Picture this: it’s 6 AM, the sun isn’t up yet, and you’re already about to leave the hotel to line up at the gates of Universal Orlando.
You go downstairs, grab a coffee, and get in line for the bus talking with your friends and family about the rope drop game plan. Little did you know that ride closures would completely throw off the plan in question. Well, this is exactly what happened to me! Here’s how it all went down.
One thing about me is that I’m a hardcore rope dropper. So much so, that it almost ruined my engagement at Disneyland (more on that here). That’s why when I stayed at Universal’s Dockside Inn on a recent trip, I put the “early” in Early Park Admission and set my alarms for 6 AM. All Universal hotel guests get access to a park (usually Islands of Adventure) an hour before it opens to everyone…and it’s a HUGE perk.
While it’s important at Disney World and we’re constantly recommending it, it’s also extremely important at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. That is if you want to get on the park’s two most popular rides without waiting hours!
So, as I said above, we hopped on the very first bus to the park (coffee in hand, of course), went through security, and ended up this close to the front gates. Score! At this point, we were thrilled and couldn’t wait to start the day…but we had no idea what was waiting for us past these gates.
Typically there are only four rides and one attraction open during Early Park Admission. This includes Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and VelicoCoaster, and let’s be honest, if people are getting up this early, there’s a 99% chance they are heading to these two rides.
Hagrid’s is my favorite theme park attraction I have ever experienced so of course that’s where we headed first. As we made our way through Seuss Landing and The Lost Continent, we saw several Team Members saying Hagrid’s was currently closed for technical difficulties. This is obviously a huge bummer, but that’s okay — we headed for VelociCoaster instead!
We made it to the entrance and saw people getting in line. As soon as we were about to step in line, a Team Member let us know the ride was down however we were allowed to line up for it, unlike Hagrid’s. We were shocked that both big attractions were down, but hey, what can you do? It was hard to decide the next move — staying in line or not — but we landed on staying in line. At least they were letting us stand in line, so it must be close to opening, right? RIGHT?!
Luckily we made the right move even though it was a gamble. We entered the park around 7:50 AM and the ride officially opened at 8:15 AM. Since some other people left the queue, we were in the first few cars of the day!
After that, I kept my eye on Hagrid’s in the app, but it was still closed and employees were not letting people line up. Luckily Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff were open with no wait. By the time we did both of those Hagrid’s was still closed and the park had officially opened. We definitely got a head start on the rest of the park (and even had time to stop at Auntie Anne’s for a breakfast pretzel!). When the Harry Potter coaster did open, we were on the other side of the park and it had a 180-minute wait time.
This is where you’d have to really evaluate your priorities. For me and my group, we only had one day to hit both parks, so we hopped on the Hogwarts Express to head to Universal Studios. But if you’ve never experienced Hagrid’s, I would probably say to grab a Butterbeer and wait in that line! Again, it’s completely up to you and what you want out of the trip.
Overall, it felt like a total disaster at that moment and we weren’t able to get on our #1 ride of the day. However, with a good attitude and an ounce of patience, we turned our day around and had a great time. You can do the same thing no matter which park you are rope dropping! It can be a frustrating experience and it’s easy to let that put a damper on your day, but the theme park employees are doing everything they can to get your favorite rides back up and running.
Have you ever experienced anything like this? I know this has happened to me in Disney World too, but many more rides are open during Early Entry typically. Let me know your stories in the comments and stay tuned to AllEars!
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So really you got nothing for nothing you could have just slept in and got in line like everybody else
Not a Disney story, but I waited 2 hours for the newly opened Ultra Twister ride at Great Adventure (NJ).
This was 6/6/86. It broke down when we were about 4 carloads from the front.
We tried to wait longer but ran out of time (We were there to see the Monkees in concert and had to bail the line to go to the show)
I was 13. I was really bummed out. The concert was cool tho, and we did ride it eventually.
Hagrid’s has two drop sections. If one goes down, the wait time for the ride increases significantly. We went about 6 times last year (weekend trips and one full week) and it was only down once. It is definitely my favorite ride.
We notice when temps are cool in the morning or evening it’s always delayed or closed. We did discover however if we got in line at the end of the day when park was closing, we could squeeze in our ride at the end of the day, as long as it doesn’t break down. They did not ask us to leave due to closure of park and allowed us to wait in line to get it in. And nighttime is like a whole new experience, really cool!
I have been a season pass holder for nearly 2 years and considering cancelling at this year’s end due in large part to the fact that 4+ visits per year and the Harry Potter motorbike adventure has never been operational and when I visit it’s two to 3 days each time
In addition to other rides being closed which seriously is THE ONLY REASON I GO IN THE 1st place
I have been to universal approx 10 times for early entry and hagrid was always closed I know approx 40 people plus this happened to all. Bottom line that is a big lie that ride is never opened like they say
Going early is such a waste when nothing is opened. I’ve waited in plenty of lines and still managed to ride everything in a day, with plenty of time to spare.
I swear they do this on purpose!!