Rope Drop...Early Entry...Hagrids or Velocicoaster?

[lpkalten]

My kids and I are heading to IOA this coming week. We have Rope Drop and Early Entry. Park opens at 9:00am so Early entry is 8:00am. What time should I arrive at front gate? Once I get through gate and head to Hangrids or Velocicoaster do I HAVE to go to the lockers to store cell phones? Is it permitted for my 16 and 15 to get in line, I go to lockers and track them down? Is that cutting though?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Go to Hagrids first, that line builds much faster & stays longer.

Have your ticket/room key/whatever ready to scan & your stuff handy to cram in there, and it is a quick process at the lockers anyways. It would be rude to barge through the line & catch up, so everyone goes or no one does.

However, for Hagrids you do not need to use lockers if all your stuff fits in pockets. For Velocicoaster, the lockers are most of the way through the queue anyways & everyone passes through the area (everything out of pockets for this one).

 

[djmeredith]

Just returned from a trip M-F. It was very crowded all week, but increasing each day (which I expected since the IO Meetup was this weekend). We did IOA twice for early opening. The first time we got there around 7:45 (later than I hoped), and the line was almost at the end of the bridge on the City Walk side. By the time we got to Hagrid's the line was an hour plus.

Our second EE day our plan was to do Velocicoaster for EE so we didn't get there until right at 8:00ish. People were already being let in so the main line(s) was backed up to the start of the bridge (on the IOA side of the bridge). By the time we got to the back around 8:15, Hagrid's was already WAY longer than it had been on Tues, and VC was already at 50 mins. It did take us less than 50 at VC, but there was no riding back to back like some people reported in prior weeks. The rest of summer is likely only going to get more crowded than this week, so EE may not be of much use for Hagrid's or VC unless you are in line at least an hour before. We rode Hagrid's a second time by jumping in the line around 8:45 and waited only about an hour.

 

[Krisshay13]

We just got back today. Spent Tues-Sat in the parks & we were there for OI Meetup both nights. I agree, each day got busier.
(side note, I'm in my 60s with COPD so, I don't run, just walk fast...just saying so you know, if I can get there in decent time, anyone can...LOL)
Tues, we were on the 1st boat from RPR & were about 7th in line for rope drop. We booked it to Hagrids & was on & off by 8:10.
Wed, on 1st boat & were about 30th in line.....on & off Hagrids around 8:30.
Thurs, didn't get on boat until 7:15ish (not doing Hagrids)....were about 50th in line. Headed to Velocicoaster & it was a walk on.
Fri, was on 1st bus (had changed to Surfside).......and was lucky to be about 5th in line. But, lots of fast people so, we were on & off Hagrids around 8:40.

So, even though we had a better spot at rope drop on Friday.........there were so many more people running to Hagrids, we were way back. If you can be on the 1st bus/boat, that is the best way to try.

 

[lpkalten]

Thanks for the estimates and game plans.

What time does the first boat open/leave at RPR?

Is it faster to be at the first boat / security at RPR or walk it to security citywalk? Trying to figure out the fastest and quickest. For reference I have my 16 and 15 with me so walking is always at a brisk pace. Thoughts???

 

[Krisshay13]

1st boat leaves 1 hr before opening....so, 7AM. We didn't walk in the mornings but, I would say it would be faster if you walked & was at security before the 1st boat leaves.

 

[Belleandtinker]

Trying to find the most reliable hours for Universal Parks. Called Dockside to confirm something and they quoted me different hours than posted. For example on Sunday, June 19th - IoA opens at 7 am for park guests. According to their website, it opens at 9 am which would mean 8 am open for resort guests. Any information would be helpful

 

[Callsdodisney]

We walked from Sapphire our last day. Got held up at security at CityWalk for about 15 mins before they opened (we were about the 5th group back there). Once through security, we were first in line at the gate.

The attendant pre-scanned our tickets and we were off the minute they announced the parks were open…..

But Hagrids was down and stayed that way for 3 hours.

We rose velocicoaster twice in 25 minutes and then came off to find the line stretching over the bridge. They knew Hagrids would be down for a long time so they wouldn’t even let people wait in line there. That meant every other ride at the park shot up in wait time, and there were lots of people angry that their EP didn’t work during early hours.

It was fine, but have a plan B for if Hagrids is down!!

 

[boxer]

Just went thru this a few weeks ago...and got excellent advice. If you are lined-up BEFORE the bridge at opening then go ahead to Hagrids before VC. If you are on/after the Bridge, go to VC first, and then try to hit Hagrids later in day. We were well before the bridge--and got on Hagrids within 15min of them opening the Entrance Turnstiles, and got on VC with about a 20-min wait (some of that was a ride breakdown).

