First Time for Harry Potter & Hagrids

[TNKim]

We will arrive at Royal Pacific on a Saturday night around 8:30 p.m., and have purchased AP's which need to be activated, which I had hoped to do at the resort. Will the ticket desk at Royal Pacific still be open after 8:30 to activate our AP's? If not, what time does it open in the mornings? On Sunday, IOA opens at 8:00 and we had planned to be there before opening to ride Hagrids first thing without too much of a line. On Monday and Tuesday, IOA opens at 9:00. Early admission is at Universal the 3 days we are there. If we are too late to activate our AP's on Saturday night, would it be best to just wait to ride Hagrids on Monday or Tuesday, even though Universal has early admission? Any advice on what would be the best way to try to get on Hagrids early, or should we just try for the virtual times?

 

[Calee]

When we did this in early March, the ticket desk closed at 630. However, we just went over to CityWalk and activated there that evening. I was really glad we didn't wait until morning. I did not note what time the desk at the hotel opened in the morning, but I seriously doubt it will be open early enough, as they seem to have more "normal business" hours. You will need to be at IOA at 7 or 715 in order to be at the front of the line to get in and back to Hagrids, and I am almost positive the ticket counter at the hotel will not be open before that.

We had no problem getting virtual times as well, but for me it made sense to rope drop it at least once, so I felt less "pressure" if we didn't get a virtual time for some reason.

 

[Erica Ladd]

We were just there and didn’t rope drop once. I did get on the app on our checkout day right around 11am (that was a fluke - I was just checking ride times) and saw the VL for Hagrids was available. We got a 12:45-1:15 timeslot on my phone and then grabbed another on Dh’s phone for 1:20-1:50. So glad we didn’t bother waking up early this trip. We checked in right at 12:45 and besides the winding queue it was basically a walk on. We got our bag out of the locker afterwards snd it was only 1:07. So we walked slowly back to the entrance and they scanned us at 1:13pm no problem! We were off and got our bag out of the locker by 1:30. I’m so glad for the VL as RD would have definitely bern a much longer wait. Plus the day before it never went to VL, it was standby all day. Worked out great for us! And we slept in!!

 

[TNKim]

When we did this in early March, the ticket desk closed at 630. However, we just went over to CityWalk and activated there that evening. I was really glad we didn't wait until morning. I did not note what time the desk at the hotel opened in the morning, but I seriously doubt it will be open early enough, as they seem to have more "normal business" hours. You will need to be at IOA at 7 or 715 in order to be at the front of the line to get in and back to Hagrids, and I am almost positive the ticket counter at the hotel will not be open before that.

We had no problem getting virtual times as well, but for me it made sense to rope drop it at least once, so I felt less "pressure" if we didn't get a virtual time for some reason.

Do you know how late the ticket place is open at CityWalk?

 

[AJA]

My advice on Hagrids is be prepared either way, a line or virtual line, this week Monday was an open line wait with most times at 45min to 90mins. Tuesday was virtual only after early entry, Wednesday open line with waits 45min to 90mins. You just won’t know for sure until that day. So don’t excessively worry about early entry, yesterday we walked by and the line was not bad at all (less than Hulk coaster).

 

[puffkin]

We have been down 3 times in the last year with Hagrid's being a mixture of standby and VL. We never did an early entry on any trip. I can say, it didn't matter what time we rode it, always was a 30-45 minute wait, regardless of what the posted time was. And yes, be prepared for the hotel ticket desk to be closed in the evenings, they close pretty early so City Walk is probably your best bet.

 

[TNKim]

We have been down 3 times in the last year with Hagrid's being a mixture of standby and VL. We never did an early entry on any trip. I can say, it didn't matter what time we rode it, always was a 30-45 minute wait, regardless of what the posted time was. And yes, be prepared for the hotel ticket desk to be closed in the evenings, they close pretty early so City Walk is probably your best bet.

Do you know how late the City Walk ticket place stays open?

 

[puffkin]

Do you know how late the City Walk ticket place stays open?

I believe it is open the posted City Walk hours (which i believe are currently 10pm).

 

[TNKim]

I believe it is open the posted City Walk hours (which i believe are currently 10pm).

Thank you!

 

[DreamIsaWish]

I need to catch up on everything new since our last trip... Do you need to be in the park to try for a Virtual Line time? Or can I look for that on the way over in the car, having lunch in City Walk, etc.?

 

[Erica Ladd]

You can get it on property or close by. We got ours in our room at RPR