Hagrid's Coaster Queue Updates / Questions / Reviews

It looks like this this heading to be a Jaws experience. It's been three weeks now. Which is give, or take is typically the amount of time soft openings occur. Occasionally after soft openings there is down time on occasion, but it's intermittent and down time is extremely short. So, I would say that after two months max have passed and they still do not have it together, they're going to need to do what they did for Jaws and just shut it down for an extended amount of time, really work on it, and open it back up. Because if they do not have it together by then, either something is wrong with the ride, or they're going to have to change how they operate it to make work.

The motorbike idea while great for theming is a disaster practically. The ride must be burning through parts like crazy. On top of unbalanced trains, from the video you see mostly men riding on the bike and women in the side card. Not great for weight distribution. They may need to scrap the bikes and go to regular vehicles.
 
My trip is at the end of the month. The reviews are positive. I'd love to ride this, but...I just can't see spending so much time on one ride. It costs about $1000 per day (not including food, parking, souvenirs) for my family of 5. To spend 1/4 -1/2 of day on one ride is just nuts. If I were local, with an annual pass, I would spend a day on this ride. If the situation doesn't improve, I think we'll skip it. I'm not happy about it.
 
The motorbike idea while great for theming is a disaster practically. The ride must be burning through parts like crazy. On top of unbalanced trains, from the video you see mostly men riding on the bike and women in the side card. Not great for weight distribution. They may need to scrap the bikes and go to regular vehicles.

This maybe a stupid question (bare with me haven't really watched videos), but are you implying that they're actually using the bike as part of the ride vehicle? What I mean by that is, while on most coasters the little wheels are simply on the bottom of the vehicle, but are you implying that the wheels from the bike itself are is part of the ride vehicle and not stationary? If so, I would imagine that would definitely be a conflict.

I don't know about making them regular vehicles as it being Hagrid's bike as being one of the exciting elements to telling the story and "motorbike" is within the title itself. However, they definitely might have to scrap what they have a make a ride vehicle that resembles what they have if what they have now is the ultimate problem with the ride. However, if they scrapped the whole bike idea all together, they'd have to re-name the ride, but do something creatures themed, such as thestrals, or a thestral in front of the guests and guests ride vehicles like the carriages they use to pull Hogwarts students.
 
This maybe a stupid question (bare with me haven't really watched videos), but are you implying that they're actually using the bike as part of the ride vehicle? What I mean by that is, while on most coasters the little wheels are simply on the bottom of the vehicle, but are you implying that the wheels from the bike itself are is part of the ride vehicle and not stationary? If so, I would imagine that would definitely be a conflict.

I don't know about making them regular vehicles as it being Hagrid's bike as being one of the exciting elements to telling the story and "motorbike" is within the title itself. However, they definitely might have to scrap what they have a make a ride vehicle that resembles what they have if what they have now is the ultimate problem with the ride. However, if they scrapped the whole bike idea all together, they'd have to re-name the ride, but do something creatures themed, such as thestrals, or a thestral in front of the guests and guests ride vehicles like the carriages they use to pull Hogwarts students.

The bike is not part of the ride system. The bike is attached to a platform that the vehicles wheels are under. The issue I am seeing is that because the bike has more room than the sidecar, the men are all on that side while the women are in the car. That makes weight distribution very uneven and is probably wearing down the wheels on one side.
 


The bike is not part of the ride system. The bike is attached to a platform that the vehicles wheels are under. The issue I am seeing is that because the bike has more room than the sidecar, the men are all on that side while the women are in the car. That makes weight distribution very uneven and is probably wearing down the wheels on one side.

That's for clarifying what you meant. Technically that can occur on any ride, but due to the uniqueness on each side in terms of design of the vehicle and if in fact it would be very common for more heavier people riding on only one side of the vehicle it would not only make weight distribution uneven as you said, but definitely would increase the chances of wearing down faster on one side.
 
Thank you everyone for posting their experiences this far. DW and I are heading to Universal for the first time on Friday for a couple of days and I've been trying to figure out what our touring plan should be with Hagrid "open."