 

[Skywalker3]

Yesterday had to drive from Disney to cabana bay, checkin etc. all that went smoothly . Still not quite enough time to be in good position for hagrids. Also TM had 3 big lines formed . Kids are I arrived separately, both made mistake of picking middle line. The right and eft lines will fan out as more tapstiles open. Then the scanner for our line went down . Saw TM move my daughter yo another line, and that scanner went down. It was a cluster. Not through until a few mins after 8. No chance we were doing hagrids first, so went to VC . Just about walked on, and it was awesome. Kids did not want to wait in Hagrids line later, so ended up skipping. If you do opt to skip hagruds in the AM , just commit to likely high wait times later. Got up to 150 yesterday. Started around 100-120 most of the day. Finally saw like 85 later. Some rain delays too. But the kids were also able to do a lot in Marvel right after regular opening , after VC, FJ etc .

 

[djmeredith]

If you miss out on the morning short lines at Hagrid’s (in line before bridge), I highly recommend waiting until right before close to jump in line. First, the wait was significantly shorter by that time (on all 4 of the days we were there). Second, the sun is down so you’re not roasting while waiting in the long exterior part of the line. It was still warm, but not blazing hot.

 

[keishashadow]

Kids did not want to wait in Hagrids line later, so ended up skipping

this made me wonder if anyone has successfully employed the strategy of getting in line shortly before park close.

it usually works, even at RoTR (well, unless it goes down completely).

 

[georgina]

Trying to find the most reliable hours for Universal Parks. Called Dockside to confirm something and they quoted me different hours than posted. For example on Sunday, June 19th - IoA opens at 7 am for park guests. According to their website, it opens at 9 am which would mean 8 am open for resort guests. Any information would be helpful

Where do you see that IOA opens at 7 for park guests? Was that what Endless Summer said? Both the website and the app (which is often more up-to-date) say 8 AM for June 19. I would go by the app.

 

[ghtx]

Anyone have more recent experiences at rope drop and trying to hit Hagrid's and/or VC? We will be there Thanksgiving weekend, staying at RPR, so can get there for early entry, but we would rather not have to get there one whole hour early.

 

[Krisshay13]

Anyone have more recent experiences at rope drop and trying to hit Hagrid's and/or VC? We will be there Thanksgiving weekend, staying at RPR, so can get there for early entry, but we would rather not have to get there one whole hour early.

We just went for 1 day (before a cruise). We stayed at RPR & went to the parks Sunday Oct 16th. We left our room at 6:30 & walked. When we got to security, there were already 4 families/groups waiting. Once security let us in, we were 1st in line at 1 of the many ticket stands. This was the 1st time we didn't take the boat & it proved to be the best choice.
The bad thing was, once got to Hagrid's, we were told there was a delay. Since we only had 1 day, we chose to wait. Several times, we almost left......it was after 9:00 before it opened. So, wasn't a good start.

 

[Skywalker3]

We just did a short Universal stay, and we intended to rope drop VC w little wait. Oct 9, busy Columbus day weekend, Got to hotel a little late, consequently was at rope drop late, as in around 8:10 for an 8:00 opening (which is really about a 7:45 AM opening, as they usually open the turnstiles then.) still hoped for short lines at VC, as the vast majority of crowds go to Hagrids, but.....Hagrids was delayed. so....that made the VC lines a lot longer than usual at rope drop. Usually, one can almost walk straight to locker room at rope drop, and then often ride again, posted times usually 10-20 mins. it was 50 mins by the time we got there at 8:25, It did move quickly though I don't know when Hagrids came back up, we much prefer VC over Hagrids, so had no intention of riding it at any point. Wait times for everything built pretty quickly. The delay in riding VC, caused us to find longer than expected lines at Hulk, Spider man, etc. So as the previous poster noted, a ride delayed at opening might change strategy.

 

[ghtx]

I'm not thrilled about the idea of leaving our hotel room at 6:30 lol. If we arrived at the IOA entrance around 7:45 or 8am and headed straight to Hagrid's and then VC, any guesses as to how long the waits would be already? I could do 30-45 minutes but would hope that it wouldn't already be one hour plus that early. Thanks.

 

[agavegirl1]

I'm not thrilled about the idea of leaving our hotel room at 6:30 lol. If we arrived at the IOA entrance around 7:45 or 8am and headed straight to Hagrid's and then VC, any guesses as to how long the waits would be already? I could do 30-45 minutes but would hope that it wouldn't already be one hour plus that early. Thanks.

Well this morning it was 180 min with an 8AM arrival time. We went to VC today instead and basically walked on with a 35 min. Posted time. Waited about 2 hours a few hours later. They claimed single rider was closed, but a TM near Hagrids Hut was asking for single rider volunteers. These people claim to have waited one hour.

 

[Amyshubby]

Well this morning it was 180 min with an 8AM arrival time. We went to VC today instead and basically walked on with a 35 min. Posted time. Waited about 2 hours a few hours later. They claimed single rider was closed, but a TM near Hagrids Hut was asking for single rider volunteers. These people claim to have waited one hour.

Yikes!

 

[glamdring269]

Somewhat related...

Has anyone heard any rumors on either of these rides getting added to Express Pass? I think it took about 3 years for Gringott's and we're all over that timing with Hagrid's at this point. Obviously nowhere near that timing with VC.