A blog post? Are these still a thing? I guess they are!
Also, there will be spoilers, you have been warned.
It is a rare occurrence that a theme park invests money in a fully immersive, high speed, thrill based roller coaster. However, every once and a while we get lucky. In 2017, Universal Studios Islands of Adventure announced the closure of the Dragon Challenge (Dueling Dragons) Roller Coasters to make way for future development. After the rapid deconstruction of the rollers, Universal began construction on a top-secret project. Over the course of construction, we watched as an Intamin multi-launching roller coaster was built and themed to the hilt, and finally, after months of Speculation, Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure was announced to the public. As a fan of Dueling Dragons, I was sad, but as a Potterhead, my excitement began to grow. My excitement continued to grow as we heard reviews and I talked to friends who had gotten to ride it, and after hearing Chris’ review of it on the Podcast, I was determined to ride it as soon as possible. The only issue was, I didn't know when I would get to ride it. And then to my surprise, that’s almost all I did on my Birthday.
The trip that I got to ride Hagrids on deserves its own story and if you want to listen to it, I will link the episode of the Twisted Travelers Podcast were we talked about it below, but this is about the experience that is riding Hagrids, and it all starts with the Virtual Line. As soon as we got on property Chris got us a ride time around 1:30. After doing Studios all morning, we walked over to Islands and headed towards Hogsmeade. After joining the line in Lost Continent and winding through into Hogsmeade, I placed my camera in a locker and walked around the corner to the arch. Immediate impressions were amazing. Hearing the motorbikes roar by and seeing the queue ahead of me, my excitement began to rise again. We walked through the arch and waited through almost the entire queue, giving me time to take in all of it. The outdoor section provided teasing views of what awaited me and the inside provided some much needed AC as well as successfully lost me in the maze that is the endless passages buried within the building. I loved all the subtle references that only mega Harry Potter Fans would understand and also loved that there was always something to look at. Making it to the final room, it began to sink in that this was it,I had done my waiting, 2 years of waiting it, IN AZKABAN! Sorry, I have to sneak that in. As we rounded the corner, we were assigned row 6 and we mounted the bikes. I took the bike for my first ride, and after about 30 seconds of slow-rolling, we were off. Hagrid led us out to his hut and the adventure was on.
Every second of it was amazing, from the launches, both forward and backward, to the fast transitions, as well as the drop track, and amazing finale. All of it was perfect. I got off of the ride initially having my expectations met and being perfectly content with it. We then headed off for the rest of our day with two more return times for Hagrids at night. Getting back in line around 8:30, we waited again, and this time I got the front row. Hagrid's is amazing by day, but at night, it left me speechless. The spike in the front row was nuts, and so was not being able to see where we were going. Left, right, up, down, forwards, backward. Only being my second ride I still didn’t know what was happening, and I lived for every second of it. We hit the brake run after that ride and I just sat there laughing my head off. As I said, every detail that went into this coaster makes me so happy, and getting to experience such a work of art made my year. Another lap on it at night, this time in the back row, made my love grow even more.
The next day, we rode it four more times in various seats and I couldn’t get enough. I gladly would have sat on it all day if they would have let me. Besides being one of a kind experience, Hagrids is also a technical marvel. At one point in time during our visit, they had 10 trains on the track and were rolling them faster than I have ever seen on any other coaster. The fact that the trains never stop moving amazes me and I have to tip my hat to the Universal Maintenance army that is responsible for Hagrids. Every aspect of this attraction was weighed and considered and it shows because this is one of the best experiences I have had at a theme park. And I use the word experience there because it is far more than just a roller coaster. The walk up and through Hogsmeade, traversing the line and seeing all of the set pieces and theming, getting fully lost in the caverns leading to the station, and emerging on a motorbike racing off into the forest, all create an experience unlike anything else I have ever done, and it is for that reason I think so highly of the ride.
So, if you haven’t figured it out, yes, Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure is one of my favorite roller coasters ever built, and, yes, the name is obnoxiously long. I can say it over and over, but Universal and its Creative department did something amazing with this ride, and I can not wait to get back to Islands of Adventure next year to get some more rides in on Hagrids, as well as try out Intamin's next insane creation for Universal with Velocicoaster. (Which, in my opinion, is the coaster to beat in 2021). As always thank you for reading and stay tuned for another post soon, and I promise I won’t wait six months to post the next blog.
Ride-On!
- Jack
Listen to Jack’s Universal Studios Orlando Trip Report here!
Look at all of my Hagrid's and Universal Pictures here