We're staying at Royal Pacific and am planning on doing EE both Friday and Saturday. Hopefully the Express Pass helps alleviate some of the crowds we anticipate as a result of the 4th holiday weekend. Looks like we'll just be avoiding Hagrid all together and focus on everything else as I can't imagine spending hours and hours just waiting around for a chance to ride.
 
Thank you everyone for posting their experiences this far. DW and I are heading to Universal for the first time on Friday for a couple of days and I've been trying to figure out what our touring plan should be with Hagrid "open."

We're staying at Royal Pacific and am planning on doing EE both Friday and Saturday. Hopefully the Express Pass helps alleviate some of the crowds we anticipate as a result of the 4th holiday weekend. Looks like we'll just be avoiding Hagrid all together and focus on everything else as I can't imagine spending hours and hours just waiting around for a chance to ride.

Sounds like you'll have a great time! I will also mention that when i was there this past sunday and they didn't open up until 4:15, we got off the ride and the wait time was 210 minutes. we went and rode a few things and when we were on our way back to the hogwarts express the wait was now only 120. i know that is still two hours but i was shocked at how much of a crowd they got through in a short period of time.
i wouldn't completely rule it out, but depending on where you see the queue up to, a lot of the workers (although some had different answers) said that from the preshow you only have about a 45 minutes to an hour left of the queue. once we cleared the pre show it was a rather constant movement
 


Here’s my experience. I’m at the park today (July 2). I got to the holding pen in the Sinbad theater area at 9.45am. I was one of the first people there and there was plenty of shade in the area. I couldn’t say the same for people that arrived after 10.15 or 10.30am though. They were a little far back and they had to stand in full sun. There was a water station set up for everyone. The team member manning the perimeter also let people come and go for bathroom/snack breaks. At 11.30am, they started walking us toward the ride entrance, but just to stop us right in front of the Hogwarts Express prop. I had to stand in the sun for another 30 minutes before being let in to the queue proper. Even then, the ride still wasn’t up. I was held again right before the boarding area for another 15 minutes. And then, the ride was ready to go. I boarded the motor bike at 12.25pm. The wait time started at 150 minutes right off the bat and stayed that way till about 2pm when it moved to 180 minutes. I found the whole experience to be worth it. The ride was fantastic and very long for a roller coaster. There were a few surprises to keep it fresh and different. Granted, I was here by myself this trip and this made waiting for nearly three hours so much easier than a family with kids. With that being said, when I’m back here in two weeks with my girls, I’ll do this again if they are willing to wait. Hope this helps everyone!!
 
Here’s my experience. I’m at the park today (July 2). I got to the holding pen in the Sinbad theater area at 9.45am. I was one of the first people there and there was plenty of shade in the area. I couldn’t say the same for people that arrived after 10.15 or 10.30am though. They were a little far back and they had to stand in full sun. There was a water station set up for everyone. The team member manning the perimeter also let people come and go for bathroom/snack breaks. At 11.30am, they started walking us toward the ride entrance, but just to stop us right in front of the Hogwarts Express prop. I had to stand in the sun for another 30 minutes before being let in to the queue proper. Even then, the ride still wasn’t up. I was held again right before the boarding area for another 15 minutes. And then, the ride was ready to go. I boarded the motor bike at 12.25pm. The wait time started at 150 minutes right off the bat and stayed that way till about 2pm when it moved to 180 minutes. I found the whole experience to be worth it. The ride was fantastic and very long for a roller coaster. There were a few surprises to keep it fresh and different. Granted, I was here by myself this trip and this made waiting for nearly three hours so much easier than a family with kids. With that being said, when I’m back here in two weeks with my girls, I’ll do this again if they are willing to wait. Hope this helps everyone!!
thanks for the update. Silly question though. Seems you waited over 4 hours, and thats w/o really knowing what time they would have opened it, it could have been later. However as soon as they opened the ride, you said the posted wait was around 2.5 hours (150 min). So from maximizing your touring time, wouldn't it be better to just wait for it to open and jump on line right behind those who were in the holding area?
 
