes you can wear a baby carrier.  I used them some, but found that I didn't like taking the carrier on and off so I didn't use it as much as I thought I would.  But in a line with a little one who could sleep in it it would be ideal - you just have to transfer the baby and the carrier to the next adult when you would take your turn to ride.

ETA I assume you can wear a baby in the line at Universal, my experience is at Disney. I don't know what would happen for the lines with metal detectors, if your carrier set it off.


----------



## FireflyTrance

Thanks! I've worn at carrier all around Disney so I know it's ok there. But Universal has the lockers, so I am wondering if a carrier is considered to be a bag? I have a soft one that has no metal. But it does have a pouch you can put some small items in.



ninafeliz said:


> yes you can wear a baby carrier.  I used them some, but found that I didn't like taking the carrier on and off so I didn't use it as much as I thought I would.  But in a line with a little one who could sleep in it it would be ideal - you just have to transfer the baby and the carrier to the next adult when you would take your turn to ride.
> 
> ETA I assume you can wear a baby in the line at Universal, my experience is at Disney. I don't know what would happen for the lines with metal detectors, if your carrier set it off.


----------



## damo

FireflyTrance said:


> Thanks! I've worn at carrier all around Disney so I know it's ok there. But Universal has the lockers, so I am wondering if a carrier is considered to be a bag? I have a soft one that has no metal. But it does have a pouch you can put some small items in.



You're not going to be wearing the baby on the ride, so it doesn't matter.  You can bring whatever you want through the line if it is staying in the kid swap room.


----------



## FireflyTrance

My son will also be squirmy in the line, which is why I like the WDW system better where you don't have to wait in the line with your toddler. Hopefully if we can bring a carrier, I can time it during his nap and he will nap in the carrier for a while. We've been on most of the other rides besides Hadgrid's, and are all big Harry Potter fans. Otherwise we will try single rider, though my experience with that on other rides hasn't been great.



ninafeliz said:


> I agree, strollers in the line would be a mess.
> 
> I'm not a fan of carrying babies through the line like you are, but I still don't want strollers allowed in line.  My kids didn't ever happily lay in my arms, they squirmed and cried, and I got 90% while my DH got 10% (if that!).  Now we have twin toddlers, so having them in a long line to use rider switch would be a nightmare for us and everyone around us, but they aren't going on our universal trip so i don't have to worry at this point.  We were saving Universal for when our youngest was 48", but then the twins came along.  So our youngest is now our middle, he's now 48", and we had the opportunity for a short trip without the twins, so here we are


----------



## ninafeliz

FireflyTrance said:


> Thanks! I've worn at carrier all around Disney so I know it's ok there. But Universal has the lockers, so I am wondering if a carrier is considered to be a bag? I have a soft one that has no metal. But it does have a pouch you can put some small items in.


Yeah, that’s a good question.  I would assume since it’s obvious that someone has to stay off with the baby you would be allowed to have it in line, since there would always be an adult to wear it, but maybe not.  It’s not like you want to ride the ride with the carrier on and leave the other adult holding the baby without it!   Hopefully someone who has experience will answer.


----------



## ksromack

I am so happy to see all this talk of babies and strollers and carriers!  I was the OP that asked about the strollers and reading that a carrier would probably be allowed in the line is great news.  This will be a big learning experience with us as our kids were 5 and 6 when we first went on vacations like this.  I do remember a stroller for that first year but that was just at WDW.


----------



## cschaaf

damo said:


> You're not going to be wearing the baby on the ride, so it doesn't matter.  You can bring whatever you want through the line if it is staying in the kid swap room.


Agreed. On our last trip, one of our adult daughters didn't want to ride FJ. We all carried our bags with us in line and when TMs told us we needed a locker, we just said that one of our party wasn't going to ride and would go to the child swap area. They were fine with that answer and let us go in line.

When we got to the split where child swappers divide from the line, we handed her all the bags and she took them to the swap area. Worked fine.


----------



## Rowlf the Dog

The ride is awesome but it's so difficult to plan your day with its unreliability. The wait times are always far away from the truth. There were times I really was lucky, like on 11/2 when I entered the line at 4 p.m. with posted 90mins and I was off in 40mins or on 11/3 with 60mins instead of posted 120. And than there were times were I waited longer than the posted time because of short down times - always around mid day: 100mins instead of posted 50 and the line started several meters in front of Hagrids Hut, or now as I entered with 60min wait and after some wait there was no movement for 15mins before they actually warned that there is a delay, it were 20 more mins before it moved again. I am just outside the preshow, so I could expect a real wait time of 120mins. As for advices: I don't have any, just enter the line, you could be lucky or not. I've also never seen the Single Rider Line open in my 6 tries. 
As far as I could tell, if there are no delays when you are at Hagrids Hut the wait time is 60-75mins, when you are in the preshow it's about 45-50mins.


----------



## Squirlz

From my experience, once you get inside it is 30 minutes.  This is based on 2 times.


----------



## Rowlf the Dog

Squirlz said:


> From my experience, once you get inside it is 30 minutes.  This is based on 2 times.


It's based on my 5 visits with preshow this week. The cast members say it's still 60 minutes when you enter the first building. Only time I waited less than 45mins at this point was at opening or at close without preshow.


----------



## Rowlf the Dog

Perhaps now on my final day I have a good advice but also a maybe risky one: Try to enter the line after the advised 3.00pm and near 4.00 pm.
I've seen that Hagrids closed around 3.30/3.45 the last days, so I've entered it on 3.30. with posted 120mins for my last ride. I waited 40mins (no preshow), could enter again - this time 10mins with single rider - and now on my way to make it three as it was still open at 4.30, after 10mins I entered the egg room (now with the preshow again) and assumingly will wait 30mins more for my really final one of the bike.

Update: Very bad idea, was on the bike after 40mins wait but now stucked on the coaster for 30mins already and still waiting for being evacuated.


----------



## YawningDodo

It's been a while since I popped into this thread, and looking at all of this...I'm getting nervous. I'm less than three months out from my trip and they're still having downtime and massive lines? I'm already nervous I won't fit in the ride vehicle, but I was hoping it would at least be less of a wait/less of an ordeal by the time of my trip so at least if I didn't make it on the ride I wouldn't have spent a ton of time on it. 

Sounds like rope drop is still the best bet, though? I've only got one day planned at Universal. Not looking forward to sprinting crowds, either. :C


----------



## Linkura

YawningDodo said:


> It's been a while since I popped into this thread, and looking at all of this...I'm getting nervous. I'm less than three months out from my trip and they're still having downtime and massive lines? I'm already nervous I won't fit in the ride vehicle, but I was hoping it would at least be less of a wait/less of an ordeal by the time of my trip so at least if I didn't make it on the ride I wouldn't have spent a ton of time on it.
> 
> Sounds like rope drop is still the best bet, though? I've only got one day planned at Universal. Not looking forward to sprinting crowds, either. :C


Yes, yes they are still having major issues and serious downtime.  Ride opened way before it was ready.

Rope drop is your best bet.  ESPECIALLY if you have only one day.  Get there an hour early.


----------



## amy1994

Here now. Got in line at 7:45 and had about 20 people in front of us. They let us through the gates at 8:45 and then we wound through the outside waiting area,  getting to a stopping point at Hagrid’s hut. Line started moving again shortly after 9:00 but as we were walking, the message came through that there was an extended delay. We are now now sitting on the floor in the corridor outside what I am assuming is the main room before loading. It’s been about 30 minutes of this. I’m hoping this hasn’t all been a waste of time.


----------



## amy1994

It’s 10:10 and we’re still on an extended delay. No estimate on when it will be running. No one seems to be bailing out but that could be because we’re close to the front. Maybe further back, people got out of line. I have now deducted 2 1/2 hours to this starting from the 7:45 time at the front gate so I’m hesitant to give up now.


----------



## YawningDodo

Linkura said:


> Yes, yes they are still having major issues and serious downtime.  Ride opened way before it was ready.
> 
> Rope drop is your best bet.  ESPECIALLY if you have only one day.  Get there an hour early.


Right now it looks like that's the plan for me--I had a moment last night where I seriously thought about just skipping my day at UO and adding a sixth day at WDW if it's going to be this much of a gamble as to whether I'll even get to ride the thing. But the ticket's already paid for and I think I'm enough of an optimist to at least try for it...even though literally this morning it went down immediately after opening....


----------



## Disxuni

Thanks for the updates, @amy1994! I'd feel the same way if I were that close. Especially since just my luck if I ever bailed out it'd seem like minutes later it would be up and running, then I'd definitely slap myself.


----------



## amy1994

So at 11:15 they kicked everyone out of line and gave us all a return pass for Hagrids and a single attraction express pass. This was unfortunate for the people next to us who left the line 10 minutes earlier! Luckily, we have 2 more days here so I’m hoping the Hagrid pass will help us tomorrow.


----------



## Disxuni

amy1994 said:


> So at 11:15 they kicked everyone out of line and gave us all a return pass for Hagrids and a single attraction express pass. This was unfortunate for the people next to us who left the line 10 minutes earlier! Luckily, we have 2 more days here so I’m hoping the Hagrid pass will help us tomorrow.



Wow, I wonder what went wrong. However, at least it paid off (kinda) by getting not only a return pass, but also another EP for another attraction. Do not know if it means much as I do not know if you're staying at one of the deluxe hotels, or you already bought EP. However, at least they finally stopped having guests wait and gave them something in return for lost time. Glad you have two more days of the parks.


----------



## jm2415

amy1994 said:


> So at 11:15 they kicked everyone out of line and gave us all a return pass for Hagrids and a single attraction express pass. This was unfortunate for the people next to us who left the line 10 minutes earlier! Luckily, we have 2 more days here so I’m hoping the Hagrid pass will help us tomorrow.



This is my concern. I’m taking my siblings tomorrow for the first time to Universal and we’re planning on doing the rope drop early in the morning and riding it first thing. But a delay like that is crazy and I’m hoping that’s not the case tomorrow. We only have one day to do everything they want to do so I’m hoping there’s no issues tomorrow morning


----------



## Rowlf the Dog

amy1994 said:


> It’s 10:10 and we’re still on an extended delay. No estimate on when it will be running. No one seems to be bailing out but that could be because we’re close to the front. Maybe further back, people got out of line. I have now deducted 2 1/2 hours to this starting from the 7:45 time at the front gate so I’m hesitant to give up now.


So sorry for you. So I suppose they still didn't sort the problem out they had yesterday. I was on - I think - the pretty last train that leaved the station. First we were stucked for 15mins at the very first scene with the carriage before we had a slow start (no launch), than we rode till Devils Snare without any animatronics running, and there we were stucked for 45mins before they evacuated us. I was out shortly after 6p.m. so no possibility for any other ride. And as it was my last day the return pass, valid only until 12/1, was useless for me...


----------



## Disxuni

jm2415 said:


> This is my concern. I’m taking my siblings tomorrow for the first time to Universal and we’re planning on doing the rope drop early in the morning and riding it first thing. But a delay like that is crazy and I’m hoping that’s not the case tomorrow. We only have one day to do everything they want to do so I’m hoping there’s no issues tomorrow morning



I personally would go in the morning (get there well before opening time) and do everything as normal. If things start to slow down while in the actual queue at Hagrid's, or they announce a delay, I would only wait_ very_ briefly. As much as it would suck to miss it, with it being that time sensitive and the first time you bringing your siblings if you have only one day you do not want to waste too much time.


----------



## amy1994

Rowlf the Dog said:


> So sorry for you. So I suppose they still didn't sort the problem out they had yesterday. I was on - I think - the pretty last train that leaved the station. First we were stucked for 15mins at the very first scene with the carriage before we had a slow start (no launch), than we rode till Devils Snare without any animatronics running, and there we were stucked for 45mins before they evacuated us. I was out shortly after 6p.m. so no possibility for any other ride. And as it was my last day the return pass, valid only until 12/1, was useless for me...


Ugh, what a pain for you. I feel like they must have known there was a good possibility they knew the ride wouldn’t be functioning today but they said nothing as everyone was being ushered through the various cueing locations. It wasn’t until we were right at the final spot, that they started announcing a delay. Then you never know whether to stick it out in line or cut your losses. We stayed and wasted the whole morning but do have a return pass and since we have 2 more days, I’m hoping we’ll get a chance to ride.


----------



## amy1994

jm2415 said:


> This is my concern. I’m taking my siblings tomorrow for the first time to Universal and we’re planning on doing the rope drop early in the morning and riding it first thing. But a delay like that is crazy and I’m hoping that’s not the case tomorrow. We only have one day to do everything they want to do so I’m hoping there’s no issues tomorrow morning


I’m hoping it’s up and running for both of us!


----------



## jm2415

Disxuni said:


> I personally would go in the morning (get there well before opening time) and do everything as normal. If things start to slow down while in the actual queue at Hagrid's, or they announce a delay, I would only wait_ very_ briefly. As much as it would suck to miss it, with it being that time sensitive and the first time you bringing your siblings if you have only one day you do not want to waste too much time.



Yea I work there so I have already experienced the ride so it’s not a big issue for me. It’s more for my siblings who love Harry Potter as much as I do and they have been so excited to go on this ride. So I’m hoping they get to ride it first thing tomorrow early and quick


----------



## jm2415

amy1994 said:


> I’m hoping it’s up and running for both of us!



Same here! I hope we both get to enjoy it


----------



## instlouis

Would love to hear from someone that has received and used the Hagrid’s return pass due to the ride going down.  Did you go through a separate line that might, one day be the Express Pass line?  Did you skip the pre-show?  How long was your wait?  TIA


----------



## AuroraluvsPhillip

I am continuing to follow this thread with great interest.  I was able to ride it 4 times during a week in late September.  Twice the wait was 50-60 min., once the wait was 65 min., and once the wait was about 25 minutes.  We never did rope drop, the posted wait was always 120 min or more, and we never had any sudden stoppages (that I know of).  We usually rode early to mid afternoon.  Our shortest wait was getting in line after the ride had been shut down for a bit in the morning (this was the beginning of the "bee" issues I think)  During that particular ride, the preshow was not running and we made it almost into Hagrid's workroom before slowing down.  I am 60 years old and don't particularly like standing in line in the heat, which is why I stay at the HRH to get EP, but that ride is worth a 60 minute wait to me.  Anything longer, I'd probably pass.


----------



## Linkura

instlouis said:


> Would love to hear from someone that has received and used the Hagrid’s return pass due to the ride going down.  Did you go through a separate line that might, one day be the Express Pass line?  Did you skip the pre-show?  How long was your wait?  TIA


It's a separate line and no pre-show.

If it's working, 15-20 minutes.  If it's not working, well....


----------



## jm2415

Well since people are still following this thread I’ll post my insights based on how I experienced it today. I did the rope drop early in the morning, I got to the park at 7:20 and I was second in line at the turnstiles. Once the gates opened around 8:45, we got right in and we walked (fast tho). Note: people will run, and I mean RUN. Thankfully the ride was functioning perfectly and we literally walked onto the ride. We were in line for 5 minutes (which is basically how long it takes just to walk to the ride itself). We got out by 9:05; it was totally worth getting there early and riding it first thing. Then we did everything else and it was about 5:30 when we got back to Hogsmeade and the ride was down but the team members told me that they were hoping to bring it back up and working and that it would continue running till park closed. Since we wanted to experience it at night and we already did everything else in the park, we decided to just stick around and relax and wait to see if it would open back up. Sure enough it did and it was pitch black outside. We got in line and again it only took us 5 minutes to get on the ride and experience it all over again and it was ever better! So I say your best bet is to do the rope drop in the morning and beat the crowds cuz you don’t know what the weather will be like later or if the ride will close. Also keep in mind that it also works if the ride has a delay, maybe stick around and when they bring it back up, go on it immediately and that’s a good way to get on it fast. Still Hagrid’s is a big wild card so today I was just really blessed to get on it twice with only 5 minute waits, that might not be the case another day. Hope this helps anyone reading it


----------



## instlouis

Linkura said:


> It's a separate line and no pre-show.
> 
> If it's working, 15-20 minutes.  If it's not working, well....


Thanks. At least you had a minimal wait on your return visit.


----------



## CPanther95

Today, not so lucky. Got to turnstiles at 7:40, 2nd in line. Announced delayed ride opening. We walked fast and ended up in the room after the tight , long tunnel before it stopped. Giving it until about 9:40, then gonna bail.


----------



## AaronRif

CPanther95 said:


> Today, not so lucky. Got to turnstiles at 7:40, 2nd in line. Announced delayed ride opening. We walked fast and ended up in the room after the tight , long tunnel before it stopped. Giving it until about 9:40, then gonna bail.



In line and close (ish) to the front. Team members were warning about delays before everyone even got into the park. On a side note, while there’s no cell service inside the queue building, the Universal WiFi does work, and it’s nice to have your phone as a distraction.


----------



## SweetestHoney86

Friday was my first park day and I rope dropped so early that I was the only one at the turnstiles. Due to previously explained delays I was in the queue until they emptied it around 11am. After exiting Hulk around 2:45pm I got the notification it was working and hurried over. I was able to ride after about a 20 min wait. The burgundy return pass they give out gets you into the future express part of the queue. 

Saturday, I hoped to ride one more time so I hoped in the queue right before tje 3pm cut off time. The ride delayed after about an hour wait and they emptied the queue and gave out passes again. I used the yellow pass to ride Forbidden Journey one time and went back to Hagrid. Cast members were outside and the sign said "extended delay". I waited outside. The cast members were talkative and very hopeful that the ride would come back up. Around 6:30 the ride reopened. Because I had my pass and was at the front, I got to the front of the queue before anyone. I was so quick(being solo helps with efficiency) I got to ride front row, on the motorbike side, solo, at night. The next people behind me were at the back if the ride so it was like a solo ride. By far worth all the trouble and that was the best birthday gift(it was my actual birthday) that a Harry Potter nerd could ask for.


----------



## SweetestHoney86

CPanther95 said:


> Today, not so lucky. Got to turnstiles at 7:40, 2nd in line. Announced delayed ride opening. We walked fast and ended up in the room after the tight , long tunnel before it stopped. Giving it until about 9:40, then gonna bail.



If you're willing to hold out until they open or at least give out the return pass for the ride, it's definitely worth it. If you're not that excited about the ride, definitely don't waste your park day waiting.


----------



## Brett Wyman

We were there for a private party last Thursday and I made the mistake of doing other attractions first and waiting for the Hagrids line to die down. I was literally the last person they let in line before they cut off the queue. After about 30 minutes, sure enough as I expected, it broke as usual. I waited another 60 minutes because I really wanted to ride and I have no plans to visit Universal again anytime soon. But at 11:45 pm(party was over at midnight) they cleared the queue. I was chatting with the cast member closing the ride behind me. We were together a long time so I asked him what the deal was. He says 99% it's the brake fins getting stuck and they simply pushed the limits too far with this and over engineered it when it was designed. When the fins are stuck they begin software analysis and check code for possible reasons. He says a lot of the time a system reboot fixes the issue. But of course until the fins are released by the computer it can't run again. This night sadly even after 60 minutes they couldn't get them to release. He did give me, and 3 others that had been chatting with him, skip the line passes but I dont have a Universal ticket to go with it


----------



## SharonEM

At what point after a long delay...I’m talking over 2 hours...will they shut it down and give out re-entry passes?


----------



## SweetestHoney86

SharonEM said:


> At what point after a long delay...I’m talking over 2 hours...will they shut it down and give out re-entry passes?


 They waited until 11am on Friday. Despite the lack of communication about what's going on, they're really trying get the ride working quickly and only empty the queue once they are sure it will be a while.


----------



## SharonEM

SweetestHoney86 said:


> They waited until 11am on Friday. Despite the lack of communication about what's going on, they're really trying get the ride working quickly and only empty the queue once they are sure it will be a while.


I totally believe that they’re trying, everyone is understandably getting anxious. It would be one thing if we knew the ride was running but it hasn’t at all so for this morning. We really want to ride but not sure what to do at this point.


----------



## amy1994

instlouis said:


> Would love to hear from someone that has received and used the Hagrid’s return pass due to the ride going down.  Did you go through a separate line that might, one day be the Express Pass line?  Did you skip the pre-show?  How long was your wait?  TIA


Hi, we used the return express pass yesterday. They bring you to the hallway that is right before the final room. It’s a huge timesaver! Maybe a 20’minute wait compared to the 180 wait time that was posted. Of course we waited over 2 hours the day before to get those passes...
I’m glad we went yesterday though because once again today the ride has been delayed since the park opened.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

Hi all.  If anyone's there this week, I'd love to know if the wait times in the afternoon are still approximate half to 2/3 the posted times.  I think this is jersey week and I'd love to know if the trend holds during a busier time.  We're going in 2 weeks and I don't know if I should assume shorter than posted times, given it's the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Any info would be appreciated!


----------



## stephaniesboys

We were there this week for 3 days and able to ride 2 of the 3 days.  I did see the wait at 60 mins briefly in the early afternoons, but if you weren't near the ride at this particular time forget it - especially if you took the train over from the other park. even with the express pass, it took at least 30 mins.  The first time we rode, wait said 90 but were in line for about 60.  The second time, wait was 120 and it took the whole 120 because it seemed to shut down a couple of times for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, not sure why.
Also, it was delayed at park opening pretty much every single day for hours, so we never tried lining up early.


----------



## instlouis

All the delays, breakdowns and stoppages are really becoming inexcusable and bordering on incompetence. At this point, I would rather have had universal delay the opening a month so they could get it right. Playing delay roulette every morning and afternoon is ridiculous.  I understand that all rides have problems from time-to-time but we are approaching the busiest times of the year with no fix in sight. I don’t see down times like this on the new Millennium Falcon ride or Slinky Dog Dash. As they say on the football broadcast, “C’mon, Man!”


----------



## ksromack

instlouis said:


> All the delays, breakdowns and stoppages are really becoming inexcusable and bordering on incompetence. At this point, I would rather have had universal delay the opening a month so they could get it right. Playing delay roulette every morning and afternoon is ridiculous.  I understand that all rides have problems from time-to-time but we are approaching the busiest times of the year with no fix in sight. I don’t see down times like this on the new Millennium Falcon ride or Slinky Dog Dash. As they say on the football broadcast, “C’mon, Man!”


I LOVE C'Mon Man!  And I'm from StL too


----------



## Vicki Rickerd

instlouis said:


> All the delays, breakdowns and stoppages are really becoming inexcusable and bordering on incompetence. At this point, I would rather have had universal delay the opening a month so they could get it right. Playing delay roulette every morning and afternoon is ridiculous.  I understand that all rides have problems from time-to-time but we are approaching the busiest times of the year with no fix in sight. I don’t see down times like this on the new Millennium Falcon ride or Slinky Dog Dash. As they say on the football broadcast, “C’mon, Man!”



Was really hoping they would have all the kinks out by our trip, but its looking like a pipe dream. 5 months after opening and still like it was the first month


----------



## SharonEM

instlouis said:


> All the delays, breakdowns and stoppages are really becoming inexcusable and bordering on incompetence. At this point, I would rather have had universal delay the opening a month so they could get it right. Playing delay roulette every morning and afternoon is ridiculous.  I understand that all rides have problems from time-to-time but we are approaching the busiest times of the year with no fix in sight. I don’t see down times like this on the new Millennium Falcon ride or Slinky Dog Dash. As they say on the football broadcast, “C’mon, Man!”


I ended up leaving the line at 11:50am after rope dropping the park today. I was mostly annoyed by the fact that it seemed they were refusing to close the ride, empty the queue. And offer re-entry tickets after a nearly 3 hour wait after opening...not counting the extra hour the people around me had waited for rope drop. I didn’t have the heart to bother the team members who were already being barraged with questions they didn’t quite have the answers to. Trying to salvage the day for my son (and not having express passes on this trip) I called guest services and they were able to satisfy my frustration even though they couldn’t/wouldn’t offer a re-entry pass for Hagrid’s. After we ate lunch, we rode our first ride of the day at 2:00pm.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

instlouis said:


> All the delays, breakdowns and stoppages are really becoming inexcusable and bordering on incompetence. At this point, I would rather have had universal delay the opening a month so they could get it right. Playing delay roulette every morning and afternoon is ridiculous.  I understand that all rides have problems from time-to-time but we are approaching the busiest times of the year with no fix in sight. I don’t see down times like this on the new Millennium Falcon ride or Slinky Dog Dash. As they say on the football broadcast, “C’mon, Man!”



The last ride to be like this was FEA. It was as bad if not worse but it had the reason (excuse?) that it was a re-skin of an existing ride.


----------



## Lashed34

What's particularly frustrating in having a photo of the ride come up on the hompage of Universal. They seem to be ignoring all the frustrations people are having. Guests want to have fun, not worry about a 3 hour queue/wait etc for a ride they may not even get on.


----------



## Linkura

instlouis said:


> All the delays, breakdowns and stoppages are really becoming inexcusable and bordering on incompetence. At this point, I would rather have had universal delay the opening a month so they could get it right. Playing delay roulette every morning and afternoon is ridiculous.  I understand that all rides have problems from time-to-time but we are approaching the busiest times of the year with no fix in sight. I don’t see down times like this on the new Millennium Falcon ride or Slinky Dog Dash. As they say on the football broadcast, “C’mon, Man!”


Pretty much this.  As I said before, they only get away with it because it is such a phenomenal ride.



PrincessWithABlaster said:


> The last ride to be like this was FEA. It was as bad if not worse but it had the reason (excuse?) that it was a re-skin of an existing ride.


At least that had FP, and if it went down when you had FP, you got an FP to ride it later.  Not an option here unless you are lucky enough to wait long enough for them to deem you worthy of a ruby pass.


----------



## amy1994

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> Hi all.  If anyone's there this week, I'd love to know if the wait times in the afternoon are still approximate half to 2/3 the posted times.  I think this is jersey week and I'd love to know if the trend holds during a busier time.  We're going in 2 weeks and I don't know if I should assume shorter than posted times, given it's the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Any info would be appreciated!


 We were there Fri-Sun and the lowest wait I saw was 90 min. I wrote about our experience on Friday with the ride not opening and getting the return pass, which we used on Sat. My son and I rode again yesterday without a pass when the wait was posted as 90 min. On that day the ride had been delayed all morning and I think it started up in early afternoon. We were surprised to see 90 min and so hopped on line. As we waited the time grew to 240 minutes! Since we were already waiting, I wasn’t sure how that would play out for us. In the end, it was a little over 2 hours. It would have been faster but there were a lot of people with the ruby passes who merge at the room with the table. This really slows down the regular line. Once you’re past the merge, the line moves fairly quickly through the last corridor and the main hall. If you are at IOA during a time when the ride isn’t breaking down a lot (is there a time like that?), then people won’t have the ruby passes and the whole line will move more quickly, possibly leading to those actual wait times that are less than what’s posted.


----------



## Lashed34

amy1994 said:


> We were there Fri-Sun and the lowest wait I saw was 90 min. I wrote about our experience on Friday with the ride not opening and getting the return pass, which we used on Sat. My son and I rode again yesterday without a pass when the wait was posted as 90 min. On that day the ride had been delayed all morning and I think it started up in early afternoon. We were surprised to see 90 min and so hopped on line. As we waited the time grew to 240 minutes! Since we were already waiting, I wasn’t sure how that would play out for us. In the end, it was a little over 2 hours. It would have been faster but there were a lot of people with the ruby passes who merge at the room with the table. This really slows down the regular line. Once you’re past the merge, the line moves fairly quickly through the last corridor and the main hall. If you are at IOA during a time when the ride isn’t breaking down a lot (is there a time like that?), then people won’t have the ruby passes and the whole line will move more quickly, possibly leading to those actual wait times that are less than what’s posted.


I really think these ruby passes are getting to be a problem because with the ride down so much more and more people are getting these passes and it's creating even more frustration.

I really think they just need to make a decision - open it AM or PM for now and have done with it until they can operate it for the full time the park is open.

It's just unfair to post a time but then double it because of ruby passholders cutting the line.


----------



## CPanther95

Trying again today. 7:40am here and first at the turnstile.


----------



## Lashed34

CPanther95 said:


> Trying again today. 7:40am here and first at the turnstile.


Good luck,


----------



## SaintsManiac

I set up the alert through the universal app to tell me when the ride opens. The other night it sent me a notification that it was open with a 15 minute wait after park close??

Maybe it was a glitch. I'm not there yet, so that might have had something to do with it?


----------



## AaronRif

SaintsManiac said:


> I set up the alert through the universal app to tell me when the ride opens. The other night it sent me a notification that it was open with a 15 minute wait after park close??
> 
> Maybe it was a glitch. I'm not there yet, so that might have had something to do with it?



I think it’s just glitchy. I set the same alert while in the parks yesterday, and it notified me an hour after it actually opened (after the ride’s significant delayed opening).


----------



## AaronRif

AaronRif said:


> I think it’s just glitchy. I set the same alert while in the parks yesterday, and it notified me an hour after it actually opened (after the ride’s significant delayed opening).



Also, to add another data point, I got in line today at noon and was on at 12:40 pm. The wait time outside said 120 minutes. So the points about Universal overestimating the wait is definitely correct (and my personal assumption is that it helps keep people out of line). Note that the ride didn’t go down while I waited, so that definitely helped.


----------



## Babs1975

This is truly nuts. Very frustrating and disappointing for all! We go in a little over two weeks and I have been following this thread for info and trying to make a solid plan. I think we will try rope drop the first day we’re there but if it’s down or an extended wait, we’ll bail and go enjoy Universal. I won’t wait too long before making that decision! I won’t wait in line all morning. Hopefully it’s running fine, but I know it’s a possibility it won’t be. Which is okay. Disappointing but it won’t make or break my days there. I hope we get to ride it at least once during our time there! Wish everyone else luck too! Keep those reports coming!


----------



## Linkura

AaronRif said:


> Also, to add another data point, I got in line today at noon and was on at 12:40 pm. The wait time outside said 120 minutes. So the points about Universal overestimating the wait is definitely correct (and my personal assumption is that it helps keep people out of line). Note that the ride didn’t go down while I waited, so that definitely helped.


They overestimate because downtime is so frequent.


----------



## KatieCharlotte

Is this correct? --
* Wait times are significantly overestimated IF it doesn't shut down and hasn't had a long shutdown that day that resulted in lots of return passes.  So a 120 minute posted wait time could be a totally manageable 40 minutes or 240 minutes if it shuts down.

* It goes down frequently at all times of day and night, and only sometimes they give out return passes.

* Arriving early and getting in line immediately is a big investment that may not pay off.

* No one knows when there will be either EP or early entry at IoA. 

* Single rider is only sometimes available.

We will have an entire week in early January.  The first full day of our trip is a 9/10 crowd but the other days range from 3-5 on the crowd calendars.  Winter hours of 9-7 pm start the second full day of our trip.  We will have express passes for basically everything else on this trip.  We don't mind one or two early mornings.  We can handle one long wait but only if we actually get to ride, and I know we'll want to ride more than once if possible.   My kid is an expert single rider and wants the sidecar anyway, so that is an option.   Do we just keep an eye on the line and shutdowns, or is there any time of the day when our odds are better or worse?


----------



## Mercenary

Brett Wyman said:


> We were there for a private party last Thursday and I made the mistake of doing other attractions first and waiting for the Hagrids line to die down. I was literally the last person they let in line before they cut off the queue. After about 30 minutes, sure enough as I expected, it broke as usual. I waited another 60 minutes because I really wanted to ride and I have no plans to visit Universal again anytime soon. But at 11:45 pm(party was over at midnight) they cleared the queue. I was chatting with the cast member closing the ride behind me. We were together a long time so I asked him what the deal was. He says 99% it's the brake fins getting stuck and they simply pushed the limits too far with this and over engineered it when it was designed. When the fins are stuck they begin software analysis and check code for possible reasons. He says a lot of the time a system reboot fixes the issue. But of course until the fins are released by the computer it can't run again. This night sadly even after 60 minutes they couldn't get them to release. He did give me, and 3 others that had been chatting with him, skip the line passes but I dont have a Universal ticket to go with it



Bummer sorry to hear. I am heading there in 2 weeks going to be interesting, I can always take your pass.  lol


----------



## Disxuni

KatieCharlotte said:


> * Arriving early and getting in line immediately is a big investment that may not pay off.



Only if you decide to wait until you either get on, or until they hand out passes if they announce there is a "delay". 

If things work out essentially the only thing you'll be investing is if you have EE and decide to sacrifice it by waiting at the gate at IoA. Other than that, all the waiting for the most part is during non-operational hours at IoA when you do it that way. If things work out and you're able to get onto the attraction relatively quickly (if you're one of the first several in line) you should be done with the ride at most by 9:30, by 10, if there is a minor delay, or if you didn't get in line early enough before opening.

It's only a "big investment that may not pay off" if you decide to wait if they announce there is a delay, especially if they announce it prior to opening. Which to me, if anyone has a only a certain amount of time to enjoy the parks I wouldn't suggest sticking for that long and bail out. It sucks for those who do not get to do this often. However, if someone genuinely doesn't have much time to waste and wants to enjoy the park(s), it's best to wait as little as possible, and move on.


----------



## AaronRif

KatieCharlotte said:


> Is this correct? --
> * Wait times are significantly overestimated IF it doesn't shut down and hasn't had a long shutdown that day that resulted in lots of return passes.  So a 120 minute posted wait time could be a totally manageable 40 minutes or 240 minutes if it shuts down.
> 
> * It goes down frequently at all times of day and night, and only sometimes they give out return passes.
> 
> * Arriving early and getting in line immediately is a big investment that may not pay off.
> 
> * No one knows when there will be either EP or early entry at IoA.
> 
> * Single rider is only sometimes available.
> 
> We will have an entire week in early January.  The first full day of our trip is a 9/10 crowd but the other days range from 3-5 on the crowd calendars.  Winter hours of 9-7 pm start the second full day of our trip.  We will have express passes for basically everything else on this trip.  We don't mind one or two early mornings.  We can handle one long wait but only if we actually get to ride, and I know we'll want to ride more than once if possible.   My kid is an expert single rider and wants the sidecar anyway, so that is an option.   Do we just keep an eye on the line and shutdowns, or is there any time of the day when our odds are better or worse?



I can answer your first and third points but only anecdotally from my experiences today and yesterday.

