Hagrid's Coaster Queue Updates / Questions / Reviews

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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