New virtual queue for Hagrids

[thevolcanogod]

This is the link if you want to bookmark it.

https://vltest.universalorlando.com/#
It said something about needing to be in the park to make reservations for the queue. I don’t know what the boundaries of it are. We just did it from inside Islands so not sure if you can outside. It didn’t become active until like 10am.

 

[georgina]

While I agree to an extent, they did that when we went to Volcano Bay 4 years ago. I scanned my watch thing for the straight down slide first thing in the AM, got a 3 hour wait that I couldn't ride anything else but lazy river. When I got the call to go and walked up there was 5 people all scared to go down.
Point being if the wait is over say 90 minutes you should be able to do other rides. If it is under you should have to sit there and wait.

Four years ago was right after it opened? I have never been there when at least some of the rides did not display the Ride Now sign, so that I can do other things while waiting. Now that I think about it, the last few times I have gone everything I wanted to do said ride now.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

With hagrid's now going virtual, and the velocicoaater not being part of Early entry, I'm starting to think it would be better to just enjoy the sleep and get to the parks after catching breakfast at the club room. Do the hagrid virtual reservations go as quickly as the Rise of the Resistance at Disney? I know it was said earlier to just keep refreshing and it will open up but I wanted to know if other people have had the same luck? What's the best strategy to try to ensure that you get on it lol. Not sure when we will be back so definitely don't want to miss it.

 

[skramer100]

Four years ago was right after it opened? I have never been there when at least some of the rides did not display the Ride Now sign, so that I can do other things while waiting. Now that I think about it, the last few times I have gone everything I wanted to do said ride now.

Yup, it was right after it opened. Only ride that we were able to get on was OhNo drop slides for about 20 minutes. Other than that it was lazy river or wave pool until your time went off.

 

[Danielle91]

So does that mean that Hagrids is VQ only or would i still be able to get in line if I go during early admission.

 

[thevolcanogod]

With hagrid's now going virtual, and the velocicoaater not being part of Early entry, I'm starting to think it would be better to just enjoy the sleep and get to the parks after catching breakfast at the club room. Do the hagrid virtual reservations go as quickly as the Rise of the Resistance at Disney? I know it was said earlier to just keep refreshing and it will open up but I wanted to know if other people have had the same luck? What's the best strategy to try to ensure that you get on it lol. Not sure when we will be back so definitely don't want to miss it.

I’m not sure how fast rise of the resistance go but if you keep checking and Refreshing the page, times open up throughout the day so you can snag one. We rode it so much my daughters made me cancel the last one I got lol.

It didn’t go virtual until maybe 10-10:30 so I assume you can still early access it. But it was a delayed start or rain delay most of the early mornings last week.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

I’m not sure how fast rise of the resistance go but if you keep checking and Refreshing the page, times open up throughout the day so you can snag one. We rode it so much my daughters made me cancel the last one I got lol.

It didn’t go virtual until maybe 10-10:30 so I assume you can still early access it. But it was a delayed start or rain delay most of the early mornings last week.

Rise of the Resistance tends to go within the first 10 milliseconds of the release for the day... So this sounds way better than that. People start practicing the steps to get rise of the resistance virtual passes months out. It's a little bit ridiculous.

 

[thevolcanogod]

Rise of the Resistance tends to go within the first 10 milliseconds of the release for the day... So this sounds way better than that. People start practicing the steps to get rise of the resistance virtual passes months out. It's a little bit ridiculous.

Oh wow nothing like that. Just need to keep refreshing. Also someone said you can have multiple people in your party “activate” the queue and get times. So if you wanted you could probably ride it back to back if you wanted. There were tons of people grouped around the Hogwarts Express frustrated because they didn’t understand why they couldn’t just get in line. We just sneaked around them and scanned our QR code.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

Oh wow nothing like that. Just need to keep refreshing. Also someone said you can have multiple people in your party “activate” the queue and get times. So if you wanted you could probably ride it back to back if you wanted. There were tons of people grouped around the Hogwarts Express frustrated because they didn’t understand why they couldn’t just get in line. We just sneaked around them and scanned our QR code.

Thanks. We might actually try to get breakfast at the club first and then head down to the park then. If the virtual queues work well enough, and the new Velicoaster doesn't tend to open for early entry, it might be nicer to just enjoy the food first rather than waking up at the crack of dawn and not even getting to enjoy food first .

 

[thevolcanogod]

Thanks. We might actually try to get breakfast at the club first and then head down to the park then. If the virtual queues work well enough, and the new Velicoaster doesn't tend to open for early entry, it might be nicer to just enjoy the food first rather than waking up at the crack of dawn and not even getting to enjoy food first .

Velocicoaster was open every day for early access except when it was raining. We rode it 4 times over 4 days I think and never early access. Was always around 11:30 because it dipped to 50 mins on the app and was actually around 35. It moves fast and the queue is cool and air conditioned for a large majority.

 

[Meldev]

Haven't used Virtual Queue before - do all of us need to be present to scan the QR code?

 

[asuburbanman]

No and you can just use the website vltest.universalorlando.com from your phone to reserve a spot. It won’t let you do it unless you are close enough to the park. Unsure if it works in hotels.