Yesterday my friend and I got to Islands at 8:00 am, they let everyone into the Hagrid’s line around 8:45 am even though the Team Members were warning everyone that the ride was experiencing delays. We sat it out until 10:30 am (so that’s almost an hour wait outside Islands and a 1.5 hour wait in line for Hagrid’s) and then left since it wasn’t open and the line wasn’t moving. If you leave early without them clearing the queue you won’t get the Ruby Express Pass. The ride didn’t open until about 12:30 pm, but it actually stayed open throughout the day (past the normal 3:00 pm closing).

Today, we got in line at 12:00 and 1:00 pm respectively, and waited about 40 minutes each time (yes, two times with a 40 minute wait back to back). The ride did not go down the entire time, and I assume there was a limited amount of Ruby Express Pass holders going through during this time as well. The first time we rode the posted wait was 120 minutes and the second was 90.

I’d currently recommend going in the middle of the day and chancing a 90 minute wait knowing that the ride is fully open rather than chancing it at the morning and wasting valuable park time or early hours in Diagon Alley.


----------



## KatieCharlotte

Disxuni said:


> Only if you decide to wait until you either get on, or until they hand out passes if they announce there is a "delay".
> 
> If things work out essentially the only thing you'll be investing is if you have EE and decide to sacrifice it by waiting at the gate at IoA. Other than that, all the waiting for the most part is during non-operational hours at IoA when you do it that way. If things work out and you're able to get onto the attraction relatively quickly (if you're one of the first several in line) you should be done with the ride at most by 9:30, by 10, if there is a minor delay, or if you didn't get in line early enough before opening.
> 
> It's only a "big investment that may not pay off" if you decide to wait if they announce there is a delay, especially if they announce it prior to opening. Which to me, if anyone has a only a certain amount of time to enjoy the parks I wouldn't suggest sticking for that long and bail out. It sucks for those who do not get to do this often. However, if someone genuinely doesn't have much time to waste and wants to enjoy the park(s), it's best to wait as little as possible, and move on.



By big investment, I was including the time spent standing at the gate to be somewhere near the front, time that could be spent having a relaxed breakfast or wandering Diagon Alley during EE.  We don't mind the experience of waiting at the gate, as long as our odds are pretty good that the ride will be operating.


----------



## Disxuni

KatieCharlotte said:


> By big investment, I was including the time spent standing at the gate to be somewhere near the front, time that could be spent having a relaxed breakfast or wandering Diagon Alley during EE.  We don't mind the experience of waiting at the gate, as long as our odds are pretty good that the ride will be operating.



I understand, that's why I can think of the only investment being something along the lines of sacrificing EE, which a lot of guests one way, or another has access to. In the end, it depends on how much someone wants it and if they have the time to do it.

If someone is really questioning it that much and has limited time in the parks the safest way is waiting at the IoA gates first thing in the morning. Either way, it's a coin toss. However, at least your time isn't cutting into actual park hours and any other time it's a coin toss in terms of whether the posted time is going to be less, the exact wait, or longer and if it will be operational, or close by the time you give it a chance. 

This ride's history of operation is a roller coaster itself. It has a lot of good times and bad times. For anyone it's a choice of whether they want to try, or not, then it's a decision of what chances are they willing to bet on in terms of timing. There's pros and cons to both choices.


----------



## Linkura

KatieCharlotte said:


> Is this correct? --
> * Wait times are significantly overestimated IF it doesn't shut down and hasn't had a long shutdown that day that resulted in lots of return passes.  So a 120 minute posted wait time could be a totally manageable 40 minutes or 240 minutes if it shuts down.
> 
> * It goes down frequently at all times of day and night, and only sometimes they give out return passes.
> 
> * Arriving early and getting in line immediately is a big investment that may not pay off.
> 
> * No one knows when there will be either EP or early entry at IoA.
> 
> * Single rider is only sometimes available.
> 
> We will have an entire week in early January.  The first full day of our trip is a 9/10 crowd but the other days range from 3-5 on the crowd calendars.  Winter hours of 9-7 pm start the second full day of our trip.  We will have express passes for basically everything else on this trip.  We don't mind one or two early mornings.  We can handle one long wait but only if we actually get to ride, and I know we'll want to ride more than once if possible.   My kid is an expert single rider and wants the sidecar anyway, so that is an option.   Do we just keep an eye on the line and shutdowns, or is there any time of the day when our odds are better or worse?


Sounds about right.

Arriving early isn't nearly as big of an investment if you have Express Pass.  I think that is your best bet at this point.


----------



## tweak89

I think the rush to have the latest and greatest attractions will be an ongoing issue.

Theme park developers are in a no win situation.  Look at Galaxies Edge for example.  Is it popular?  Yes.  Is it the runaway train success that everyone thought it would be?  Not yet.  IMO, the main reason is the delay in Rise of the Resistance (Smuggler's run was never meant to anchor that new land).  Disney took the tact of waiting to make sure it's right and it's affected the perception of how successful the new expansion really is.

On the other hand, Universal got Hagrid's done very quickly and maybe jumped the gun on opening and are now having issues that maybe could have been avoided with prolonged testing.

Different decisions, similar results: unhappy customers.

I'll be heading back to Universal early next year and hopefully they'll have it all fixed and more reliable as I've been looking forward to it since it was announced.  I'll also be headed to Disneyland late next year and hope the wait for Rise works out in my favor.


----------



## AaronRif

Linkura said:


> Sounds about right.
> 
> Arriving early isn't nearly as big of an investment if you have Express Pass.  I think that is your best bet at this point.



We had (unlimited) Express and still felt like we wasted an hour and a half in line since we weren’t doing other rides or eating breakfast.


----------



## SweetestHoney86

KatieCharlotte said:


> Is this correct? --
> * Wait times are significantly overestimated IF it doesn't shut down and hasn't had a long shutdown that day that resulted in lots of return passes.  So a 120 minute posted wait time could be a totally manageable 40 minutes or 240 minutes if it shuts down.
> 
> * It goes down frequently at all times of day and night, and only sometimes they give out return passes.
> 
> * Arriving early and getting in line immediately is a big investment that may not pay off.
> 
> * No one knows when there will be either EP or early entry at IoA.
> 
> * Single rider is only sometimes available.
> 
> We will have an entire week in early January.  The first full day of our trip is a 9/10 crowd but the other days range from 3-5 on the crowd calendars.  Winter hours of 9-7 pm start the second full day of our trip.  We will have express passes for basically everything else on this trip.  We don't mind one or two early mornings.  We can handle one long wait but only if we actually get to ride, and I know we'll want to ride more than once if possible.   My kid is an expert single rider and wants the sidecar anyway, so that is an option.   Do we just keep an eye on the line and shutdowns, or is there any time of the day when our odds are better or worse?



Exactly right. Also from what I've learned talking to cast members during the 2 breakdowns I waited through; they are really trying to get everyone on the ride and one day I was there the breakdown seemed to be caused by them running 10 trains for the first time. With all of the trains running the queue was moving extremely fast before the breakdown. So if they can get through the technical issues, the wait times should never be over 90 minutes.


----------



## Linkura

AaronRif said:


> We had (unlimited) Express and still felt like we wasted an hour and a half in line since we weren’t doing other rides or eating breakfast.


There's a pretty good chance you're going to be wasting time in line if you want to experience this attraction.  You just need to eat it, get lucky, or just skip it.



SweetestHoney86 said:


> Exactly right. Also from what I've learned talking to cast members during the 2 breakdowns I waited through; they are really trying to get everyone on the ride and one day I was there the breakdown seemed to be caused by them running 10 trains for the first time. With all of the trains running the queue was moving extremely fast before the breakdown. So if they can get through the technical issues, the wait times should never be over 90 minutes.


It has a very good capacity if it's actually working.


----------



## Matthew81

My family rode it 3 days last week during rope drop.  Would have been 4 times but later found out we bailed one day about 10 minutes before they opened it.  Every time worth it and the running to the ride and waiting was part of the fun.  Even met a nice man by himself we rode mummy with twice after hagrids.


----------



## KatieCharlotte

Thanks for the different perspectives and info.  I will keep checking here to see how things seem to be going.  Our Universal vacations are intentionally low stress and not very scheduled, so I appreciate just having a general idea of our options and what might be easiest.  My girl who takes life too seriously thinks that everything is always magical at Universal, even though our trips don't go perfectly.   Waiting in line and talking about Harry Potter for two hours is one thing, but the ride breaking down frequently after waiting in line is not so magical.  

I do really feel for guests who have limited time and may not be coming back for a long time.


----------



## georgina

KatieCharlotte said:


> Thanks for the different perspectives and info.  I will keep checking here to see how things seem to be going.  Our Universal vacations are intentionally low stress and not very scheduled, so I appreciate just having a general idea of our options and what might be easiest.  My girl who takes life too seriously thinks that everything is always magical at Universal, even though our trips don't go perfectly.   Waiting in line and talking about Harry Potter for two hours is one thing, but the ride breaking down frequently after waiting in line is not so magical.
> 
> I do really feel for guests who have limited time and may not be coming back for a long time.


As far as your single rider line question, yes they open and close it depending on the ride flow. You also have to wait in a large portion of the line before the single rider line splits off. I was there a month ago on a solo trip and waited 120 mins using the SR line, and also maybe 90 minutes a second time, when the SR wasn't initially open but they opened it up and let me in it just before entering the building.


----------



## CPanther95

CPanther95 said:


> Trying again today. 7:40am here and first at the turnstile.



Let us in about 8:35. Walked fast and off ride by around 9am.

Incredible ride!


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

CPanther95 said:


> Let us in about 8:35. Walked fast and off ride by around 9am.
> 
> Incredible ride!



I’m really hoping we have that luck in 2 weeks. Planning to be there by 8.


----------



## sharona

Ugh!  I haven’t really been on these boards much recently and had no idea Hagrids was having so many issues.  That totally stinks.  We have a single day planned for US/IoA coming up on 12/7.  We’ll have express so wasn’t really worried about our Universal day - been focusing on the chaos that is Planning for WDW these days.  I guess we’ll need a plan.  sigh


----------



## DLo

Rode today. Got in line @ 10:45. Posted 120 minute wait - waited @ 70 minutes. What an amazing ride. Well worth the wait. 
Side note - there was a sign that said it would close early today.


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

sharona said:


> Ugh!  I haven’t really been on these boards much recently and had no idea Hagrids was having so many issues.  That totally stinks.  We have a single day planned for US/IoA coming up on 12/7.  We’ll have express so wasn’t really worried about our Universal day - been focusing on the chaos that is Planning for WDW these days.  I guess we’ll need a plan.  sigh


With express the good news is you really don’t need a plan.  Just show up at 8am (or a touch earlier if possible) and rope drop it.  If it doesn’t open by 10am move on and come back in the early afternoon if it later reopens.  You aren’t sacrificing anything since you can skip every other line with express. 

For people without express, this can cause real issues since they can’t afford to get “off plan”.


----------



## Erica_Haley

I rode again yesterday. Got in line at 11:50, and went to the single rider line. I made a mental note of the girls who were in front of us to see if I saw them later. After the staircase when we joined in at the last room, they must have been in an earlier room because we never saw them. We were getting on the ride at 12:40 with no delays. The posted wait time was 120 minutes, a huge difference!


----------



## CPanther95

Rode again today at Noon. Posted wait time was 90 minutes. Took 42 minutes.

Still a fantastic ride!


----------



## StarGirl11

I'm going to have one shot at this and I'm already worried about missing the window when I go on the 15th. Anyone had a chance to use the disability pass at Hagrids yet?

I'm already swallowing the amount for an express pass since otherwise god knows how well trying to ride other rides might go... 

Also just another question. Does anyone know if the ride has a 'chicken exit'? Friend does not like heights and by extension coasters (won't even go on the dark ones). Wondering if he can come through the queue with me if he wants without actually riding.


----------



## ksromack

StarGirl11 said:


> I'm going to have one shot at this and I'm already worried about missing the window when I go on the 15th. Anyone had a chance to use the disability pass at Hagrids yet?
> 
> I'm already swallowing the amount for an express pass since otherwise god knows how well trying to ride other rides might go...
> 
> Also just another question. Does anyone know if the ride has a 'chicken exit'? Friend does not like heights and by extension coasters (won't even go on the dark ones). Wondering if he can come through the queue with me if he wants without actually riding.


That sounds like child swap/rider switch to me...so I would think it would totally be possible!


----------



## Linkura

StarGirl11 said:


> I'm going to have one shot at this and I'm already worried about missing the window when I go on the 15th. Anyone had a chance to use the disability pass at Hagrids yet?
> 
> I'm already swallowing the amount for an express pass since otherwise god knows how well trying to ride other rides might go...
> 
> Also just another question. Does anyone know if the ride has a 'chicken exit'? Friend does not like heights and by extension coasters (won't even go on the dark ones). Wondering if he can come through the queue with me if he wants without actually riding.


I've used the Ruby Pass, which is basically the exact same as DAS except there's no return time, you just go whenever.  Tried using it when the ride was up and when the ride was having difficulties.  Basically, if the ride is running smoothly, you'll wait 15 minutes at most.  If it's not working, well, you're screwed just like everyone else, except if it does come back up, you'll be waiting 15 additional minutes instead of wherever you'd be in the regular line.


----------



## cschaaf

StarGirl11 said:


> I'm going to have one shot at this and I'm already worried about missing the window when I go on the 15th. Anyone had a chance to use the disability pass at Hagrids yet?
> 
> I'm already swallowing the amount for an express pass since otherwise god knows how well trying to ride other rides might go...
> 
> Also just another question. Does anyone know if the ride has a 'chicken exit'? Friend does not like heights and by extension coasters (won't even go on the dark ones). Wondering if he can come through the queue with me if he wants without actually riding.


We haven't been there since Hagrid's opened, but I can't imagine that they didn't build in a 'chicken exit'. They aren't going to make someone ride if they don't want to.


----------



## damo

Legally, I think they have to have exits all over the place.  Easy enough to just go through the queue and then wait in the child swap.


----------



## osufeth24

tweak89 said:


> I think the rush to have the latest and greatest attractions will be an ongoing issue.
> 
> Theme park developers are in a no win situation.  Look at Galaxies Edge for example.  Is it popular?  Yes.  Is it the runaway train success that everyone thought it would be?  Not yet.  IMO, the main reason is the delay in Rise of the Resistance (Smuggler's run was never meant to anchor that new land).  D*isney took the tact of waiting to make sure it's right and it's affected the perception of how successful the new expansion really is.*
> 
> On the other hand, Universal got Hagrid's done very quickly and maybe jumped the gun on opening and are now having issues that maybe could have been avoided with prolonged testing.
> 
> Different decisions, similar results: unhappy customers.
> 
> I'll be heading back to Universal early next year and hopefully they'll have it all fixed and more reliable as I've been looking forward to it since it was announced.  I'll also be headed to Disneyland late next year and hope the wait for Rise works out in my favor.



eh, there are some rumblings, they are rushing it still.  Lots of talk the ride is breaking down a lot in the testing, and really should be delayed.  But can't since they announced the date.  Have a feeling RotR will be a Hagrids situation where they will have super high wait times due to the amount of break downs the ride will have


----------



## georgina

Wait time said 75 minutes today around noon. Jumped in line, after about 30 minutes the ride went down for a bit. Was able to jump in the single rider line just before the building. Total time for me was almost 90 minutes. Wait time was 105 most of the afternoon


----------



## georgina

Hagrids did not open first thing today. We went to the 10:45 Grinch show and it seemed to have just opened then with a 210 minute wait. Haven’t seen it below 150 yet. Parks are crowded


----------



## ShadeDK

StarGirl11 said:


> Also just another question. Does anyone know if the ride has a 'chicken exit'? Friend does not like heights and by extension coasters (won't even go on the dark ones). Wondering if he can come through the queue with me if he wants without actually riding.


Yes - there is a chicken exit in the final room right before boarding.  As I recall, it’s a doorway that opens directly into the hall where riders exit after the ride is over.  (There’s also another door to the outside in the final room, but that’s being used for the single rider queue and is a second entrance rather than an exit).  

There’s also an exit in the workshop part of the queue, so don’t jump out too early and miss the final room.  Or more tunnels.  Lots and lots of twisting tunnels in that queue.  Tunnels that never end.  Just when you think you’re rounding the corner into something more interesting - nope, more tunnels.


----------



## andieb0602

We rope dropped Hagrid's this morning and I thought I'd chime in with our experience.

We arrived at the turnstiles around 8:15 am and there were already tons of people ahead of us.  We chose the far left line.  They started letting us all in at 8:40 but, due to the couple in front of us having ticket issues and DH having fingerprint issues we didn't get back as quickly as I would have liked.  There were some runners mowing people over but, for the most part, everyone moved at a steady pace.  We decided to not carry a backpack today and I'm glad we didn't because it was a madhouse at the lockers.

At 9:06 we were told that there was a delay in opening that eventually turned into an announcement that there was an extended delay.  While we waited we were able to leave the queue to go to the bathroom, etc so long as one person in our party stayed in line.  They would give each person a ticket to get out and you could get back in with the ticket going back in the way you came. For whatever reason, there were times where the lines would move quite a bit despite the ride not running.  During this time the announcement explaining the extended delay repeated over and over.   The preshow with Hagrid and Arthur was not running when we went through that room.  Around 11 am they announced that class was in session and things started moving much faster.  We were in the hallway after the dragon eggs and got through the last two rooms in the queue around  11:30  and the single rider line was up when we hit that point. The TM was asking the person who stood in the regular queue what they wanted to ride and then told the single rider what they were riding.

We were off the ride at 11:36.  It was a VERY long wait but we felt committed once we were in line and the kids were willing to wait.  After the ride, we ate lunch and then left because the lines were *very* long.  I think Forbidden Journey had a 100+ minute wait when we walked by.  There seem to be a lot of convention people in the parks.

We're rope dropping it again tomorrow and am hoping it works a bit better then.  If you add in the time we spent in line including the wait for the park to open it was over 3 hours.  I'm not sure I'd wait that long again but the ride is fantastic and we all loved it.  We knew the potential for a delayed start so I was willing to take that risk (and, in this case, lose) but we have the luxury of multiple days at the parks.  If we were only here for one day I don't that I would take the risk because it's such a time suck if it is delayed or goes down.


----------



## andieb0602

ShadeDK said:


> Or more tunnels. Lots and lots of twisting tunnels in that queue. Tunnels that never end. Just when you think you’re rounding the corner into something more interesting - nope, more tunnels.



This made me lol!  I kept telling the kids this morning that I thought the next room would be the one before you board and, inevitably, it would be another dark, long, and twisty tunnel.


----------



## Lashed34

andieb0602 said:


> We rope dropped Hagrid's this morning and I thought I'd chime in with our experience.
> 
> We arrived at the turnstiles around 8:15 am and there were already tons of people ahead of us.  We chose the far left line.  They started letting us all in at 8:40 but, due to the couple in front of us having ticket issues and DH having fingerprint issues we didn't get back as quickly as I would have liked.  There were some runners mowing people over but, for the most part, everyone moved at a steady pace.  We decided to not carry a backpack today and I'm glad we didn't because it was a madhouse at the lockers.
> 
> At 9:06 we were told that there was a delay in opening that eventually turned into an announcement that there was an extended delay.  While we waited we were able to leave the queue to go to the bathroom, etc so long as one person in our party stayed in line.  They would give each person a ticket to get out and you could get back in with the ticket going back in the way you came. For whatever reason, there were times where the lines would move quite a bit despite the ride not running.  During this time the announcement explaining the extended delay repeated over and over.   The preshow with Hagrid and Arthur was not running when we went through that room.  Around 11 am they announced that class was in session and things started moving much faster.  We were in the hallway after the dragon eggs and got through the last two rooms in the queue around  11:30  and the single rider line was up when we hit that point. The TM was asking the person who stood in the regular queue what they wanted to ride and then told the single rider what they were riding.
> 
> We were off the ride at 11:36.  It was a VERY long wait but we felt committed once we were in line and the kids were willing to wait.  After the ride, we ate lunch and then left because the lines were *very* long.  I think Forbidden Journey had a 100+ minute wait when we walked by.  There seem to be a lot of convention people in the parks.
> 
> We're rope dropping it again tomorrow and am hoping it works a bit better then.  If you add in the time we spent in line including the wait for the park to open it was over 3 hours.  I'm not sure I'd wait that long again but the ride is fantastic and we all loved it.  We knew the potential for a delayed start so I was willing to take that risk (and, in this case, lose) but we have the luxury of multiple days at the parks.  If we were only here for one day I don't that I would take the risk because it's such a time suck if it is delayed or goes down.


Thanks so much for your report. Please let us know how you get on tomorrow.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

If anyone is there tomorrow and sees the "Hagrid's will be closing early today" sign out, if you have time can you post here?
We plan on checking in at RPR and heading straight there after we land, but it is going to be close to 2:30ish, maybe 3. I know it says it closes at 3, but it seems to stay open some days longer. (Like today)
I "think" the days it for sure closes early there is a sign-??
Just want to mentally prepare if we will miss it. 
TIA if anyone sees this!! If not, guess we find out when we get there!


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

georgina said:


> Hagrids did not open first thing today. We went to the 10:45 Grinch show and it seemed to have just opened then with a 210 minute wait. Haven’t seen it below 150 yet. Parks are crowded



Wow.  What a difference a day makes.  I was looking at wait times yesterday and everything other than Hagrids was shockingly low at 2 pm (Hulk was showing 25 mins).  Sorry it was so crowded today.


----------



## CPanther95

Great night.

Saw Macy's Christmas parade at the Studios at 5:30. Went to see London decked out for Christmas. Then train to IoA. Went to Hippogriff entrance and saw the Christmas laser show on the castle. Rode Hippogriff.

On the way out we saw that they were still taking people into the Hagrid line at 7pm. They said they were about to close the line so we hit the lockers and got in line. Went to the Hagrid film room and it was playing (our first time seeing it). Only one batch of people behind us before line was closed. Finished ride at 7:35.

On our way out they asked if we wanted to ride again. They directed us right back around and we got back on as quick as we could walk around. Rode it 2 more times and off by about 7:50. Could have kept riding - I assume until 8pm.

Unbelievable ride at night. Got front row the first time tonight and it was incredible.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

CPanther95 said:


> Great night.
> 
> Saw Macy's Christmas parade at the Studios at 5:30. Went to see London decked out for Christmas. Then train to IoA. Went to Hippogriff entrance and saw the Christmas laser show on the castle. Rode Hippogriff.
> 
> On the way out we saw that they were still taking people into the Hagrid line at 7pm. They said they were about to close the line so we hit the lockers and got in line. Went to the Hagrid film room and it was playing (our first time seeing it). Only one batch of people behind us before line was closed. Finished ride at 7:35.
> 
> On our way out they asked if we wanted to ride again. They directed us right back around and we got back on as quick as we could walk around. Rode it 2 more times and off by about 7:50. Could have kept riding - I assume until 8pm.
> 
> Unbelievable ride at night. Got front row the first time tonight and it was incredible.



That’s fantastic. Glad you got to be in the right place at the right time!


----------



## andieb0602

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> If anyone is there tomorrow and sees the "Hagrid's will be closing early today" sign out, if you have time can you post here?
> We plan on checking in at RPR and heading straight there after we land, but it is going to be close to 2:30ish, maybe 3. I know it says it closes at 3, but it seems to stay open some days longer. (Like today)
> I "think" the days it for sure closes early there is a sign-??
> Just want to mentally prepare if we will miss it.
> TIA if anyone sees this!! If not, guess we find out when we get there!



If we're still in IOA tomorrow afternoon I'll check.


----------



## andieb0602

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> If anyone is there tomorrow and sees the "Hagrid's will be closing early today" sign out, if you have time can you post here?
> We plan on checking in at RPR and heading straight there after we land, but it is going to be close to 2:30ish, maybe 3. I know it says it closes at 3, but it seems to stay open some days longer. (Like today)
> I "think" the days it for sure closes early there is a sign-??
> Just want to mentally prepare if we will miss it.
> TIA if anyone sees this!! If not, guess we find out when we get there!



The sign was already out as we were queuing up this morning.  We're already being told it's delayed.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

andieb0602 said:


> The sign was already out as we were queuing up this morning.  We're already being told it's delayed.


Thanks
Hopefully since it’s delayed they’ll keep it open longer. If not rope drop tomorrow for us
Good luck!


----------



## christophfam

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Thanks
> Hopefully since it’s delayed they’ll keep it open longer. If not rope drop tomorrow for us
> Good luck!


 That was my experience last month. Sign was out but they did not close early. App said it was closing early as well. I wouldn’t believe the sign or the app especially with a delayed opening in the morning. Definitely worth a shot today!!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

In line 
Said 180  
We shall see!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Done so about what it said but
BEST RIDE EVER. I did t watch spoilers so 
My 7 yr old didn’t even care about wait after ride so fun!


----------



## andieb0602

This morning's rope drop was basically a repeat of yesterday's.  The kids didn't want to wait this time so we left the line around 10 am to get a late breakfast and head over to US.  We thought we heard it start running around 10:15.  We're going to try again tomorrow.  It looks like a bunch of people have checked out so I'm hoping to get in more than one ride tomorrow since we'll be hanging out in IOA most of the day.


----------



## CPanther95

Word of advice...

Watch the track ahead and lean into the turns. There's quite a bit of lateral twisting of the track back and forth that makes for a fast, jerking ride. That was a lot of unnexpected fun, but leaning into the turns smooths it out and makes it seem faster and more like you are "flying" the motorcycle instead of being whipped around strapped to a motorcycle.


----------



## ksromack

CPanther95 said:


> Word of advice...
> 
> Watch the track ahead and lean into the turns. There's quite a bit of lateral twisting of the track back and forth that makes for a fast, jerking ride. That was a lot of unnexpected fun, but leaning into the turns smooths it out and makes it seem faster and more like you are "flying" the motorcycle instead of being whipped around strapped to a motorcycle.


Dh has to do this on Space Mountain.....which is why we've never been able to ride it at MNSSHP because of it being in the pitch dark.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

RD let in at 8:40 entered 9:50 on my motorcycle at 9:01


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

8:50 not 9:50


----------



## ksromack

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> RD let in at 8:40 entered 9:50 on my motorcycle at 9:01


Vroooom Vrooooom


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

ksromack said:


> Vroooom Vrooooom


Exactly!!!


----------



## TongaToast21

what 


TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> RD let in at 8:40 entered 9:50 on my motorcycle at 9:01


what time did you get to the park at?


----------



## jenhum

We just got home from the parks. Last Wednesday we arrived at the parks around 2:00 and went straight to Hagrid's, app said 90 mins. We got in line at 2:20 and by 2:30 they were making announcements that it was delayed. The announcements kept coming every 10 minutes or so, and with each announcement more people left the line, so we kept moving forward despite the ride being down. Once we were in the tunnels, we made the decision to stay put (Wednesday was kind of our bonus day, since it was a travel day). We had just made it into the room with Hagrid's work table (the room in-between the two sets of tunnels) when they closed the ride indefinitely. 

A TM was coming through the line with yellow and ruby passes. They said if we wanted to stay in line, we could have a yellow pass. If we wanted to leave the line, we could have a yellow AND a ruby pass. Those were the magic words for us! We took our passes and made our way to the exit. At the exit, there was another TM handing us ANOTHER set of yellow and ruby passes. Score! So we waited about 1h10min, and got 2 ruby passes each. We had express passes, so we gifted all of our yellow passes to strangers in the park. We used our ruby passes on Thursday and Saturday, and luckily the ride was up both times so we had a little less than 15 minute wait. Absolutely LOVED the ride! My favorite that I've ever been on. So unbelievably smooth and exciting! 

We did attempt to wait in the line on Friday- it said 105 minutes but it was right at 3:00 so I was hoping it was inflated. It was backed up almost to the ride entrance though, and after about 10 minutes stopped moving with delays. So after waiting 30 minutes and barely moving at all, we decided not to waste the rest of our afternoon and bailed. I'm so glad we got to ride it twice though, I can't wait to go back in a few years when hopefully it's on express!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

TongaToast21 said:


> what
> 
> what time did you get to the park at?


We walked over from rpr and were about 20 back in our row around 8 I think. 
The lines were backed way back when they let us in and yes some people were running. we walked very very fast until the construction walls by dr suess area then kept a nice quick pace.
They extended the “queue” so it was a longer walk until we got to the actual ride entrance but we never stopped until we got to the point of them asking how many. No preshow.
Again...so much fun!


----------



## instlouis

jenhum said:


> So we waited about 1h10min, and got 2 ruby passes each. We had express passes, so we gifted all of our yellow passes to strangers in the park. We used our ruby passes on Thursday and Saturday, and luckily the ride was up both times so we had a little less than 15 minute wait. Absolutely LOVED the ride! My favorite that I've ever been on. So unbelievably smooth and exciting!



The Ruby Pass is now more valuable than Vibranium!


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

instlouis said:


> The Ruby Pass is now more valuable than Vibranium!



They should have made the ruby pass gold so we could call it Felix Felisis.

What is a yellow pass?


----------



## Lashed34

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> They should have made the rugby pass gold so we could call it Felix Felisis.
> 
> What is a yellow pass?


Yellow is express pass for another ride.


----------



## Yorkie2011

Just did Hagrid’s.  The ride went from a solid 180-210 all morning to a 90 at 12:30. Took the chance and joined the queue at 13:10 and that 90 was actually an easy 45 minutes instead.


----------



## Linkura

CPanther95 said:


> Word of advice...
> 
> Watch the track ahead and lean into the turns. There's quite a bit of lateral twisting of the track back and forth that makes for a fast, jerking ride. That was a lot of unnexpected fun, but leaning into the turns smooths it out and makes it seem faster and more like you are "flying" the motorcycle instead of being whipped around strapped to a motorcycle.


Weird, I thought it was smooth as butter.  But on the motorbike, I was riding it like I was on one.


----------



## CPanther95

Linkura said:


> Weird, I thought it was smooth as butter.  But on the motorbike, I was riding it like I was on one.



It's extremely smooth. It is only a bit "jerky" when the track does quick twists back and forth and they catch you off guard. 

If you ride it like a motorcycle, it's super fluid.


----------



## EddieValiant

Yesterday it was shutdown just before 5 on a 7pm close.


----------



## SorcererPanda

CPanther95 said:


> Great night.
> 
> Saw Macy's Christmas parade at the Studios at 5:30. Went to see London decked out for Christmas. Then train to IoA. Went to Hippogriff entrance and saw the Christmas laser show on the castle. Rode Hippogriff.
> 
> On the way out we saw that they were still taking people into the Hagrid line at 7pm. They said they were about to close the line so we hit the lockers and got in line. Went to the Hagrid film room and it was playing (our first time seeing it). Only one batch of people behind us before line was closed. Finished ride at 7:35.
> 
> On our way out they asked if we wanted to ride again. They directed us right back around and we got back on as quick as we could walk around. Rode it 2 more times and off by about 7:50. Could have kept riding - I assume until 8pm.
> 
> Unbelievable ride at night. Got front row the first time tonight and it was incredible.



That's amazing! I was there on Saturday and left just after the parade because it was so cold. Now I wish I skipped it for Hagrid.


----------



## SorcererPanda

Just adding a data point:
On Saturday, Hagrid's didn't open right away and I think it went down shortly after.
I joined the line just after noon, when the wait time was at 210. It took about 90 minutes from start to end.


----------



## Liseepea

Why does Hagrid's close early some days?


----------



## CPanther95

Liseepea said:


> Why does Hagrid's close early some days?



They close entry so everyone in line can ride before the park closes.


----------



## Disxuni

Liseepea said:


> Why does Hagrid's close early some days?



As @CPanther95 states it's to ensure whoever is in line may ride before the park officially closes. Along with that being said, it's important for that to happen due to the continued issues with the ride with Universal needing to continue to work on it after hours.


----------



## Liseepea

CPanther95 said:


> They close entry so everyone in line can ride before the park closes.


 Kind of makes sense. I'll have to keep my eyes open on that when we go Next Wednesday. I'm used to Disney where you can get in line right before park close. 

Thanks!


----------



## Linkura

Liseepea said:


> Kind of makes sense. I'll have to keep my eyes open on that when we go Next Wednesday. I'm used to Disney where you can get in line right before park close.
> 
> Thanks!


That's how it works for all the other rides at Universal.  They're doing it for Hagrid's because it's still basically held to together with duct tape and needs all the maintenance time it can get.


----------



## EddieValiant

It opened late today after 10. I jumped in line at about 11, going to single rider. Not sure if this has been mentioned, but the single rider line split has been moved to right before going indoors.


----------



## Liseepea

That makes sense. We wont die if we don't get on it (I guess we don't know what we are missing). So our plan is to do everything else we NEED to do then get in line and hope it's operational.


----------



## Lashed34

We are staying at HRH for 14 nights so although our aim is to ride Hagrids as many times as possible we are lucky because we don't feel any pressure of having a limited time to get on it. We'll play it by ear in the parks and because we have the UEP we know we'll have a lot more time for other rides etc. So we may do RD on day 3 or 4 if we haven't got on by then but whatever happens we know we'll have to queue for maybe an hour or more. Likewise for FOP as no FP available so will definitely RD AK for that.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

Has anyone noticed, is Hagrid’s more likely to have a delayed start when it rains overnight?  I would guess yes, but curious if that’s actually been the experience. It’s supposed to rain overnight and maybe (or not) into the morning on Sun so I’m tempted to just plan to let the kids sleep or hit early entry instead.


----------



## snoopboop

Matthew81 said:


> Every time worth it and the running to the ride and waiting was part of the fun.



This makes me so sad. The TMs state again and again that guests need to WALK, yet so many people think this doesn't apply to them. Why can't people just WALK? I wish everyone who runs would be moved to the very back of the line. 

Rant over.


----------



## CPanther95

snoopboop said:


> This makes me so sad. The TMs state again and again that guests need to WALK, yet so many people think this doesn't apply to them. Why can't people just WALK? I wish everyone who runs would be moved to the very back of the line.
> 
> Rant over.



What kills me is the people cutting in line trying to move ahead to "catch up" with somebody. 

How about they wait for you? 

What makes people think they have the right to cut in front of 150 people and inconvenience them to avoid inconveniencing the one or two family members that ran ahead to cut in front of those same people? 

I stopped letting anyone pass. Told them I would gladly allow their family members to come back to them.

Rant not over... just on pause.


