Ride lines without riding

[Sadeesmom]

You guys are going to get so sick of seeing me, but I'm a planner, and I have <7 months to go!
My sister absolutely hates rides - it is a struggle to get her to ride the train at our local zoo.
But she is a HUGE Harry Potter fan.
I have read that you can wait in line at most rides and then when you get to the front just say you don't want to ride & walk off.

My question here is - what are the lines she might want to wait in with us? Are there any where she CANNOT wait with us? Any she really should not miss?

She's really a people watcher & loves shows, so I'm not worried about her getting bored while not riding, but I don't want her to miss something just because she's worried about the ride itself. Thanks!

 

[macraven]

Show her the UO website so she can read about what is in the parks
Rides, shows, street shows,
Etc
Anyone can exit a ride line
There are TM s that will help you exit a line anytime you wish

Quite a few with young kids need to go to the restroom at spur of the moment

TM will take them thru the shortcut way to exit the line

 

[Kit Jackson]

The line for Harry Potter and the Fobidden Journey takes you through Hogwarts castle. There are two versions of the line- one with Express Pass and one without. The version without Express Pass is longer and you can see more of the castle. If you are willing to wait in a longer line to spend more time with your friend or if you will not have Express Pass, go through the regular line so she can see more the castle. If you will have Express Pass and want to get to the ride as quickly as possible, go through the Express Pass line without her, have her do the regular line, and then meet up in the gift shop.

 

[ChanaC]

I am pretty sure you can get out of any line until the moment you get into a ride vehicle. They certainly can't force you onto anything. So I don't think there are any lines she can't do. A bunch of Universal's baby/child swap rooms are at the end of the ride (ex: HP and the Forbidden Journey) so they even let small children through lines to rides they can't go on.

From the top of head, the rides that at least have cool lines are all the Harry Potter rides with the exception of the Flight of the Hypogriff (it's an outdoor line, and while some of the garden areas are nice it's not worth standing on if the line is long and its's hot out), ET, Minion Mayhem, The Simpsons, The Mummy, and Spider-Man. I'm sure I'm missing a few. Those at least have nice theming and are mostly indoors. The Simpson's preshow is actually pretty funny. If you're a Simpson's fan, I once saw and article listing the best Itchy and Scratchy shorts and the ride's safety video made the list.

I'm not a big coaster fan, but I often join people on lines for stuff like The Mummy and bail out at the last minute. I prefer to stand and chat with my group, and at least I can tell how soon they are to getting on the ride. Nothing is worse than waiting in the gift shop or the ride exit waiting for people to get off the ride but having no idea if they are on next or if they still have another half an hour wait, especially if the ride goes down while they are waiting.

As a tip for your sister, some rides like Shrek and Minion Mayhem have non moving seats so the person can sit and basically experience the whole thing as if it's a 3D movie. Maybe bring that up to her and see if that's something she's interested in doing so at least she'll get to experience some of the attraction.

 

[FoodieFriend]

Just keep in mind, some of the pre-shows have been removed to prevent too many people gathering. I was disappointed that I didn't get to see the pre-show to Hagrid's. I think if she's a Harry Potter fan, she should definitely walk thru Forbidden Journey, Hagrid's & Gringotts. I know she doesn't even like to ride trains, but the "show" for Hogwart's Express is while the train is moving between parks, so she'll have to ride that if she wants to see the good stuff. Walking thru the train station is only cool once you get up onto each of the platforms. I advise she ride it both ways if she's a true HP fan because it's different in each direction. The Express Pass line is definitely shorter for FJ & G, so she might want to walk thru the regular queue to see everything. To see everything in the Hagrid's queue, she would have to be included in the Virtual Line pass then leave when everyone goes to board the vehicles. Exits are always available before boarding the ride vehicles. My mom even got to do this at WDW for Rise of the Resistance. She opted out in the Stormtrooper room & the CM said, "So I see you are abandoning your family before the interrogation!" Hilarious!

Other than HP, I thought the queue for Kong was pretty cool. Very very long, but interesting features. I think the Spider-Man queue has some scenes from his non-webslinging life. I can't remember any others as it's been a long time since I've ridden the big stuff at UOR.