 

[Dano the Pirate]

I just spent 2 days at UO.
yes, you can run to Hagrid's and get on line.
yesterday there were delays and the virtual que did not open until almost 10 am.
the new system is better than the old in that the line inside the gates is more streamlined and on the 2 rides using the new system averaged 45 minutes to complete the ride.
the park is severely under staffed, the lines for food at kiosks was crazy and there was no ice in most of the freestyle machines by midday and a few freestyle machines only had water…

 

[kittylady1972]

Oh wow nothing like that. Just need to keep refreshing. Also someone said you can have multiple people in your party “activate” the queue and get times. So if you wanted you could probably ride it back to back if you wanted. There were tons of people grouped around the Hogwarts Express frustrated because they didn’t understand why they couldn’t just get in line. We just sneaked around them and scanned our QR code.

We did 3 days at Universal...Thursday, Friday and Saturday and used the Hagrids VQ a lot. First time we rode at night and maybe waited 35 minutes. We were able to ride back to back if we wanted by each of us getting a VQ pass but there was one catch for us. The link limits you to 8 people and we had 10 in our group. First day they did count out 8 and I had to tell them our group was 10 and get our other 2 through no problem. Another time they gave me a hard time and told me we HAD to get two people to get passes next time for our party of 10...but he would let us through this time. That happened one other time...got a lecture but let us through.

What was great was the queue had you walking right into the castle every single time and we never waited more than 35 minutes...twice it was more like 15 minutes. It was so great not having to line up outside the HP area and wind through that theater and outside. They are however really causing a bottleneck now right at the train and locker area. It's pretty bad as people wait for their countdown clock to end and their VR code to pop up then gather their group to get in the line. We were guilty of this as well of course but if you have two people with VQ passes you can stagger them and manage to ride back to back.

I liked that the new system let you push your reservation out later...but sometimes it would move your return window to earlier though usually no more than 10 or 15 minutes earlier...the actual return time you picked with that move would be within the 30 minute window.

I hope they keep this system, we really liked it and it took no time to figure out. Just had to keep that link saved.

 

[yayornay]

We just returned as well and VQ for Hagrids is hands down the way to go. One day my son and I stood in the standby line for an hour, then the ride delayed, then closed. We wasted a good hour and a half there... had it been VQ, we would have saved that time. The rest of our park days we did early entry, and the standby line for Hagrids was listed 1 hour and was pretty much a true 45 minutes to an hour. IMO, the best option is to do early admission, ride VC-it's open early most days, maybe not right when rope drops, but shortly after. The single rider line is super quick during EA as well. The wait at VC during EA was at most 25 minutes in our experience. Then I'd personally recommend doing VQ for Hagrids as soon as it's available. We waited at most 20 minutes doing VQ. We did run into the VQ being at capacity, but keep refreshing and you'll get a time. I agree with a previous poster-they repeatedly moved my time up....sometimes by 1 minute. It freaked me out each time I saw they changed it.

Oh, also, I saw the QR code to get VQ at Studios too (outside of Kings Cross and maybe other places as well). I agree it was maddening not see it in the app-I was convinced something was wrong with my phone. I'd also recommend bookmarking the page with your return time. I accidentally closed that page out and panicked, but my teenage son was able to find it.

We generally are not rope drop type people, but this trip made a believer out of me. The parks were so much more crowded by 10/11am and wait times were starting to get crazy. Add in the possible afternoon pop up showers that could delay/close the outdoor rides and I think EA is the way to go.

 

[123SA]

Once I am in the park, do I just go to this website: vltest.universalorlando.com or do I need to scan the QR first?


And...is Hagrid's not open during early entry or is it just the VQ that's not open?

 

[yayornay]

Hagrid's is open for standby during early entry, just not VQ. The line during early entry was always listed at 60 minutes during early entry last week when we were there. Maybe less if you arrived way before RD.

Not sure if you have to scan the QR or not. I'm admittedly not very tech savvy.

 

[kittylady1972]

Once I am in the park, do I just go to this website: vltest.universalorlando.com or do I need to scan the QR first?

And...is Hagrid's not open during early entry or is it just the VQ that's not open?

Once in the park you can just go to the website once you have already registered on it. There is no need to scan the QR code.
Not sure about early entry as we didn't use it. Every time we checked for Hagrids wait it was VQ only.

 

[Erica Ladd]

Ok. I’ve read through this but not sure I’ve got it yet! We don’t go until September but I want to understand what to do as last time I I got on VQ from our room at RPR. Has anyone gotten in the VQ outside of IOA? VQ drop times throughout the day not just at 11, 2, 4 etc? Do I have to register on this website or it won’t work? Are there QR code’s on lots of places that are clearly marked in case that’s easier for us to do rather than access the website? Does everyone have to register sept on the website? TIA!!

 

[cschaaf]

Ok. I’ve read through this but not sure I’ve got it yet! We don’t go until September but I QS t to understand what to do as last time I I got on VQ from our room at RPR. Has anyone gotten in the VQ outside of IOA? VQ droid times throughout the day not just at 11, 2, 4 etc? Do I have to register on this website or it won’t work? Are there QR code’s on lots of places that are clearly marked in case that’s easier for us to do rather than access the website? Does everyone have to register sept on the website? TIA!!

The only thing the QR code does is take you to the website - https://vltest.universalorlando.com/

You can go to that site right now and set up an account, you don't have to be on property. It lets you walk through some of the process, then says you have to allow location services on that site. When you do that, it says, "You must be closer to the park to enable VL"

I don't think we know how time drops work yet. 'Just keep trying,' is the best advice so far.

One person can register for the site and get VQ for up to 8 people. It doesn't ask for any identifying information. Multiple people in your party can do the same thing.