----------



## ksromack

snoopboop said:


> This makes me so sad. The TMs state again and again that guests need to WALK, yet so many people think this doesn't apply to them. Why can't people just WALK? I wish everyone who runs would be moved to the very back of the line.
> 
> Rant over.


You are so much nicer than me.  Just once I would like to see one of them skin their knee or something.


----------



## Disxuni

I would imagine too many people to keep track of who break the rules and probably not enough TMs to enforce the idea of those customers being moved to the back of the line. Which if it were possible would be good to me.

I wish they did what they were doing a few years ago when for EE for IoA they would have a relatively narrow walk way roped off to the side. Due to the narrowness and people walking, not running, there was a constant flow of people just walking their way to the HP area and that seemed to help with crowd control. I do not know how long it was done for EE for IoA when it was happening, but I thought that seemed to work well. I wish they'd bring that back as I think it would force people to walk, not run, especially if they had a few TMs in the very front of the line.

Also, @CPanther95 I wish I had the guts to tell people that when they'd try to cut. Right on for you!


----------



## CPanther95

On a related note...

It's very easy for your party to wait for you - in line - while you head over to use a locker. You can then rejoin them in line (where they were waiting) and then your whole party continues moving with the line. There's no need to push pass everyone to rejoin your group unless your party refused to wait for you while you were at the locker.

If they ditched you when you were nice enough to do the locker run for everyone, have words with them after the ride is over - don't give me attitude because I'm not letting you cut in line.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Just rode it with a 35 minute wait! BEST RIDE EVER!!!


----------



## Mrs. W

SaintsManiac said:


> Just rode it with a 35 minute wait! BEST RIDE EVER!!!



Yeah, today was a great day to ride this ride. When we rode, the posted wait time was 75 minutes. We got in line at 10:41 a.m. and were off the ride at 11:17 a.m. My husband and I were thrilled about the ride, but probably more thrilled about the relatively low wait time for it!


----------



## SaintsManiac

Mrs. W said:


> Yeah, today was a great day to ride this ride. When we rode, the posted wait time was 75 minutes. We got in line at 10:41 a.m. and were off the ride at 11:17 a.m. My husband and I were thrilled about the ride, but probably more thrilled about the relatively low wait time for it!



Yesterday was a great day to be in the parks. I’m glad we flew in early and took advantage.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

We were at the gate at 7;50 this morning behind about 15 people. They started scanning at 8:40. We entered Many people ran past us. We entered the ropes in Lost Continent at 8:50. We all waited at the lockers while I put things in. We didn’t stop until the room with the crazy ceiling. We were off the ride at 9:10 even though a lot of people past us.  So you don’t have to run  

Awesome ride!


----------



## Disxuni

Kind of not related, but at the same time related.

So, I just got my AP back recently and it was my second time back. I was like, "I'm going to go on Spider-Man today." Cause first, kind of want to wait a little more until trying to do Hagrid's. Second, other than FJ, Spider-Man is my favorite ride and haven't re-ridden it yet. 

I got there about 8:45-8:50 and that was a rude awakening. Two lines all the way back to the middle of the bridge, another line that met to the beginning of the bridge on the side going around the ticket areas (think I overheard it was for guest services). Line wasn't moving and I didn't stick around for long so I couldn't tell if they were starting to scan, or not. It looked like a hot mess (because other than the three lines, there were also a lot of people walking around / stopped and looking around). I feel they definitely need more further back telling people what to do since there was so many people joining in late who kept asking where they were supposed to stand in terms of which line. There was only one person at the bridge. If there was any other TMs they were probably all in the front, or at designated places (such as scanning, or ticket booths) since she was the only person I saw. 

Since no one talks much about the gate layout before opening I didn't think much of it and just thought, well, maybe theirs a line up for people going to Hagrid's and a line up for just the park when I showed. Anywho, went to US first instead.

Took my time coming around to IoA using HE and when I got out there was a two and a half reported wait time. It was around 10am. Queue was running outside of the regular queue, there was a break about where HE lets out and a few feet away was the queue were Sinbad was. I ended up not getting on Spider-Man, because I considered the line too long (only getting longer and no SR line open), but that's what I get for taking my time getting over there. Not complaining, as I still had a good time with the little I done. I decided it might be best I leave to do early Christmas shopping.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

So yesterday RD worked like a charm as well. We were in line for the tapstyles at 7:55 behind about 26 people. Scanned in at 8:40. In line at 8:50 and walking the switchbacks. There was blatant line cutting. People jumped out of line to the que We were scanned in at 8:40. At the line entrance at 8;50. There was blatant cutting going on. People jumping out of line running along next to it and then hopping the railing to get back in line 30 people ahead. This happened directly in front of TMs twice and they didn’t say anything. Annoying. People deride 6 Flags but at least they kick people out for that.

Still off the ride by 9:15.


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## PrincessWithABlaster

This morning we are not so lucky. We arrived at 7:55. There were a lot more people there (buddies park day). Tons of runners today. Basically half the people were running. They had two security guards and several TMs on the Lost Continent bridge. That stopped the running. We were in line walking the switchbacks at 9:00. At 9:05 they announced delays.  We are now stuck in the tunnels between the egg room and exhibit room and have been for 40 mins. Sigh. They have announced extended delays with no estimate on how long.

We had planned to go yesterday around noon t it was down between 11:30 and sometime after 1:00. They closed the line around 3 ish.

Anyone who has gotten a ruby pass, how long did you wait in line before it was cleared?


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## kbelle8995

I have pretty much said on the trip this week to Universal that I have zero chance getting on this thing.   Oh well, lots of other things to do.


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## PrincessWithABlaster

kbelle8995 said:


> I have pretty much said on the trip this week to Universal that I have zero chance getting on this thing.   Oh well, lots of other things to do.



we’re only waiting it out because we have 4 days and the kids want to (they’re looking at it as an adventure right now). But the minute the complaining and whining start, were out of here.


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## Hart of Texas

The line just to get through security when walking from Royal Pacific to City Walk was 20 minutes long at 8:05 this morning. Line to get into Islands was across the bridge but we got in and we’re in line for Hagrids by 9:05 with a 90 minute wait. We waited in extended delay until 10:30 and then got out. We noticed some test coasters run while we were getting our backpacks and then saw them close the line.Not sure we will try this again tomorrow, as we wasted a lot of time!


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## Lashed34

One of the busiest times of the year just days away and this has been happening since June - SIX MONTHS of problems and people waiting endlessly! They either need to get it sorted or at least have a virtual queue until they do.


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## Disxuni

Lashed34 said:


> One of the busiest times of the year just days away and this has been happening since June - SIX MONTHS of problems and people waiting endlessly! They either need to get it sorted or at least have a virtual queue until they do.



While at first VL made sense, but at this point, VL won't make things any better due to the unpredictability for the ride. If things are already frustrating for guests, it'll add more fuel to the fire. You're putting in a time to return when doing VL. If things are not going according to plan and those expectations are not met it's only going to make things more complicated and frustrating for the guest. They can't make promises they cannot keep and if expectations are not met they need to warn customers ahead of time. Which is why they always announce delays and why they post signs if the attraction is closing early.

What really needs to be done is what they did for Jaws when it has it's disastrous premiere and honestly just shut down the ride and really give it a serious work on the ride for it to run smoothly. Fortunately, back in those days, Jaws opened along with all the other attractions at Universal and so there was a distraction from Jaws. You can always ride on all the other new and amazing attractions Universal has to offer. Hagrid's can't fall back on that, because while a lot of guests are coming to be going to the parks, a lot of guests are coming specifically for Hagrid's and expecting it to be open.


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## Lashed34

Disxuni said:


> While at first VL made sense, but at this point, VL won't make things any better due to the unpredictability for the ride. If things are already frustrating for guests, it'll add more fuel to the fire. You're putting in a time to return when doing VL. If things are not going according to plan and those expectations are not met it's only going to make things more complicated and frustrating for the guest. They can't make promises they cannot keep and if expectations are not met they need to warn customers ahead of time. Which is why they always announce delays and why they post signs if the attraction is closing early.
> 
> What really needs to be done is what they did for Jaws when it has it's disastrous premiere and honestly just shut down the ride and really give it a serious work on the ride for it to run smoothly. Fortunately, back in those days, Jaws opened along with all the other attractions at Universal and so there was a distraction from Jaws. You can always ride on all the other new and amazing attractions Universal has to offer. Hagrid's can't fall back on that, because while a lot of guests are coming to be going to the parks, a lot of guests are coming specifically for Hagrid's and expecting it to be open.


You make many valid points, it's just so frustrating reading so many stories of delays, queues, RD nightmares etc yet absolutely nothing official from Universal.
1 week until we arrive and we'll be in the same position - it doesn't really fill you with confidence.


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## Disxuni

If it really needed to be done, I think to lessen the blow they could announce a "refurbishment" months in advance. It would still suck and plenty of people's plans would be conflicted and some would feel the need to cancel. However, if they needed to do some serious work that would be a way to lessen conflict and frustration. However, at the same time, with it constantly running and continuing to try to have it work that might be a good thing. I said this, because if they are truly doing maintenance at night, it gives them an idea on what works and doesn't work with (relatively) normal operating hours rather if they did their normal testing.

A good example of that is with the original Haunted Mansion, the Hatbox Ghost seemed perfectly great and had amazing effect within the WED enterprises. The head within the box would disappear and reappear perfectly. However, once they placed it into the attraction the effect wasn't as great as they thought and it was due to all the elements of the ride together, them riding the omnimover at different angels, and guests being so close during certain parts during that effect that the head disappearing and reappearing didn't work as great as it did with testing. Which is why it was removed and didn't appear again until technology caught up.

Either way, there are pros and cons to both ways of them resolving this. As frustrating as it is, more than likely they're going to keep doing what they did in the past and just like the other HP attractions, letting it ride out until they slowly work out the kinks.


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## CPanther95

Disxuni said:


> Kind of not related, but at the same time related.
> 
> So, I just got my AP back recently and it was my second time back. I was like, "I'm going to go on Spider-Man today." Cause first, kind of want to wait a little more until trying to do Hagrid's. Second, other than FJ, Spider-Man is my favorite ride and haven't re-ridden it yet.
> 
> I got there about 8:45-8:50 and that was a rude awakening. Two lines all the way back to the middle of the bridge, another line that met to the beginning of the bridge on the side going around the ticket areas (think I overheard it was for guest services). Line wasn't moving and I didn't stick around for long so I couldn't tell if they were starting to scan, or not. It looked like a hot mess (because other than the three lines, there were also a lot of people walking around / stopped and looking around). I feel they definitely need more further back telling people what to do since there was so many people joining in late who kept asking where they were supposed to stand in terms of which line. There was only one person at the bridge. If there was any other TMs they were probably all in the front, or at designated places (such as scanning, or ticket booths) since she was the only person I saw.
> 
> Since no one talks much about the gate layout before opening I didn't think much of it and just thought, well, maybe theirs a line up for people going to Hagrid's and a line up for just the park when I showed. Anywho, went to US first instead.
> 
> Took my time coming around to IoA using HE and when I got out there was a two and a half reported wait time. It was around 10am. Queue was running outside of the regular queue, there was a break about where HE lets out and a few feet away was the queue were Sinbad was. I ended up not getting on Spider-Man, because I considered the line too long (only getting longer and no SR line open), but that's what I get for taking my time getting over there. Not complaining, as I still had a good time with the little I done. I decided it might be best I leave to do early Christmas shopping.



Yeah, it's a bit confusing because of the small structures that prevent every ticket scan line from continuing back as far as the line will ultimately go. That causes a merge into fewer lines to get between the structures - then probably an additional merge once you get back as far as the bridge.

The other issue is that some lines up front head to a pair of scan stations, while some other areas have a line for each. Once they open, the line would then split between the two. However the one day we were there, there were 2 established lines with 3 scanners (where we were). We were at the front of one line directly behind one scanner, the line to our left had started with 2 scanners in front of it. As the crowd started to fill up, the people in front of the other line gradually worked their way into one of the turn styles. After about 45 minutes of waiting, when the line extended back further than we could see, someone back at one of the structures walked right up and stood at the vacant scan station - then a group of 3 more followed suit. Surprisingly, nobody else joined them. Technically they didn't cut in line since they formed a new line, but most people didn't have the stomach to walk between 2 lines of 100+ people to take advantage of the situation.

>Just to be clear, how the lines form up are determined completely by the guests themselves. I think the only reason they don't fill every possible slot is because it makes for an unnaturally tight group of lines. Some sit down when they get there so they sit back a bit and the line forms behind them because nobody is really sure which station they are behind, while those that stand can fit right between the barriers that form a single station.


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## PrincessWithABlaster

They got the ride running again at 11 so we had a 2 hour wait plus the hour outside the gate.

It’s been down again almost all afternoon. Not a great start to Thanksgiving week.


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## Lashed34

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> They got the ride running again at 11 so we had a 2 hour wait plus the hour outside the gate.
> 
> It’s been down again almost all afternoon. Not a great start to Thanksgiving week.


Maybe (possibly) it's down a lot to ensure it does run well over the weekend?


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## Disxuni

Anyone have anymore recent experiences within the past couple of days? Especially since it's almost Thanksgiving day. Right now I see the wait is at 150 minutes (2.5 hrs).


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## PantherPete

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> They got the ride running again at 11 so we had a 2 hour wait plus the hour outside the gate.
> 
> It’s been down again almost all afternoon. Not a great start to Thanksgiving week.


We were stuck in it.  Waited until the bitter end when they asked everyone to leave the line.  We did get a red pass to go back which we did today and a gold pass for another attraction.  Even with the Red pass, we waited about 30 min.  Every time the recorded voice made an announcement we held our breath thinking it was going to shut down again on us.  We were in line with a single rider from England.  She had one day in the park and was flying home the next morning so I doubt she got to ride it.  We felt bad for here and gave her our extra gold passes since we already had EP from staying at the HRH.  Really sucks for someone to wait all that time and not get on the ride.


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## PantherPete

Disxuni said:


> Anyone have anymore recent experiences within the past couple of days? Especially since it's almost Thanksgiving day. Right now I see the wait is at 150 minutes (2.5 hrs).


See my just above this one.  I’ve been here every Thanksgiving week for the past several years.  Gets more crowded every year, but Hagrids has it absolutely nuts this week.  Wait times have varied from 90 min to 240 min when it actually operates.  The ride is great though.  I think EP is coming in the near future.  A face recognition scanner is in the red pass lane, just not used yet.  I’m guessing EP will debut sometime after the holidays when the hotels can use the increased occupancy.


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## damo

I read that the ride was open last night with a 45 minute wait and that the line was flying.


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## Alynw

Lashed34 said:


> One of the busiest times of the year just days away and this has been happening since June - SIX MONTHS of problems and people waiting endlessly! They either need to get it sorted or at least have a virtual queue until they do.



I agree with you, they need to at least start a VL, for me at least this would be less frustrating than sitting in line for hours. I would rather have VL and then show up and not be able to ride it than waste so much time standing in line for hours and still not get to ride it. I think VL would actually ease some of the frustration. We'll be there the week after xmas and in praying they learn some lessons from Thanksgiving holiday and get this ride on track for the upcoming busiest time ever of the year.


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## PrincessWithABlaster

Disxuni said:


> Anyone have anymore recent experiences within the past couple of days? Especially since it's almost Thanksgiving day. Right now I see the wait is at 150 minutes (2.5 hrs).


It looked like it operated all day on Tues (may have been down briefly but nothing extended that I saw).



damo said:


> I read that the ride was open last night with a 45 minute wait and that the line was flying.



It was still operating at ~7:00 even though they had the placard out earlier saying it was closing early. Maybe since it was operating pretty well and down most of the pervious day, they changed their mind. The lowest i saw as a posted wait was 90 at about 6:30. We didn’t ride so I don’t know how actual waits compared. If things were running about half the posted time as they often do that would be the reported 45 mins.


----------



## Bre23

I have a trip planned with my family planned December 15-the 26th as a Christmas gift we will be traveling with my mother who is disabled (oxygen dependent among other things)  and my three girls 12, 11 and 6. We will have both a wheelchair and my 6 year old will probably be using her stroller as a wheelchair as well she is knew to our family has never been on a trip like this before she has severe vision issues and we’re currently dealing with multiple therapists to get some diagnosis she has severe ptsd and possibly adhd with terrible impulse control( at a local theme park tried to take off seatbelt on a moving ride) Can anyone give advice or tips ? Should we try to rope drop or is trying to get through the crowds with a wheelchair and stroller going to be a mistake?


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## fireflyer

I agree that 6 months of major ride-delay problems is TOO much.  And yet people are still paying the huge prices, and still standing in line for hours per day, so Universal really doesn't have to be accountable to anyone.  What a joke they are playing on the consumer.  Our upcoming visit is in 3 weeks, on a high-crowd-level day, unfortunately... i had no flexibility on dates, and it has been planned for a year.  I'm so disappointed that Hagrid is still opening late, closing early, breaking down mid-day... what a crappy build.  I've read rumors that the rails have to be dry to work properly... are you kidding me, someone designed something like that in one of the highest-humidity states in U.S.?  Can't be true, surely.  I've read that the rails heat up too much, so the ride can only be run a limited # of hours/day, perhaps influenced by ambient temp too.  Again, sheer design stupidity.  Hard to believe a ride engineer wouldn't understand coefficient of friction.  I've read that Hagrid's closes early and starts late because workers are repairing equipment.  What kind of ride needs hours of repairs, EVERY day?  If true, they need to be working on it when the park is CLOSED, not during the hours people have paid for it to be operational.  I've read they close Hagrid's early to ensure the queue gets through before closing hours.  False, the queue gets thru long before actual park closure.   I get weary of paying customers giving all these lame unacceptable excuses for why a multi-billion company isn't delivering their product.  Honestly, Universal has failed on Hagrid's, and deserves some very negative publicity.
                           For planning purposes, there's no Early Admission to IoA on my scheduled day (but Studios DOES have early).  So my choices are:  forfeit early admission to Studios and instead wait at IoA rope-drop from 8am until 9am opening.  OR... enter Studios at their 8am rope-drop, go to Diagon Alley and wait an hour for Hogwarts Expr to open, then ride to IoA.
                           The unknowns are:   Does the Hogwarts Express (in Studios) delay transporting until the 9am IoA opening?  Are there massive lines at the London station waiting to get into Hogsmeade?  By the time passengers get from London to Hogsmeade, would the IoA rope-droppers already be in a 2-hr queue at Hagrid's?


----------



## Hart of Texas

We just got back from a trip (Sunday-Wed before Thanksgiving). We didn’t try to ride Hagrids on Sunday due to a late start and long posted wait times, did rope drop on Monday (although due to crowds, we were not at the very  front of the line to get in...got into actual queue at 9:05 with a 90-120 minute wait time) and exited the Hagrids line at 10:30 having not ridden the ride due to extended delay (I think it opened up again at 11). They closed the queue  that day but as we were leaving the park at 8, we noticed a crowd around Hagrids, with rumors they may open the ride, which they did. We rode it twice between 8-9 pm on Monday. I asked the line attendant if this happens regularly, but he said it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” that came about due to it being shut down so much that day. I figured on Tuesday that we just wouldn’t mess with it but the kids really wanted to do it again. Around 2pm, we got in line with a 120 minute posted wait. It look 60 minutes total. The ride glitched towards the end and we were stuck on the ride for a minute and then completed the rest of the ride with no sound so they immediately let us ride it again. We figured that the queue would close at 3 because it ran continuously during the day, but it was still going around dusk so we went again. The wait time posted was 90 minutes but it took about 55 minutes. We saw a family cut in front of us on the last ride, with my husband calling them out right in front of two employees selling drinks and snacks in line, with nothing actually coming of it. Aside from that incident, everything went smoothly. Based on my experience, for my family (who likes a little extra sleep and doesn’t enjoy rushing), I’d recommend getting in line later in the day, especially if you have multiple days at the park.  When we rope dropped it was a 90-120 minute posted wait when we got in line, which was the same line we found in afternoon. Admittedly, we were not the best “rope dropping family” but when you consider all the extra time it took to stand in lines to rope drop (ie waiting to get through security into  City Walk and then waiting again again for rope drop), we did better with extra sleep and less rushing. I may be saying something different if we’d actually gotten to ride it that morning!


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## Lashed34

fireflyer said:


> I agree that 6 months of major ride-delay problems is TOO much.  And yet people are still paying the huge prices, and still standing in line for hours per day, so Universal really doesn't have to be accountable to anyone.  What a joke they are playing on the consumer.  Our upcoming visit is in 3 weeks, on a high-crowd-level day, unfortunately... i had no flexibility on dates, and it has been planned for a year.  I'm so disappointed that Hagrid is still opening late, closing early, breaking down mid-day... what a crappy build.  I've read rumors that the rails have to be dry to work properly... are you kidding me, someone designed something like that in one of the highest-humidity states in U.S.?  Can't be true, surely.  I've read that the rails heat up too much, so the ride can only be run a limited # of hours/day, perhaps influenced by ambient temp too.  Again, sheer design stupidity.  Hard to believe a ride engineer wouldn't understand coefficient of friction.  I've read that Hagrid's closes early and starts late because workers are repairing equipment.  What kind of ride needs hours of repairs, EVERY day?  If true, they need to be working on it when the park is CLOSED, not during the hours people have paid for it to be operational.  I've read they close Hagrid's early to ensure the queue gets through before closing hours.  False, the queue gets thru long before actual park closure.   I get weary of paying customers giving all these lame unacceptable excuses for why a multi-billion company isn't delivering their product.  Honestly, Universal has failed on Hagrid's, and deserves some very negative publicity.
> For planning purposes, there's no Early Admission to IoA on my scheduled day (but Studios DOES have early).  So my choices are:  forfeit early admission to Studios and instead wait at IoA rope-drop from 8am until 9am opening.  OR... enter Studios at their 8am rope-drop, go to Diagon Alley and wait an hour for Hogwarts Expr to open, then ride to IoA.
> The unknowns are:   Does the Hogwarts Express (in Studios) delay transporting until the 9am IoA opening?  Are there massive lines at the London station waiting to get into Hogsmeade?  By the time passengers get from London to Hogsmeade, would the IoA rope-droppers already be in a 2-hr queue at Hagrid's?


First train arrives well after IoA rope drop - that's even if the train is on time and you get on it. RD is your only opportunity to get in line early enough without being on the end of a 2 hour queue....IF the ride is operational.


----------



## Hart of Texas

fireflyer said:


> I agree that 6 months of major ride-delay problems is TOO much.  And yet people are still paying the huge prices, and still standing in line for hours per day, so Universal really doesn't have to be accountable to anyone.  What a joke they are playing on the consumer.  Our upcoming visit is in 3 weeks, on a high-crowd-level day, unfortunately... i had no flexibility on dates, and it has been planned for a year.  I'm so disappointed that Hagrid is still opening late, closing early, breaking down mid-day... what a crappy build.  I've read rumors that the rails have to be dry to work properly... are you kidding me, someone designed something like that in one of the highest-humidity states in U.S.?  Can't be true, surely.  I've read that the rails heat up too much, so the ride can only be run a limited # of hours/day, perhaps influenced by ambient temp too.  Again, sheer design stupidity.  Hard to believe a ride engineer wouldn't understand coefficient of friction.  I've read that Hagrid's closes early and starts late because workers are repairing equipment.  What kind of ride needs hours of repairs, EVERY day?  If true, they need to be working on it when the park is CLOSED, not during the hours people have paid for it to be operational.  I've read they close Hagrid's early to ensure the queue gets through before closing hours.  False, the queue gets thru long before actual park closure.   I get weary of paying customers giving all these lame unacceptable excuses for why a multi-billion company isn't delivering their product.  Honestly, Universal has failed on Hagrid's, and deserves some very negative publicity.
> For planning purposes, there's no Early Admission to IoA on my scheduled day (but Studios DOES have early).  So my choices are:  forfeit early admission to Studios and instead wait at IoA rope-drop from 8am until 9am opening.  OR... enter Studios at their 8am rope-drop, go to Diagon Alley and wait an hour for Hogwarts Expr to open, then ride to IoA.
> The unknowns are:   Does the Hogwarts Express (in Studios) delay transporting until the 9am IoA opening?  Are there massive lines at the London station waiting to get into Hogsmeade?  By the time passengers get from London to Hogsmeade, would the IoA rope-droppers already be in a 2-hr queue at Hagrid's?



They told us not to try riding the Train over due to the fact that once you get off the train, you have to go to the back of the queue. I’d agree with this assessment based on what I saw there this week. We had one frustrating day with Hagrids but rode it 5 times in two days (on very crowded days), so think you’ll be fine to ride it a couple of times during your trip if you can plan for some frustration.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

Hart of Texas said:


> We just got back from a trip (Sunday-Wed before Thanksgiving). We didn’t try to ride Hagrids on Sunday due to a late start and long posted wait times, did rope drop on Monday (although due to crowds, we were not at the very  front of the line to get in...got into actual queue at 9:05 with a 90-120 minute wait time) and exited the Hagrids line at 10:30 having not ridden the ride due to extended delay (I think it opened up again at 11). They closed the queue  that day but as we were leaving the park at 8, we noticed a crowd around Hagrids, with rumors they may open the ride, which they did. We rode it twice between 8-9 pm on Monday. I asked the line attendant if this happens regularly, but he said it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” that came about due to it being shut down so much that day. I figured on Tuesday that we just wouldn’t mess with it but the kids really wanted to do it again. Around 2pm, we got in line with a 120 minute posted wait. It look 60 minutes total. The ride glitched towards the end and we were stuck on the ride for a minute and then completed the rest of the ride with no sound so they immediately let us ride it again. We figured that the queue would close at 3 because it ran continuously during the day, but it was still going around dusk so we went again. The wait time posted was 90 minutes but it took about 55 minutes. We saw a family cut in front of us on the last ride, with my husband calling them out right in front of two employees selling drinks and snacks in line, with nothing actually coming of it. Aside from that incident, everything went smoothly. Based on my experience, for my family (who likes a little extra sleep and doesn’t enjoy rushing), I’d recommend getting in line later in the day, especially if you have multiple days at the park.  When we rope dropped it was a 90-120 minute posted wait when we got in line, which was the same line we found in afternoon. Admittedly, we were not the best “rope dropping family” but when you consider all the extra time it took to stand in lines to rope drop (ie waiting to get through security into  City Walk and then waiting again again for rope drop), we did better with extra sleep and less rushing. I may be saying something different if we’d actually gotten to ride it that morning!



i think you’re the second person to post here about getting a once in a lifetime chance to ride at night with low waits. It seems like it’s a good plan to wander over and check if it’s been down most of the day.

Everyone’s luck on this is going to vary. We tried to ride two afternoons but both times it was down. Two of the 3 mornings we arrived right before 8 we were off the ride by 9:15 for a total wait of 75 mins (an hour ofwhich was non park time). But we were on the same extended delay you were on Mon (it did start at 11).  What works is entirely out of our control because it depends on when the ride is functioning. If people have multiple days, trying to ride in the afternoon is as good an approach as any. If people can get up early, RD is as good an approach as any. If people have only one day they should probably plan to try them all.

I really hope they get things going reliably soon.


----------



## Lashed34

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> i think you’re the second person to post here about getting a once in a lifetime chance to ride at night with low waits. It seems like it’s a good plan to wander over and check if it’s been down most of the day.
> 
> Everyone’s luck on this is going to vary. We tried to ride two afternoons but both times it was down. Two of the 3 mornings we arrived right before 8 we were off the ride by 9:15 for a total wait of 75 mins (an hour ofwhich was non park time). But we were on the same extended delay you were on Mon (it did start at 11).  What works is entirely out of our control because it depends on when the ride is functioning. If people have multiple days, trying to ride in the afternoon is as good an approach as any. If people can get up early, RD is as good an approach as any. If people have only one day they should probably plan to try them all.
> 
> I really hope they get things going reliably soon.


I had a friend from the UK there last week, just for one day, and she rode it 3 times. I've been reading this thread since June....boy she was lucky! Hope we have as much luck next week.


----------



## LandoBlanco

We made a trip the week after it opened and couldn’t get on any of the 5 days we were there. We also had some issues with Portofino so they offered us 2 free nights to make it up to us.  So, we’re back on Black Friday, park is super crowded, got in line at 12:15pm with a posted 120 minute wait.  Was off the ride in about an hour.  Definitely one of the best rides in Orlando.


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## MyHappyPlace17

Can anyone speak to the difference in the experience motorcycle v side car?   There will be four in our group and I know most, if not all, of us will want the cycle.   With wait times being what they are, would it be bad form if we all asked for the cycle?  And would they even accommodate us in that?


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

MyHappyPlace17 said:


> Can anyone speak to the difference in the experience motorcycle v side car?   There will be four in our group and I know most, if not all, of us will want the cycle.   With wait times being what they are, would it be bad form if we all asked for the cycle?  And would they even accommodate us in that?


Only you can decide what’s bad form. They are not going to let you split into separate rows as a party if 4, so no they won’t accommodate that, they will assign you 2and2.  If they accommodated such requests, the regular line would move even slower and it would be unfair to others guests.  They would fill those empty seats from the single rider line but it would still make folks in the regular line wait longer. 

So in order to each get the motorcycle you would have to “game the system” and each state you are a party of 1.  It would also probably be very suspicious to the employee to see four consecutive single riders in the regular line - the odds of that would just be so slim. You also might get some judgmental looks from people behind you.

A potential compromise would be to say you are a party of 1 and then a party of 3. One person would still have to ride in the sidecar then. The one single rider in the regular line would be less suspicious in this example because somebody could have waited in the regular line to guaranty they got the motorbike.

Again it’s up to you how far you want to push it.  The truth of the matter is it’s an awesome ride and maybe you should find a way to ride twice and have each person experience both sides...


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## PoohIsHome

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> i think you’re the second person to post here about getting a once in a lifetime chance to ride at night with low waits. It seems like it’s a good plan to wander over and check if it’s been down most of the day.
> 
> Everyone’s luck on this is going to vary. We tried to ride two afternoons but both times it was down. Two of the 3 mornings we arrived right before 8 we were off the ride by 9:15 for a total wait of 75 mins (an hour ofwhich was non park time). But we were on the same extended delay you were on Mon (it did start at 11).  What works is entirely out of our control because it depends on when the ride is functioning. If people have multiple days, trying to ride in the afternoon is as good an approach as any. If people can get up early, RD is as good an approach as any. If people have only one day they should probably plan to try them all.
> 
> I really hope they get things going reliably soon.



We were in that extended delay Monday as well. Since we'd ridden Sunday as part of our VIP tour and still had two more park days, we bailed the line at 9:45. We rode Tuesday and Wednesday by being at the entrance gate before 8am and were off the ride by 9:30. Both mornings we were surrounded by great families that we thoroughly enjoyed talking with....such great mornings!


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## Disxuni

MyHappyPlace17 said:


> Can anyone speak to the difference in the experience motorcycle v side car?   There will be four in our group and I know most, if not all, of us will want the cycle.   With wait times being what they are, would it be bad form if we all asked for the cycle?  And would they even accommodate us in that?



Since @SouthFayetteFan let you know the best way to get the seats, I'll explain the differences from what I've heard on the forums (haven't experience the ride yet) for the seats.

The bike has been reported to be more comfortable, or roomier than the sidecar, so if you're bigger than the average person, or simply want to make sure you're the most comfortable, the bike is the way to go. In terms of experience, the bike is considered more exciting and thrilling feeling, where as the side car has been reported to feel more safe and secure. As a recommendation, it's been reported that leaning into the bike, as if you're riding a real bike, will make the twists and turns more comfortable for the rider.


----------



## Lashed34

We fly from the UK on Wednesday and honestly, the nearer we get, the less and less I care about queuing and problems I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO RIDE THIS no matter how long it takes to get on it. Excitement level EXTREME!


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

MyHappyPlace17 said:


> Can anyone speak to the difference in the experience motorcycle v side car?   There will be four in our group and I know most, if not all, of us will want the cycle.   With wait times being what they are, would it be bad form if we all asked for the cycle?  And would they even accommodate us in that?



Most people say the motorbike is more thrilling. I rode it twice and the Sidecar once. I didn’t feel they were that different. There are some banks over the water that seem to pitch the Sidecar more then the bike so I found that to be a thrilling part of being in the Sidecar.
FYI you can’t wear robes on the bike but can in the Sidecar.


----------



## macraven

I’ve ridden the side car 3 times

It wowed me!


----------



## patster734

I finally got to ride Hagrid’s today!  We arrived at the gate around 7:50AM.  They let us in at 8:45.  We got passed by many people running and fast walking.  We got to the queue by 9, and fortunately the ride opened on time.  No preshow, so we kept walking, and the line stopped in the egg room.  We were off the ride and back in Hogsmead by 9:30.


----------



## Disxuni

Question for those who have ridden it. I was thinking about trying to lose a little weight prior to even trying to get onto Hagrid's, but it's my third weekend in a row coming back (well technically showing up tomorrow) since I got my AP again and I had an idea, is it possible to try the test seat without waiting the queue prior to the test seat?


----------



## MyHappyPlace17

SouthFayetteFan said:


> Only you can decide what’s bad form. They are not going to let you split into separate rows as a party if 4, so no they won’t accommodate that, they will assign you 2and2.  If they accommodated such requests, the regular line would move even slower and it would be unfair to others guests.  They would fill those empty seats from the single rider line but it would still make folks in the regular line wait longer.
> 
> So in order to each get the motorcycle you would have to “game the system” and each state you are a party of 1.  It would also probably be very suspicious to the employee to see four consecutive single riders in the regular line - the odds of that would just be so slim. You also might get some judgmental looks from people behind you.
> 
> A potential compromise would be to say you are a party of 1 and then a party of 3. One person would still have to ride in the sidecar then. The one single rider in the regular line would be less suspicious in this example because somebody could have waited in the regular line to guaranty they got the motorbike.
> 
> Again it’s up to you how far you want to push it.  The truth of the matter is it’s an awesome ride and maybe you should find a way to ride twice and have each person experience both sides...



Thanks.  Kind of figured it wouldn't really be doable.  I was just dreaming for a minute there!  Lol
We'll consider ourselves very lucky if we get two chances to ride.


----------



## patster734

Disxuni said:


> Question for those who have ridden it. I was thinking about trying to lose a little weight prior to even trying to get onto Hagrid's, but it's my third weekend in a row coming back (well technically showing up tomorrow) since I got my AP again and I had an idea, is it possible to try the test seat without waiting the queue prior to the test seat?



