‘Hagrid’s Magical Creatures’ is the best ride in the wizarding world
Guests were enthusiastic about experiencing “Hagrid’s” and seeing all of the magical creatures that the ride featured along the tracks. Photo by Insider.com
By Jack Murphy
A&E Editor
By far my favorite thing I did this summer was go to Universal Studios Orlando and ride the new rollercoaster “Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.”
On June 13, Universal opened “Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure” to the public, and to say lines were long is an understatement. At 5a.m., people were allowed to come in the park and wait, and by the time the park actually opened, lines reached all the way to the parking lot. Since the coaster was in the back of the park, this led to a 10-hour wait period. This is still insane to me, but it is not surprising knowing both theme park enthusiast and Harry Potter fans.
Since my grandparents knew how much I loved Universal and how excited I was for this ride, they decided to have the entire family come down to Orlando to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. As such, I will thank them for the rest of my life that they got VIP passes for the day, which means we got a tour guide and were able to get to the front of the line for every ride, even “Hagrid’s,” but only once for “Hagrid’s” because it was at an eight hour wait for the day. I was able to ride, and it was everything I wanted and more.
Manufactured by Intamin, a Swedish roller coaster company, the coaster has a top speed of 55 MPH, one of only two drop tracks in the country, goes forwards and backwards, and it is the longest track in the state of Florida at 5,503 feet.
The story of the ride follows Hagrid as he takes people on a course about the care of magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest. As expected with Hagrid, the class does not go as planned. Arthur Weasley has helped Hagrid by using a cloning spell to duplicate Sirius Black’s motorbike so the students could tour the forest in the bikes. There are 10 rows of motorbike cars and sidecars.. Multiple animatronics, all incredibly well done, inhabit the newly built forest, including Fluffy the three-headed dog and Hagrid himself.
If all of that does not convince you that this ride is the most fun rollercoaster I have ever been on in my life, then I have no idea what will. I got to ride in the front row on the motorbike, and I smiled the entire time, and it was the happiest moment of my life. In fact, I bought another ticket and went back the next day just to ride “Hagrid’s” again.
While it was great, there is a lesson that can be learned from the coaster, and that is that brand new attractions are incredibly unreliable early on, and none more than “Hagrid’s.”
The coaster kept breaking down, again, and again, and I can tell you the message they play over the speakers about how the lesson has been shortly interrupted and will be back up shortly. I can still hear it in my nightmares. Sometimes the delays would only last a couple of minutes, and sometimes they would last up to an hour. Being the incredibly patient person that I am, I kept waiting, and I ended up waiting five and a half hours to sit in the sidecar and ride “Hagrid’s” for the second time, time. It was amazing, however, the delays were not amazing. The breakdowns need to be fixed on this ride.
“Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure” is a wonderful adventure. Regardless of if you’re a fan of Harry Potter or not, the coaster steals the show; everything else is the cherry on top at Universal Studios. I could not recommend anything more to anyone in my life. Plan a trip and go to Universal and ride “Hagrid’s.” I swear on my life you will not regret it. I’m giving “Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure” an A++.