Universal Orlando has announced another change to the operating hours for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, its new Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction. 

Soon after the widely-acclaimed roller coaster drew 10-hour wait times on its opening day, Universal announced it would not open with the rest of the park, saying “our team needs time to take care of the ride’s daily maintenance and technical support.” What has followed is a month of frequent closures and significant downtimes, with anecdotal reports of guests waiting hours for the ride only to be told to leave the queue during a weather delay. 

On July 8, the ride failed to open at all, despite guests being allowed to line up for it in the courtyard of the closed Eighth Voyage of Sindbad stunt show. 

Given these operational difficulties, Universal is now aiming to open the ride in the morning, but close it before the rest of the park. 


This is a change from typical theme park practice. Usually, guests are allowed on rides as long as they enter the queue before the park’s official closing time. 

Before Hagrid’s coaster opened, Universal had said it would utilize the Virtual Line reservation system for the ride, but it was yet to be implemented. 

Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure was manufactured by Intamin, a Switzerland-based firm responsible for several other major attractions in Central Florida, including Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts at Universal Studios Florida and Infinity Falls at SeaWorld Orlando.

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