Unfortunately no.  Test seat is in the final room.


----------



## NYHeel

How does the rope drop for Hagrid work if you're coming from the Hard Rock? Any different?


----------



## damo

patster734 said:


> Unfortunately no.  Test seat is in the final room.



There are also test seats at the entrance to the ride.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1139234290888298496


----------



## barb969

Posted time 90 minutes. Got into line 2:40 just a little past the ride entrance.
Got off the ride at 3:41
I’m not a coaster person but my DD and DH loved loved it.
Others have said the side car is uncomfortable and I agree. There is bar across the back that is almost painful.


----------



## patster734

NYHeel said:


> How does the rope drop for Hagrid work if you're coming from the Hard Rock? Any different?



No.  Arrive at the IOA gate early.  Probably quicker to walk from Hard Rock instead of waiting for the boat, and walk past Hard Rock Cafe and Toothsome’s.  We got there about 7:45, and we were about 15th person in our line (multiple lines to enter.  When the gates opened at 8:45, people were lined back past the purchase booths and beyond.


----------



## patster734

damo said:


> There are also test seats at the entrance to the ride.
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1139234290888298496



Thanks, Damo.  I never saw the outside test seats.


----------



## damo

patster734 said:


> Thanks, Damo.  I never saw the outside test seats.



Looks like they aren't in the most obvious location!


----------



## cschaaf

Disxuni said:


> Question for those who have ridden it. I was thinking about trying to lose a little weight prior to even trying to get onto Hagrid's, but it's my third weekend in a row coming back (well technically showing up tomorrow) since I got my AP again and I had an idea, is it possible to try the test seat without waiting the queue prior to the test seat?


Do a YouTube search for "Hagrid's Universal Test Seat" or something similar. There are at least 3 different videos where folks demonstrate the tester seats. Pammie Plus Parks talks a lot about it. I think she said it was near the locker room.


----------



## YawningDodo

Re: requesting seats, how difficult is it for a single rider to claim the motorcycle side? Is that something I'll just have to negotiate with whomever is put in the same row with me--and if I use the single rider line, should I expect not to get a choice? Having watched some test seat videos I know I have a worse chance of fitting if I try to sit in the sidecar.


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

YawningDodo said:


> Re: requesting seats, how difficult is it for a single rider to claim the motorcycle side? Is that something I'll just have to negotiate with whomever is put in the same row with me--and if I use the single rider line, should I expect not to get a choice? Having watched some test seat videos I know I have a worse chance of fitting if I try to sit in the sidecar.


I feel like I recall them asking the person from the regular line which they plan to ride and then assigning the other seat to the single rider.  (This would of course make sense since that person in theory waited in a much longer line).

So as you might imagine it’s probably a 99% chance you’ll get the sidecar in this scenario.  Perhaps somebody else on this thread can shed some more light but that’s what I remember happening.  I’m not sure how they would react to accommodating a request of somebody in the single rider line due to their size.  That’s an interesting question...


----------



## ksromack

YawningDodo said:


> Re: requesting seats, how difficult is it for a single rider to claim the motorcycle side? Is that something I'll just have to negotiate with whomever is put in the same row with me--and if I use the single rider line, should I expect not to get a choice? Having watched some test seat videos I know I have a worse chance of fitting if I try to sit in the sidecar.


I think if the Motorcycle is what you need then your best bet is to NOT do the single rider line.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

SouthFayetteFan said:


> I feel like I recall them asking the person from the regular line which they plan to ride and then assigning the other seat to the single rider.  (This would of course make sense since that person in theory waited in a much longer line).
> 
> So as you might imagine it’s probably a 99% chance you’ll get the sidecar in this scenario.  Perhaps somebody else on this thread can shed some more light but that’s what I remember happening.  I’m not sure how they would react to accommodating a request of somebody in the single rider line due to their size.  That’s an interesting question...



The TM didn’t even ask me when I was in the regular line. She just assigned me the bike and the single rider the Sidecar.


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> The TM didn’t even ask me when I was in the regular line. She just assigned me the bike and the single rider the Sidecar.


That makes more sense.  I definitely recall them asking people when we were there and it made no sense because everybody said bike so I actually wondered why they didn’t just do it that way.  Maybe they changed that lol, or maybe different workers do it differently.   At any rate, the single rider line is consistently receiving the sidecar.


----------



## YawningDodo

Thanks for the replies! Glad I thought to ask, and it doesn't surprise me to hear that single riders get leftovers--that's kind of the point of the single rider line (and, as you say, the other person has been waiting longer). I'll have to try both test seats, and if the sidecar doesn't work for me it'll just have to be the regular line every time.


----------



## Lashed34

Arriving tomorrow. Looking directly at the IoA entrance for early queueing which line is best?


----------



## Matthew81

Far left usually


----------



## Lashed34

Matthew81 said:


> Far left usually


Thank you.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

Lashed34 said:


> Arriving tomorrow. Looking directly at the IoA entrance for early queueing which line is best?



Far right worked really well for us too. It’s right next to the bathrooms which was very handy.  Either end tends to be shorter than the ones in the middle.


----------



## patster734

YawningDodo said:


> Re: requesting seats, how difficult is it for a single rider to claim the motorcycle side? Is that something I'll just have to negotiate with whomever is put in the same row with me--and if I use the single rider line, should I expect not to get a choice? Having watched some test seat videos I know I have a worse chance of fitting if I try to sit in the sidecar.



From the regular line, when I tested the inside test seats, I could only get the green light on the motorcycle.  So they sent me up the right side line.  If the single line joins near the inside test seat, you might be able to test on the test seats, but not sure where the single rider line merges at.


----------



## Disxuni

Thanks everyone for letting me know about the tester seats. Perhaps give it a try on the outside next time.

I ended up not trying to go on Hagrid's as I was focused on getting on Spider-Man as I just got my AP back and didn't get on it last time. I noticed that compared to last weekend it was night and day. Last weekend around 10am I got over to Hogsmeade from HE that the line was 2 1/2 hour wait and people waiting in the Sinbad area still. However, where as yesterday, by 10am after riding Spider-Man a few times I got onto HE and nobody in the Sinbad area and the line was nowhere insight, so I'd imagine the queue for Hagrid's wasn't insanely long. When I rode HE yesterday over to IoA for the opening (that was interesting overhearing all the people complain about how they weren't going to make it to Hagrid's before everyone) someone said the wait time was an hour while on the train. I noticed that they did have the "closing early" sign out this Monday.


----------



## ABZDisneyFan

We were there on Monday the 25th of November & the ride was down for most of the day, when it was up it was posting a 3 hour wait.
We had given up hope of riding it as we were only there for two days & had decided that standing in line for hours for one ride was not the best use of our time.

We had jumped between the two parks during the day & ended up going back to IOA to see the Christmas Projection show on Hogwarts, when it was over we decided to try & ride FJ again using our EP's & we ended up walking straight onto the ride.
As we were walking through Hogsmeade, we saw a lot of people crowding round Hagrids which was strange as by that time it was after 8pm & the park was technically closed, however we along with everyone else could hear the ride was running so we hung around & after 5 minutes a huge cheer went up from the front of the crowd & we realised that they had opened the ride.
We along with everyone else who was there, pretty much walked onto the ride, the only time we were stopped was just before boarding.
By the time we got off, they had closed the line.
I'm not saying that they do this every night but it might be worth checking it out at the end of night, particularly if the ride has been down a lot that day.


----------



## instlouis

Lashed34 said:


> Thank you.


I will give one piece of warning about the far left line (not sure if the far right is the same).  There is a guest service cart on the far left that helps people when their tickets don't work or have problems at the turnstyles.  After being helped they are directed to go to the front of the far left line (makes sense as they already waited in line once).  But this does cause that line to go slow if there is a line of people having problems with their tickets or fingerprints.  I found the second line from the left goes faster but YRMV.


----------



## cfoxga

We were there last week and used the third line from the right twice.  As noted above, it was nice to have the bathrooms nearby.  The first day we arrived at 8:30 and the lines were already quite long and we ended up in a two hour wait, that was later cut short by the ride malfunctioning.  The next day, we arrived around 7:45 and there were 15-20 people in front of us.  We had about a 45 minute wait but eventually got on the ride.  We all enjoyed it quite a bit.  Unfortunately, we only got to ride it the one time...


----------



## Babs1975

Thought I’d chime in with my recent experience of yesterday and Sunday mornings. All advice here as far as timing worked like a charm. We arrived just before 8 am both mornings. Sunday, which was Thanksgiving weekend and a bit busier of a day, we were back about 20 people at one of the turnstiles on the left. Monday, we were the first at one of those same turnstiles. They opened the gates and started scanning tickets both mornings around 8:40-8:45. We WALKED quickly. Some tried to run and were repeatedly told to stop running, especially on the busier day as there were more cast members (if they’re called that!) at every corner. We had bags and stopped for lockers. All very easy and they tell you exactly what to do and where to go. Both mornings got all the way up into the room right before you load with the motorcycles going overhead and Hagrid talking. Then the line moved super quickly. Only there a few minutes. Sunday morning, no delay and they were saying it was operational. Monday they said it had a delay which was just maintenance finishing up with their testing. The motorbikes were running with no one on them as we walked by. We maybe were stopped a minute before the line started moving and they were loading. Both mornings on and off the ride by 8:05-8:15. We had four in our party, two kids, so I let them take turns riding on the motorbike as I did not care a bit either way. I had the hubs take the other motorbike as I thought he would do better there with his height. I rode in the sidecar both times and thought it was perfectly comfortable.  The ride is amazing. Worth the trek in the morning. We all loved it. Best ride at Universal/Islands in my opinion!


----------



## ksromack

I don't remember if I asked this or not....but is there rider switch on Hagrid's ride?  Trying to picture the chaos in the morning with a stroller.  Where do they have you park strollers?  We won't need a locker because 2 of us will wait with the baby while the other 2 ride and whomever is holding the baby will have our bags.  I know the stroller won't go through the line with us but I was just trying to figure out where we will park it?

ETA, if I can find my fanny pack I may just wear that thing and skip a bag.


----------



## Babs1975

I know there is a rider switch because yesterday morning I noticed part of the party behind us staying back with a baby. I believe it was right at the start of the last room before loading with the motorbikes and Hagrid’s voice overhead. I think. I didn’t pay attention to where strollers were being parked though. 





ksromack said:


> I don't remember if I asked this or not....but is there rider switch on Hagrid's ride?  Trying to picture the chaos in the morning with a stroller.  Where do they have you park strollers?  We won't need a locker because 2 of us will wait with the baby while the other 2 ride and whomever is holding the baby will have our bags.  I know the stroller won't go through the line with us but I was just trying to figure out where we will park it?
> 
> ETA, if I can find my fanny pack I may just wear that thing and skip a bag.


----------



## sharona

We will have only 1 day at Universal on our trip and it will be this Saturday!  We have p2p and express.  Can't decide if we will rope drop this or take our chances later in the day.  I prefer the flow of the parks working our way through US to Diagon Alley then HE to Hogwarts but based on all of these recent reports, that is not a good plan.  

We've been a bunch of times and will be back another time soon so it's not do or die but the reviews of this are so universally good that we want to at least try to ride.. so now I'm thinking we rope drop Hagrids and have a set time limit of waiting should it not be running first thing.  Parks are open 9-8.  Going to try to convince the family to get to the gate before 8...  It will be our first day in Orlando - flying in early the day before - so we should not be dragging.  

My main concern with rope drop is my nephew who has anxiety issues and may not handle the rope drop crowds all that well.  I'm remembering the old TSMM rope drop race for paper fast passes with a huge mass of people all crowded together and moving at once.  I don't think he would be good with that.  Back then I would join the crowd and get the FP while they took their time at the back of the pack and got in the standby line.  So...what is the rope drop crowd like?  And if you're at the back of it, what type of time frame would you be looking at if everything was running?


----------



## Disxuni

sharona said:


> We will have only 1 day at Universal on our trip and it will be this Saturday!  We have p2p and express.  Can't decide if we will rope drop this or take our chances later in the day.  I prefer the flow of the parks working our way through US to Diagon Alley then HE to Hogwarts but based on all of these recent reports, that is not a good plan.
> 
> We've been a bunch of times and will be back another time soon so it's not do or die but the reviews of this are so universally good that we want to at least try to ride.. so now I'm thinking we rope drop Hagrids and have a set time limit of waiting should it not be running first thing.  Parks are open 9-8.  Going to try to convince the family to get to the gate before 8...  It will be our first day in Orlando - flying in early the day before - so we should not be dragging.
> 
> My main concern with rope drop is my nephew who has anxiety issues and may not handle the rope drop crowds all that well.  I'm remembering the old TSMM rope drop race for paper fast passes with a huge mass of people all crowded together and moving at once.  I don't think he would be good with that.  Back then I would join the crowd and get the FP while they took their time at the back of the pack and got in the standby line.  So...what is the rope drop crowd like?  And if you're at the back of it, what type of time frame would you be looking at if everything was running?



If it is set in stone that he's going to ride it with you all I really suggest that you attempt to do it later in the day and hope for the best as I definitely think that the rope drop will stir up some anxiety. I do not know how long it would be if you waited if you're at the back of the line, but I wouldn't recommend that, as you might as well at that point wait until later in the afternoon. Since not only you'd be in the back of the line to wait to go through the gate, but also once getting inside will have to wait whatever the queue time is estimated to be. That will more than likely cost more time than if you took a chance in the afternoon.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

sharona said:


> We will have only 1 day at Universal on our trip and it will be this Saturday!  We have p2p and express.  Can't decide if we will rope drop this or take our chances later in the day.  I prefer the flow of the parks working our way through US to Diagon Alley then HE to Hogwarts but based on all of these recent reports, that is not a good plan.
> 
> We've been a bunch of times and will be back another time soon so it's not do or die but the reviews of this are so universally good that we want to at least try to ride.. so now I'm thinking we rope drop Hagrids and have a set time limit of waiting should it not be running first thing.  Parks are open 9-8.  Going to try to convince the family to get to the gate before 8...  It will be our first day in Orlando - flying in early the day before - so we should not be dragging.
> 
> My main concern with rope drop is my nephew who has anxiety issues and may not handle the rope drop crowds all that well.  I'm remembering the old TSMM rope drop race for paper fast passes with a huge mass of people all crowded together and moving at once.  I don't think he would be good with that.  Back then I would join the crowd and get the FP while they took their time at the back of the pack and got in the standby line.  So...what is the rope drop crowd like?  And if you're at the back of it, what type of time frame would you be looking at if everything was running?


Before you get through the tapstyles it’s very orderly. After that there can be a lot of running but if you stay to the right it’s not really a whole bunch of people together. There is a choke point as you turn into seussland since there are Construction walls up. But it’s not so bunched that it feels like the MK hub at fireworks or anything. And the choke point is probably a 15-20 feet stretch. After that people aren’t that bunched up (although we were probably in the front to middle of the pack. I don’t know what it would have been like further back in the pack.  I would suggest not having him go into the locker room. But it’s easy to wait but the canopy outside.


----------



## CPanther95

... and at least when I was the the choke point going up to the entrance to Seuss wasn't a bad thing. It is narrow enough that there is very little running through. Once it opens back up people would start running again.


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

sharona said:


> We will have only 1 day at Universal on our trip and it will be this Saturday!  We have p2p and express.  Can't decide if we will rope drop this or take our chances later in the day.  I prefer the flow of the parks working our way through US to Diagon Alley then HE to Hogwarts but based on all of these recent reports, that is not a good plan.
> 
> We've been a bunch of times and will be back another time soon so it's not do or die but the reviews of this are so universally good that we want to at least try to ride.. so now I'm thinking we rope drop Hagrids and have a set time limit of waiting should it not be running first thing.  Parks are open 9-8.  Going to try to convince the family to get to the gate before 8...  It will be our first day in Orlando - flying in early the day before - so we should not be dragging.
> 
> My main concern with rope drop is my nephew who has anxiety issues and may not handle the rope drop crowds all that well.  I'm remembering the old TSMM rope drop race for paper fast passes with a huge mass of people all crowded together and moving at once.  I don't think he would be good with that.  Back then I would join the crowd and get the FP while they took their time at the back of the pack and got in the standby line.  So...what is the rope drop crowd like?  And if you're at the back of it, what type of time frame would you be looking at if everything was running?


With Express Pass I would absolutely do rope drop.  EP will work pretty much everywhere else to save you time throughout the day. 

As far as anxiety around the process, the tapstiles naturally space people out.  Other than the idiots running by you it’s very low stress.  Unless they change something, it’s nothing like the experience at Disney where they hold you inside the gate and then walk the mass of humanity to a ride with the pushing and elbows.  If they could stop people from running, the IoA rope drop would have things setup perfect.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

CPanther95 said:


> ... and at least when I was the the choke point going up to the entrance to Seuss wasn't a bad thing. It is narrow enough that there is very little running through. Once it opens back up people would start running again.



One woman shoved DD9 out of the way so she could keep running through the choke point. Very classy. But we were spaced out across the path there. If we had stayed to the right it would have been fine.


----------



## sharona

Disxuni said:


> If it is set in stone that he's going to ride it with you all I really suggest that you attempt to do it later in the day and hope for the best as I definitely think that the rope drop will stir up some anxiety. I do not know how long it would be if you waited if you're at the back of the line, but I wouldn't recommend that, as you might as well at that point wait until later in the afternoon. Since not only you'd be in the back of the line to wait to go through the gate, but also once getting inside will have to wait whatever the queue time is estimated to be. That will more than likely cost more time than if you took a chance in the afternoon.





PrincessWithABlaster said:


> Before you get through the tapstyles it’s very orderly. After that there can be a lot of running but if you stay to the right it’s not really a whole bunch of people together. There is a choke point as you turn into seussland since there are Construction walls up. But it’s not so bunched that it feels like the MK hub at fireworks or anything. And the choke point is probably a 15-20 feet stretch. After that people aren’t that bunched up (although we were probably in the front to middle of the pack. I don’t know what it would have been like further back in the pack.  I would suggest not having him go into the locker room. But it’s easy to wait but the canopy outside.





CPanther95 said:


> ... and at least when I was the the choke point going up to the entrance to Seuss wasn't a bad thing. It is narrow enough that there is very little running through. Once it opens back up people would start running again.





SouthFayetteFan said:


> With Express Pass I would absolutely do rope drop.  EP will work pretty much everywhere else to save you time throughout the day.
> 
> As far as anxiety around the process, the tapstiles naturally space people out.  Other than the idiots running by you it’s very low stress.  Unless they change something, it’s nothing like the experience at Disney where they hold you inside the gate and then walk the mass of humanity to a ride with the pushing and elbows.  If they could stop people from running, the IoA rope drop would have things setup perfect.





PrincessWithABlaster said:


> One woman shoved DD9 out of the way so she could keep running through the choke point. Very classy. But we were spaced out across the path there. If we had stayed to the right it would have been fine.



Thank you all for the info and advice.  I’ll run it past my SIL and nephew and see what they think.


----------



## osufeth24

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've ridden this 3 times.  All 3 times it had a delayed opening for a couple of hours.  I hopped on around lunchtime (11-1), and didn't wait more than 90 minutes.  The last time was only 45 minutes  But each time, there wasn't really any downtime of more than 5-10 minutes


----------



## sharona

Anyone have any experience with a DAS at Hagrids?  We weren’t really thinking my nephew would need one with express as that is where they usually send you but for rides without express what do they do?  Give you a return time equal to the current wait time?


----------



## KatieCharlotte

sharona said:


> Anyone have any experience with a DAS at Hagrids?  We weren’t really thinking my nephew would need one with express as that is where they usually send you but for rides without express what do they do?  Give you a return time equal to the current wait time?



Based on a trip report that I read, it sounds like they don't handle it the same way every time.  So, the group might be able to ride immediately or might receive a return time that might or might not be equal to the current wait time.  Either way, he won't have to wait in the line, if that would be difficult for him.


----------



## sharona

KatieCharlotte said:


> Based on a trip report that I read, it sounds like they don't handle it the same way every time.  So, the group might be able to ride immediately or might receive a return time that might or might not be equal to the current wait time.  Either way, he won't have to wait in the line, if that would be difficult for him.



Good to know thanks.


----------



## Lashed34

So, first day at the parks. Got to IoA around 12.30 and queue was half wsy down Hogsmead and had stopped. Went on FJ and after it was open again. We queued and line was only just past entrance. We were on the ride in 50 minutes and they had 3 trains going - so happily shocked. Later we saw the queue was much shorter so we queued again. Got to end if line just after Hagrids hut and was on ride 30 minutes later. Rode cycle first and sidecar second. Absolutely loved it, an incredible experience and well worth waiting for. Can't wait to go on it again and we're here for 2 weeks so plenty more rides planned. Don't be put off by the queues people. with 3 trains running it's so much quicker than you expect.


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

Lashed34 said:


> So, first day at the parks. Got to IoA around 12.30 and queue was half wsy down Hogsmead and had stopped. Went on FJ and after it was open again. We queued and line was only just past entrance. We were on the ride in 50 minutes and they had 3 trains going - so happily shocked. Later we saw the queue was much shorter so we queued again. Got to end if line just after Hagrids hut and was on ride 30 minutes later. Rode cycle first and sidecar second. Absolutely loved it, an incredible experience and well worth waiting for. Can't wait to go on it again and we're here for 2 weeks so plenty more rides planned. Don't be put off by the queues people. with 3 trains running it's so much quicker than you expect.


How do you know they were only running three trains?   According to ThemeParkInsider, the ride (at full capacity) is able to run up to 12 trains at once so 3 would actually fall woefully short of that.  Other sources say 8-10 trains is more realistic.  Back in June the ride was running 5-6 trains at a time but apparently putting a 7th on was causing issues.


----------



## Lashed34

SouthFayetteFan said:


> How do you know they were only running three trains?   According to ThemeParkInsider, the ride (at full capacity) is able to run up to 12 trains at once so 3 would actually fall woefully short of that.  Other sources say 8-10 trains is more realistic.  Back in June the ride was running 5-6 trains at a time but apparently putting a 7th on was causing issues.


Oh it may have been more but we only ever saw 3 running when able to see tracks. Anyway, tbe queue time was brilliant and the ride was incredible.


----------



## Disxuni

SouthFayetteFan said:


> How do you know they were only running three trains?   According to ThemeParkInsider, the ride (at full capacity) is able to run up to 12 trains at once so 3 would actually fall woefully short of that.  Other sources say 8-10 trains is more realistic.  Back in June the ride was running 5-6 trains at a time but apparently putting a 7th on was causing issues.



The number of trains being used continues to change all the time due to the fact the they are continuously changing trains out, as well as adding/removing them due to them continuing to work the kinks out of the ride.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

SouthFayetteFan said:


> How do you know they were only running three trains?   According to ThemeParkInsider, the ride (at full capacity) is able to run up to 12 trains at once so 3 would actually fall woefully short of that.  Other sources say 8-10 trains is more realistic.  Back in June the ride was running 5-6 trains at a time but apparently putting a 7th on was causing issues.



Wow.  I had no idea they had that many trains on the tracks at once.  They have that very well hidden.  I wasn't looking for it - I assume if you were you could see it but to the casual observer it looks like 3-4 trains.


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> Wow.  I had no idea they had that many trains on the tracks at once.  They have that very well hidden.  I wasn't looking for it - I assume if you were you could see it but to the casual observer it looks like 3-4 trains.


They apparently have 2 of the “cave” scene (sorry I don’t know exactly what that is called).  
With all of the launches and brake points and stoppages they have a TON of zones so I’d believe that 10-12 trains is possible.  I think the problem is when they try to push the system too hard, if 2 trains get too close together it causes a snowball affect.  The capacity on this thing when fully functioning is insane though!  I’m not sure they’ve ever got it to full capacity yet.  

Here are some articles about it:

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201906/6853/
https://orlandoparkstop.com/news/th...al-creatures-motorbike-adventures-first-week/


----------



## CPanther95

sharona said:


> Thank you all for the info and advice.  I’ll run it past my SIL and nephew and see what they think.



I first read that as "I'll run past my SIL and nephew and see what they think"


----------



## sharona

CPanther95 said:


> I first read that as "I'll run past my SIL and nephew and see what they think"



Lol.  Ended up riding Hagrids 2x. It wasamazingky fun.  1st time sidecar last bike, 2nd time I was on the bike in the front row - that felt 10x faster.


----------



## CPanther95

sharona said:


> Lol.  Ended up riding Hagrids 2x. It wasamazingky fun.  1st time sidecar last bike, 2nd time I was on the bike in the front row - that felt 10x faster.



I had the same perception. Unlike a typical roller coaster where the back car appears faster because you drop fast as soon as you crest a hill - instead of slowly heading down until the back car "catches up" ....this ride's mag launches make it seem like the front car is being "pushed" fast while seeing the cars in front of you makes your brain translate some of the launching as being "pulled" by the cars in front of you. Like being on top of a rocket instead of hanging onto the side.

...not that I've experienced either.


----------



## TongaToast21

Does Hagrids not open for RD? Or is it just down? Trying to figure out best method for our universal day tomorrow


----------



## jmv5010

I just returned home from a Universal trip that went from Dec.5-8.

My wife and I got to ride Hagrid's five times during the trip and twice in the front motorbike -- once at night and once during the day. The wait times were constantly listed, it seemed, at either 90 mins or 120 mins when we'd check. And the three times we went in at the 90-minute mark, we were in line to the exit in less than an hour.

Yesterday we were at IOA for rope drop and the line for Hagrid's went into The Lost Continent, but it didn't stay there long. They eventually took down the rails making this the queue. It appeared to be in place more so for riders to be organized so they could stay in line and then pass the lockers.


----------



## 3darlings

We have ridden the past two days.  Yesterday we entered the line at 11:50 and the wait was 55 min.  Today we entered the line at 1 and it was 45 min.  Both times the wait was posted at 90 min.  The line was very different each day but the ride is definitely worth it.

We purposely did not do RD and today glad we didn't.  The posted wait time was 150 min this morning about 945..  Right now it is listed as "brief delay".  We are hoping to get a ride in the dark.  That definitely would be great.


----------



## 3darlings

As an update, the line never really reopened after the "brief delay".  It went to "ride full" and then it closed early.  People were not happy!  At least over the last couple of days, it was best to get there somewhere between 11 and 1.


----------



## TongaToast21

That was one of the best rides ever! I had no spoilers going into it and man it was fantastic!


----------



## SouthFayetteFan

Question for anybody who has rode RotR and Hagrid’s (adding spoiler for anybody avoiding RotR info)...



Spoiler: Question...



How do the 2 “drops” compare in intensity? I’d “spoiler” your answer or feel free to send me a PM.


----------



## The Pho

SouthFayetteFan said:


> Question for anybody who has rode RotR and Hagrid’s (adding spoiler for anybody avoiding RotR info)...
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Question...
> 
> 
> 
> How do the 2 “drops” compare in intensity? I’d “spoiler” your answer or feel free to send me a PM.





Spoiler



The Hagrid drop is a thrill drop, it feels much larger and is less expected.  
The Rise drop is very small and is just enough to make you feel it, and you’ll know it’s coming due to the story


----------



## damo

I rode it today.  Got in line at 4 and was on the ride by 4:45.

It was a lot faster than I expected it to be.  I was in the very last car.


----------



## TongaToast21

It didn’t start running until noonish today, I believe it opened with a 75 minute posted wait, at 12:35 it showed a 75 minute wait, but took about 45. We got off around 1:00 PM at which there was a 120 minute posted wait. Thanks to you guys/girls I didn’t make the mistake of RD’ing it!


----------



## damo

Got in single rider line as soon as it opened today around.  Was on and off in 10 minutes.

Set your app to notifications that it is open and then head over ASAP.


----------



## yulilin3

Was thinking of rope dropping tomorrow, haven't been following this thread as I should have, is it normal that the ride is not open at park opening or is it very random?


----------



## damo

I rode three times today with no waits being over 45 minutes.  Single rider is about 45 minutes twice when the standby line was about 60 minutes but was actually 45.


----------



## Lashed34

It's all still very random. Best plan is to rope drop and if it's not running just keep checking back. We passed it today and it was on 60 minutes while raining - 10 minutes later it was on 90 minutes. Not been on it for a few days but may queue tomorrow as it's well worth the wait.


----------



## Lashed34

damo said:


> I rode three times today with no waits being over 45 minutes.  Single rider is about 45 minutes twice when the standby line was about 60 minutes but was actually 45.


Last week we rode twice at 90 minute posting and were on in less than an hour - great to hear you had 3 rides today.


----------



## yulilin3

Lashed34 said:


> It's all still very random. Best plan is to rope drop and if it's not running just keep checking back. We passed it today and it was on 60 minutes while raining - 10 minutes later it was on 90 minutes. Not been on it for a few days but may queue tomorrow as it's well worth the wait.


Thank you,  i love this ride and my daughter hasn't been on it cause she doesn't have an ap, so we have a comp ticket for her from a uotm. Shopping both parks to do as much as we can,  she doesn't get to go often


----------



## damo

Lashed34 said:


> Last week we rode twice at 90 minute posting and were on in less than an hour - great to hear you had 3 rides today.



Before we went in the standard line (wanted to ride the motorbike and not just the sidecar which is pretty much assumed from the single's line) we saw a person with an orange and white hat.  When we got to the front of the line, that same person was at the front of the single rider's line.  That was about a 40 minute wait.  We had done it right before that in singles in 30 minutes.


----------



## sharona

Yes you will probably get sidecar in the SR line but I wouldn’t let that stop me!  The ride was still amazing from the side car (and then 5x better from the bike).


----------



## yulilin3

Arrived at 80am. Park opened at 8:45 walked on to Hagrid's,  no wait,  off the ride at 9:05


----------



## damo

Rode again tonight at 6 in the motorbike.  What an amazingly fun ride!  Was in singles for about 30 minutes.

The ride has been running really well all week.


----------



## Lashed34

damo said:


> Rode again tonight at 6 in the motorbike.  What an amazingly fun ride!  Was in singles for about 30 minutes.
> 
> The ride has been running really well all week.


Maybe it's running better because it's not the newest ride in Orlando any more


----------



## billlaurie

We rope dropped Hagrids both days this weekend. At the entrance at 8, 8 people back yesterday and today about 20 people back. They let us in at 8:40 and both days there was a slight delay. Some runners, but not many. Yesterday we were off the ride at 910 and did Forbidden Journey, Kong and Spiderman with no waits! Today, off by 920, husband and son are doing Hulk, which I am not brave enough to do! Hagrids is awesome. Yesterday I did the sidecar and today the bike. The wait now is 120 minutes!


----------



## ksromack

We hopped in line just a bit ago.  Wait time has been 120 and 150 all morning so when it went down to 90 min we got in line about 11:10 so we'll see what time we are done.  Looks to be a great ride!


----------



## Squirlz

Last time we rode was Wednesday.  Wait time was posted 60 but we didn't hit the back of the line until just inside the building.  From there the wait has always been 30 minutes.  At one point we were stopped by a TM, a door opened and about 8 people were let in.  I asked the young woman ahead of me what entrance that was and she said it was the disability entrance.  Then she said "I'll tell you a secret...I actually have ADHD but all you have to do is tell Guest Services you have it and they'll give you a pass."

I'm not sure how much time they really saved since it was only a 30 minute wait anyway.


----------



## ksromack

We rode again last night.  Didnt leave HRH until 7pm and got in line for Hagrid's at about 7:10 pm.  We were off the ride 60 minutes later even though the app said wait time would be 90 minutes.  We think the ride is so much more fun in the dark


----------



## Disxuni

Squirlz said:


> I asked the young woman ahead of me what entrance that was and she said it was the disability entrance.  Then she said "I'll tell you a secret...I actually have ADHD but all you have to do is tell Guest Services you have it and they'll give you a pass."



I don't know how legit that is, but I wouldn't use my ADHD for a disability pass as there is no reason to. I can only see that being plausible for a child perhaps with ADHD, as they have less discipline, patience, and more likely to show more outlandish hyperactivity than an adult.


----------



## KatieCharlotte

Squirlz said:


> Last time we rode was Wednesday.  Wait time was posted 60 but we didn't hit the back of the line until just inside the building.  From there the wait has always been 30 minutes.  At one point we were stopped by a TM, a door opened and about 8 people were let in.  I asked the young woman ahead of me what entrance that was and she said it was the disability entrance.  Then she said "I'll tell you a secret...I actually have ADHD but all you have to do is tell Guest Services you have it and they'll give you a pass."
> 
> I'm not sure how much time they really saved since it was only a 30 minute wait anyway.





Disxuni said:


> I don't know how legit that is, but I wouldn't use my ADHD for a disability pass as there is no reason to. I can only see that being plausible for a child perhaps with ADHD, as they have less discipline, patience, and more likely to show more outlandish hyperactivity than an adult.



I sometimes travel with a teen who has a disability and has used the DAS at Disney (we had hotel express passes at Universal and he's not a thrill rider anyway).  I'm sure there are kids with ADHD who need the pass, and adults with various conditions who need the pass, but I really hate the idea of someone telling people to lie about needing it.   That makes things more difficult for those who really need it.   

But, back to the much more pleasant topic of this thread, thank you all so much for the data and opinions.  It sounds like the ride is becoming more reliable just in time for the holidays.  If that's true, their work has paid off, even though it's taken an awfully long time.


----------



## NYHeel

My son has ADHD. It's legitimate and impacts him in a classroom setting but has very little impact outside of the classroom where he doesn't need to really focus. I wouldn't ask Universal or Disney for a pass because it's not actually needed.


----------



## Disxuni

NYHeel said:


> My son has ADHD. It's legitimate and impacts him in a classroom setting but has very little impact outside of the classroom where he doesn't need to really focus. I wouldn't ask Universal or Disney for a pass because it's not actually needed.



Exactly. I personally have ADHD myself and was diagnosed relatively early so I received help sooner rather than later, but I'm far from perfect. I can only see it done for particular cases, but when you do that, I suppose you have to include everyone, which might be the reason why if it is true. ADHD often comes combined with other disorders and on top of that a lot of times at a young age some are labeled as a "problem child". Not necessarily due to hyperactivity, but ADHD children can sincerely act out more than typical children due to our impulsiveness and our brain development. I want to add this is not all ADHD children, as I do not know your son, and also I personally grew up relatively well behaved (for a typical kid), but I've seen some outrageous behavior from other children I grew up with due to being grouped in the same classes as others until I got into HS. I didn't realize it was one of the "signs" until I was older and started learning psychology in college.


