General Discussion - Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure

[Ron101]

Getting express when visiting UOR is pretty much mandatory at this point

 

[Mad Dog]

Hagrid's stand by times are basically normal this morning so far. So no big Express effect in the morning today. I noticed an uptick in standby times on Friday after 4:00 PM when the Premier AP Express option kicks in, though.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Yeah the after 4PM Express will really affect this I think - ESPECIALLY with the desire to ride this at night.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yeah the after 4PM Express will really affect this I think - ESPECIALLY with the desire to ride this at night.

That exact scenario acted out on Friday, especially as darkness set in.

 

[UNIrd]

It looks like the standby line for Hagrid's is staying steady at 2.5 hours. Any opinions on how long that would make the express line roughly?

The merge point is the last room where you see the bikes on the ceiling. So I'd guess however long it takes you to get there and through that part.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Obviously has only been a few days, but based on Thrill-Data's data, Hagrid is showing a 38% increase in posted standby waits compared to this time last year (Fri-Sun weekend after Memorial Day). Additional ~40 minutes for standby.

Just for reference, May total waits are down ~5-8%, excluding this past weekend, from last year.

 

[Ron101]

Those standby times are probably accurate now too. I remember the wait times for this ride were always bloated and ended up being a shorter wait. Now it’s unpredictable with the amount of express going through.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I'll update after a few weeks, but I'm not against express on Hagrid... I just don't like the influx of after 4PM APs getting that ability (sorry!) filling up the queue.

 

[Clive]

I'll update after a few weeks, but I'm not against express on Hagrid... I just don't like the influx of after 4PM APs getting that ability (sorry!) filling up the queue.

IMO, this is a fair criticism/concern! One would hope this is just the initial rush and things will taper off a bit as the novelty wears off... but at the same time, Hagrid's is one of the top rides at the resort, so we'll see.

 

[Mad Dog]

IMO, this is a fair criticism/concern! One would hope this is just the initial rush and things will taper off a bit as the novelty wears off... but at the same time, Hagrid's is one of the top rides at the resort, so we'll see.

Plus IOA and USF have been pretty busy since the Express started. Lots of long lines all around. It'll be interesting to see the numbers with slower/more moderate attendance days.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Soooo, at EPA today, apparently for last month or so Express now open with EPA.
More important than before to be as close to first at the gate as possible. Express fills up Immediately!

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Half way through the month, Hagrid is noticeably posting longer waits. This is obviously early in Hagrid's post-Express lifetime, just wanted to share/summarize the data we have now. Month to Date June Wait-Times are up 23% for Hagrid's. 110 average this year versus 89 last year.

For reference:

• VelociCoaster is down 25%
• Spider-Man is up 2%
• Incredible Hulk down 5%
• Skull Island down 27%
• Forbidden Journey up 7%
• IOA overall is down 4%

There's a noticeable drop throughout the Central Florida parks in wait-times (below), so Hagrid's is obviously being impacted by adding express.

• USF down 11%
• MK down 10%
• EP down 14%
• DHS down 4%
• DAK flat (surprised by this)

Well aware that wait-times are not the sole indicator of park attendance/performance, but it's the only piece of public data we can refer to on a day to day basis until quarterly/TEA reports are out.

I'm all for express pass at the parks, but I think Hagrid's popularity unfortunately requires some sort of restrictions added on (whether its limiting express to 1 ride a day or making it a "premium" offering for hotel guests and/or express pass purchases.)


Thanks to Thrill-Data for the data.

 

[boomerthom]

Hopped in express Saturday evening around 6-6:30 with a 135 min posted wait and the actual wait was only about 30 minutes. Not sure how accurate the posted time was as it dropped to 90 after we were done, but it was a breeze. Express queue can feel longer than it is since there’s not much to look at and the part leading up to the indoor queue is a giant straight line of people, but overall pretty painless to use.

 

[Mad Dog]

Posted wait times are highly inaccurate, for a number of reasons, and the accuracies vary from ride to ride. Touring Plans does a pretty good job of compiling 'actual' wait times. I look at those Touring Plans daily, and that's the times I use when I tour the parks. And, the WDW wait times have steadily decreased over the past year since they cleaned up most of the fraud associated with disability passes. It's been a major change, and considerably lower posted and 'actual' wait times at the WDW parks as a result.....Epic is a wild card with Universal, and that may throw a lot of the results off when trying to compare year to year, since the mix of guests and vacation packages has probably changed due to Epic....That said, I'm sure Hagrid stand by lines will be longer with Express added. I don't think management thought the result wouldn't be longer stand by lines........Generally, if you look long term at Touring Plans 'posted' vs. 'actual' stand by times for WDW & Universal, it's around 65%. So if a posted time is 100 minutes, the real time would usually be in the vicinity of 65 minutes in most cases.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Hagrid's average wait-time in June was Up 34%, roughly up +30 mins (both Thrill-Data and Touring Plans data confirm) compared to June 2024.

Express has obviously had an impact on the attraction's posted wait.

(This is a wild assumption) Who knows what the actual wait-time ends up being, but a higher posted wait outside could unfortunately lead to more standby guests "balking" from entering, effectively reducing the number of non-express guests getting on.

Edit: Additional Data

Spoiler: Additional Data

USF overall down 10%
IOA overall up 8%
Magic Kingdom down 8%
Epcot down 10%
Hollywood Studios down 5%
Animal Kingdom up 5% (likely due to lost capacity)
Velocicoaster down 4%
*Credit: Thrill-Data
/SPOILER]

 

[UAN17]

Not being a frequent visitor, the guest experience for none express holders has been a bit of a shambles in comparison to our last visit a few years ago.

Streams and streams of express let onto Velocicoaster and presumably Hagrids, have reduced the constant ‘going somewhere’ shuffle to a frustrating envious watch as people who’ve just joined waltz past you.

Got to be honest, Disney are handling express/lightening lane, better than Universal right now and I never in a million years thought I’d say that.

Feel there’s a substantial shift that’s happened here to the detriment of regular park visitors. My general point here is that one off visitors’ time is much more limited so this should be respected.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Not being a frequent visitor, the guest experience for none express holders has been a bit of a shambles in comparison to our last visit a few years ago.

Streams and streams of express let onto Velocicoaster and presumably Hagrids, have reduced the constant ‘going somewhere’ shuffle to a frustrating envious watch as people who’ve just joined waltz past you.

Got to be honest, Disney are handling express/lightening lane, better than Universal right now and I never in a million years thought I’d say that.

Feel there’s a substantial shift that’s happened here to the detriment of regular park visitors. My general point here is that one off visitors’ time is much more limited so this should be respected.

I echo your same thoughts, which is why I was hoping they'd modify the express use for this attraction to limit the number of guests able to utilize it. No one wins from the express line clogging up everything after 4PM with APs. I'm ok with express on this attraction if they limited access to it.

Disney's a lot better now, but I don't think Universal is as egregious as WDW was a few years ago... they just have two attractions (Velo & Hagrid) they need to adjust express procedures for.