General Discussion - Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure

[Clive]

With 2025 complete, here is how Hagrid ended up w/ the Express addition (thanks to TouringPlans.com data). The red line is Hagrid's average all-time wait-time data (92 mins). The dark black line is Hagrid's wait, while the lighter grey is the overall IOA wait-time for E-tickets excluding Hagrid (Spidey, FJ, Hulk, JPRA, Veloci, Kong).
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Average Posted Before Express: 90-minutes
Average Posted After Express: 118-minutes

A +32% Jump compared to before (an additional ~half hour). IOA's other E-tickets saw a combined -22% drop in average waits.

I mean, tracks. I would've hoped that the expanded maintenance bay would've helped overall capacity somewhat, but it appears that hasn't really happened?

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I mean, tracks. I would've hoped that the expanded maintenance bay would've helped overall capacity somewhat, but it appears that hasn't really happened?

So far, it does look like it's working and downtime has improved, so there's a gain on that end. But you still have express being prioritized, so it ends up negating that improvement for standby.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I mean, tracks. I would've hoped that the expanded maintenance bay would've helped overall capacity somewhat, but it appears that hasn't really happened?

The expanded barn was for getting it open earlier during EPA.

 

[SkiBum]

So far, it does look like it's working and downtime has improved, so there's a gain on that end. But you still have express being prioritized, so it ends up negating that improvement for standby.

Has there been any ride that benefits from Express, Lightning Lane, or FastPass? I mean, I understand that the intention is pull more money out of the consumer's wallets or to give an incentive to stay the more expensive hotels but the wait times are suffering because management doesn't have a clear idea on how to successfully balance the line-jumping passes against those that are waiting in stand-by.

 

[Mad Dog]

Has there been any ride that benefits from Express, Lightning Lane, or FastPass? I mean, I understand that the intention is pull more money out of the consumer's wallets or to give an incentive to stay the more expensive hotels but the wait times are suffering because management doesn't have a clear idea on how to successfully balance the line-jumping passes against those that are waiting in stand-by.

Probably not. Even at WDW a huge people eater like Pirates and Haunted Mansion experienced increased stand by times when fast pass, and later lightening lanes, were added. It's a direct result of the process, and to be expected.....Fast Pass/Lightening/Express = Longer stand by times

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Has there been any ride that benefits from Express, Lightning Lane, or FastPass? I mean, I understand that the intention is pull more money out of the consumer's wallets or to give an incentive to stay the more expensive hotels but the wait times are suffering because management doesn't have a clear idea on how to successfully balance the line-jumping passes against those that are waiting in stand-by.

Express, or any form of skip the line pass, doesn't benefit anyone (I'd argue even those with Express as wild as that sounds). There's no reason why, like Mad Dog mentioned, there should be a significant wait for rides like POTC and HM.


In Hagrid's case, express really only benefits premier hotel users, premier passholders after 4PM and those that purchase the pass. They aren't getting rid of the system, but I do wish they exempted Premier Passholders from it (sorry!) and limited express use to 1 per person per day. Daytime guests are severely penalized during EPA and then later in the afternoon with the wave of premier APs arriving at the park.

 

[JohnHammondsCane]

Express, or any form of skip the line pass, doesn't benefit anyone (I'd argue even those with Express as wild as that sounds). There's no reason why, like Mad Dog mentioned, there should be a significant wait for rides like POTC and HM.


In Hagrid's case, express really only benefits premier hotel users, premier passholders after 4PM and those that purchase the pass. They aren't getting rid of the system, but I do wish they exempted Premier Passholders from it (sorry!) and limited express use to 1 per person per day. Daytime guests are severely penalized during EPA and then later in the afternoon with the wave of premier APs arriving at the park.

Yeah, I downgraded my Premier pass coming into 2026, and I'll probably not ride Hagrid's anymore unless we A) stay at HRH, PB, or RPR, or B) are near the front of EPA. Sad, because it's my favorite ride, but I just can't justify the wait time. Even worse, when my brother, who has an AAP, comes with us, the line was 15 min max. With the addition of express, that wait time is now more than double, so he can't ride either.

Totally not trying to be all "poor me", but just lending my POV on how this will effect park guests of different stripes. Absolutely love the ride, but it's going to be a slog for anyone without express or waking up super early for EPA

 

[Mad Dog]

Hagrids and RotR used to have similar wait times during the first few years they opened, nearly at similar times. But while
RotR has dropped considerably, Hagrids has remained very high. I don't have any operational or theoretical ride capacity
information for either attraction. Does anyone have any 'up to date' capacity numbers? That could help to see what's going on.
Both attractions have express versions now. Neither has the troublesome lottery like virtual lines anymore.....I rode this a
ton of times when I had hotel express in November, but didn't bother after the second half of the vacation at a non express hotel.
I do not stand in lines over an hour long. No ride is worth that, not even Hagrids.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Hagrids and RotR used to have similar wait times during the first few years they opened, nearly at similar times. But while
RotR has dropped considerably, Hagrids has remained very high. I don't have any operational or theoretical ride capacity
information for either attraction. Does anyone have any 'up to date' capacity numbers? That could help to see what's going on.
Both attractions have express versions now. Neither has the troublesome lottery like virtual lines anymore.....I rode this a
ton of times when I had hotel express in November, but didn't bother after the second half of the vacation at a non express hotel.
I do not stand in lines over an hour long. No ride is worth that, not even Hagrids.

Quick example below on how Express impacts wait-times.

Rise of the Resistance & Hagrid have very similar max (100% efficient) capacity. However, both differ greatly day to day. ROTR will often have downtime but can run enough vehicles to get close to its maximum hourly capacity. Hagrid suffers from not being able to have enough trains running to reach that goal everyday.

The chart below shows how Hagrid's hourly capacity depends on the number of trains running. Below that, you can then see how the Express to Standby ratio impacts standby capacity and wait-times. So if you're the 1,00th guest in line with a 10 Express to 5 standby guest ratio (33% dedicated to Standby), and the ride is running an efficient 11 trains, you're looking at a 100-min wait.


(If anyone has actual(s) data and/or another method, please let me know!)