----------



## ksromack

Disxuni said:


> I don't know how legit that is, but I wouldn't use my ADHD for a disability pass as there is no reason to. I can only see that being plausible for a child perhaps with ADHD, as they have less discipline, patience, and more likely to show more outlandish hyperactivity than an adult.


She really shouldn't be encouraging others to lie about cheating the system.  I hope no one would deliberately take advantage in that way!


KatieCharlotte said:


> It sounds like the rid7e is becoming more reliable just in time for the holidays.  If that's true, their work has paid off, even though it's taken an awfully long time.


I think the ride has finally found its groove.....wonder if the cooler temperatures have helped with this?  If it overheating has been the reason for the delays then maybe this time of year will show more success.


----------



## StarGirl11

Just got off my third ride today. Absolutely love it though by round 3 you could tell it was maintainence time since it stopped twice where it wasn’t supposed to.

On the topic of the ADHD lady this more then angers me a bit. I’m all for getting a disability pass if you can’t wait for legit reasons. But then you have this case. And I was just given problems at guest relations this morning about wanting to stay out of the general queue this morning because I get migraines triggered by over exposure to certain elements for extended periods. To the point I was wondering if I was going to have to elevate it or go the other parks guest relations since she decided to focus on the element that I didn’t need to stay out of the queue. (Multiple issues)


----------



## greg9x

KatieCharlotte said:


> But, back to the much more pleasant topic of this thread, thank you all so much for the data and opinions.  It sounds like the ride is becoming more reliable just in time for the holidays.  If that's true, their work has paid off, even though it's taken an awfully long time.



It still has issues... right now the crowds are less just before the Christmas rush... See on other places complaints about delays and closings still.

It's not going to run reliably until the design issues are fixed, which may require a lengthy refurb.


----------



## StarGirl11

KatieCharlotte said:


> I sometimes travel with a teen who has a disability and has used the DAS at Disney (we had hotel express passes at Universal and he's not a thrill rider anyway).  I'm sure there are kids with ADHD who need the pass, and adults with various conditions who need the pass, but I really hate the idea of someone telling people to lie about needing it.   That makes things more difficult for those who really need it.
> 
> But, back to the much more pleasant topic of this thread, thank you all so much for the data and opinions.  It sounds like the ride is becoming more reliable just in time for the holidays.  If that's true, their work has paid off, even though it's taken an awfully long time.



I mean it’s technically reliable just not in a _good way _arguably. Park was open from 9-8 today it went down for the scheduled maintainence around 3 or was supposed to anyway since we didn’t end up back there. That’s almost _half_ the park day. And by the time I rode it the 3rd time before 2 it was already starting to have issues. We were going slow enough back into the loading station that I was able to pull out my phone, snap a photo of the last animatronic, and put it away before I got off and I wasn’t in the last row. An average park goer should not be able to tell a _brand new ride_ needs its daily maintenance I would argue. And between the backup at the loading station twice on the last ride and flat out coming to a stop in the last cavern after we dropped down. Even if you hadn’t ridden it you would probably knew something was up.

I enjoyed it don’t get me wrong but they need to sort these issues out.


----------



## KatieCharlotte

I was hoping that it was at least reliable in the mornings for the rope droppers and early birds, but maybe not?  

I found a graph online that was supposed to show the percentage of park hours that Hagrid's was operational each month, from opening through November.  The percentage went up in Nov only because it was so low in Oct.    I'm sure they're trying to avoid a lengthy refurb so soon after it opened, but....


----------



## Disxuni

KatieCharlotte said:


> I was hoping that it was at least reliable in the mornings for the rope droppers and early birds, but maybe not?
> 
> I found a graph online that was supposed to show the percentage of park hours that Hagrid's was operational each month, from opening through November.  The percentage went up in Nov only because it was so low in Oct.    I'm sure they're trying to avoid a lengthy refurb so soon after it opened, but....



Unfortunately there would be nothing to distract the guests from the disappointment of Hagrid closing relatively soon for a lengthy refurb. It was done for Jaws back when Universal first opened, but there was a whole new park to distract guests from missing one attraction. However, I'm also wondering if there isn't a more solid resolution at this point which might be the reason why it hasn't either. I'm sure if they figured out a more solid, long lasting, and more concrete resolution to these issues they would close for a refurb as it would be worth it. However, if all they keep figuring out are things that only work for a short amount of time there would be no reason to close the attraction. As so far any issues (that we know about, or been rumored) seem to be easily resolved, but eventually come back as an issue, whether it be over heating parts, wheels getting worn, or bees.


----------



## Lashed34

We walked past Hagrid's today at around 11am and the queue went right down to Mythos and then wound around multiple times before even gettinh to the main entrance. Posted time was 150 minutes but would have been a lot longer. Crazy lines today!


----------



## Candycane83

Lashed34 said:


> We walked past Hagrid's today at around 11am and the queue went right down to Mythos and then wound around multiple times before even gettinh to the main entrance. Posted time was 150 minutes but would have been a lot longer. Crazy lines today!


Yikes! I can see crowds really growing by the end of the week!


----------



## Lashed34

Candycane83 said:


> Yikes! I can see crowds really growing by the end of the week!


Oh definitely. We go back to the UK tomorrow after 2 weeks here and the crowds have increased hugely - as we expected. What with Hagrid's and RotR there are a lot of people waiting around


----------



## hopemax

Lashed34 said:


> We walked past Hagrid's today at around 11am and the queue went right down to Mythos and then wound around multiple times before even gettinh to the main entrance. Posted time was 150 minutes but would have been a lot longer. Crazy lines today!


Then again we got in line at 1:36 and were off at 2:17. Posted time was 60 minutes. 

Currently stuck in the last tunnel before the final room in the queue. Ride is down and storm is a coming.


----------



## hopemax

hopemax said:


> Then again we got in line at 1:36 and were off at 2:17. Posted time was 60 minutes.
> 
> Currently stuck in the last tunnel before the final room in the queue. Ride is down and storm is a coming.


And Ruby Pass obtained. At 8:30 they officially ended today’s operations. A very wet walk back to the Royal Pacific.


----------



## Lashed34

hopemax said:


> And Ruby Pass obtained. At 8:30 they officially ended today’s operations. A very wet walk back to the Royal Pacific.


Yes, we were at studios for the mivie celebration fountain show - drenched


----------



## MyHappyPlace17

We were able to ride Hagrid's on our trip last week.  We probably waited about 1-1.25 hrs total and I would say about a third of that time was due to the ride being down.  We had a blast.  It's definitely a very fast and super fun coaster but I wouldn't wait that long to ride it again.  I personally don't share the opinion of some reports that it's the best ride in Orlando.  It's a great addition and thank goodness it's not screen based because there is way too much of that already but I wouldn't consider it the best.  It will for sure be on our "must do" list every time as long we can get on in less than an hour.


----------



## only hope

Rode it for the first time yesterday. Joined the lines at the park entrance at about 8:15. Gates opened at 8:45. They were routing the Hagrids line to the right, past the theater. Took about ten minutes to reach the lockers. At this point the app said it was a 90mn wait, but that was for the end of the line. I was on about 30 minutes after the lockers. I was wearing a zip up graduation robe I turned into Ravenclaw robes years ago, and was told it had to come off to sit in the motorcycle. I wish the many cm lining the queue before the lockers would have said so- I would have left it in the locker. I was not impressed by the ride. I didn’t know much going in but based on publicity, expected to see tons of animatronics. I only saw four. The ride also gave me a headache. It was very bumpy/rough. I also didn’t get the story of the ride. Upon reading reviews afterwards, it turns out we skipped the preshow with Arthur that actually explains the ride. Turns out I missed several animatronics/props too. The ride moves too fast to take it all in. I won’t be riding it again. The headache is not worth it. Even with the stuff I missed, it doesn’t sound like there’s much to see. Gringotts is too much screens and not enough coaster; this is too much coaster and not enough story, and too rough. For me, Forbiddden Journey is still the best HP ride.


----------



## jmv5010

only hope said:


> Rode it for the first time yesterday. Joined the lines at the park entrance at about 8:15. Gates opened at 8:45. They were routing the Hagrids line to the right, past the theater. Took about ten minutes to reach the lockers. At this point the app said it was a 90mn wait, but that was for the end of the line. I was on about 30 minutes after the lockers. I was wearing a zip up graduation robe I turned into Ravenclaw robes years ago, and was told it had to come off to sit in the motorcycle. I wish the many cm lining the queue before the lockers would have said so- I would have left it in the locker. I was not impressed by the ride. I didn’t know much going in but based on publicity, expected to see tons of animatronics. I only saw four. The ride also gave me a headache. It was very bumpy/rough. I also didn’t get the story of the ride. Upon reading reviews afterwards, it turns out we skipped the preshow with Arthur that actually explains the ride. Turns out I missed several animatronics/props too. The ride moves too fast to take it all in. I won’t be riding it again. The headache is not worth it. Even with the stuff I missed, it doesn’t sound like there’s much to see. Gringotts is too much screens and not enough coaster; this is too much coaster and not enough story, and too rough. For me, Forbiddden Journey is still the best HP ride.



That’s an interesting experience with you feeling it was rough. The first time I rode it was later in the day after Rip and Hulk, and both those killed my head. The difference in the experience for me between those and Hagrid’s was night and day.

I stayed away from Rip and Hulk the rest of my trip but did Hagrid’s multiple times.


----------



## only hope

I’m _very_ sensitive to bumps/roughness on coasters...I didn’t think this would bother me as there was no headrest. I stopped riding coasters with headrests years ago. I know Hulk and Rip are _much _worse than Hagrid’s! I loved Hulk when I was a teen and coasters didn’t bother me; tried Rip exactly once years ago because reviews said it was smooth...not sure what the reviews were comparing it to, that one left my head pounding too. It was at that point I decided coasters with a head rest were an automatic no go for me.


----------



## Disxuni

only hope said:


> reviews said it was smooth...not sure what the reviews were comparing it to



I want to know too. Maybe "smooth" compared to the Hulk?  

I used to ride RRR and Hulk too when younger, but in my late teens I started not going on then much either due to the head banging experience. I like headbanging sometimes to good music, but not a coaster.


----------



## PrincessWithABlaster

Disxuni said:


> I want to know too. Maybe "smooth" compared to the Hulk?
> 
> I used to ride RRR and Hulk too when younger, but in my late teens I started not going on then much either due to the head banging experience. I like headbanging sometimes to good music, but not a coaster.



i think RRR depends heavily on which row you’re in. The front row on each cart is smooth. The others not so much.


----------



## Disxuni

PrincessWithABlaster said:


> i think RRR depends heavily on which row you’re in. The front row on each cart is smooth. The others not so much.



Yes, the back is always the roughest, the front being the smoothest. The same applies to simulators which is why I often suggest people who have issues with them, but want to go anyway, to tell them it's always best to request the front row and just let the TM know you're willing to wait for it.


----------



## Liljo22

Thrill Data says it’s closed today.  Was it scheduled?  We are going on Saturday and I chose IOA in hopes of riding it.  I know they were still having delayed openings and early closings at time but I didn’t think it had long down times.


----------



## Disxuni

Yep, still says closed according to Universal's official app so it'll be interesting to know if it was closed from the very beginning and if there's any known, or rumored reasons as of why.


----------



## only hope

It’s probably the rain central Fl has been getting off and on all day.


----------



## Lashed34

I adore Hagrids but would never ever want to ride it in heavy rain....even light rain would be painful!


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> Yep, still says closed according to Universal's official app so it'll be interesting to know if it was closed from the very beginning and if there's any known, or rumored reasons as of why.



It’s open now so it looks like it was just a delayed opening.  I thought it might have been weather related but other outdoor rides were open.

Will be following wait time after Christmas to see if mid afternoon is still better with the post Christmas crowds.


----------



## Disney Legend

We are new  to Universal. My daughter uses a mobility scooter and can walk a short distance.

1) I assume she could use the scooter and walk on the ride?
2) Would using a wheelchair be better than the scooter?

Thanks.


----------



## Lashed34

Disney Legend said:


> We are new  to Universal. My daughter uses a mobility scooter and can walk a short distance.
> 
> 1) I assume she could use the scooter and walk on the ride?
> 2) Would using a wheelchair be better than the scooter?
> 
> Thanks.


Other people may be able to advise if there's another option than using the regular queue for you, but if you do have to use the same line as everyone a wheelchair would most definitely be easier as there are some tight turns in the line - it's very twisty and I think a scooter would have more difficulty than a wheelchair.


----------



## StarGirl11

Disney Legend said:


> We are new  to Universal. My daughter uses a mobility scooter and can walk a short distance.
> 
> 1) I assume she could use the scooter and walk on the ride?
> 2) Would using a wheelchair be better than the scooter?
> 
> Thanks.



Heads up this is a moving belt. They can stop it I believe. But the one time I asked it seemed to get forgotten. I didn’t mind so much. But you might have to remind them to slow the belt.

That being said I’m assuming when you say scooter your meaning ECV and I’m not sure how far into the queue you’ll be allowed to take it. I use a walker and was allowed to take it up until where we load. Considering the twists of the ramp to get down you might not be allowed to take it into the queue. You might want to consider renting a chair for the day since I remember hearing Universal isn’t the most friendly to ECVs in particular at times. If you want to know more check out the disabilities forums I had heard before from other users that TMs could be an issue if you have a device or use the disability pass. And while that wasn’t the case on my last trip in 2016 it was the case when I was first obtaining the pass and why I insisted my friend come with me when I went to get it. Hope you have a hastle free day. Hagrids is a blast and worth it in my opinion.

Different note I think the TMs know the posted times aren’t reflective of the actual waits. Since I used the Universal version of the DAS. Once I got past the issue of the TM not listening to why I needed the pass I had a good day at the park I had a great day at the park at least. Im just bringing this up since the return times I got were always consistently shorter then the posted. And more in line with what I’ve heard other people post as the actual times.


----------



## Disxuni

I would imagine if it's known to be difficult, or impossible to use a ECV in the queue they would have alternative route for those guests, or could provide temporarily a wheelchair. I seriously doubt if you had one of those and it was actually impossible to move in there they'd have an "oh well" attitude and not assist with getting onto the ride somehow.


----------



## barb969

)


Disney Legend said:


> We are new  to Universal. My daughter uses a mobility scooter and can walk a short distance.
> 
> 1) I assume she could use the scooter and walk on the ride?
> 2) Would using a wheelchair be better than the scooter?
> 
> Thanks.


I use a scooter and can’t walk very far.  I asked at GR. They said my husband could push a wheelchair.  The scooters are not allowed in the line.


----------



## StarGirl11

Disxuni said:


> I would imagine if it's known to be difficult, or impossible to use a ECV in the queue they would have alternative route for those guests, or could provide temporarily a wheelchair. I seriously doubt if you had one of those and it was actually impossible to move in there they'd have an "oh well" attitude and not assist with getting onto the ride somehow.



The problem there is I’ve heard it’s not always the easiest to find a transfer chair. Apparently they aren’t as attraction locked from what I remember reading. Thus why I was saying they might want to just opt for a chair that day. Instead of trying and losing times finding a transfer chair.


----------



## Linkura

I don't think they could even make a coaster smoother than Hagrid's.  Unless it suddenly got bad in the 2 months since I rode it.


----------



## damo

Linkura said:


> I don't think they could even make a coaster smoother than Hagrid's.  Unless it suddenly got bad in the 2 months since I rode it.



I rode it last week 5 times and found it incredibly smooth.  The coaster is very fast and the transitions into the curves definitely are forceful but I would not say that the coaster is rough.


----------



## Linkura

Like... if you think Hagrid's is rough, I don't think you'd find a coaster that you wouldn't find rough.

And that's fine.  Everyone is different.  You're allowed to dislike coasters.


----------



## Lashed34

I found it very fast but definitely smooth, even the bit in the dark was smooth (avoiding spoilers).


----------



## Squirlz

It's very smooth but it does change directions quite quickly.  Maybe that's what some are calling "rough"?


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## Matt11

Looking forward to this


----------



## mrd7896

Disney Legend said:


> We are new  to Universal. My daughter uses a mobility scooter and can walk a short distance.
> 
> 1) I assume she could use the scooter and walk on the ride?
> 2) Would using a wheelchair be better than the scooter?
> 
> Thanks.



I was in a wheelchair when i rode Hagrid's a few months ago and don't believe i saw many scooters in line but could've been mistaken.
The queue is very wind-ey (?) and there's a part that's on a decline where we had to keep fastening the brake or else i would've bowled over every one which would've been fun!

it is a moving belt as someone previously mentioned but as most of the rides at Universal, the CM will ask her if she can 'transfer' and can walk to the ride vehicle herself!


----------



## cschaaf

Rode twice today. Amazing ride. Our whole group (6 of us) bumped this one to the top of our list - beating out Mummy. 

We felt is was super smooth. 

We got to Islands around 8:30 and waited a bit for the gates to open. Got in the park and many, many runners passed us. 

The locker situation is a mess. We had 4 bags and two of us grabbed all the bags and went to the lockers. All of the small lockers were taken. 

I paid for a large locker, but as soon as I did, the light turned red and said it was full. Fortunately, a guy came up behind me and said he would be emptying 2 large lockers. We got 3 bags in there then had to wait for a small one to open up. 

By the time the two of us made it out, our family was probably 100 people ahead. They said they tried to wait outside the locker, but CMs told them to move forward and we’d catch up. 

They stopped right before entering the building and waited for us. 

Didn’t time it, but the line moved pretty well. 

My wife and I got the front seat which was so good. It was raining so it was tough to keep your eyes open, but still worth it. 

We tried again this evening and got in line at 7:27 with a 90 minute posted wait. We were off the ride by 8:15. 

I tried both, the bike and the sidecar and can’t say I had a favorite. 

We’re hoping to get 1 or 2 more rides tomorrow.


----------



## Candycane83

In line right now, posted time was 90 mins when I went in. Went down to 75mins after 10 mins. It’s going to be my first time riding. So excited! DH rode yesterday and said he wanted to ride again! Hoping wait times stay the same.

edit: it shows 120 mins now


----------



## Candycane83

That is an awesome ride! I went in at 1pm and was put at 1:58pm. Want to do it again later if I can! IOA opens at 7am tomorrow, I’m debating whether we should get up that early to ride before flying home in the afternoon


----------



## billlaurie

I rode it several times two weekends ago. I usually only like milder coasters so I never attempt ones like Hulk or RRR, but thought it was one of the smoothest coasters that I had ever ridden.  The perfect level of intensity too, IMO. I loved it.


----------



## Wreckem

Showed 150 minute wait when we got in line at 11:47am this morning but the queue started right around Hagrids hut. We were off by 12:50.


----------



## Wreckem

Not likely going to be a good day operationally. Ride is opening 3hrs late and there is rain in the forecast from 1pm to 6pm. We shall see.


----------



## Wreckem

Definitely having capacity/operational issues. Ride opened at 10am. When it opened it said 60 minutes. The queue only back up to preshow. Doesn’t seem like many cars are running. Been an hour inline and only after the preshow in the middle switchback. Not the continuously moving queue like when it’s fully operational.


----------



## Wreckem

I guess there was operational issues last night. Reason why what should have been a 60 minute wait is there is a long *** express line and it’s 2-3 to 1 express/standby. They are saying it’s a 30 minute wait from the standby/express merge point. If that holds true it would have taken over 2hrs from preshow to ride...


----------



## Disxuni

Wreckem said:


> I guess there was operational issues last night. Reason why what should have been a 60 minute wait is there is a long *** express line and it’s 2-3 to 1 express/standby. They are saying it’s a 30 minute wait from the standby/express merge point. If that holds true it would have taken over 2hrs from preshow to ride...



Wait, is it an EP line, or SR line? I didn't know they had an EP line now.


----------



## Wreckem

Disxuni said:


> Wait, is it an EP line, or SR line? I didn't know they had an EP line now.



They have an express line that is used for when they give people ruby express passes or return passes  after being dumped from the queue. They apparently dumped the queue last night and gave out a lot of ruby passes. 

We are over the two hour mark from preshow and still probably have another 20 minutes. Original estimated time was 60 which made sense because we walked right past Hagrids hut and got held about 50 people back from the preshow for what seemed like 30 minutes. 

They had to have given out a lot of ruby/return passes yesterday. And they all came to redeem them at ride the delayed open because of the forecast of rain this afternoon through evening.

Yesterday it said 150 minute wait and it was only 60. Today it said 60 minutes and it was actually 150 minutes. 

Win some and lose some.


----------



## Liljo22

Just got in line at 11:15.   Wait says 210.  Was 240 all morning.


----------



## Wreckem

Liljo22 said:


> Just got in line at 11:15.   Wait says 210.  Was 240 all morning.



Pretty sure they issued a bunch of return passes again last night. The ride hit capacity around 8:00pm but the rain was hard enough to shut down all the other coasters multiple times. Not sure if they got through all the queue after 8pm. It rained from 8:00 to 9:00, all the other outdoor coasters went delayed/closed during that time. It stopped raining around nine and the outdoor coasters did their start up procedures and opened around 9:20. It then started raining enough to dump the rip ride rocket queue shortly after park close(right after I got off of it at 10:05). Pretty sure they dumped all the outdoor ride queues around 10:10pm last night. I am assuming they issued passes if/when they dumped Hagrids. Those passes really clog the rides for standby.


----------



## Liljo22

Wreckem said:


> Pretty sure they issued a bunch of return passes again last night. The ride hit capacity around 8:00pm but the rain was hard enough to shut down all the other coasters multiple times. Not sure if they got through all the queue after 8pm. It rained from 8:00 to 9:00, all the other outdoor coasters went delayed/closed during that time. It stopped raining around nine and the outdoor coasters did their start up procedures and opened around 9:20. It then started raining enough to dump the rip ride rocket queue shortly after park close(right after I got off of it at 10:05). Pretty sure they dumped all the outdoor ride queues around 10:10pm last night. I am assuming they issued passes if/when they dumped Hagrids. Those passes really clog the rides for standby.



It seems like it.  A couple of times the line hasn’t moved for 20 minutes.  Just got finished with the mid show after 1:45 minutes.


----------



## Liljo22

Boarded about at 2:25 so almost the 210 minutes.  Had an upset family waiting in line that long but all said it was worth it.  An amazing ride.


----------



## Chris401

Been looking for a good time to jump on this but wait has been 300 mins to 240 mins all morning. Do I just need to bite the bullet and jump in line? Would single rider be better? My 8 year old is a little nervous about going solo so that’s a last resort.


----------



## Ben E N

Chris401 said:


> Been looking for a good time to jump on this but wait has been 300 mins to 240 mins all morning. Do I just need to bite the bullet and jump in line? Would single rider be better? My 8 year old is a little nervous about going solo so that’s a last resort.



The wait time seemed to be shorter last night than it was in the morning. Not short at all, but more like 180 minutes around 7 pm. No idea if that will repeat tonight or not.
For reference, the wait was 360 minutes at 8 am today, so it is already going down.


----------



## C&Jx2

Has it been open during early entry? Or can you at least get in line during that hour?


----------



## Chris401

Just saw a sign that said Hagrid’s will close early today so I guess now or never.


----------



## Ben E N

C&Jx2 said:


> Has it been open during early entry? Or can you at least get in line during that hour?



You can get in line then but it is not open. As of 7:15 there was an anticipated wait of 3.5 hours. Right before opening it at 8 they tested it and of course it didn't work. It didn't get up an running until after 9. My wife showed up at 6:40 and didn't get off until after 10.


----------



## C&Jx2

Ben E N said:


> You can get in line then but it is not open. As of 7:15 there was an anticipated wait of 3.5 hours. Right before opening it at 8 they tested it and of course it didn't work. It didn't get up an running until after 9. My wife showed up at 6:40 and didn't get off until after 10.


Wow. There goes that plan lol


----------



## Chris401

Chris401 said:


> Just saw a sign that said Hagrid’s will close early today so I guess now or never.


So shortly after I posted above they must have closed single rider. We got in the main line and have been in line for about 45 to 50 min? At least the line is moving. I’ll post again for benefit of everyone on actual timing. Currently we are next to flight of  hippogriff version of hagrid hut. Not sure what that means for timing.


----------



## Ben E N

C&Jx2 said:


> Wow. There goes that plan lol



Well it did involve an hourlong breakdown, and 3.5 hours is a whole lot better than what offsite guests had to deal with this morning.


----------



## Disxuni

SR line is a hit, or miss no matter how long the wait of the line is. For quite sometime now it's been reported that it opens and closes frequently. If it's open it doesn't stay for long.


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> SR line is a hit, or miss no matter how long the wait of the line is. For quite sometime now it's been reported that it opens and closes frequently. If it's open it doesn't stay for long.



On Saturday we were a party of 5 so an SR was added.  He said that the wait was 150 minutes for him while we waited 190.  I can see how SR can get to be just as long though.  The line barely moves.  When we got into the last room we got through all the switchbacks and the person who was at the end of the SR line break only moved about a 1/4 of the way up.  

Also, the SR line goes down a set of narrow stairs so anybody with mobility/balance issues may want to avoid it.


----------



## Chris401

Chris401 said:


> So shortly after I posted above they must have closed single rider. We got in the main line and have been in line for about 45 to 50 min? At least the line is moving. I’ll post again for benefit of everyone on actual timing. Currently we are next to flight of  hippogriff version of hagrid hut. Not sure what that means for timing.


Took about 3 hrs 30 mins for a posted wait of 240 (it did drop to 210 while in line). SR line opened back up about 2 hrs in. Good times.


----------



## Disxuni

Liljo22 said:


> On Saturday we were a party of 5 so an SR was added.  He said that the wait was 150 minutes for him while we waited 190.  I can see how SR can get to be just as long though.  The line barely moves.  When we got into the last room we got through all the switchbacks and the person who was at the end of the SR line break only moved about a 1/4 of the way up.
> 
> Also, the SR line goes down a set of narrow stairs so anybody with mobility/balance issues may want to avoid it.



Yeah, the line gets insanely long and it barely moves which is why it closes frequently, because honestly, if they didn't regulate it and just let people in the SR line without closing it at all, it would probably be as long as the regular queue in terms of length, or longer, and then due to lack of movement the wait itself would be longer.


----------



## MeridaAnn

I don't get why they haven't switched to the virtual boarding queue for Hagrid's yet. Universal had the system all set up and ready to go for opening day, even though they didn't use it (if I recall correctly), and Rise of the Resisitance is proving that it works over at DHS, so I don't see any reason not to do the same for Hagrid's. I love this coaster, and I've gotten up really early several times in order to be able to ride it (I live about 2 hours away), but with the way the mornings are so unpredictable again and the rest of the day has such a long wait, it's really frustrating. I had been considering spending New Year's Day in the park, but I'm starting to think I'm going to pass for a while until they can figure something out and I'll spend my day off comfortably curled up on my sofa instead.


----------



## Ben E N

MeridaAnn said:


> I don't get why they haven't switched to the virtual boarding queue for Hagrid's yet. Universal had the system all set up and ready to go for opening day, even though they didn't use it (if I recall correctly), and Rise of the Resisitance is proving that it works over at DHS, so I don't see any reason not to do the same for Hagrid's. I love this coaster, and I've gotten up really early several times in order to be able to ride it (I live about 2 hours away), but with the way the mornings are so unpredictable again and the rest of the day has such a long wait, it's really frustrating. I had been considering spending New Year's Day in the park, but I'm starting to think I'm going to pass for a while until they can figure something out and I'll spend my day off comfortably curled up on my sofa instead.



My guess is because it sucks up huge numbers of people. If you did a virtual queue, all those people who were waiting would then be clogging up the rest of the parks. Universal just doesn't have the space to accommodate all those people.


----------



## Disxuni

My theory still remains that the ride is too unpredictable for reliability to be able to use the virtual queue. As @Ben E N said other guests would be all along the rest of the parks. Which isn't the worst thing. 

However, once they're done with that, then they'll come back, and what happens when they still have to wait, because of a delay, or can't go on at all, because the ride is fully shut down? Up side, got to "wait" while riding other rides. Down side, means if they might have waited in the first place, they would have just done their wait and got on already, or they would have been able to ride it instead of no ride at all.

If they can't handle a regular queue they can't handle a virtual queue.


----------



## havaneselover

We are in line currently. The posted wait time is 300 minutes. I think we have three hours to go. Tomorrow we need to be more efficient getting into the park.


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> My theory still remains that the ride is too unpredictable for reliability to be able to use the virtual queue. As @Ben E N said other guests would be all along the rest of the parks. Which isn't the worst thing.
> 
> However, once they're done with that, then they'll come back, and what happens when they still have to wait, because of a delay, or can't go on at all, because the ride is fully shut down? Up side, got to "wait" while riding other rides. Down side, means if they might have waited in the first place, they would have just done their wait and got on already, or they would have been able to ride it instead of no ride at all.
> 
> If they can't handle a regular queue they can't handle a virtual queue.



Unpredictable reliability is the reason to do a VQ.  They don't have people waiting for hours to find out the ride went down again or weather is delaying it.  Disney is doing the VQ for Rise because of this.  They only have a couple of hundred guests to worry about rather than a couple thousand.  We waited about 3 hours and it was a threat of rain all day.  If I was 2 hours into it and the ride shut down, I would have been pissed.


----------



## Disxuni

Liljo22 said:


> Unpredictable reliability is the reason to do a VQ.  They don't have people waiting for hours to find out the ride went down again or weather is delaying it.  Disney is doing the VQ for Rise because of this.  They only have a couple of hundred guests to worry about rather than a couple thousand.  We waited about 3 hours and it was a threat of rain all day.  If I was 2 hours into it and the ride shut down, I would have been pissed.



You can make the same statement if someone did VQ all day only to not be able to get onto the ride at all. The only good thing about VQ is the fact that you'd get to go on other attractions while "waiting". If anything goes wrong, it might lessen the blow to someone if they hadn't waited all day in line, but it might mean something to someone else. Especially if the attraction, let's say for example, was running smoothly all morning, or even into the afternoon and just as it was your turn it's down for the rest of the afternoon, or evening. I'm sure a lot of people would kick themselves if they had a chance on it if they just waited in the first place. Also, regular queues get a "ruby pass" if they close the ride, where as I doubt someone who waited in the VQ wouldn't get the same privileges. They'd have to either way, or VQ the next day.

It's just my opinion that you cannot have a VQ if the ride is as unpredictable as Hagrid's. On top of that, it will essentially make another queue and get even longer if there is a delay, so what's the point? I do not know how great VQ is for VB, but when I stayed at CB only a couple of months ago, I consistently saw lines outside of my hotel room of people waiting in line for this "virtual queue" for water slides. Granted wasn't that long of a wait, but the whole point is the fact that you're _allegedly_ not waiting and in that case, they still were. When the parks first opened the lines were even longer and ridiculous due to the popularity and newness of the park. So, honestly, if you really think about, it wouldn't more than likely wouldn't work regardless. Disney clearly has a different method than Universal does.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Disxuni said:


> You can make the same statement if someone did VQ all day only to not be able to get onto the ride at all. The only good thing about VQ is the fact that you'd get to go on other attractions while "waiting". If anything goes wrong, it might lessen the blow to someone if they hadn't waited all day in line, but it might mean something to someone else. Especially if the attraction, let's say for example, was running smoothly all morning, or even into the afternoon and just as it was your turn it's down for the rest of the afternoon, or evening. I'm sure a lot of people would kick themselves if they had a chance on it if they just waited in the first place. Also, regular queues get a "ruby pass" if they close the ride, where as I doubt someone who waited in the VQ wouldn't get the same privileges. They'd have to either way, or VQ the next day.
> 
> It's just my opinion that you cannot have a VQ if the ride is as unpredictable as Hagrid's. On top of that, it will essentially make another queue and get even longer if there is a delay, so what's the point? I do not know how great VQ is for VB, but when I stayed at CB only a couple of months ago, I consistently saw lines outside of my hotel room of people waiting in line for this "virtual queue" for water slides. Granted wasn't that long of a wait, but the whole point is the fact that you're _allegedly_ not waiting and in that case, they still were. When the parks first opened the lines were even longer and ridiculous due to the popularity and newness of the park. So, honestly, if you really think about, it wouldn't more than likely wouldn't work regardless. Disney clearly has a different method than Universal does.



Oh, no, if they did it the same way as Rise of the Resistance, it would be *instead* of a regular line, not in addition to it. You wouldn't be able to wait in regular standby until your virtual queue group had been called. It couldn't be a choice between physically waiting or virtually waiting, or, you're right, that would cause even more problems. It would have to be the only way into the main line. If something happened that caused your boarding group not to get called, it would have also stopped you from getting on if if had been a physical line instead, but now you got to at least enjoy the rest of the park and you didn't actually lose that park time waiting for something that didn't happen.


----------



## Liljo22

Disxuni said:


> You can make the same statement if someone did VQ all day only to not be able to get onto the ride at all. The only good thing about VQ is the fact that you'd get to go on other attractions while "waiting". If anything goes wrong, it might lessen the blow to someone if they hadn't waited all day in line, but it might mean something to someone else. Especially if the attraction, let's say for example, was running smoothly all morning, or even into the afternoon and just as it was your turn it's down for the rest of the afternoon, or evening. I'm sure a lot of people would kick themselves if they had a chance on it if they just waited in the first place. Also, regular queues get a "ruby pass" if they close the ride, where as I doubt someone who waited in the VQ wouldn't get the same privileges. They'd have to either way, or VQ the next day.
> 
> It's just my opinion that you cannot have a VQ if the ride is as unpredictable as Hagrid's. On top of that, it will essentially make another queue and get even longer if there is a delay, so what's the point? I do not know how great VQ is for VB, but when I stayed at CB only a couple of months ago, I consistently saw lines outside of my hotel room of people waiting in line for this "virtual queue" for water slides. Granted wasn't that long of a wait, but the whole point is the fact that you're _allegedly_ not waiting and in that case, they still were. When the parks first opened the lines were even longer and ridiculous due to the popularity and newness of the park. So, honestly, if you really think about, it wouldn't more than likely wouldn't work regardless. Disney clearly has a different method than Universal does.



