Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure: The best ride in all the Wizarding World?

This last week I had the chance to ride the new Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure ride at Universal Orlando thanks to Microsoft renting the entire place out for the end of week celebration at Microsoft Ignite.

You can read more about that at this post here.

Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure

But this post is specifically about the new Hagrid ride at Universal.  As best I can tell it replaced the Dueling Dragons ride that was in this space when I took my family back in 2015.

I was not expecting much from the ride to be honest, as I hadn’t read up on it much and it looked to replace a more adult oriented set of rollercoasters, with what looked to be a more kid friendly ride.

Now don’t get me wrong I can enjoy family style rides as well, especially having children across the age gamut, I’ve learned to enjoy things for what they are.  Particularly with a four-year-old, I can go on very little kids rides and enjoy the heck out of them because I see the enjoyment my son has, and clearly happiness wears off onto others.

Anyway, all that to say I was expecting a more subdued ride, and perhaps it was my expectations that set me up to be completely surprised.

Just to get the first question out of the way, should you take the time to ride this ride?  Absolutely!

Even with the Microsoft buy-out of the park, the line for Hagrid’s was all the way out the ride entrance, through the Wizarding World, and extended into the next park area (Lost Continent?), and we were told the wait was approximately 90 minutes.

As I was with 2 other counterparts we decided because it was the new ride, and who knows how long it would be until we had this opportunity again (we all reside in the PacNW), that we should take the chance and stand in line.

Some of you may know @JDWallace, who especially wanted to check out this ride as he is not a fan of big rollercoasters, going upside down, or doing loop-de-loops, and thought this would be right in his wheel house.

The long, winding journey

Waiting in line is a rather enjoyable experience for this attraction.  You are made to feel like you are in the woods, or outdoors, the pathway is made to feel like a stone pathway right out of Harry Potter, and there is always something to see, or watch.

The attraction itself looks like the ruins of a castle, all battered with old vines growing on it, but at the same time incredibly amazing to look at.  At first we speculated that perhaps it was Hogwarts castle after the Battle of Hogwarts, but a quick search shows this is a brand-new idea for the Wizarding World, not pulled from the movies or books.

As you wind along the stone pathway, other than seeing the ruins of the ride, the first thing you come across is Hagrid’s hut, complete with the stained-glass windows, pumpkins lying about, and tools you would expect the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts, to have.

This is also the location of one of the best views of Hogwarts castle you can get in the entire park, if not THE best view!

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As you wind past the hut you then enter the ruins themselves, where inside there are more visual delights to keep you entertained.  The feel of an old castle with equipment stores awaits you, with shelves holding what look like dragon eggs.

Now I am not an expert on dragon eggs, but the size of them leads me to believe I am making a pretty good assumption, and Hagrid always wanted a dragon 😊.

After that, and maybe even up to this point, my memory of the order of things gets a bit fuzzy.  But one of the next things you do is go down a passage towards a basement, or dungeon, almost cave feeling, through another room that has more tools, animals, worker gloves, etc., giving the feeling that perhaps it’s Hagrid’s workshop.

This is where JD (the one who is not fond of big rides, and specifically picked this one) started to second guess his decision and used his phone to read about how long the ride was, how fast it went, were there any surprises, and started to psych himself out.

My comforting words of, “It’ll be great, it doesn’t go that fast, there is nothing to worry about,” were just met with a quick “shut up!”

The queuing continues through the somewhat narrow underground passage (we even discussed how this might not be good for someone who is claustrophobic), where you wind for a good stretch until excitement hits when you see some light at the end of a tunnel.  This light turns out to be just another room where you get to wind back and forth in your queuing experience.

Now I am not sure exactly what this room was, but it was also entertaining.  It was like you were beneath a deck or dock, or something of the like, and you could hear (and see silhouettes) of Hagrid and others talking and riding their motorbikes.

It was really quite loud in this room with everyone in line talking, so I couldn’t make out exactly what was being said up on the deck, but it was fun to hear, and watch as the bikes would circle around above your head, and then drive off to wherever they were going.

My guess is it was preparing you for the motorbike journey you are about to go on, explaining why this motorbike adventure even needs to happen, as when you get thru this room you are finally at the ride!

The Ride!

The ride itself is a roller coaster and the “car” you sit in is a motorbike with a sidecar attached to it, so two people fit in each “car.”  I let JD sit on the motorbike, as it looked more comfortable, and I figured that seat would be less intimidating then the other.

Sitting in the sidecar is almost hilarious as you are much lower and I felt just like Harry looking up at Hagrid, as I looked up at JD sitting right next to me, but well above me! 

As I remember, the entire ride is a straight up roller coaster, with physical objects along the tracks, animatronics, and no digital screens or anything else of the sort. And as I said before there are no loops, or upside-down moments on this ride, however it is one of the best roller coasters I have ever ridden.

It starts off quite fast as you are in a motorbike chase (or getaway), there is no slow typical roller coaster climb to the top and then a drop, this ride is just propelled from the get-go.  It also provides for some great G force in the turns, and is continually propelled forward along the ride, as well as it goes backwards at one point.

There is another great surprise when the coaster comes to a complete stop, for some extended seconds (we thought maybe it broke down).  Now I won’t spoil this surprise, because I think it adds some excitement to the ride, maybe saying the ride goes backwards already went to far?

All in all, this is an amazing ride as it weaves through the ruins of a castle, underground, above ground, and at one point you see Hagrid himself.  As JD was psyching himself out and reviewing the ride, we learned that it lasts three and a half minutes and hits 50 MPH, which is quite fast for a rollercoaster without a starting drop.

And maybe I am incorrect here, but over three minutes also seems very long for a roller coaster.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, Hagrid’s is definitely worth your time to ride, and I believe it is the best ride in all the Wizarding World.

Maybe I have an affinity for it because it is new, however when I took the family to Universal Orlando in 2015, The Forbidden Journey ride impressed me to no end, and it is still impressive! But this time after riding The Forbidden Journey, and then Hagrid’s, followed by Gringotts, we all came away feeling that Hagrid’s was the best.

So, what of JD who rode with me? Did he puke, pass out, soil his pants?  None of the above, as he was nothing but ecstatic, like myself, as we got off the ride and looked at each other with enormous smiles. This is when he reveals, “I almost bailed there at the last second before we got on the ride, but I’m glad I didn’t because that was awesome!”

From the excitement of the ride, to the comfortability of the seat, as well as the twist and turns, Hagrid’s just feels a step above the other rides in the Wizarding World.

I remember feeling uncomfortable in the Gringotts seat, and the Forbidden Journey has some very jerky movements.  Don’t get me wrong, those are great rides too, and definitely deserve your time.

But no matter what, take the time to ride the best new ride at the Wizarding World in Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure!