Which Universal roller coaster to do first?

[Danielle3699]

My sons have never been on a roller coaster that goes upside down. They've been on and liked Space Mountain and Expedition Everest, which I know don't even compare to the big coasters at Universal. Which should we try first that either has the coolest queue or is the least scary between RipRide Rockit, Hulk, and Dragon Challenge?

 

[HM]

The best queue of the coasters is Dueling Dragons, because you see Hagrid's Cabin, the Weasley's car, and the tent for the Dragon Challenge with the Triwizard Cup. This ride seems to have the most flips. We like the Blue side.
I used to think that my favorite was RRR (the only scary part is that first drop), but last trip, I really enjoyed Hulk the most. We rode toward the front and it seemed so much smoother than I'd remembered.

 

[AthenaBolina]

We haven't been in almost 5 years, but we absolutely love The Hulk. I haven't done the DD queue, I'm going to try do that this time. The ride was super fun though!

 

[johde]

First, before jumping up to one of the big 3, I would consider riding Revenge of the Mummy or Flight of the Hippogriff first. Revenge of the Mummy is 1/2 coaster, 1/2 dark ride with a launch. Flight of the Hippogriff is a big kiddy coaster, think oversize barnstormer, but you go by the front of Hagrid's Hut (you sort of go by the back in line for Dragon Challenge) and you get a good areal view of Hogsmead from the top of the lift hill.

Once they get some "coaster legs" under them, it's a tough call on which one is the next scariest. Each one touches a different fear sensor.

HRRR is the tallest and has the vertical lift but the rides doesn't go upside down, you travel on the "outside" of the loop. If you can get past the beginning of the ride and it's disconcerting vertical lift, the rest of the ride reminds my slightly of bigger Everest after the projected Yeti. The Queue on HRRR is also the least interesting.

Dragon Challenge has 5 inversion on each side (red and blue are different coasters) which is fewer than the Hulk. But, being an inverted coaster, most of the seats can't see the track in front of them to "prepare" for what's coming next, and most of the maneuvers feel more "whippy" than rides with the track on the bottom. Dragon Challenge probably has the best of the 3 queues (as mentioned above) although I preferred the Queue when it was Dueling Dragons.

Hulk, is the one that's normally advertised as being the "big daddy" of coasters in the park. It has 7 inversions including a launch up the first hill into the initial zero G roll. It is also listed as the fastest of the rides. But, in many ways, it's not as intense as Dragon Challenge. Instead of having small "whippy" inversions, many of them are large and flowing. Hulks queue is nicely themed but nothing compared to the fantastic queues in WWOHP.

 

[SmallWorld71]

My DD tried Dragon Challenge first. It's the only one of the 3 I will ride. The launch on Hulk scares me and just looking at the incline for RRR does me in, LOL. I think Mummy is scarier overall than Dragon Challenge, but the coaster part is less intense. If you want to go that route - I would suggest Gringott's before Mummy.

 

[DOOM1001]

I would go with Revenge of the Mummy first,it's part dark ride part coaster and the tamest of the bunch.For the second one go with Dragon Challenge,it does have loops but in my opinion it's the tamest and most fun of the major coasters.I would then go with Hulk,I don't like it as much as I did 10-15 years ago as it's gotten somewhat rough over the years but the launch is still amazing.Finish with Rip,Ride,Rockit,not my favorite but I always ride it at least once,not too extreme but few people like the 90 degree lift hill .There's also the junior coaster Flight of the Hippogriff which is tamer than even the Disney coasters but still fun,also try Escape From Gringotts the new Potter ride which is pretty much mostly a dark ride with maybe 10% coaster.

 

[schumigirl]

Duelling Dragons is the smoothest of them all. Hulk can sometimes be rough as heck depending on where you sit. But the take off is the best!!

RRR is smoothest at the front.......I won't go on the back rows again. But a lot of people can't get past that hill climb at the beginning. I stood for about an hour watching it before I would go on it......wasn't sure at all.....but it's not that bad once you've done it once.....then I loved it!

Mummy is a good start.

 

[Patch'sD]

My recomendation would be. Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket First, This is a rough ride after this all the others will be tame. Head over to Mummy for the second, then Escape from Gringots for the third. Take the Hogwarts Express to IOA. Ride the Dragons thane head to the Hulk. The suspended coasters offer the smothest rides. As stated earlier, the Hulk start is not to be missed.