VB's virtual queue is not comparable to what Hagrid's virtual queue would be.  At VB, once you are in a virtual queue you can't enter another queue.  You need to hang out in the wave pool/lazy river or find a ride that has no line at that time.


----------



## TommyJK

Personally, doing a VQ similar to how Disney did for ROTR to me would be ideal, but it has its own negatives.

Many people complain about ROTR VQ because all of the boarding groups are distributed within 30 minutes (or faster) of park open.  So unless you do a really early show up for rope drop, you won't get a boarding group and you will have zero chance to ride.

With no VQ for Hagrids, even if you get there mid-day, you will still have the option to ride if you're willing to do the physical wait.


----------



## Disxuni

Agreed the Disney way seems better, but does have it's down side too.

Either way, Hagrid's needs to get it together before Universal wants to attempt anything else. They need to focus on getting the ride running smoothly and deal with the crowd control as is, not having to think of another creative ways to make things more complicated in my opinion. It's debatable whether it would be a good, or bad thing, but either way, it would still be another learning curve for TMs and guests, another thing to maintain and keep an eye on. I just personally believe It's best to utilize it's efforts in maintaining what they have now. All good points. I just think TMs have plenty on their plate.


----------



## Linkura

Hagrid's has a huge queue which really helps the crowds out outside of the ride.  ROTR does not have a large queue, which necessitates the boarding pass system.  It sucks but I get why they don't do virtual line with Hagrid's.  Maybe they could do it on lower crowd days as a test though.  What I don't get is why they are so stingy with ruby passes and emptying the queue when the ride is going to be down for an extended period of time.  It's just poor customer service.


----------



## mrd7896

i would love a VQ for hagrids. Get my group when i enter the park in the AM, go and ride some rides in the meantime. If it breaks down while i'm in the line that would be VERY unfortunate but also the wait may only be a few minutes. Compared to having to wait a few hours currently. 

The ride is definitely unpredictable operationally but they could start with a number of boarding groups-low ball it-that they believe they will be able to accommodate in one days operational hours. Like wouldn't hurt to underestimate it. I'm sure they could run up some statistics about how many people get on the ride on an 'eh' day and if its 80 boarding groups (really just a number thrown out) then they can release back up boarding groups with the note that you may not be able to ride today if you are in groups 81 and on. just like ROTR.

would i be upset if i was group 90 and couldn't get on? what if i was group 45 and still couldn't get on? well of course. But i would be much more upset if i wasted 2+ hours IN THE LINE and still couldn't ride it.

and if there comes a time where they call boarding groups 20-25 and mid way through that group, the ride hits an operational error or a rough weather patch, those guests can wait it out in line, they can exit and try a little bit later while they are still in their boarding group window or however they see fit. And any one in boarding groups 26 and on wouldn't necessarily know about the issues that are going on..for better and for worse. They would just see what is currently boarding. 

i also don't believe that the other rides would be busier because of a hagrids' VQ is that big of an issue. i personally never have had an issue riding what i want to ride in a day. Even when i waited 4 hours for Hagrid's a few weeks after it opened. Granted i usually travel with adults, we use SR, we have an extra hour in the morning, etc. 

i definitely want the VQ to be a thing in the future but unfortunately feel like it won't happen.


----------



## KatieCharlotte

I'd love to know the behind-the-scenes discussions.  I'm sure no one is happy with how things have gone.  Having a high-demand ride is positive pr, but not a ride that has constant operational issues.   There's obviously a huge psychological difference between waiting in a long line for something that is SO amazing that it has a very long line, and waiting in a long line to possibly ride something that breaks down a lot.  Last year, I was in the single rider line for Gringotts during a short operational delay, noting how quickly Universal got things back on track compared to another park (not Disney) that had operational issues and gave the impression that they were not even trying to get the rides going again.   

There are no real solutions until it's reliably operational.   It seems like anyone in line should get a ruby pass if there are more than minor delays, but then too many ruby passes wrecks havoc with the lines for the rest of the day and into the next day, from what I've read and heard. 

As others have said, there are pros and cons to a VQ, especially when its impossible to calculate the number of guests likely to ride per hour.   I don't like the idea of a ride being entirely VQ, with no option of waiting in a standby line.  

I'm just selfishly glad that I will be there after the holidays are over and the wait times become more manageable again, not to mention being fortunate enough not to have just one or two days in the parks.  And I appreciate all the data provided on this thread.


----------



## jpkkld

On the ground update: Yesterday’s wait times (as expected) were through the roof - 6 hours in the morning, then 3.5-4 most of the rest of the day. 

This morning, the EE crowd lined up until 9, when the park opened and the ride was supposed to start. The app showed a wait time of 3.5 hours at 8:50.

At 10, the status changed to delayed. Soon after, closed. It’s after 4 now and still closed.

I know many have had good luck getting to experience it, and the ride has been up more consistently lately, but it still has serious operational issues. I really hope it gets better by next year, as I’d like to ride it someday.

OTOH, touring in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley during EE have been FABULOUS.


----------



## GoingSince1990

While the new ride might attract some people to Universal, surely I can't be the only one to react to these stories by holding off on going to Universal altogether at least until the ride is running smoothly without the regular breakdowns, and quite possibly until it accepts the Express passes.


----------



## eezetta

We rode this morning. We got to the park around 7:40 am for an 8 am EE. We did not run and got in the Hagrid queue first thing. By the time we made our way near Hogsmeade we could hear it running. This was probably around 8:15-8:20. The line moved fairly well, but we didn’t make it onto the ride until 9:45ish. We got off, walked to the front of the park to ride Hulk, and as we walked by a sign it was closed. I’m pretty sure not many rode after us. We felt pretty lucky as we had to leave for our flight around noon.


----------



## jpkkld

eezetta said:


> I’m pretty sure not many rode after us. We felt pretty lucky as we had to leave for our flight around noon.



You were lucky! We saw it had reopened as we got off the RPR boat around 6:30. 90 minutes wait at that point. We walked (not ran) to Hogsmeade and by then it was 120.  Got to the end of the line at 7, just before the indoor queue. We were off by 8:50.  Sign said “Ride Full” and the app said “At capacity”. 

In Hagrid’s workshop, a family joined the line right behind us. They also were in the morning line, but not so lucky. They arrived at the park at 7:20. They got all the way to that last room (the noisy room) ... and waited... and waited. By 1 pm they were back in the parks and hadn’t ridden anything yet.

It was a cool ride. During high crowds 2 hours seem reasonable for some reason. But not more! Looking forward to Express Pass.


----------



## damo

GoingSince1990 said:


> While the new ride might attract some people to Universal, surely I can't be the only one to react to these stories by holding off on going to Universal altogether at least until the ride is running smoothly without the regular breakdowns, and quite possibly until it accepts the Express passes.



Holding off going to Universal during busy times might be a good idea.  We were there right before Christmas and rode it with under an hour wait several times.


----------



## Polyonmymind

jpkkld said:


> OTOH, touring in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley during EE have been FABULOUS.



Sorta off topic and what not but went to rope drop this ride in October.  I chose not to ride but, 6 others in our group lined up for the multi hour wait.  I turned into the pack mule holding everybody's stuff, fine so I walked off through Jurassic Park.  Because EVERYONE was going to Hagrid's,  for about an hour it felt like I had the entire back side to Islands all to myself.   Pictures of Cartoon Lagoon, Jurassic Park and Marvel with completely empty sidewalks. Every ride on that side was a walk on.  It was crazy.. then all the people began flowing in and I was like, where'd ya'll come from?


----------



## osufeth24

Currently in line, and I think this is the slowest the line has ever moved.

I've gotten in line when it started near lockers and it was only 90 minutes.

Started wayyy further up and I'm not even inside after 80 minutes

Hasn't been any announced breakdowns either


----------



## ELSA711

We are going February 1st through the 8th and our goal is to hit Hagrids first thing in the morning now that IOA added EE for the 2nd.  Fingers crossed as this will be  one of few rides DH can do and is looking forward to.  He doesn't do well with the VR type rides which inhabit most of USO and IOA.
A little bummed with the shortened hours that week but crowds look on the lower scale


----------



## CJK

ELSA711 said:


> We are going February 1st through the 8th and our goal is to hit Hagrids first thing in the morning now that IOA added EE for the 2nd.


Ohhh, where are you seeing EE for February? I'm only seeing US as listed for EE through the end of January. Where can I find the February schedule? TIA!


----------



## ELSA711

Well, maybe I am jumping ahead then.  My Touring Plans account was updated with those hours.  Nothing on Universal site so maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up.


----------



## patster734

CJK said:


> Ohhh, where are you seeing EE for February? I'm only seeing US as listed for EE through the end of January. Where can I find the February schedule? TIA!



You can find EE hours for February in the Universal  Orlando app under the Park Hours And Direction tab.  Go to the park calendars, and you can check each date individually.  It shows February 1st and 2nd as EE for IOA, but no other dates in February. All dates in February so EE for USF.


----------



## ShadeDK

Having done both Hagrid’s and RotR this past week, I’ll take the former’s standby system over the latter’s virtual queue any day.  

For our Hagrid’s day: arrived for normal park opening with Hagrid starting at 300 min wait.  Knowing the time usually drops later in the day, we did what we wanted at USO and then a late breakfast at Hard Rock Hotel.  Headed over to IoA and decided to jump in line for Hagrid’s with a posted 210 minute wait.  We had hoped our experience from months ago still held - that the Hagrid wait times were inflated by as much as double.  That was not the case and it was still a solid 3 hours in line.  Looks like the wait times have become more accurate.  A few stops and starts, but no break downs.  They were pulsing the preshow room with smaller than usual groups as the standby line afterwards was almost backed up to the preshow area.  Came off the ride and, despite several hours in line that we probably wouldn’t repeat, agreed it was worth it.  We knew what we were getting into and it still delivered.   

For our RotR day: up at 5:45am to get over to Hollywood studios and wade through thousands of guests packed in for a 7am opening when the RotR boarding group lottery would go live.  Technical glitches with the Disney app and couldn’t get through for a few minutes when the lottery opened - a few minutes in we had success, but barely avoided the back-up boarding group cut-off.  Essentially, all normal BGs were gone for the day in less than 5 minutes.  We left right after - because all of the people there headed to rides and many opened with 90+ min standby times and eliminated any rope drop advantage as all the people in the virtual queue dispersed elsewhere.  Spent the day rearranging plans and checking status to see if we would be called.  Finally we were around 5pm, when we had to get back to the park and get in line - where we waited in line another hour before hitting the pre-show elements that start the ride. Exiting the ride 90 minutes after getting in line, we all agreed that while we were glad we did it, we would never do that again so long as they’re running the virtual queue.  

FWIW - we had our own challenging experiences with Hagrid’s the week after it opened - twice standing in line over an hour and suffering breakdowns while never making it over the bridge (and getting soaked by summer rains in the process).  Didn’t make it onto the ride until a few months later on another visit.  The standby experience has been frustrating at times but we still found it easier and better to plan around than the experience with the VQ system for RotR.  With the VQ, most people seem to focus on the benefit of being able to go do other things instead of waiting in line.  What’s overlooked is how a VQ can negatively interfere with what you can do or plan for that day, as well as the overall impact on park experience with all the guests tethered to the park via VQ and essentially in two places at once.


----------



## 1GoldenSun

I should probably read the 77 pages of this thread and find the answer to my question but instead I'm going to appeal to you all's good nature.

What is your opinion regarding the best strategy for riding Hagrid's? We live about an hour and a half away and have annual passes so a failed attempt wouldn't bother us too much since we can always come back, but we don't have EE. We were there almost at park opening Thursday and the wait times were already three hours long. I can't go that long without needing a bathroom! 

I'm hoping wait times will get better as the holiday season draws to a close but I still fell like I need a plan.


----------



## damo

1GoldenSun said:


> I should probably read the 77 pages of this thread and find the answer to my question but instead I'm going to appeal to you all's good nature.
> 
> What is your opinion regarding the best strategy for riding Hagrid's? We live about an hour and a half away and have annual passes so a failed attempt wouldn't bother us too much since we can always come back, but we don't have EE. We were there almost at park opening Thursday and the wait times were already three hours long. I can't go that long without needing a bathroom!
> 
> I'm hoping wait times will get better as the holiday season draws to a close but I still fell like I need a plan.



Seems to depend on when you go.  We were there on Dec 11-14 and rode 5 times waiting less than 45 minutes each time.  We just watched the app, never did rope drop.


----------



## bernina

We rode Hagrids this morning and it was amazing!! We were on the first boat to leave Portofino around 7. We were third in line at the gates. They started scanning around 7:45. We had about a 5 min delay as 2 tickets wouldn't work. We walked at a normal pace towards Poseidon where they held us in a queue for about 20 or so minutes. Then we heard the ride running around 8 and we stared moving. Went under the arch into Hogsmead around 8:15 and boarded at 8:38. It was such a great experience and we really lucked out they started the ride so early. Yesterday it didn't start until 9. Hopefully this bodes well for future days.


----------



## osufeth24

ShadeDK said:


> Having done both Hagrid’s and RotR this past week, I’ll take the former’s standby system over the latter’s virtual queue any day.
> 
> For our Hagrid’s day: arrived for normal park opening with Hagrid starting at 300 min wait.  Knowing the time usually drops later in the day, we did what we wanted at USO and then a late breakfast at Hard Rock Hotel.  Headed over to IoA and decided to jump in line for Hagrid’s with a posted 210 minute wait.  We had hoped our experience from months ago still held - that the Hagrid wait times were inflated by as much as double.  That was not the case and it was still a solid 3 hours in line.  Looks like the wait times have become more accurate.  A few stops and starts, but no break downs.  They were pulsing the preshow room with smaller than usual groups as the standby line afterwards was almost backed up to the preshow area.  Came off the ride and, despite several hours in line that we probably wouldn’t repeat, agreed it was worth it.  We knew what we were getting into and it still delivered.
> 
> For our RotR day: up at 5:45am to get over to Hollywood studios and wade through thousands of guests packed in for a 7am opening when the RotR boarding group lottery would go live.  Technical glitches with the Disney app and couldn’t get through for a few minutes when the lottery opened - a few minutes in we had success, but barely avoided the back-up boarding group cut-off.  Essentially, all normal BGs were gone for the day in less than 5 minutes.  We left right after - because all of the people there headed to rides and many opened with 90+ min standby times and eliminated any rope drop advantage as all the people in the virtual queue dispersed elsewhere.  Spent the day rearranging plans and checking status to see if we would be called.  Finally we were around 5pm, when we had to get back to the park and get in line - where we waited in line another hour before hitting the pre-show elements that start the ride. Exiting the ride 90 minutes after getting in line, we all agreed that while we were glad we did it, we would never do that again so long as they’re running the virtual queue.
> 
> FWIW - we had our own challenging experiences with Hagrid’s the week after it opened - twice standing in line over an hour and suffering breakdowns while never making it over the bridge (and getting soaked by summer rains in the process).  Didn’t make it onto the ride until a few months later on another visit.  The standby experience has been frustrating at times but we still found it easier and better to plan around than the experience with the VQ system for RotR.  With the VQ, most people seem to focus on the benefit of being able to go do other things instead of waiting in line.  What’s overlooked is how a VQ can negatively interfere with what you can do or plan for that day, as well as the overall impact on park experience with all the guests tethered to the park via VQ and essentially in two places at once.



I don't think it's fair to compare.  Right now Rise is still like the first week of Hagrids 5+ hour waits

If Rise was just a standby, it'd be over 4 hrs all day.  The demand is just way to high at the moment.

I'll take VQ all day any day of the week than just standby.  Not having to stand in line 3 plus hours and being able to enjoy the rest of the park is superior

I've done rise twice, and the longest time it took from checkin to off the ride has  been 45 minutes for me.  Where as Hagrids my longest has been over 3 hours

I personally hope they never get rid of the VQ for rise

I feel like I should add Hagrid's is my favorite ride in all of Orlando.


----------



## ELSA711

bernina said:


> We rode Hagrids this morning and it was amazing!! We were on the first boat to leave Portofino around 7. We were third in line at the gates. They started scanning around 7:45. We had about a 5 min delay as 2 tickets wouldn't work. We walked at a normal pace towards Poseidon where they held us in a queue for about 20 or so minutes. Then we heard the ride running around 8 and we stared moving. Went under the arch into Hogsmead around 8:15 and boarded at 8:38. It was such a great experience and we really lucked out they started the ride so early. Yesterday it didn't start until 9. Hopefully this bodes well for future days.



So good to hear!  We are going at a low crowd week according to TP so hoping rope drop lines are the same for us. As long as the ride is running


----------



## dawnnikol

I'm seeing 8AM EE for both parks on February 1 + 2.  

Where is the closest restroom if you're going to be waiting at IoA gates for an opening?  I have an 8 and 10 year old and I'm not sure 3 hours first thing in the AM will go well without one just in case.  Thanks in advance!


----------



## patster734

dawnnikol said:


> I'm seeing 8AM EE for both parks on February 1 + 2.
> 
> Where is the closest restroom if you're going to be waiting at IoA gates for an opening?  I have an 8 and 10 year old and I'm not sure 3 hours first thing in the AM will go well without one just in case.  Thanks in advance!



As you face the IOA gate, I believe the restrooms will be to your right just past the ticket counters, towards Toothsome’s Chocolate Emporium.


----------



## Disxuni

Anyone do rope drop today and was successful? I head over Universal during EE today, but I overheard someone while in security giving someone all the tips and info about Hagrid’s this AM. I wanted to ask them if they’re on disboards since they seem very well informed than most, but didn’t want to butt in.


----------



## dawnnikol

I checked the time right around 9AM and it was sitting at a 60 minute wait!


----------



## ldo

Is hagrids better later in later evening the last few days if can’t do rope drop? How long has wait been at 6 pm?


----------



## Liljo22

ldo said:


> Is hagrids better later in later evening the last few days if can’t do rope drop? How long has wait been at 6 pm?


Hagrids usually closes a few hours before park close.  They put out a sign telling you it will close early but not what time.  You are risking not riding if you wait until 6 especially with 7pm park closings.  Lines have been better mid day.


----------



## osufeth24

ldo said:


> Is hagrids better later in later evening the last few days if can’t do rope drop? How long has wait been at 6 pm?



Not really.  As the poster said above, sometimes they close it well before park time

I was there on the 2nd and hopped in line at 7 (10pm park closing).  I believe they closed the line around 8 or 830 that night.  Got off the ride at 955


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## acarsme123

Is there a specific time frame that seems to be a sweet spot for shorter lines?  I thought I read in one post awhile back between 1-3pm...
I'm not really feeling like doing a rope drop just for one ride.  I'm trying to make this Universal trip more relaxing than our typical Disney trips are.  



Liljo22 said:


> Hagrids usually closes a few hours before park close.  They put out a sign telling you it will close early but not what time.  You are risking not riding if you wait until 6 especially with 7pm park closings.  Lines have been better mid day.


----------



## damo

acarsme123 said:


> Is there a specific time frame that seems to be a sweet spot for shorter lines?  I thought I read in one post awhile back between 1-3pm...
> I'm not really feeling like doing a rope drop just for one ride.  I'm trying to make this Universal trip more relaxing than our typical Disney trips are.



We usually just tour at random with the app set for a certain length for the Hagrid's line.  Once it hits that time, we head over.  Keeps it relaxing.


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## Empo24

Rode Hagrids today first thing this morning... arrived at the gates around 8.15am and before we even entered the park the app was showing delayed but we stayed in line. Got past the lockers around 9.05am and the line was stop and start... it would start up for 10-15 minutes then be delayed again but we stayed and got off just after 11... so took 2 hours in total from the entrance! Did the ride in September and was on and off in 30 minutes, it’s just down to luck that’s for sure !


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## KatieCharlotte

Yesterday, at a little after 7 p.m. with an 8 p.m. park closing time, we saw that the line was still open with the wait time listed at 90 min.  We didn't want to wait another day to ride and decided to jump in line.  My phone was in the locker and we took our time looking at photos after the ride, but our wait was about 70 minutes.  The ride was still running at 8:30 p.m.  I don't know the precise time they closed the line, but it had to have been after 7:15 p.m. 

And, yes, the ride was amazing, and we plan to ride again.


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## gtitan21

I’ve been trying to stay up to date, but one thing i haven’t seen, is if it’s possible to take the express to hagrids after being in US for early admission. Or would the best thing to do in the AM is to just stand at the entrance of IOA waiting for the park to open?


----------



## KatieCharlotte

I was thinking about trying to rope drop Hagrid's this morning and decided to let my daughter sleep in instead.  I'm glad, because it was delayed this morning, and we ended up getting in a half hour (at most) single rider line in the evening.  I ended up on the motorbike alone because the person I was paired with had an unauthorized bag.   

Last evening, the single rider line was not open and the regular line was long, but it does seem to be a pattern that they are not closing the line very early this week and are letting the ride keep running past the 7/8 p.m. closing times.   So far this week, that has been a better bet than rope drop.


----------



## Malela9

Wow! I rode Hagrid the day after it opened in June. What a mess! It broke down multiple times, and the line took 8 hours to get through.
 I went back last week, and rode it 4 times! The longest time we had to wait was 2.25 hours. (I ran a stopwatch each time we waited.) The line said 120 minutes and we waited an hour and 15 minutes. Great job fixing the mess, Universal! Now get Express on this ride. PS. We have annual passes that get Express after 4. So, the earliest I entered the park was 3:30 in the afternoon. I got one ride in each time I went to Islands of Adventure.


----------



## dawnnikol

gtitan21 said:


> I’ve been trying to stay up to date, but one thing i haven’t seen, is if it’s possible to take the express to hagrids after being in US for early admission. Or would the best thing to do in the AM is to just stand at the entrance of IOA waiting for the park to open?


The general consensus was to not utilize the EE for US as you'll be put way behind after riding the train, compared to just RD the entrance at IoA.  If this has changed, I have not seen posts to back it up yet.


----------



## smiths02

Okay, I am late to the game.  I don't know if I could read 78 pages. Is there a place with a summary of the best strategy currently?  What is the general consensus on best strategy to minimize wait time?   Rope drop?  Checking the app and getting in line when it hits....90 minutes, 60 minutes, what?


----------



## Disxuni

gtitan21 said:


> I’ve been trying to stay up to date, but one thing i haven’t seen, is if it’s possible to take the express to hagrids after being in US for early admission. Or would the best thing to do in the AM is to just stand at the entrance of IOA waiting for the park to open?





dawnnikol said:


> The general consensus was to not utilize the EE for US as you'll be put way behind after riding the train, compared to just RD the entrance at IoA.  If this has changed, I have not seen posts to back it up yet.



It is still the best way to get to Hagrid's for the rope drop. It is best for guests to utilize the whole EE period waiting outside of the IoA if they do not want to get in the back of the line. Typically, guests at IoA start being lead into the park and lining up within the park at 20-15 minutes prior to 9am. Where as the train for Hogwarts doesn't leave the station until 9am and that is if it is not delayed.

Even once things become "normal" (which I have a feeling will be awhile) and TMs decide to let guests in around, or exactly at 9am the guests at IoA would still have the advantage, as the walk to Hagrid's is shorter than the HE ride itself. On the HE train in about four minutes, but that is if you're on the first boarding and if the first boarding leaves at exactly 9am.

EDIT: @smiths02 typically I suggest people to read the last week, or two of prior to their trip to get an idea of what is more currently going on with the ride. The general consensus is if you rope drop you have to spend all EE for it to get a decent spot in line, or if you try in the afternoon, not too late in the afternoon since they could close the ride early and that the wait times are drastically made to look longer in the case of delays. So if there is a delay there are no surprises, but if there are no delays, then you'll get onto the ride faster.


----------



## damo

smiths02 said:


> Okay, I am late to the game.  I don't know if I could read 78 pages. Is there a place with a summary of the best strategy currently?  What is the general consensus on best strategy to minimize wait time?   Rope drop?  Checking the app and getting in line when it hits....90 minutes, 60 minutes, what?



We used 60 minutes as our guide.


----------



## Disxuni

Any updates? I think yesterday I looked at the app pretty late in the morning, or early afternoon and it said it was either delay, or closed. Could be wrong though on the timing. Anyone have any recent stories?


----------



## MeridaAnn

Disxuni said:


> Any updates? I think yesterday I looked at the app pretty late in the morning, or early afternoon and it said it was either delay, or closed. Could be wrong though on the timing. Anyone have any recent stories?



It's showing as open right now (with a 120 min wait listed), so that feels like a good sign. I'll be there tomorrow, so I've got my fingers crossed for a smooth opening. (Actually for two smooth openings, as I'm going to attempt getting a BG for Rise of the Resistance first before heading over to rope drop for Hagrid's.) I'll do my best to post updates while I'm there.


----------



## choirfarm

So yesterday we did rope drop and two members of our party had to go to the bathroom on the way to the ride. Despite that they were off at 9:40.  Today we did it again and they were off at 9:30.  Yesterday they talked me into trying it when the wait time said 90 minutes. We entered at 2:30 and got off at 3:20.  So for us it was 50 minutes not 90 as posted.


----------



## betsarina

choirfarm said:


> So yesterday we did rope drop and two members of our party had to go to the bathroom on the way to the ride. Despite that they were off at 9:40.  Today we did it again and they were off at 9:30.  Yesterday they talked me into trying it when the wait time said 90 minutes. We entered at 2:30 and got off at 3:20.  So for us it was 50 minutes not 90 as posted.


What was  your arrival time at the park gates?


----------



## choirfarm

I hate this site.


----------



## choirfarm

I hate this site.


----------



## Mikamarii

Here today. 
Arrived at park 830am
Waited right in the middle line 
Park opened at 0845 am 
Got just outside Wizarding world 0855
In line at Hagrids at 0900
Wait time showing 120min at entrance
On the motorbike at 0920hrs
Pretty much zero wait. Entire time spent walking through queue and waiting for people to stop and take pictures. 
Gonna do the same thing tommorrow!


----------



## Kellydelly

MeridaAnn said:


> It's showing as open right now (with a 120 min wait listed), so that feels like a good sign. I'll be there tomorrow, so I've got my fingers crossed for a smooth opening. (Actually for two smooth openings, as I'm going to attempt getting a BG for Rise of the Resistance first before heading over to rope drop for Hagrid's.) I'll do my best to post updates while I'm there.


What is a BG?  There's too many abbreviations and acronyms on this site for me to keep up .


----------



## osufeth24

Kellydelly said:


> What is a BG?  There's too many abbreviations and acronyms on this site for me to keep up .



Rise of the Resistance over at Disney does boarding groups (it's a virtual queue).  The demand for it is so high boarding groups run out under 15 minutes


----------



## WaterLinds

We’re headed down in just under two weeks so I’m starting to keep an eye on wait times now to plan a possible strategy. (We also have one night booked at RPR for possible EP needs for other rides, so as we near the cancellation date I’m trying to keep an eye on those wait times too!)

I had been casually hoping that after the Christmas/New Years rush they might add EP for Hagrids and we’d be in luck with our timing, but I’m guessing that’s not going to happen if they’re still struggling to keep it running consistently. Oh well.

But it looks like it’s been posted at 90 minutes a lot of the day today, and in my sporadic check ins I haven’t seen it closed at all. That’s refreshing! Hoping that luck continues.


----------



## MeridaAnn

This morning, I managed to ride both Rise of the Resistance AND Hagrid's before 9:30am. I got very lucky with the timing of both rides!!!

4:15 - left apt (St. Pete)
5:50 - parked
6:17 - line starts moving to enter park
6:30 - scanned in @ DHS
7 - Got boarding group 9
7:15 - BG called right as I reached RotR entrance. Walked straight on, rode w/ just 2 other people! No delays, all elements of the ride working properly.
7:38 - exited DHS
8:07 - parked @ Uni
8:19 - in line @ IoA entrance
8:40 - scanners open / line moving
8:43 - scanned in @ IoA
8:54 - lockers
9:25 - rode Hagrid's

Already a great adventure today and now I'm eating a lovely breakfast at The Three Broomsticks before heading out for more fun!


----------



## KatieCharlotte

Our experiences the past week -- 

We never tried for rope drop because that wasn't what we wanted to do on this trip, and the one time we were in IOA at opening, Hagrid's was down. Which is not to say that it's not a good choice, as long as you are not at the back of the opening crowd and don't have bad luck.

Hagrid's was operating almost every other time we checked during park hours, except when it was closed temporarily once for some type of filming.  And I assume it was down when IoA had a power outage issue one day, but we were at US and not paying attention.

Wait times are overstated when it's operating.  A posted 90 minutes was 70 minutes, but typically the difference was even greater.  

The ride was typically operating until closing time (or after for those already in line).

The single rider line is sometimes but not always open. What people were being told is that there are no specific time frames, and that it's only open when it would actually be a shorter wait.  It's hard to know without conducting an experiment how much time it saves because posted standby wait times are overinflated, but I would guess our wait was cut in half. 

I won't post any spoilers, except to say that my kid was willing to wait in line every day because it was worth it.


----------



## mitsukoshi samurai

MeridaAnn said:


> This morning, I managed to ride both Rise of the Resistance AND Hagrid's before 9:30am. I got very lucky with the timing of both rides!!!
> 
> 4:15 - left apt (St. Pete)
> 5:50 - parked
> 6:17 - line starts moving to enter park
> 6:30 - scanned in @ DHS
> 7 - Got boarding group 9
> 7:15 - BG called right as I reached RotR entrance. Walked straight on, rode w/ just 2 other people! No delays, all elements of the ride working properly.
> 7:38 - exited DHS
> 8:07 - parked @ Uni
> 8:19 - in line @ IoA entrance
> 8:40 - scanners open / line moving
> 8:43 - scanned in @ IoA
> 8:54 - lockers
> 9:25 - rode Hagrid's
> 
> Already a great adventure today and now I'm eating a lovely breakfast at The Three Broomsticks before heading out for more fun!


 Did you apperate


----------



## christophfam

mitsukoshi samurai said:


> Did you apperate


----------



## Disxuni

mitsukoshi samurai said:


> Did you apperate



I was thinking the same thing especially with parked at 8:07 and at IoA gate by 8:19. That's tackling a lot of people out of your way, going through security, and hightailing it the rest of the way to IoA.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Disxuni said:


> I was thinking the same thing especially with parked at 8:07 and at IoA gate by 8:19. That's tackling a lot of people out of your way, going through security, and hightailing it the rest of the way to IoA.



Lol, nope.  There was only one person ahead of me in the security line (and Universal's security is so much more efficient that Disney's anyway!) and most of the moving sidewalks were actually working. And I got a spot right at the close end of a parking row, so I was right beside the escalators already. Just a steady walking pace from the car to the line at the IoA gate.


----------



## lizzilou

If we are planning on trying to RD, last week of January, what time should we aim on getting to the parking deck?  We haven't been since 2015, and I do remember the walk through Citywalk can take time. Opening at 9am.  I'll have an 8 and 10 year old in our party, so no strollers, but not super fast.


----------



## GoofyDad_4427

MeridaAnn said:


> This morning, I managed to ride both Rise of the Resistance AND Hagrid's before 9:30am. I got very lucky with the timing of both rides!!!



So if you had to pick one over the other.....?


----------



## confetti

lizzilou said:


> If we are planning on trying to RD, last week of January, what time should we aim on getting to the parking deck?  We haven't been since 2015, and I do remember the walk through Citywalk can take time. Opening at 9am.  I'll have an 8 and 10 year old in our party, so no strollers, but not super fast.



Curious to know this too as we're going the first week of February (mid-week).  Coming from Disney Springs area, hoping to be able to arrive about 8:15, get to the gate at 8:30 and not have a huge wait.  I don't love the idea of getting up earlier and waiting at the gates, but we'll see.


----------



## MeridaAnn

GoofyDad_4427 said:


> So if you had to pick one over the other.....?



There's not really a good way to compare the two - they're such completely different experiences. Hagrid's is a great medium-intensity roller coaster with well-integrated story elements. RotR is a high-immersion dark ride with great ride elements. I'm likely to ride Hagrid's more often than Rise, just like I'm likely to ride Seven Dwarfs more often than Peter Pan just because I really like roller coasters in general, but I still love both (and I've done Rise 3 times now, so I certainly still think it's good for multiple times through).



lizzilou said:


> If we are planning on trying to RD, last week of January, what time should we aim on getting to the parking deck?  We haven't been since 2015, and I do remember the walk through Citywalk can take time. Opening at 9am.  I'll have an 8 and 10 year old in our party, so no strollers, but not super fast.



I usually aim to be in a parking spot by 8am to get to Hagrid's (for a 9am opening) in order to be close to the front of the pack, but I walk quickly and don't have to make sure anyone else keeps up with me, so maybe add a few more minutes to that. With a group, I'd probably shoot for being parked about 20-25 minutes before I want to be standing in the line at the gate. And add another 10 minutes or so to drive through the line to pay for parking and to get up into the garage and into an actual spot.


----------



## lizzilou

MeridaAnn said:


> I usually aim to be in a parking spot by 8am to get to Hagrid's (for a 9am opening) in order to be close to the front of the pack, but I walk quickly and don't have to make sure anyone else keeps up with me, so maybe add a few more minutes to that. With a group, I'd probably shoot for being parked about 20-25 minutes before I want to be standing in the line at the gate. And if you're driving, that's another 10 minutes or so to get through the line to pay for parking and to get up into the garage and into an actual spot.



Thank you!  My family will appreciate not getting there at 7am.


----------



## Polyonmymind

My daughter is in line right now.   Arrived maybe 30 minutes before park opening.  At 9:00 am EST she sent a picture from Hagrid's and said the posted wait time is "1 hour".    I asked her to text me when she got off the ride, me wanting to see just how long she waits at "1 hour" at rope drop.    She responded right back with with " in the room right before boarding, so maybe a 15 minute wait ".    A few minutes later a pic of her in the side car.   Very short wait this morning at rope drop.


----------



## christophfam

Waits are incredibly low on everything today (according to the app). Wish I was there and hope I’ll see the same in a few weeks. App says 60 minutes for hagrids right now. So jealous...


----------



## damo

MeridaAnn said:


> There's not really a good way to compare the two - they're such completely different experiences. Hagrid's is a great medium-intensity roller coaster with well-integrated story elements. RotR is a high-immersion dark ride with great ride elements. I'm likely to ride Hagrid's more often than Rise, just like I'm likely to ride Seven Dwarfs more often than Peter Pan just because I really like roller coasters in general, but I still love both (and I've done Rise 3 times now, so I certainly still think it's good for multiple times through).



