Hi all, I shared this post on the original thread, but I’ll add it here for ease of reference
I’m not in a rush to do it again but this is how it went and yes... I am mad!
Day 13 - IOA - Hagrid Ride Opening Day
As I’d now been around all the parks I had tickets for and done all the rides I wanted to do, I had a ‘spare’ day that coincided with the opening of the hagrid ride! So I though why not?! I’ve never done an attraction opening day before, had nothing better to do and the ride looked incredible!
Now if I’d known how early people started queueing, I would have been up and at the park earlier but as I didn’t, I arrived and got in the queue just before 8am. Universal employees were quite clearly warning those of us joining that we were in for an 8 hour wait and so quite a few changed their minds. I was not one of these, 8 hours is just a working day, I can take that amount of boredom and monotony like a pro 😂
The queue moved gradually for a few hours, from the entrance around to Seuss land, behind the scenes of Poseidon and sinbad, which was quite interesting to see! There were food and drink stands along the way and you could leave the queue for bathroom breaks. Everyone was in good spirits and I got chatting to the people around me and made friends. It drizzled quite a lot with intermittent sunshine and the bearable weather definitely helped us!
At about 4pm, we finally got to Hogsmeade and I put my belongings in the locked then headed on to the ride entrance. The ride had had a few stops throughout the day for weather and so we all knew we were behind schedule but after so long waiting, everyone was dedicated to that ride. The family in front had 2 young twin boys who were taking it like champs, even though one has sensory issues. If they could do it, I sure as hell wasn’t giving up 😁
We were in the ride entrance with an estimated time from there of 2-3 hours. After about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, we made it into the building and into the pre-show. The pre-show was good but I think it was a bit too early on in the queue and should be closer to actually boarding.
After this, disaster struck and the ride broke down. We were inside with no natural light so unsure as to whether it was due to the weather but I suspect not. This is where it got really tough, no staff, no light, no water and no toilets. But everyone rallied around to support each other, we sang songs, told jokes and helped each other out! We could go out for toilet breaks but that involved climbing back through the queue (everyone was sat on the floor) which was a night mare! We ended up stuck in that cave queue for 1 hour 45 mins. I think many people would have left had it not been for the great atmosphere and support everyone gave to one another.
The only info we got from staff during this time was from a line counter saying that there were still 500 people ahead of us for the ride! Finally, to much applause and cheering, the ride was back up!
We had to wait about an hour from there then finally, it was our turn! I rode the sidecar with one of my line friends and wow, the ride is completely incredible... the best roller coaster I have been on, and I’ve been on a fair few. It’s actually a surprisingly long ride, with some unexpected twists and lots of launches. I actually did feel that it was worth the wait, as did the others in our little queue group!
Then, after we got off, the mum of our group, with the 2 boys took us all on as her party for rider switch as she had practically adopted us over the last many hours. The much cheering, hugging and excitement as we walked through for the second time, an amazing high. We hopped on and I got to go on the bike this time! I liked the bike better, you actually feel like you’re riding it around the coaster! And the ride was every bit as good the second time around!
When we all finally got off, it was just after half 10 and we were all wiped and so said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I could not have asked for better line buddies for the day!
I was starving after that day and so went to bubba gump for a lava cocktail (yum), shrimp mac and cheese (yum) and mozzarella sticks (not so good). Back to the hotel after via Lyft and got back about half past midnight.
Now a whole day of queueing isn’t for everyone but I had nothing better that I wanted to do, really enjoyed my day and got to ride an incredible ride... so to me it was worth it 😁
Today I’m doing some packing then off to magical kingdom this evening to say my goodbyes 😭