In August 2019, during a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort, Stella, myself, and four friends decided to leave Disney property (Sorry Mickey) and explore the other major theme park destination in Florida, the Universal Orlando Resort. The highlight of this one day, two park journey was the newest coaster at the resort, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure located at Universal Orlando’s second theme park, Island’s of Adventure.
The attraction opened two months earlier in June and became infamous immediately for massive wait times (10 hours) and frequent breakdowns. After the attraction opened, I downloaded the Universal Orlando app for my phone. To prepare for our trip, I wanted to check on the status of the ride each day. And just as predicted, Hagrid’s was busy.
Although I didn’t see the ride hit 10 hours, it still had its fair share of problems. For example, the ride was either at three hours, delayed (due to weather or breakdowns) or was “at capacity”. As this data did not change for two months, I knew we needed to hit this ride first thing in the morning at “rope drop” or risk spending our only scheduled day at the resort waiting in line. And based on the ride videos, this ride was not too be missed.
Arrival
As this was my first trip visiting the Universal Orlando Resort, I learned, through research, that Universal opens the parks, like Disney, about thirty minutes before the scheduled park opening to wander the “Main Street” areas. And once it is the official park opening, “the ropes” are dropped to allow visitors to ride the attractions. Thus, I knew we needed to be there early and ready to go.
Once we left Disney property, we made it just in time for the early opening. It was an adventure as our Uber driver was lost but somehow we made it. We flew through security (security check at Universal is lightyears ahead of Disney) and ran to the front of Island’s of Adventure. We scanned our tickets at 8:30AM for the 9AM opening.
Just as I predicted, there was already a massive line and everyone was running towards the area of the park that would lead to the ride.And when I say massive, it was massive. EVERYONE scanning their tickets was running over toward the area of the park that would lead to Hagrid’s.
Like I mention in my Disney itineraries, you MUST arrive here early and specifically no later than the 30 minute unofficial parking opening time for any chance to get on this attraction with a reasonable wait. I’d assume if we were late, we could have easily waited three hours plus to ride. Do yourself the favor, arrive early and be ready to walk quickly.
Rope Drop
Right at 9AM, we were unleashed. The ride is located in the far back of Islands of Adventure, in its Hogsmeade section. From the main entrance of Island’s of Adventure, it is a long walk to Hogsmeade.
Onsite park employees guides us through two different sections of the park, taking us through the Dr. Seuss area and The Lost Continent area. Eventually, we arrived at the queue for the ride.
I heard horror stories of the line stretching beyond these areas of the park but luckily, we didn’t have to wait there for long.
Once the line stopped outside the main entrance of the ride inside Hogsmeade, it moved fairly quickly.
At the entrance of the queue are lockers for your things. We quickly put our things in the lockers and headed into the queue. As we walked towards the interior part of the queue, we could see the trains race past us and even saw Hagrid’s Hut!
The Florida sun was quickly heating up and before long, we were entered the inside portion of the queue. At this point, it was probably about thirty minutes since rope drop with most of that time consumed by walking around the park to the queue.
The Queue
Once inside, the queue was themed to remind us of an upcoming Care of Magical Creatures class and various Easter eggs were scattered around from the movies and the old ride Hagrid’s replaced, the Dueling Dragons coaster. The queue also featured a pre-show. The show explained the backstory of the ride, with Hagrid and Mr. Weasley explaining how the motorcycles fly (Magic!).
Once the show was over, I assumed the boarding area would be just around the corner. Nope. From this point, it was probably about another hour before we actually boarded the train. The queue kept going and going and going. We walked through endless hallways and three large rooms. And as we entered the second to last room, the ride broke down. My biggest fear realized. Now, how long would we wait?
Thankfully, only 30 minutes. Once the ride restarted, it was about twenty more minutes before we boarded. The queue was cool but not great. It showed some stuff from the Harry Potter movies, various magical creatures and a scene with the motorcycles blasting overhead. But at that point, all we wanted to do was board.