I kinda felt the same way.  I think Hagrid's is way more thrilling than Rise but you really can't compare the two.


----------



## HatboxHaint

Can a member of your party go to the lockers ahead of your group and then rejoin your group or is that frowned upon?


----------



## MeridaAnn

HatboxHaint said:


> Can a member of your party go to the lockers ahead of your group and then rejoin your group or is that frowned upon?



It would be frowned upon because it would look like you're trying to cut, but there's no need anyway. The line goes right beside the locker section, so the one person with the bag ducks inside the locker area while the rest of your group continues around the corner in the line, and then you link up on the other side once your bag is in the locker (there's a separate entrance and exit to the locker area - it's not like Forbidden Journey where it's just a room to the side of the line, it's more like a hallway).


----------



## hhoope01

Just as a point of reference, we got in line for Hagrid's yesterday (Tuesday) at 4:45pm with listed wait time showing 45 minutes.  We were off the ride and at our locker at 5:17pm.  So it was actually less than a 30 min wait.  We may try our luck again today and see if we can get through just as quickly.


----------



## ELSA711

We usually go bagless @ Universal so just wondering do we still need to put our phones in the locker?  Between the 5 of us , 2 usually have phones @ the park


----------



## MeridaAnn

ELSA711 said:


> We usually go bagless @ Universal so just wondering do we still need to put our phones in the locker?  Between the 5 of us , 2 usually have phones @ the park



As long as you have pockets that can fit the phones during the ride, you're fine. You just can't have any loose items.


----------



## MaizeRage25

We will be there 2/1 and 2/2 which surprisingly (to me) have early admission at IOA both days.  My understanding is that Hagrid's will not open until regualr park opening at 9AM - correct?

Does it make sense to waste the early admission time just waiting in line from 8a-9a?  Or is it likely I can get a <60min wait later in the day?


----------



## Disxuni

MaizeRage25 said:


> We will be there 2/1 and 2/2 which surprisingly (to me) have early admission at IOA both days.  My understanding is that Hagrid's will not open until regualr park opening at 9AM - correct?
> 
> Does it make sense to waste the early admission time just waiting in line from 8a-9a?  Or is it likely I can get a <60min wait later in the day?



More than likely done due to the running events and start of Mardi Gras. As for waiting, or not, it's your call. At this point, it's pure luck if someone gets onto Hagrid's for a 60 minute wait. It's rare when it's shown that. You essentially have to take a risk if it's higher than that and go onto it and hope there are no delays. They typically over estimate the wait time to compensate if there is a delay, but if there are none they get off much sooner than the posted wait time. I think I've heard more people getting a 60 minute, or less wait when they weren't expecting it rather than the wait time being posted 60 minutes, or less.


----------



## Tege

We were there 1st week in October and the wait times were over 3 hours so it looks like wait times have gone down significantly since then.  Just hope they stay down.


----------



## Lashed34

Tege said:


> We were there 1st week in October and the wait times were over 3 hours so it looks like wait times have gone down significantly since then.  Just hope they stay down.



Rise of the Resistance is now the newest ride in Orlando and a lot of people will be heading to DHS if they only have a day or 2 for the parks.
Hagrids will always be THE ride to get on at Universal for some time so waiting times will fluctuate. When we were there in December we got on twice in 1 day, other days the queues were down to Mythos and beyond - you just never know.


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## macraven

Twice last year in the first week of October. I only waited 20 minutes and was on Hagrids

Third time for me doing the ride did the single rider line as my ride friend had to leave
Line wait in that line was 40 minutes  which is still not a bad wait


----------



## NYHeel

In line at hagrids since 8:30 at the gates. Ride was delayed until around 10:00. Just through the pre show at 10:45 and now delayed again. Don’t want to get off the line since we invested so much time, but it’s getting kind of ridiculous.


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## acarsme123

And this is exactly why I’m not caring about trying to do a rope drop. They really need to get this ride in shape



NYHeel said:


> In line at hagrids since 8:30 at the gates. Ride was delayed until around 10:00. Just through the pre show at 10:45 and now delayed again. Don’t want to get off the line since we invested so much time, but it’s getting kind of ridiculous.


----------



## NYHeel

Still sitting in line. My daughter is starting to get worked up because she’s hungry and all our snacks are in my bag that’s stuck in the lockers.

They really need to get this ride working consistently or just close it until it’s ready. At least put in a virtual queue. I’ve basically spent 3 hours already and done nothing in the parks. I’d get off the line if we’d be given an express pass for this ride. But I don’t want to get off and then never get to ride.


----------



## NYHeel

Just got off the ride at 12:20. It actually glitched and went down again while we were on it. So total time from getting online at gate was almost 4 hours.


----------



## Linkura

NYHeel said:


> Still sitting in line. My daughter is starting to get worked up because she’s hungry and all our snacks are in my bag that’s stuck in the lockers.
> 
> They really need to get this ride working consistently or just close it until it’s ready. At least put in a virtual queue. I’ve basically spent 3 hours already and done nothing in the parks. I’d get off the line if we’d be given an express pass for this ride. But I don’t want to get off and then never get to ride.


Yeah, they need to take a cue from Disney and use the Virtual Line for this.  It's ridiculous and ROTR proves that a virtual line/boarding group can work with a unreliable, popular attraction.


----------



## bchbetha

Linkura said:


> Yeah, they need to take a cue from Disney and use the Virtual Line for this.  It's ridiculous and ROTR proves that a virtual line/boarding group can work with a unreliable, popular attraction.


Except that all the slots are gone so quickly after opening. At least folks can choose to wait stand by for Hagrid vs being shut out if they arrive at the oh so late hour of 8am. That just doesn’t seem fair.


----------



## Linkura

bchbetha said:


> Except that all the slots are gone so quickly after opening. At least folks can choose to wait stand by for Hagrid vs being shut out if they arrive at the oh so late hour of 8am. That just doesn’t seem fair.


Good point. Maybe they could distribute throughout the day instead of all chances at once.  There's gotta be ways to tweak the system.

Though Hagrid is 6 months old at this point; I doubt slots would be gone so quickly honestly.


----------



## twinkles777

bernina said:


> We rode Hagrids this morning and it was amazing!! We were on the first boat to leave Portofino around 7. We were third in line at the gates. They started scanning around 7:45. We had about a 5 min delay as 2 tickets wouldn't work. We walked at a normal pace towards Poseidon where they held us in a queue for about 20 or so minutes. Then we heard the ride running around 8 and we stared moving. Went under the arch into Hogsmead around 8:15 and boarded at 8:38. It was such a great experience and we really lucked out they started the ride so early. Yesterday it didn't start until 9. Hopefully this bodes well for future days.


We’re staying there in a couple weeks. Do they have the express pass for that ride? Is the resort noticeably under construction? Thanks!


----------



## macraven

No express for the ride


----------



## bernina

twinkles777 said:


> We’re staying there in a couple weeks. Do they have the express pass for that ride? Is the resort noticeably under construction? Thanks!



No EP for Hagrid's so get to park early and head straight to ride if you want the shortest wait.

No noticeable construction at Portofino when we were there although we didn't use the pools so not sure if there is anything going on around those.


----------



## Free4Life11

I showed up at the park this past Saturday (1/18/20) around 8 am with no plan. Initially I was going to wait in line at IoA but saw a lot of people waiting already, so I went into early admission at the Studios and headed to Hogwart's Express. Seemed like a lot of other people had the same idea. I wouldn't do this again as it didn't save any time.

The ride wait in the app was 60 minutes the second the park opened. When I exited the train into Hogsmeade I was delayed because the queue for Hagrid's extended back to Mythos and blocked the path. I had to wait a few minutes until they let us move into Hogsmeade. I saw the Single Rider Line was open but no way to access it without going to the back of the queue, so I wandered around behind Ollivander's and saw, near the second set of lockers on the left of the entrance to Hagrid's, an opening and walked right in and went straight to the single riders line. There were maybe 25 single riders in front of me and I was on/off the ride in about 20 minutes. When I exited at 9:50 am the wait time was 150 minutes. 

Totally awesome, thrilling, amazing. I had no idea what to expect and LOVED it!


----------



## georgina

Free4Life11 said:


> . I saw the Single Rider Line was open but no way to access it without going to the back of the queue, so *I wandered around behind Ollivander's and saw, near the second set of lockers on the left of the entrance to Hagrid's, an opening and walked right in and went straight to the single riders line.* There were maybe 25 single riders in front of me and I was on/off the ride in about 20 minutes. When I exited at 9:50 am the wait time was 150 minutes.


Can you explain this a little more? When I have done the SR line I had to wait in the regular line until the split in the path before the building. So was there a new opening (not the regular entrance) that went straight to SR? Was it marked as such?


----------



## Free4Life11

Sure! When I got off the Hogwart's Express, this is the is route I took to get on the ride. I didn't need to stow anything in a locker and I just wanted to see if the single rider line was open before I got in line. There was nothing marking this as an entrance, I just noticed that the queue snaked around there and I wanted to see how far back it went. That's when I noticed that there was no chain, fence, or any barricade to prevent me from walking past the lockers and getting into the single rider line. I'm not sure if I was supposed to do that, but it was so chaotic, hectic, and crowded that no one noticed or said anything. 

In the very middle of this picture, there is a recycling bin with a blue lid. Directly above that to the left you see the man in a blue shirt? That's where I basically walked in and was able to get into the single riders line.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Free4Life11 said:


> Sure! When I got off the Hogwart's Express, this is the is route I took to get on the ride. I didn't need to stow anything in a locker and I just wanted to see if the single rider line was open before I got in line. There was nothing marking this as an entrance, I just noticed that the queue snaked around there and I wanted to see how far back it went. That's when I noticed that there was no chain, fence, or any barricade to prevent me from walking past the lockers and getting into the single rider line. I'm not sure if I was supposed to do that, but it was so chaotic, hectic, and crowded that no one noticed or said anything.
> 
> In the very middle of this picture, there is a recycling bin with a blue lid. Directly above that to the left you see the man in a blue shirt? That's where I basically walked in and was able to get into the single riders line.



Erm, yeah, so that empty line behind Olivander's is only supposed to be for people returning to get their bags out of lockers after completing the ride. There's usually a TM watching that line to make sure people go back out after coming in that way, but I guess they had stepped away for a moment or didn't notice you. Nothing in the area is labeled, so I can maybe understand getting mixed up, but the end result was that you definitely ended up cutting the line. Also, the start of the single rider line is not visible from there, so you must have gone through the Express Pass line for a while as well before getting to the actual single rider line. 

So, please, no one else try to copy this route - that's definitely not how it's supposed to work and I would hate to see anyone accidentally get in trouble for cutting.


----------



## georgina

Thanks, MeridaAnn, that's what confused me. I have always had to wait in the whole queue to get to SR.


----------



## dtrain

Showed up at 10am to the ride each morning on Jan 17 & 18th, was down at some point both times we were in line but got on within 90 minutes both days.  Absolutely brilliant ride!  Front row motorbike is the absolute best spot, didn’t love the sidecar though.  Worth the wait.


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## lizzilou

Is rain still a problem for this ride?  Is it only down while it rains, or for a period afterwards as well?  We have one park only tickets, but we have 2 days set aside for IOA, so I was wondering if I should plan around weather next week.


----------



## damo

lizzilou said:


> Is rain still a problem for this ride?  Is it only down while it rains, or for a period afterwards as well?  We have one park only tickets, but we have 2 days set aside for IOA, so I was wondering if I should plan around weather next week.



It had some difficulties resulting from the cold as well.


----------



## TommyJK

I don't believe light rain is a problem (as others have noted they've been on in the rain).  I think it goes down for rain when it's heavy down pour and/or lightning is showing on the radar within 10 miles.


----------



## Disxuni

MeridaAnn said:


> Erm, yeah, so that empty line behind Olivander's is only supposed to be for people returning to get their bags out of lockers after completing the ride. There's usually a TM watching that line to make sure people go back out after coming in that way, but I guess they had stepped away for a moment or didn't notice you. Nothing in the area is labeled, so I can maybe understand getting mixed up, but the end result was that you definitely ended up cutting the line. Also, the start of the single rider line is not visible from there, so you must have gone through the Express Pass line for a while as well before getting to the actual single rider line.
> 
> So, please, no one else try to copy this route - that's definitely not how it's supposed to work and I would hate to see anyone accidentally get in trouble for cutting.



I think a TM got distracted doing something else, or abandoned the position briefly. It doesn't take much for a TM to do so. I'll tell a story without too much detail. As I'm not sure if anyone from Universal does read these things, or not. A couple of weeks ago I noticed one of the doors in an area where doors aren't meant to be open was in fact open (sounds weird, but these doors are not intended, or at least from what I thought never to be opened) and was filled with packages and other things. No TM in that area. So I walked not too far to the next TM to let them be aware as I didn't know the sensitivity of the packages, since these doors are not intended to be opened (or at least not during guests hours I'd imagine), and no TM in sight. Without hesitation they started walking towards the area I reported it being, didn't radio in, or anything, and abandoned their post.

I agree that this maneuver shouldn't be replicated, especially since someone could get in trouble and I believe it was done on purpose. The OP stated they kind of found it, but it seems they were looking pretty thoroughly for another way. All attraction entrances and SR lines are labeled accordingly. If someone genuinely wants a non-rule breaker way of getting into the SR line they can ask a TM, "Hey is there another way to get to the SR line without getting into this line?" It would be the same if someone was looking for EP. If it's not labeled EP then it means that isn't an EP line. Ask a TM where it is, then they can tell you, "Oh, here it is over there," (which once you get to the line will be labeled as EP), or "There isn't one."


----------



## MIChessGuy

I was fully prepared to wait 120 minutes or whatever it is these days for Hagrid, but the cold weather actually ended up working in my favor today.  Originally I showed up outside the entry archway at 9-something a.m.  Phalanx of TMs posted out front were telling people ride was down for weather, probably wouldn't be open for hours.  (And this after RotR was down 7+ hours yesterday and I had to wait for that.)  So I wandered off to Kong, Spider-Man, High in the Sky, Poseidon (that last one an excellent choice on a cold day, btw).  Lunch at Doc Sugrue's and came back at maybe 1:15 p.m.  Still closed, but as I and many other disappointed Hagrid-ites stood around, the TMs started to disperse and the ride opened up right in front of us!  Waited in queue maybe 15-20 minutes and got the motorbike seat as well.  We walked past a presentation screen that I gathered was supposed to be a preshow, but it was not performed, sadly.

Ride was a bit much for me, not being a young person any more, but overall it was excellent and definitely a must-do for coaster enthusiasts.


----------



## JAMIESMITH

MIChessGuy said:


> I was fully prepared to wait 120 minutes or whatever it is these days for Hagrid, but the cold weather actually ended up working in my favor today.  Originally I showed up outside the entry archway at 9-something a.m.  Phalanx of TMs posted out front were telling people ride was down for weather, probably wouldn't be open for hours.  (And this after RotR was down 7+ hours yesterday and I had to wait for that.)  So I wandered off to Kong, Spider-Man, High in the Sky, Poseidon (that last one an excellent choice on a cold day, btw).  Lunch at Doc Sugrue's and came back at maybe 1:15 p.m.  Still closed, but as I and many other disappointed Hagrid-ites stood around, the TMs started to disperse and the ride opened up right in front of us!  Waited in queue maybe 15-20 minutes and got the motorbike seat as well.  We walked past a presentation screen that I gathered was supposed to be a preshow, but it was not performed, sadly.
> 
> Ride was a bit much for me, not being a young person any more, but overall it was excellent and definitely a must-do for coaster enthusiasts.



I'm jealous!  We saw the ride come back up on the app, but I was in rider swap at The Hulk, waiting for my husband to finish his ride.  By the time he got off, the wait was already at 120 minutes.  We jumped in line at 6:55 (five minutes before park close) and got on around 8:15.  It was totally worth it!

That queue is tricky, there are several times that you think you're getting close only to go through more and more switchbacks.


----------



## macraven

MIChessGuy.....
With your good luck for a short wait for Hagrids, you should change your tag of

Proud, But Not a Redhead 

to

Proud Redhead


----------



## FinnsMom7

Is the wait time listed in the app accurate for Hagrids? I am 3 weeks out from my trip and have been randomly going in the app to see how waits are overall (yes I know it can all change) and noticed that wait times have been 60-90 mins midday during the week.  Are those realistic? I am in the mindset if I get on I get on, but if the wait is showing under 90 I have no issues in waiting, IF that is true.  This is baring any shut downs due to weather.  But if I were to get inline on a clear normal weather day and the app shows 60 mins, can I believe that? TIA


----------



## TommyJK

FinnsMom7 said:


> Is the wait time listed in the app accurate for Hagrids? I am 3 weeks out from my trip and have been randomly going in the app to see how waits are overall (yes I know it can all change) and noticed that wait times have been 60-90 mins midday during the week.  Are those realistic? I am in the mindset if I get on I get on, but if the wait is showing under 90 I have no issues in waiting, IF that is true.  This is baring any shut downs due to weather.  But if I were to get inline on a clear normal weather day and the app shows 60 mins, can I believe that? TIA



Most have observed that it's actually usually the "opposite" in that if it's showing at 90 minutes, then you're wait will likely be considerably lower than that as long as the ride doesn't go down (mechanical issue, weather etc.).

The observations for a long time as been that they are over-estimating ride waits to take into consideration/compensate for ride delays for the most part.


----------



## Mysteryincorp

We rode yesterday (Monday) in the afternoon and the posted wait was 75 minutes. We waited 50. Today the wait was posted at 60 but then jumped to 120minutes while we were in line, I checked the app. Actual wait was 60 exactly. The ride is so much fun, I was willing to get right back in line and wait again but my family wanted to move on. Seriously, so fun, so thrilling.


----------



## Mysteryincorp

Oh and the line was almost always consistently moving which really helped make it seem like a shorter wait


----------



## chimoe

What’s the consensus on getting to park 1/2 hr before opening? Is Hagrids opening every morning on time now?  We have a trip planned soon and trying to figure out how to tackle this ride.


----------



## WaterLinds

chimoe said:


> What’s the consensus on getting to park 1/2 hr before opening? Is Hagrids opening every morning on time now?  We have a trip planned soon and trying to figure out how to tackle this ride.



It’s definitely still not consistent. We were there Thursday to Sunday this past week and I think it only opened at 9 two of those days. We got lucky and the day we picked was one of them! We lined up at the gate around 8:20–it was a busy day and the lines were long already. They opened the park about 8:45, and everyone was pretty courteous about speed walking and not pushing or running. 

By the time we got scanned in and back to the line it was a few minutes to 9, and the app had switched from “opens at 9” to “delayed” so I thought we were going to be out of luck. But they were letting people line up, and the line was moving, so we jumped in. Right after 9 the app switched to showing 120 minutes.

The line mostly kept moving and we were off the ride a bit before 10, so not too bad. I do feel like they could have added a few more interesting bits to the queue given how long it is, but I imagine they’re assuming it will die down at some point. My 8 year old survived the wait without much complaint, which surprised me!

The next day it didn’t open until around lunchtime , and one day it didn’t open until close to 3 pm. Those delays then lead to inflated waits everywhere else...we were going to try for a second ride on hippogriff one of those days, but as soon as Hagrids was announced as closed that line jumped to about 90 minutes.


----------



## chimoe

What’s the best recommendation for people who want to ride if we can’t rely on opening time?  



WaterLinds said:


> It’s definitely still not consistent. We were there Thursday to Sunday this past week and I think it only opened at 9 two of those days. We got lucky and the day we picked was one of them! We lined up at the gate around 8:20–it was a busy day and the lines were long already. They opened the park about 8:45, and everyone was pretty courteous about speed walking and not pushing or running.
> 
> By the time we got scanned in and back to the line it was a few minutes to 9, and the app had switched from “opens at 9” to “delayed” so I thought we were going to be out of luck. But they were letting people line up, and the line was moving, so we jumped in. Right after 9 the app switched to showing 120 minutes.
> 
> The line mostly kept moving and we were off the ride a bit before 10, so not too bad. I do feel like they could have added a few more interesting bits to the queue given how long it is, but I imagine they’re assuming it will die down at some point. My 8 year old survived the wait without much complaint, which surprised me!
> 
> The next day it didn’t open until around lunchtime , and one day it didn’t open until close to 3 pm. Those delays then lead to inflated waits everywhere else...we were going to try for a second ride on hippogriff one of those days, but as soon as Hagrids was announced as closed that line jumped to about 90 minutes.


----------



## ninafeliz

chimoe said:


> What’s the best recommendation for people who want to ride if we can’t rely on opening time?


I was there 3 days in early December, one of the days it didn’t open until very late morning, I didn’t specifically notice the other days but I think it opened at least roughly on time.  I noticed that late morning/early afternoon the waits usually dropped down some from the initial times, and would be a decent time to jump in line.  Threading the needle between opening crowds and avoiding the risk of a very delayed opening and thus ruining your entire AM, and an early closing.


----------



## Disxuni

chimoe said:


> What’s the consensus on getting to park 1/2 hr before opening? Is Hagrids opening every morning on time now?  We have a trip planned soon and trying to figure out how to tackle this ride.



If people do the rope drop it is recommended to go not a half hour, but an hour prior to opening. If you get there only a half hour before officially open you'll have a ton of people in front of you. It is the intention to open with the park, but as others clearly stated, sometimes there is a delay and it doesn't happen right away. Also, while you did not ask do not take the train. While I do not know if you have EE, or not, just letting you know ahead of time that is not a good method and you'll be behind everyone.



chimoe said:


> What’s the best recommendation for people who want to ride if we can’t rely on opening time?



If you do not want to ride when it opens, just go about your day, and try in the afternoon. People seem to have good luck early afternoon. As sometimes there are signs that point out that Hagrid will be closed early. So watch out for that sign. Also, typically, wait times are over estimated in the case there is weather, or a delay, so if there is one, it's part of the wait time and not a surprise. However, if there are no weather issues, or a delay, the wait time is typically much shorter than estimated.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Has Hagrid's gotten any better with regard to staying open later into the day? Does it typically stay open until close to the park closing, or is it still being shut down much earlier than everything else?


----------



## Twinsmom2009

Is there any thought as to when this ride might start accepting the express passes?  Fingers crossed it will by our Spring trip!!


----------



## Disxuni

Twinsmom2009 said:


> Is there any thought as to when this ride might start accepting the express passes?  Fingers crossed it will by our Spring trip!!



A lot of us thought it could have been by now when it first came out. However, it seems Hagrid's is still adjusting to be 100% operational and the queue wait times are still quite high. A ride has to at least be pretty solid in terms of operation and a wait time to be manageable prior to starting EP. So, I am not confident it could be by spring, especially since that is a peak season. I would imagine Universal probably was shooting for it, as by spring it would be a little less than a year since opening and it would help with the peak season with spring break, but I doubt it. It is not impossible as spring is technically a couple months away and lasts until May/June. Perhaps at minimum the end of it? But who knows, I have a feeling it'll be awhile.


----------



## flowergirl45

No spoilers please, but is this ride jerky or have sudden jolting stops? Trying to decide if my husband can ride or not.  Thank you!


----------



## jmv5010

flowergirl45 said:


> No spoilers please, but is this ride jerky or have sudden jolting stops? Trying to decide if my husband can ride or not.  Thank you!





It’s the smoothest coaster I’ve ever been on. The stops aren’t sudden — the ride slows down to see some of the scenes but nothing was jarring or jerky.


----------



## Disxuni

flowergirl45 said:


> No spoilers please, but is this ride jerky or have sudden jolting stops? Trying to decide if my husband can ride or not.  Thank you!



Can't state from experience, but as @jmv5010 reports as well as others this is a relatively smooth roller coaster. However, I do remember in the past that one person mentioned that if in the bike it is best and more comfortable to lean forward on the bike, as you would naturally on a real bike. There are a few surprises along the way, so I do not know what else he can, or cannot handle, but that's all I'll say since you said no spoilers.


----------



## MeridaAnn

flowergirl45 said:


> No spoilers please, but is this ride jerky or have sudden jolting stops? Trying to decide if my husband can ride or not.  Thank you!



The coaster parts are very smooth, but there is one element that has a sudden movement,  that could be a concern. Even its existence could be a spoiler, so I'll put it in tags, but it's not something you would expect from a normal roller coaster, so if there's a health risk, at least one of you should be aware of this element.



Spoiler



There is a freefall drop straight down at one point in the ride. Not a hill, but a straight-down drop, track and all. It only lasts for a moment, but it is far enough that it brings the cars down to link to a new track directly underneath the original track and then drives underneath where you were before. The cars are at a standstill when the drop occurs.


----------



## damo

The coaster is smooth but the accelerations are quite forceful.  No sudden stops.


----------



## flowergirl45

Thank you all very much for the helpful information!


----------



## WaterLinds

MeridaAnn said:


> Has Hagrid's gotten any better with regard to staying open later into the day? Does it typically stay open until close to the park closing, or is it still being shut down much earlier than everything else?


It was open until close some days of our trip, but not every day.

Basically it’s unpredictable, if you have multiple park days you can try a few strategies and one will likely work for you...but if you only have one day you need to get lucky.


----------



## Mysteryincorp

Today was a bad day for Hagrids....thankfully we had no intentions to ride but I checked throughout the day and it showed closed, not even delayed, closed. If you are going for only one day, it’s really just luck of the draw.  Today was the first day since Saturday that I have seen it consistently closed. 
Saturday/ Sunday the line ranged from 120- 150 minutes most of the day
Monday-Thursday it showed 60-90minutes and I Only noticed it delayed a few times.
Like i said, today (Friday) it was closed pretty much all day. I feel horrible for anyone that only had today to ride.


----------



## mitsukoshi samurai

Closed due to weather


----------



## mlayman7

Is there a rider switch here like at some of the other rides where you have one child not tall enough and another who is so both parents can ride once?


----------



## Linkura

mlayman7 said:


> Is there a rider switch here like at some of the other rides where you have one child not tall enough and another who is so both parents can ride once?


Of course!


----------



## Disxuni

I didn't ride yesterday, but wanted to report that the wait time posted was 150 during the early morning and the line was out the door and waiting in the Sinbad area. However, later in the day, when I came back from UO (switched back and forth a little) before 11am in the morning (wanted to go to Mytho's when the doors opened), it had the same posted time of 150, but there was no one in the Sinbad area and everyone seemed to be snugly fit into the queue itself, however it seemed just barely, as while no one was outside the door I did see a few people in the queue from what I could see on the outside. So, if anyone was at the parks yesterday who went it would be interesting to know what the actual wait time was.


----------



## Linkura

Disxuni said:


> I didn't ride yesterday, but wanted to report that the wait time posted was 150 during the early morning and the line was out the door and waiting in the Sinbad area. However, later in the day, when I came back from UO (switched back and forth a little) before 11am in the morning (wanted to go to Mytho's when the doors opened), it had the same posted time of 150, but there was no one in the Sinbad area and everyone seemed to be snugly fit into the queue itself, however it seemed just barely, as while no one was outside the door I did see a few people in the queue from what I could see on the outside. So, if anyone was at the parks yesterday who went it would be interesting to know what the actual wait time was.


They just do that in the mornings even if they don't need the queue space.  I don't know why.


----------



## Disxuni

Linkura said:


> They just do that in the mornings even if they don't need the queue space.  I don't know why.



Interesting. Well, they needed it to some extent, as when I was attempting to take HE over to UO they were having people from the Sinbad section crossing over to the other queue that is in front of HE so we had to wait a few minutes for that to occur before TMs cutting it off so others and I can go into HE.


----------



## georgina

Was closed all morning, someone said they were filming there. Opened  in the afternoon, was 120 when I looked, 150 now. I will wait until later  to try. Glad I didn’t get up early today to try to ride at opening!


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## lizzilou

We were at IOA Monday 1/27 and Thursday 1/30.  It was amazing.  Even my 10 year old who is not a thrill ride lover enjoyed it.

Monday, 1/27
Dropped off at 8:00am, in line by 8:15am, line to get in stretched over the bridge by 8:40am
Gates open at 8:45am, we walked quickly and were off the ride by 9:17am

Thursday, 1/30
Dropped off at 8:00am again, in line by 8:15am, not so many people queued behind us as Monday
Gates open at 8:40am
Walked on the ride, the queue did not stop moving

Had so much fun we wanted to ride again later in afternoon and willing to wait in line (maybe around 4pm)
75 min listed wait time, only waited 30 min in line, was really glad we got to see the pre-show this time 

Totally worth it.  I rode side car twice and the last time motorbike (being nice to my kids) and the motorbike was the better experience.


----------



## damo

mlayman7 said:


> Is there a rider switch here like at some of the other rides where you have one child not tall enough and another who is so both parents can ride once?



Yes.


----------



## georgina

Got to ride in the dark tonight. It was a fun and different experience. App said 120 minutes, got in line at 5:43, waited in regular line for 90 minutes. First time I have not done single rider


----------



## confetti

We rode today. Arrived at 8:00, only about 10 people ahead of me in my line at turnstiles. They started letting people through the gates at 8:40, we walked fast to Hagrid's. Went to lockers, total madhouse! Somehow we made it out alive. Got in line, walked through line without any stopping for a long time. Once we finally stopped, it was maybe 10 min until we were on the ride. Amazing! So much fun. Worth getting there early. We were off the ride at 9:07. Felt like we won the lottery especially since it had a delayed start yesterday and I wasn't sure how today would go.


----------



## raraavis

Well the wait got down to 75 min at one point today, but we did not ride it. We sat in the tester seats (my DH is 6'4, so we weren't sure if his legs would fit), but my 4 yr old didn't meet the height req. She measured 48 inches at the doctor's, and she was able to ride FJ. But the employee at the entrance of the ride says she is just a bit too short (like less than an inch). He said that the last person had the final say though, but he didn't want us to wait through such a long line only to not be able to ride once at there. I totally get it, but it bums me out.


----------



## christophfam

We only had an actual wait of 30 minutes yesterday when the posted time was 75.


----------



## raraavis

Yesterday we finally got to ride! The ride was posted as a 70 min wait, and we waited 45 minutes. My 4 year old was able to ride too! I guess she grew just enough since there day before


----------



## Koalayum

Ride was down for a scheduled downtime all morning and was supposed to open "mid day." Gathered around by the entrance as the employees repeatedly said they didn't know when it would open up. After about 15 minutes, (around 1:30pm) they received notice that it was okay to open and we walked on with no wait. When we walked out it was a posted 30 min wait but the line was (I presume) still filling in the queue and was out of the hogsmeade area. I see that the ride is scheduled for a similar "mid day" opening on 2/13. The staff genuinely didn't seem to know when it was going to open, though.


----------



## Linkura

Koalayum said:


> I see that the ride is scheduled for a similar "mid day" opening on 2/13. The staff genuinely didn't seem to know when it was going to open, though.


Where did you see this?


----------



## Day-Day

Linkura said:


> Where did you see this?


In the ride information on the park app it says “Please be advised that the attraction will open late afternoon on 2/11 & 2/13”.


----------



## damo

raraavis said:


> Yesterday we finally got to ride! The ride was posted as a 70 min wait, and we waited 45 minutes. My 4 year old was able to ride too! I guess she grew just enough since there day before



What do you think the issue was?  I assume you were standing right there when she was measured.  It's usually pretty cut and dried if the top of their little heads touch the board.


----------



## christophfam

Koalayum said:


> Ride was down for a scheduled downtime all morning and was supposed to open "mid day." Gathered around by the entrance as the employees repeatedly said they didn't know when it would open up. After about 15 minutes, (around 1:30pm) they received notice that it was okay to open and we walked on with no wait. When we walked out it was a posted 30 min wait but the line was (I presume) still filling in the queue and was out of the hogsmeade area. I see that the ride is scheduled for a similar "mid day" opening on 2/13. The staff genuinely didn't seem to know when it was going to open, though.



Did you know it shut down againprobably shortly after you ride? When I entered hogsmead I heard it running but they Must have just been testing because there was a huge mass of people waiting outside the entrance. I did some shopping and saw that it had opened up but decided not to join the masses. Went and rode fj and watched a bit of the frog choir then walked by and it was closed! Think it was down for a good bit. I felt so bad for all those people who had been waiting and who were now probably stuck in the queue hoping it would start running again (been there done that last oct).


----------



## christophfam

Major issues with Hagrid since I road on Sunday. Late afternoon openings listed on the website for Tuesday and Thursday (tomorrow). Guess everyone tried to make today work but it’s had closures all day. Currently trapped in the long narrow cave walkway just before the last room. Wait time was listed 75 minutes and it’s been over an hour and are now saying there’s a delay. Ugh it’s the worst when you’ve already invested a good amount of time and then it has issues while you’re in line. Well if I get on it’ll be a ride in the dark anyway! Park closed 1/2 hour ago.


----------



## emmabelle

We are going to attempt to ride tomorrow towards closing and if that doesn’t happen then maybe Friday morning?  It’s our last time in FL before our passes expire.


----------



## Day-Day

Yesterday (FEB 12), the posted wait was 60 minutes and Touring Plans indicated expected wait of 48 minutes.  This was around lunchtime; maybe 12:30pm.  My actual wait was just under 25 minutes but then my luck ran out while on the ride.

The ride shut down while I was on it. It took a while (maybe 10-15 minutes?) before  we were able to get out of the vehicle and begin our interesting walk around and through the attraction area.  I was given a pass allowing me to return later which I did. I think the pass had an expiration date of June 1.


----------



## Koalayum

After our good luck on 2/11 with walking on the ride after the scheduled downtime, we decided to line up on 2/12 (Wednesday at 1pm) with a posted time of 45 minutes. As I feared might happen, the ride delayed after we were in line for 10 minutes. Line kept moving as people ahead gradually left since there was no ETA on when it would be back up. We eventually made it to the last room as the line emptied out. Spent the majority of time in that room and there was only a few dozen people left in line at that point. After waiting in the delay for a total of 1.5 hours (2:30pm), we were told by staff to get out of the line since they didn't know when it would be back up. They gave out passes to skip most of the line next time.

We left to drink at margaritaville (great decision) and I kept checking the app for when it was back up. It looked like the ride was down until 4ish. We went back at that time (now with a posted wait time 60-75min). With the passes they let us go through what looks like will eventually be the express lane. It dropped us off in the second to last room. We only had to wait maybe 15 min to ride from that point.

