Monday, May 20, 2019

Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure May 20 Update

Photo courtesy of Inside Universal.

Hagird's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure officially opens in three weeks. In our latest, and last, update we'll look at the finishing touches along the ride path, the outdoor queue, the indoor queue preview released today, and speculate on Team Member and guest previews. As always many thanks to Inside Universal and Bioreconsturct for the photos and coverage. If you do not already make sure to follow them.

The entrance sign for Hagrid is nearly installed and complete. Moss has been applied and the fiber-optics are installed!

What I like is the small bit of stained glass below which brings some color and pop to the sign, something sorely missing from Dragon Challenge.
Construction is nearly done! Staining of the sidewalks is finishing up on May 7 and the sound barrier mural painting has started. Continuous testing started this past week and trains are dispatching roughly every 20-30 seconds, giving this ride an hourly capacity of over 2000 guests an hour.

The outdoor queue is complete and installed and follows a similar path to the Dragon Challenge outdoor queue. And yes, there are NO metal detectors, so while you will need to store bags you won't have to empty out your pockets.
What's that? Yes, it's a unicorn! Hidden during the final portion of the ride the unicorn will bid us good luck and farewell after we touchdown in the ruins.



This past week several media outlets were invited by Universal Orlando to preview the queue. Hagrid took over the ruins on the outskirts of Hogwarts Castle and uses them to take care of his creatures. Inside guests wind through a newly laid out queue finding equipment, books, and creatures. Soon guests enter the first preshow where Hagrid and Arthur Weasley repair and discuss the motorbike that guests will ride on. After the first preshow there is another bit of queue before a second preshow, one that Universal is keeping secret for now.

Inside Universal has a great write up of the event and Orlando Informer put together a fantastic video looking at the ride and queue (see above).
Photo courtesy of Inside Universal.
With the ride quickly approaching opening everyone is wondering when the ride will preview for all guests. At this point the only guaranteed date to start riding is June 13, the grand opening date. But if you're traveling prior to then there's a possibility the ride will open for limited previews.

Right now the ride is still under the control of Universal Creative. The final major milestone for the attraction will be when the control of the ride is transferred from Creative to the Universal operations team. Rumors point to this occurring on Memorial Day weekend. After transferring to operations the ride will continue to run through testing and training the team members. Once the operations team feels comfortable with the ride they will begin Team Member previews for the attraction. These usually last a handful of days with the final day of Team Member previews ending in the late morning. Only then, and if they feel comfortable, will the ride open in the evening for guest previews.

To speculate it is likely Team Member previews will occur the week of May 27 with guest previews starting the following week, the first full week of June. Guest previews are unlikely to occur the few days prior to June 13. Islands of Adventure closes at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11 for the media event. June 10 and 12 the ride will likely be closed for media impressions, on ride photography, and to prepare for the grand opening for guests.

It has been fun to share with you all the construction and of this attraction and hope to see you in the parks!
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)