Just before boarding, we had to decide who would ride in the motorcycle and who would ride in the sidecar. We decided to place all the men in the motorcycles and the women in the sidecars. We lined up, two by two and entered the boarding area.
Let's Ride
Like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Hagrid’s uses a conveyor belt system to increase loading times. I also heard about 12 trains run at any single time, in an effort to maximize capacity. Our train approached and we quickly boarded. Surprisingly, the motorcycle part of the train sits a lot higher than the sidecar. Thankfully, both seating options offered plenty of room and the only restraint was a lap bar. The ride attendants checked our restraints and sent us off!
After the first thirty seconds I knew. Yup, this is the best ride in Orlando, hands down. I love Disney. I love Disney World. But even Flight of Passage can’t compete with this coaster. It is awesome. I loved this attraction and cannot wait to ride it again someday.
Notably, it is long. The ride experience doesn’t fly by like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, easily the closest story coaster similar to Hagrid’s. At over 5000ft in track length, it is a long experience. Hagrid’s includes a record seven launches, propelling the coaster to over 50MPH. During the launches, I truly felt like I was flying on a motorcycle, high above the Forbidden Forrest. And what a feeling that is.
As I said above, the ride is a story coaster. There are parts when the coaster slows down for scenes with Hagrid, the three headed dog Fluffy or a centaur. I felt like the coaster went through these scenes a little too fast to appreciate them, but honestly, I just couldn’t wait for the next launch. Plus, the coaster even goes backwards (it does a way better job than Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom).
And MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, the coaster does include one awesome surprise. The first of its kind in the United States, the ride includes a 17ft free fall drop. I knew it was coming, but I still didn’t expect it when it happened. Literally, the train and the track drop together 17ft before sending you off once again. It’s awesome. I felt my stomach drop and was blown away at the smoothness of this effect.
Once we finished, we all agreed it was the best coaster we’ve ever been on. If we could ride it again for $50 with no line, all of us would have paid to do so. Heck, I’d pay $100 to ride again. Yes, it’s that good.
Conclusion
This is the best at Universal Orlando and the United States. I used to think Flight of Passage was the best, but this ride is better. Flight of Passage is great, but it cannot compete with all the moving parts of Hagrid’s. Hagrid’s has everything. It has a story. It has a record seven launches. It has a backwards portion. It even has a free fall drop!!!
This ride is NOT to be missed. If you are making a trip to Universal Orlando, you MUST ride Hagrid’s. I can also see why it has massive wait times. I’m sorry Galaxy’s Edge. Until Rise of the Resistance finally opens, Universal is the clear winner this summer. I’ll update that thought once I finally ride Rise of the Resistance.
If you are visiting Island’s of Adventure, I recommend being in the park NO LATER than 30 minutes before park opening. I would advise arriving even earlier. Once in the park, line up and be ready to move quickly towards Hogsmeade Village. With this strategy we waited around 90 minutes, rather than the usual three hours. Fortunately, we only experienced one ride breakdown.
Additionally, the ride cannot function in the rain, another reason to ride it first thing in the morning before the normal Orlando rain showers in the afternoon. Plus, once we departed the ride around 10:30AM, it had a 3+ hour wait time. And that wait time did not decrease during our full day at the resort (I hear its even better at night).
I cannot wait to revisit Universal Orlando in the future and ride this attraction again. As I said above, it is the best thing in Orlando. I love Disney. Yet, Disney is always taking the safe path with their attractions. Universal, especially with Harry Potter, tries to do things differently. And they blew everyone out of the water with this magical coaster. I have to tip my hat to Universal for creating the best story coaster in the United States. You sold me and I will definitely be back. Well done Universal, well done.
Thoughts?
Thank you for reading! We hope this guide helps you with plans at the Universal Orlando Resort. To better plan your visit, please read our in depth post on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Guide – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Universal Orlando Resort HERE!
Have you ridden Hagrid’s Motorcycle Adventure? What did you think? Does it live up to its three hour wait times? Or do you think it’s over hyped? Is it the best ride in the United States? Let us know in the comments below! Thanks again for reading!