A frustrating experience overall but not necessarily a bad one. I'm glad we stuck out the wait during the delay since it resulted in good conversation with people in line and the passes. Between all the unexpected and planned downtime, I feel bad for anyone who has been trying unsuccessfully to ride this the last couple of days. Would be nice if they could keep this thing consistently operational.. It really is a great coaster.


----------



## ninafeliz

Koalayum said:


> After our good luck on 2/11 with walking on the line after the scheduled downtime, we decided to line up on 2/12 (Wednesday at 1pm) with a posted time of 45 minutes. As I feared might happen, the ride delayed after we were in line for 10 minutes. Line kept moving as people ahead gradually left since there was no ETA on when it would be back up. We eventually made it to the last room as the line emptied out. Spent the majority of time in that room and there was only a few dozen people left in line at that point. After waiting in the delay for a total of 1.5 hours (2:30pm), we were told by staff to get out of the line since they didn't know when it would be back up. They gave out passes to skip most of the line next time.
> 
> We left to drink at margaritaville (great decision) and I kept checking the app for when it was back up. It looked like the ride was down until 4ish. We went back at that time (now with a posted wait time 60-75min). With the passes they let us go through what looks like will eventually be the express lane. It dropped us off in the second to last room. We only had to wait maybe 15 min to ride from that point.
> 
> A frustrating experience overall but not necessarily a bad one. I'm glad we stuck out the wait during the delay since it resulted in good conversation with people in line and the passes. Between all the unexpected and planned downtime, I feel bad for anyone who has been trying unsuccessfully to ride this the last couple of days. Would be nice if they could keep this thing consistently operational.. It really is a great coaster.


We had that happen to us in December.  We had been in line maybe 20-30 min and the ride went down.  Then up, then down again. We were in a long cave like tunnel and had no idea what was going on or how far we were from the ride, we only moved up when people presumably left.  After somewhere around another hour we gave up and left, and literally as we got to the locker area the ride went up.  My son was devestated (well,  not really devastated, but quite bummed).  I know they can’t be sure, but I really wish they  could give some  indication of the likelihood of it coming up soon vs it not looking good.  I mean, 3-5 more min and we could have ridden, and instead we lost close to 2 hrs of time and didn’t ride, plus were left feeling pretty annoyed/disappointed on our last day. Had we not been in that cave tunnel and heard the cars running to test them I Think we would have stayed in line.


----------



## GoofyDad_4427

Can someone post instructions or link to an earlier post that explains how to put the alarm in the app for when the ride gets below a certain wait time?  I looked through it all myself and couldn't find anything.  Thanks!


----------



## TommyJK

GoofyDad_4427 said:


> Can someone post instructions or link to an earlier post that explains how to put the alarm in the app for when the ride gets below a certain wait time?  I looked through it all myself and couldn't find anything.  Thanks!



Click on the ride in the App (where if gives you the ride details) and if you scroll down 1/2 way you'll see "Wait Time Alert" at the top of the "More Details" section.  Tap on "Set Alert"


----------



## ninafeliz

TommyJK said:


> Click on the ride in the App (where if gives you the ride details) and if you scroll down 1/2 way you'll see "Wait Time Alert" at the top of the "More Details" section.  Tap on "Set Alert"


When we were there the lowest I could set the alert for was, IIRC, 85 min.  I wanted to do a 60 min one just in case it dropped way down, but it wouldn’t let me.  Turned out when it said 90 min the wait seemed to be typically just under 60 anyway, but it usually said 120 min.


----------



## GoofyDad_4427

TommyJK said:


> Click on the ride in the App (where if gives you the ride details) and if you scroll down 1/2 way you'll see "Wait Time Alert" at the top of the "More Details" section.  Tap on "Set Alert"



I'm not seeing this option.  Does the ride have to be open for this to work?  I was only checking late at night after the park was closed.


----------



## TommyJK

GoofyDad_4427 said:


> I'm not seeing this option.  Does the ride have to be open for this to work?  I was only checking late at night after the park was closed.



I believe so, yes.


----------



## emmabelle

This  morning went perfect.  Got to IOA by 8am,  We were 3rd group in line.  They let us in at 8:40am walked super swiftly and ended up behind maybe 40 people.  On and off my 9:05am!  Awesome start to our last day!!


----------



## Burgermom

what kind of luck have people had with single rider line lately?


----------



## christophfam

It is still only open at random times and when it is open it doesn’t move very fast. Talked to a cm in the last room about moving over to single as it looked really short but she said it wold be faster staying in the regular line. She was right.


----------



## Burgermom

christophfam said:


> It is still only open at random times and when it is open it doesn’t move very fast. Talked to a cm in the last room about moving over to single as it looked really short but she said it wold be faster staying in the regular line. She was right.


thank you, that is helpful


----------



## fredandkell

Can anyone comment for a newbie here - the day we are going, only Univ. Stud. is early admission - not IOA. If we take the first Hogwarts Express over right at 9am, is this a good way to have a short line for Hagrid's?


----------



## MeridaAnn

fredandkell said:


> Can anyone comment for a newbie here - the day we are going, only Univ. Stud. is early admission - not IOA. If we take the first Hogwarts Express over right at 9am, is this a good way to have a short line for Hagrid's?



Nope. The train doesn't run until after the park opens and the line for Hagrid's will already be filled up prior to the official opening time. To be at the front of the crowd for Hagrid's you'd have to skip the early entry in the other park, unfortunately.


----------



## macraven

This new practice started weeks ago

It is no longer an advantage to use the HE to get a head start for Potter section in the other park


----------



## Burgermom

Do i need to put my stuff in a locker before getting in line for Hagrid's or do I encounter the lockers as I walk through the line up? Sorry, total newbie here...


----------



## damo

Burgermom said:


> Do i need to put my stuff in a locker before getting in line for Hagrid's or do I encounter the lockers as I walk through the line up? Sorry, total newbie here...



Before you get in line.


----------



## MeridaAnn

Burgermom said:


> Do i need to put my stuff in a locker before getting in line for Hagrid's or do I encounter the lockers as I walk through the line up? Sorry, total newbie here...



If you're there at rope drop or within the first half hour or so of the park opening, the line will go out of the Harry Potter area and start near the Sinbad theater, so you'll have your bags with you when you get in line and the line will take you past the lockers and you'll put your things away then. Later in the day, once the line is all the way inside the actual queue area, you'll start at the lockers first and then get into the line.


----------



## ninafeliz

fredandkell said:


> Can anyone comment for a newbie here - the day we are going, only Univ. Stud. is early admission - not IOA. If we take the first Hogwarts Express over right at 9am, is this a good way to have a short line for Hagrid's?


We thought we would do Early entry at US and then take the HE over to go to the Grinchmas breakfast at IOA 9:30.  At 9:00 the HE line was out of the station and to the front of the London house fronts, and there was no express line because at that point everyone was express for the most part, since it has only been early entry people.   The app said 40 min.  We walked over, it would have taken forever.  That station is huge, I don’t know how much of the line they were using but even what we could see was very long.


----------



## raraavis

damo said:


> What do you think the issue was?  I assume you were standing right there when she was measured.  It's usually pretty cut and dried if the top of their little heads touch the board.



Not sure really. Universal must be more lax than Disney though because she was able to ride the Mummy, Hagrid's, and FJ with no problems. We tried twice on two different days to ride Rock N' Rollercoaster, and she was like an inch short each time. 48 inches must be different in Disney than at my doctor's office and Universal!


----------



## AlwithaB

My experience on 2/10 Monday. Left Portofino walking ~ 8:10; could likely have just waited for boat and made it similar time but didn't see it at first and then it was coming in when I was around the Hard Rock. In line maybe 30 people deep outside IOA at 8:25. Gates opened ~8:45? Once in, walked superfast but not running and probably passed 200-300 people on way to ride. Some were just strolling slowly along maybe even just going to Seuss Landing or other stuff in Hogsmeade. No bag as other in my traveling party agreed to bring in when they came later, otherwise that would be hard for me as like to bring extra sunscreen, water bottle, snack, etc. On ride vehicle about to go 9:20 and would have been off ~ 9:25 but ride broke down. Off vehicle and waiting, and back on ride 9:45 and off 9:50. 

Went and rode Hippogriff. On way back through Hogsmeade seemed like Hagrid single rider line had just opened. Took that line and off 2nd Hagrid ride of the morning by 10:50. So ended up riding Hagrid twice plus Hippogriff within ~ 1 hour; was great although then felt a bit sick, although I'm usually ok on coasters. Probably in part due to heat and lack of water -  so sat in shade behind Hog's Head for a late morning break and then felt fine. 

Agree also, single rider line seems iffy as there were a couple periods of maybe 10 minutes we didn't move at all while other line was moving. Just lucky I was only ~ 100 people back in single rider line. 

Good experience; didn't try more this trip as companion not interested so next trip will aim for riding the bike and at night. Not sure the etiquette of asking for bike but will try politely next time go through regular line, having gotten sidecar both times this trip. Second time in single rider line they somewhat strangely put me and other single rider together but put the other single rider on the bike. 

I had seen ride would open late 2/11 and 2/13 so figured 2/10 was best shot. I think it was closed 2/11 morning since there seemed to be a private event going on in WWHP evening of 2/11 and I figure they would keep it running late for that and do maintenance in the morning instead. Not that great for "regular" guests but c'est la vie. Thank goodness I had seen someone posting (thank you whoever it was!) it was scheduled to open late 2/11 as I was going to rope drop that day. Not sure reason for scheduled late opening 2/13 as not there that day.


----------



## damo

raraavis said:


> Not sure really. Universal must be more lax than Disney though because she was able to ride the Mummy, Hagrid's, and FJ with no problems. We tried twice on two different days to ride Rock N' Rollercoaster, and she was like an inch short each time. 48 inches must be different in Disney than at my doctor's office and Universal!



I know with our little one when we were there in December, if she bent her head forward, she wouldn't reach the bottom of the measuring board but if she put her head up nicely, she reached it.  The problem with those measuring sticks is that it is instinctive for kids not to touch it instead of touch it.


----------



## mom2missmous

What do universal "experts' out there think the chances are of hagrid's being on the express pass list by  july this year ?


----------



## Linkura

mom2missmous said:


> What do universal "experts' out there think the chances are of hagrid's being on the express pass list by  july this year ?


0


----------



## westminster

We rode Hagrid last night (2/16) for first time. It was showing waits of 115 to 120 all day. TP app said wait until 9:00, lines will go down. There was a downpour around 6:30 and the Universal app wasn’t showing any wait time at all for a while - it also didn’t say closed or delayed but I assume the ride wasn’t running because most of the other coasters were offline.  Rain eventually stopped and then a little before 9, sure enough, the wait time dropped to 60 min. We were trying to fit in some last rides at USF (9:00 closing) then we sprinted to catch last Hogwarts train to IOA (10:00 closing). Ran to Hagrids and hopped on line, by that time (9:20) wait time was up to 75 min and stayed that way until closing. Our actual wait was 65 min. 

That was the only ride during our 3 day universal trip that we waited more than 15 minutes and it was totally worth it! The theming, the speed and intensity of the coaster, the various surprises, the motorbike sounds, were all great. Super smooth ride. My 7 year old who was worried it would be too intense, loved it as well.  Wished we could ride it again and again!


----------



## vetrik

Just sharing my experiences from the last couple days. Arrived on Monday 2/17, and went to IOA in the evening solely to see the Hogwarts night show. Hagrids was running, so I was about to get in line right at closing with a 90 minute posted wait, but my daughter freaked out about riding it and we left the line.

On Tuesday 2/18 I walked from Hard Rock to try at opening, but they had an announcement before they opened that Hagrids would be delayed and they were hoping to open midday. I had left my whole family behind, so I headed back to the hotel to start our day. I’m not sure when it opened, but there was a wait time when I checked around 10:30. It was operating again that night at closing, but I was with my daughter and couldn’t get in line.

Today (Wednesday 2/19) was my last day this trip. My husband convinced me to try again at rope drop, so I arrived around 8:30. They started letting us in at 8:45 and one of the employees did confirm it was running this morning. I followed the crowd and was able to ride after waiting about 40 minutes. Checking the app during the day, the ride was down from like 10:00-5:00 today. I was so relieved I was successful this morning because my backup was to try around 1:00 pm and it was down (we didn’t stay until closing today).

Amazing ride, but definitely still quite unreliable!


----------



## fredandkell

I agree. Rode it today and it was down for over 6 hours. Thankfully we were close by when it reopened and only had to wait 25 minutes. Awesome ride but sucks that it’s so persnickety!


----------



## NickC

We will be visiting Universal on April 10th. I was just checking in to see if we would be able to get on this year. I think we are going to have the same plan as last year....Plan on not riding, and if things work out, then that's a bonus. 

We tried RD last year, but by the time we got back there, the posted time was 3 hours.


----------



## Linkura

NickC said:


> We will be visiting Universal on April 10th. I was just checking in to see if we would be able to get on this year. I think we are going to have the same plan as last year....Plan on not riding, and if things work out, then that's a bonus.
> 
> We tried RD last year, but by the time we got back there, the posted time was 3 hours.


As long as it’s running at rope drop, it’s not gonna be a 3 hour wait anymore.


----------



## NickC

Well, that's good news. We do RD everywhere, so we will be there as soon as it opens. Hopefully it's running and we can get on.


----------



## jennytmitch

I was able to ride it 2/12.  It was posted as a 75 minute wait, but it was about a 90 minute wait to ride it.  It was awesome.  They were not allowing singe riders yet when I got in line.  Definitely worth the wait.


----------



## fredandkell

fredandkell said:


> I agree. Rode it today and it was down for over 6 hours. Thankfully we were close by when it reopened and only had to wait 25 minutes. Awesome ride but sucks that it’s so persnickety!


Oh, also adding to my earlier note - when we got on, the wait said it was 45 minutes, but it was actually only about 25.


----------



## damo

From what info I am gathering, this ride keeps encountering new problems as things start to wear.  It isn't the same thing over and over again.


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## CJK

I've been following this thread for a few months now. Do we still think it's the best course of action to try to do rope drop? I'm willing to check the app throughout the day for standby wait time, but should we try rope drop too?


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## ISUamanda

CJK said:


> I've been following this thread for a few months now. Do we still think it's the best course of action to try to do rope drop? I'm willing to check the app throughout the day for standby wait time, but should we try rope drop too?



I've resigned myself to trying both. Our first day has USF in the morning and IoA in the afternoon, so I'll watch the wait times and try to get on. The next morning, we'll rope drop IoA for either a first chance or a reride...if we don't get on either of those, then the 2nd day afternoon will be our last chance!


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## Reese'smom

Does anyone know what’s going on with this ride? Is there any hope of it becoming reliably open before my trip in a week and a half?


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## fredandkell

CJK said:


> I've been following this thread for a few months now. Do we still think it's the best course of action to try to do rope drop? I'm willing to check the app throughout the day for standby wait time, but should we try rope drop too?


I would definitely do rope drop, unless you have early admission to Universal Studios instead. Doing rope drop and hot–footing it to Hagrid’s is the best strategy for sure. Especially since it seems to break a lot, riding it first thing might get you in there before it breaks. For us two days ago, we had early admission to Universal Studios so we did not do rope drop. We were planning on hitting Hagrid‘s around lunch since I had heard that the crowds tended to die down a bit when people are eating, but it ended up being broken from 10 until almost 5 PM. Luckily we were at Poseidons fury when it came back up so it was a short sprint from there to get in the line.


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## Disxuni

Reese'smom said:


> Does anyone know what’s going on with this ride? Is there any hope of it becoming reliably open before my trip in a week and a half?



Short answer - No.

Longer answer - Will it be open? More than likely. I say more than likely as I’m unsure if you’re going there for a day, or multiple days. “Reliably” open not so sure about that. As @damo mentioned it keeps coming up with new issues as it keeps going along. It still having good and bad days. So, even if it has a good day I don’t consider that reliably open. It seems it will still be awhile until Hagrid’s can run at 100% for open to close 365 days a year.


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## gumbypee

Closed right now (Saturday 1245 pm)


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## gumbypee

Dang it, they reopened but had single rider closed

And so was mummy’s single rider closed

And rip rockit was closed


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## damo

gumbypee said:


> Dang it, they reopened but had single rider closed
> 
> And so was mummy’s single rider closed
> 
> And rip rockit was closed



If the single rider line is too long, they close it up.


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## georgina

My experience yesterday - we moseyed over to IOA about 10:30, checked the app and the Hagrid's line said 45 minutes, by the time we got there is was up to 60, we decided to get in. The single rider line was closed. While we waited the wait time on the app kept going up, and I noticed the SR line had opened up. (As people went by I asked someone to be sure they were SR, and was told yes.) At this point we had waited about 20 min and were still outside. We decided to stick with the regular line, took a little over an hour, and we actually beat some of those folks I had seen go by in SR because that line was LONG. The ride did go down shortly after we got off, it stopped briefly at the end of our ride and all the cars backed up waiting to unload us.

Yesterday was crowded, all the SR lines were much longer than usual, many 30-40 minutes. Lots of school groups there. Mummy regular line said 35 so we waited in it for a change, took about 30 but it is an interesting queue and I haven't beem through it in years.


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## Splat10

no one has posted but it looks like Hagrids has been down all day 2/23 and looks to be down all day today too.  I don't think it's been down for full days in a row before.  Hopefully they are doing some upgrades for reliability but reports are that it's just broken??????


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## CJK

Was at IOA on Feb. 23rd, and can confirm it was closed most if not all day. Hoping to ride tomorrow, but wondering if something is seriously wrong with the ride. Anyone know?


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## damo

CJK said:


> Was at IOA on Feb. 23rd, and can confirm it was closed most if not all day. Hoping to ride tomorrow, but wondering if something is seriously wrong with the ride. Anyone know?



They keep having different issues.  Right now the issue is with the drop track.  They have found a temporary fix for it and are implementing it while they solve the larger problem.


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## TommyJK

I'm hoping that the recent extended downtimes is giving them enough time to reasonably stabilize things for my upcoming trip and the spring break crowds.......


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## CJK

Having rotten luck with this ride. It has had extended downtimes the last 2 days, so we didn't get to ride. Today, we decided to rope drop. Got in line at the gate at 7:50am. They let us into the park at 8:40am or so. They announced at 9am that the ride is slightly delayed. At 9:30am they announced an extended delay. It's now 9:54am and still extended delay. People are bailing. Do they still give you special passes to return if they evacuate the line? We've invested 2hrs now, and don't want to just leave. Thoughts?


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## ISUamanda

TommyJK said:


> I'm hoping that the recent extended downtimes is giving them enough time to reasonably stabilize things for my upcoming trip and the spring break crowds.......


 I wish I could be this optimistic (we'll be there late March).


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## CJK

CJK said:


> Having rotten luck with this ride. It has had extended downtimes the last 2 days, so we didn't get to ride. Today, we decided to rope drop. Got in line at the gate at 7:50am. They let us into the park at 8:40am or so. They announced at 9am that the ride is slightly delayed. At 9:30am they announced an extended delay. It's now 9:54am and still extended delay. People are bailing. Do they still give you special passes to return if they evacuate the line? We've invested 2hrs now, and don't want to just leave. Thoughts?



It's 10:41am now and still sitting in line. I wish they would evacuate the line, if there's no hope of riding soon. Invested 3hrs into this so far.


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## Splat10

CJK said:


> It's 10:41am now and still sitting in line. I wish they would evacuate the line, if there's no hope of riding soon. Invested 3hrs into this so far.


 well at least they are showing a wait time now.  Were they before?  after investing this much time i'd not give up unless you have a lot more stuff to do and fear running out of time.


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## CJK

Splat10 said:


> well at least they are showing a wait time now.  Were they before?  after investing this much time i'd not give up unless you have a lot more stuff to do and fear running out of time.


Ride is back up! It hasn't shown wait times until now. People cheering!


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## TommyJK

I've read elsewhere that the newest issue they have is related to the drop track portion of the ride, and supposedly they have a long term fix planned, but it will reduce overall capacity during the fix period (i.e. only using one drop track while the other is being fixed, and then switching to the other one).


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## CJK

Off the ride at 11:20am. The ride is terrific, no doubt. But, we were in line at the gate at 7:50am, and done at 11:20am. Just not worth it for us. I'm glad we did it, but wouldn't wait that long again. Thanks for bearing with me!


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## Splat10

TommyJK said:


> I've read elsewhere that the newest issue they have is related to the drop track portion of the ride, and supposedly they have a long term fix planned, but it will reduce overall capacity during the fix period (i.e. only using one drop track while the other is being fixed, and then switching to the other one).


can you share with me where, even in a PM if the link isn't allowed.  I'm an engineer and very interested in the technical stuff of these rides.


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## damo

CJK said:


> Off the ride at 11:20am. The ride is terrific, no doubt. But, we were in line at the gate at 7:50am, and done at 11:20am. Just not worth it for us. I'm glad we did it, but wouldn't wait that long again. Thanks for bearing with me!



They're only running 7 trains right now since the one drop track is closed, so going to be a LONG wait.


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## FinnsMom7

Got in line 1222, just got off.  Loved the ride but the line is nuts.  Having the room with hagrid so far ahead of where ride is deceiving too.


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## TommyJK

Splat10 said:


> can you share with me where, even in a PM if the link isn't allowed.  I'm an engineer and very interested in the technical stuff of these rides.



It's just from another message board that has a few insiders that seem to be in the know at times. So not from an engineering site or anything like that.


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## FinnsMom7

I was wondering what the orange card people were getting and returning to the single rider lane was. I left to go to bathroom and followed a family of 4 back thru single rider, which at time was closed.


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## damo

FinnsMom7 said:


> I was wondering what the orange card people were getting and returning to the single rider lane was. I left to go to bathroom and followed a family of 4 back thru single rider, which at time was closed.



Those people were evacuated from the ride and given a card to return.


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## Mel887

We had a similar start to our day as CJK today. We were at the gates at 7:50, let in the park at 840. They said there was a “brief delay” but they still let people line up so we got in. They kept announcing a slight delay until 9:30 when they said it was going to be an extended delay. At 10:00 we finally got out of line as we wanted to get other rides done. We heard it started up shortly after 11:00. We got back in line around 2:50-55pm. Wait time posted was 135mins. We were off the ride at 5:35. So 2 hour and 45 min wait. We both had a lot of fun, it was a great ride, but we’d never wait anywhere close to that long to ride it again.


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## dawnnikol

Just an FYI, when I was there a few weeks ago, we were given Gryffindor colored riding passes to returned after they closed the ride again.  It did not specifically say "come back to Hagrid's", but listed a bunch of other rides on the back.  I left it in our room when we we went back the next day and waited over 2 hours in line.  If I'd had the pass, we would've been skipped ahead to at least the unicorn room.  That's a huge time saving, so make sure you bring it back with you!  I just ended up keeping mine as a fun souvenir.


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## CJK

Well, today was our final day, so we decided to give Hagrid's one last whirl. There has been threat of rain all day, so we knew it was a risk. We got in line at 12:55pm, and the wait time was 105 minutes. We were off the ride at 3pm, so the estimated time was pretty accurate. I rode in the side car the first time and the motorbike the second time. What a difference in experience! I wasn't expecting it to be so different. Glad to have had both experiences. We never, ever wait in lines like that, but, we can go home satisfied now! Thanks to everyone on this thread for all the info!


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## GoofyDad_4427

We were at Universal from Feb 22-25.  It was closed for 90% of the first three days.  The morning of the 25th (Tuesday) we rope dropped as did a few others in this thread already.  We got to the park at 8:13 and went for the far right line closest to the bathroom.  There was exactly 54 people in front of us (because what better do I have to do at that time then count and recount the people).  Park gates opened at 8:41.  We went straight to Hagrid, walking quickly but never running.  I took my wife's purse to the locker and was in and out of the locker area in less than 10 seconds.  We kept moving through the line until we stopped just outside the castle.  The delay was announced, there were many other announcements over the next few hours.  We progressed to inside the castle where finally at exactly 10:53 the ride started operating.  We were off the ride at exactly 11:32.  

Reviews from my family of four (me41, DW41, DS13 and DS10) are that it was absolutely worth it to wait in line.  It was everyone's favorite ride at Universal, and we are not HP fans.  With that said, everyone agreed also that it would not be worth waiting more than 60 minutes for the next time, and we would not ride it again until it is more reliable.


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## acarsme123

Disheartened to hear the lines are that long at that time of day.  I had kept hearing that between 12-2 were good times to try and ride, I imagine from lots of people eating lunch around those times.  I don't intend to try rope drop for this ride as it seems super unpredictable still, but stinks that waits are still this long in the early afternoon.  Just may give up on trying to ride this for this trip.  We've already prepped our son that we may not get on it.  I don't think he's going to handle standing in a line that long.

Still surprised they haven't implemented a virtual cue for this thing yet.



CJK said:


> Well, today was our final day, so we decided to give Hagrid's one last whirl. There has been threat of rain all day, so we knew it was a risk. We got in line at 12:55pm, and the wait time was 105 minutes. We were off the ride at 3pm, so the estimated time was pretty accurate. I rode in the side car the first time and the motorbike the second time. What a difference in experience! I wasn't expecting it to be so different. Glad to have had both experiences. We never, ever wait in lines like that, but, we can go home satisfied now! Thanks to everyone on this thread for all the info!


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## damo

Right now the lines are going to be very long because they are only running it at half capacity while they work on the drop track problem.  There are two drop tracks and one is closed while they work on the second one.  And once the second one is operational, they will work on the first.

My son rode the single rider line with a one hour wait yesterday.  He had a two hour wait in the regular line the day before.


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## MamaKate

damo said:


> Right now the lines are going to be very long because they are only running it at half capacity while they work on the drop track problem.  There are two drop tracks and one is closed while they work on the second one.  And once the second one is operational, they will work on the first.
> 
> My son rode the single rider line with a one hour wait yesterday.  He had a two hour wait in the regular line the day before.



Any idea how long it will take repair each track.  Will it be like a month each track or more like several months each.  I'm not ride engineer expert so I haven't a clue how involved the process is...


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## damo

MamaKate said:


> Any idea how long it will take repair each track.  Will it be like a month each track or more like several months each.  I'm not ride engineer expert so I haven't a clue how involved the process is...



No idea.


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## MamaKate

damo said:


> No idea.



I figured as much.  I guess I'll just cross my fingers that all will be fixed by May


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## damo

MamaKate said:


> I figured as much.  I guess I'll just cross my fingers that all will be fixed by May



I would imagine they are working as hard as possible to get it ready for Spring Break.


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## Reese'smom

So what time should we be at the park to rope drop this ride? We are at Royal Pacific.


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## Dakota Dexter

Reese'smom said:


> So what time should we be at the park to rope drop this ride? We are at Royal Pacific.


8:30 is the absolute latest, and even then you'll be near the back of the pack... We did rope drop yesterday, and it's a mad dash back to the ride, we ended up waiting @30 min for the ride. One young member of our party couldn't ride, he's not really heavy, but he is big - nearly 6 feet tall and muscular... His LEGS were too big for the restraint, he was devastated!!!  They did give our party fast passes for any other attraction.  There is a "test" seat at the beginning of the queue, but it's not rope drop friendly.


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## acarsme123

So I’ve been randomly checking the app as our trip approaches and watching the Hagrid’s wait times. They were normally always in the 120-160 min range...up until a couple days ago. I’ve noticed the last two days when I’ve checked I’ve been surprised to see times as low as 60 mins even now at noon. Did they fix something to increase ride capacity?  Someone mentioned earlier that they had been working on something.


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## TommyJK

acarsme123 said:


> So I’ve been randomly checking the app as our trip approaches and watching the Hagrid’s wait times. They were normally always in the 120-160 min range...up until a couple days ago. I’ve noticed the last two days when I’ve checked I’ve been surprised to see times as low as 60 mins even now at noon. Did they fix something to increase ride capacity?  Someone mentioned earlier that they had been working on something.



I've noticed this too.  At first I thought it was maybe that the park has been dead crowd wise, but Forbidden Journey is also showing 60 minutes, Kong 50 minutes ....

So crossing my fingers that they may have actually "fixed" things....


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## Reese'smom

Got to the gates about 8:30 this morning. I would have been there earlier but couldn’t get my family moving. There were a good many people rushing back there. The workers said it was about a 45 min wait and that seemed to be accurate. We were constantly moving which made it better. The ride was awesome. I wanted the sidecar but both kids picked that so I was on the motorcycle as was my husband. So glad we got to ride.


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## SpecEdismyLife

We were there Feb 22-28. As stated, it was closed all day Sun 2/23 and Mon 2/24. My husband went over the next evening (Tues 2/25) and hopped in line 5 min before park closing and waited the posted 135 min while I stayed at the hotel with our son. We were at the hotel (Endless Summer) on Wed afternoon when it started raining. At about 5:30 pm it was a 60 min posted wait. That was the shortest I had seen it that week so  I ran out of the room, hopped on the bus and got in line by 6:05. By then it was posted at 70 min but I waited 60. It was sprinkling/light misty rain when I rode it but it was great! I rode the motorbike side. Oh also when my husband rode the single rider line was not open, but when I rode it was. I asked the TM how long the single rider line was running and was told that single rider "could be shorter, could be longer or could be the same". I was willing to wait the posted 60 min so I decided to just do that as I had done single rider on Gringotts the day before and it took forever...


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## Josh & Laila Harbour

Was at IOA today (March 10). Was hoping for a 1pm dip as has been reported...was finishing lunch at Mythos around 12:15pm and saw the line was at 75 min per the Universal app and an expected wait of 60min on the TP lines app...so we went for it! Got in line at 12:30pm and was off the ride at 1:35pm. For us, that was a great outcome as we were expecting to wait so much longer and/or do an early arrival rope drop tomorrow morning. So very happy...with the wait (compared to what we have been reading about/planning for) and even more so with the ride, which was amazing!


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## Splat10

Josh & Laila Harbour said:


> Was at IOA today (March 10). Was hoping for a 1pm dip as has been reported...was finishing lunch at Mythos around 12:15pm and saw the line was at 75 min per the Universal app and an expected wait of 60min on the TP lines app...so we went for it! Got in line at 12:30pm and was off the ride at 1:35pm. For us, that was a great outcome as we were expecting to wait so much longer and/or do an early arrival rope drop tomorrow morning. So very happy...with the wait (compared to what we have been reading about/planning for) and even more so with the ride, which was amazing!


Thanks, there hasn't been much activity on this thread recently.  I don't know if that means it's operating well, or what.  I've also noticed that crowds at USF/IOA have been lower in wait times.  Hoping this continues into my april trip but still planning on Rope dropping it day 1.


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## TommyJK

Splat10 said:


> Thanks, there hasn't been much activity on this thread recently.  I don't know if that means it's operating well, or what.  I've also noticed that crowds at USF/IOA have been lower in wait times.  Hoping this continues into my april trip but still planning on Rope dropping it day 1.



Haven't seen much chatter recently either, but have been checking the wait time regularly throughout the day and it's seemed consistently 60-75 min over the last week so perhaps things have smoothed out. 

Will be trying rope drop this Saturday so I'll report back in here with how it goes.


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## acarsme123

We were here this week and got to ride Hagrid’s once. Got in line around lunch time  on Wednesday when the wait was showing 75 minutes. I’d say we were in line for only an hour total. The line moves pretty quick up to the point you get to the pre-show room. Probably because they can cram a bunch of people in that room at once. After that things slow down. 

The ride stopped while we were on it. My son and I made it to the end just before the unicorn. My wife was on the coaster train behind us and hers got stopped further back along the ride. I’d say we were stopped for about 5 minutes. Kinda breaks the immersion factor. 

Today (Thursday) we got in line again when it was showing 75 minutes. The line was moving unusually quickly. We were blowing past areas that we had been stopped at before when it was showing a 75 min wait. We noticed one ride vehicle stopped on the tracks with people. I figured it was just another several minute hiccup. Well, the ride went down hard for a good hour. Everyone eventually left the line. About another hour later we could hear it running again. So it was down for about two hours total. I’m glad we got to ride it once. It is a good ride, but it is in no way the best ride in Orlando. Flight of Passage still takes that honor in my opinion, although I haven’t been on Rise of Resistance yet.  They need to seriously get the reliability improved on Hagrid’s.  I was kinda ticked they don’t offer any kind of front of line pass vouchers for when the ride breaks down after you’ve wasted an hour of your day in line. In my opinion that should be standard protocol to offer the guests another opportunity to ride it without having to wait all over again.


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## Cherryb

acarsme123 said:


> I was kinda ticked they don’t offer any kind of front of line pass vouchers for when the ride breaks down after you’ve wasted an hour of your day in line. In my opinion that should be standard protocol to offer the guests another opportunity to ride it without having to wait all over again.



Last week I was already in the ride about to start and it went down (took us 45 min and the app said 60 min). We had to wait first in the loading area, then they moved us to the first part of the line and they told us they didn't know when would it be back up but were welcome to wait. We decided to wait because we were tired, we only made 45 min to get there and they had air conditioning. About an hour and 10 min later they told us that it was "an extended delay" so we had to leave the queue BUT we were given two pass vouchers, one for Hagrid and one for any other ride.  About two hours later the ride went up and we only waited 10 min to ride. So in total it took me 2 hrs 10 min aprox to ride .

I felt bad for the people that left just 5 min before this happened, they wasted two hours for nothing. I think these vouchers should be given to anyone at a point where you have already waited at least an hour as soon as the ride goes down.


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## Disxuni

It would be interesting to know if they have any plans to do any work on Hagrid's while they are closed. I doubt it as it would be counter productive to the reason why the parks are closed. However, it would be a good time to do it during all this.


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## TommyJK

Disxuni said:


> It would be interesting to know if they have any plans to do any work on Hagrid's while they are closed. I doubt it as it would be counter productive to the reason why the parks are closed. However, it would be a good time to do it during all this.



I was at the parks on Saturday and Sunday before we cut our trip short to get back to Canada (upon the newly updated directives from our government to come back asap). 

The ride was running flawlessly that I could tell (opened at park open, closed at park close, no delays or closures that I could tell). Line was always moving and even some of the smaller things (like the first Blast Ended Skrewt fog machine, both of fluffy's moving heads etc.) were working.

So it seems like they might have recently got the kinks sorted out, and they now have extra time for anything else that might be necessary.


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