thanks for the update. Silly question though. Seems you waited over 4 hours, and thats w/o really knowing what time they would have opened it, it could have been later. However as soon as they opened the ride, you said the posted wait was around 2.5 hours (150 min). So from maximizing your touring time, wouldn't it be better to just wait for it to open and jump on line right behind those who were in the holding area?
My total wait was actually a little less than three hours from the time I got to the holding area and finally boarding the ride. The posted wait time when the ride came online was 150 minutes right off the bat but that was for people that just jumped in line then. For me, it was a walk-on when the ride was officially open. I admit the hardest part of the wait was not knowing what was going on. No one told us anything. You’re right that I got lucky the ride opened on the earlier side than later. It could have opened at 4pm, instead of 12pm. But if you wait till the ride officially opens to jump in line, then you would actually have to wait the same amount of time I did and also running the risk of it closing down due to technical problem, weather, or what not. I hope this makes sense.
 
thanks for the update. Silly question though. Seems you waited over 4 hours, and thats w/o really knowing what time they would have opened it, it could have been later. However as soon as they opened the ride, you said the posted wait was around 2.5 hours (150 min). So from maximizing your touring time, wouldn't it be better to just wait for it to open and jump on line right behind those who were in the holding area?

Yeah, just hopping on when it officially opens comes with plus and minuses, it can be about the same wait time, or if anything, could actually be less time depending on what the official wait time is when it opens, or the downside you could have bad luck and be waiting longer than some people who had been waiting first in line, especially since as @bellarinah said, delays / weather can compromise the wait time and increase it as well. So, if I had no choice, but to pick one path, or the other, I would wait until it opens, because at least you're guaranteed that regardless of what happens that if it opens you'll get to ride it.
 
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It's been on weather delayed it seems like for about an hour (at least from what it looks like when I've been checking the app out of curiosity, do not know if it's been longer than that), which is sad, considering I checked the radar and it seems to be a few specs in the Orlando area. Anyone in the parks today that can tell whether they've heard thunder, or seen lightning? I thought when rides were closed due to weather it was due to storms, not just rain.
 
I’m at RPR. They closed the pool about an hour ago due to thunder within 5 miles. It rained but has been sunny for a while now. Just walked by the pool and it’s still closed.
 
How is loading speed when it’s up and running? As a coaster fan, it is really painful to wait for a slow loading coaster. I suspect it can’t load as fast or efficiently as something like Hulk, which holds more riders and loads very efficiently. But how bad is it? Thanks!
 
How is loading speed when it’s up and running? As a coaster fan, it is really painful to wait for a slow loading coaster. I suspect it can’t load as fast or efficiently as something like Hulk, which holds more riders and loads very efficiently. But how bad is it? Thanks!

It's a moving belt similar to Rip Ride Rockit and from everything I've read it loads very efficiently. They launch trains about every 30 seconds (when things are running smoothly) which is much faster than Hulk which takes well over a minute to load and launch cars.

Now to your point hulk holds more passengers per train but take more than double the time than this ride, so it's kind of a wash when looking to calculate hourly ride capacity.
 
It's a moving belt similar to Rip Ride Rockit and from everything I've read it loads very efficiently. They launch trains about every 30 seconds (when things are running smoothly) which is much faster than Hulk which takes well over a minute to load and launch cars.

Now to your point hulk holds more passengers per train but take more than double the time than this ride, so it's kind of a wash when looking to calculate hourly ride capacity.

Add at least 45 seconds to that time at least. The belt moves painfully slow on all the videos I have seen. Just the point at the end of the station is taking about 20 seconds before the train releases. Capacity is between 500-700 an hour based off what I calculated.
 
Add at least 45 seconds to that time at least. The belt moves painfully slow on all the videos I have seen. Just the point at the end of the station is taking about 20 seconds before the train releases. Capacity is between 500-700 an hour based off what I calculated.

Each train of bikes can launch every -45 seconds when empty. You can time them when they are doing the ~12 minutes of testing before they open the ride. Obviously with loading it does take longer. They are also only using half of the trains right now.

It will be high capacity if they can figure out all their problems. I definitely think it’s closer to 750-1000 a hr right now when it’s actually running. The problem is it’s down a lot even when it’s open. It routinely has 15 to 45 minute delays during the time it’s open. Here’s hoping they actually get it to its potential capacity.
 

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