Early Entry Hagrids vs. Velocicoaster

[Casey LC]

Headed to Universal for two days midweek, the week after Thanksgiving. Early Entry is IOA. Would it make sense to hit Hagrids first or Velocicoaster? Or does it not matter at all? We've never done early entry before so I don't know how busy it is. I'm trying to minimize wait.

My plan was to do Velocicoaster first, then Hagrids, then Forbidden Journey but I am unsure how long Hagrids line will get if we don't go straight there.

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Hagrids line is generally longer; that is the better one to start with. Assuming both are operating, of course.

Hagrids line also moves faster. Velocicoaster generally has the lower waits throughout the day.

 

[cschaaf]

Get to IOA ~30 minutes before EE rope drop and go to Hagrid's first - the wait will only go up from there, except maybe at the end of the night. I'd probably choose FJ next then Velocicoaster to reduce backtracking. Plus, then you could jump back in line for Velocicoaster if you wanted another go.

 

[lisam70]

Definitely Hagrids first then check wait times of the other two when you're off.

 

[moesy4]

Hagrids first but check the app…two out of four days were were there this week it was delayed at open. One day it didn’t open at all until mid afternoon. Velocicoaster averaged under 30 minute wait times every single day we were there and often under 20. I wouldn’t bother too dropping. Hagrids was over an hour and sometimes two every time we checked.

 

[gharter]

Was there last week. At the gates 30 minutes before early opening. 3 days in a row, headed to Hagrids (under 30 minutes) , off and in line for Velocicoaster before normal opening time. generally a wait under 30 minutes. Both are awesome rides and very different.

 

[Pooh's World]

Headed to Universal for two days midweek, the week after Thanksgiving. Early Entry is IOA. Would it make sense to hit Hagrids first or Velocicoaster? Or does it not matter at all? We've never done early entry before so I don't know how busy it is. I'm trying to minimize wait.

My plan was to do Velocicoaster first, then Hagrids, then Forbidden Journey but I am unsure how long Hagrids line will get if we don't go straight there.

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

Hagrid's is a no brainer because you want to do it once in the daylight and then once in the night when the motorbike lights, etc light up.

 

[gharter]

Hagrid's is a no brainer because you want to do it once in the daylight and then once in the night when the motorbike lights, etc light up.

Loved it during the day. We were never there at night to ride, but i suspect it would have been as good or better.

 

[Lalalyn]

We are in line for Hagrids now and it is delayed. We are contemplating whether to wait it out. They word we got we “at least” one hour. Any advice?

 

[TikiRob]

We are in line for Hagrids now and it is delayed. We are contemplating whether to wait it out. They word we got we “at least” one hour. Any advice?

That stinks. Hope you were able to ride.

 

[gharter]

If its down for a while, the line will probably only be worse later in the day.
I'd be inclined to wait it out, then do Velocicoaster later in the day as that line seems to hang around 30-45 minutes all day.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

To add to the reports, we just got back, and rode Hagrid's twice. The first time, Saturday night, we got in line five minutes before park close, which was at 10pm. We waited about 25 minutes, including child swap and the preshow. The following days they seemed to close the Hagrid's line no later than 9pm. Our last day, we got up at 5:30AM and were on the first boat to leave the Portofino at 6, got to IOA entrance at 6:15. Waited until 6:45 for them to open the gates and scan our tickets, and jogged all the way to the back of the park. We didn't need lockers so we walked right onto the ride, no preshow, and were the last pair admitted before they started using the zig zag queue right before the loading area. When we got off the ride it was 7:15 AM and the ride was already posting a 180 minute wait, and the queue was filling up out to the locker area. Quite regularly this past week the line was posting 250 minute waits by 7:30 AM. I can't imagine showing up to the parks and immediately spending 3+ hours in line, but a lot of folks seemed happy to do so. After we got off Hagrid's we grabbed a Pumpkin Pasty at Honeydukes and did a bit off shopping in Hogsmeade, then went to Velocicoaster and waited about 15-20 minutes, including getting our shopping bag into a locker.

While we loved Velocicoaster more and rode it 3 times over the course of our trip, Hagrid's is also really special. But getting there an hour before early entry or right before the shut down the line seems to be the only way to avoid a multi-hour wait. I never saw it drop to less than 120 minutes during the day or early evening the whole time we were there.