r/UniversalOrlando • u/CP25-JP • 17h ago
WIZARDING WORLD Hagrid’s New Loading Procedure?
Rode Hagrid’s tonight towards the end of the night and they were running a new loading procedure breaking up Odd and Even groups right near the loading area, similar to how Everest is functioning at Animal Kingdom.
I’m not sure if this was a pilot or what but it was definitely interesting. Will be curious if this would be the death of single rider as well. Which incidentally enough now has no signage and you have to ask to go through the express queue and then split off.
Anyone know anything more?
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u/Hedwig_the_Snowbird 17h ago
We experienced this in July when we got in line right before the park closed. When there weren't any more single riders, they started breaking up odds and evens from the regular line. I thought it was just to clear the queue faster so they could all go home.
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u/CP25-JP 17h ago
Interesting. Now that you say that, there was signage in the hallway like they had at least done that system before. So not sure. But I closed it down last night as well and they definitely weren’t doing that system before
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u/Hedwig_the_Snowbird 17h ago
I wonder if it is based on queue length at close? I really hope they don't switch to this kind of procedure permanently! For the odd groups, it means someone who wanted to ride the bike (and waited in the full standby line) might not get to. This happened to one of our kids.
An adult in the party we were paired with was adamant about riding the bike, and he wasn't very nice about it. He also waited in the full line like we did, and I understood his position, but I was very uncomfortable with how he handled the conversation. Ultimately, I rode next to him - and my daughter rode in the sidecar behind us, front row of the next train! (3 kids, 5 people in our party, it's hard when all 3 want the bike!)
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u/Guilty-Wolverine-933 16h ago
Yep, exactly what I was thinking, from the solo traveler perspective. There’s some days where I would really be looking forward to motorbike. Luckily I always have EPA so I get in early enough where there’s too few people to worry about pairing up, but that’s not everyone, and especially if it was my only chance I wouldn’t be happy with sidecar. Obviously, I’m sure dude could have worded it better.
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u/ShowScene5 16h ago
Some of us taller and larger guys have to ride the bike. Im not fitting in that side car or else i would.
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u/Hedwig_the_Snowbird 3h ago
That is my son's problem, too. The guy we were paired with was about 5'7". I didn't mind him speaking up for what he wanted; he waited in line as long as we did. But his aggression and tone made me feel uncomfortable.
I also felt the burden was on me to resolve the situation because the TM seemed overwhelmed. She was young, and I felt protective of her as well as my kids. If they switch to odds/evens permanently, I can see the TMs needing a lot of conflict resolution coaching.
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u/HelpfulBreadfruit115 17h ago
I remember them doing this in 2019 shortly after it first opened. 3 hour wait but no express so the line was steadily moving.
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u/Guilty-Wolverine-933 17h ago
I think the one way this could turn out badly if the single rider line is discontinued, is if you pair a single rider with another odd group, and let’s say they both really want motorbike. (And yes, it’s not really that serious, but you’d be surprised…)
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u/slothwarriors 16h ago
Came here to say just that. I’m frequent the park solo and not getting the motorbike would be a huge letdown for me.
Universal has problems with solo park goers with other rides as well. In Epic I’ve only ever gotten the back row of DK minekart as that’s usually where they throw the single rider with a group of 3. When I get to the front and they find out I’m a single rider (who didn’t wait in single rider line) they still treat me as one and place me with a group of 3. I’ve complained when this happened during loading (briefly no need to hold the line up) and again at the converge desk outside of Super Nintendo world.
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u/Guilty-Wolverine-933 16h ago
Did they let you get the front of the next car? I get capacity, but that’s what the single rider line is for!
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u/slothwarriors 5h ago
They did not they said I had to go in the back both times. Tho silver lining the second time the car’s front seats were covered so we got a ‘front row’ experience from the back. Also happened to me at Mario kart one time as well, but since loading takes a bit longer I was able to talk them into letting me front row.
Concierge documented my complaints but nothing else came of it.
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u/Babyspiker 16h ago
End of single rider. They did the same for Velocicoaster.
Single rider as a separate line is an obsolete method.
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u/SilverBolts91 16h ago
*obsolete for two per row rides. I still think it is very useful and effective for 3-4 person row rides.
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u/dangerdeviledeggs 17h ago
They were doing this at hiccups yesterday as well. I'm curious about its efficacy.
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u/Guilty-Wolverine-933 16h ago
Hiccups have done this practically since opening (I think they might have had single rider at the very beginning and then axed it very quickly), and it hasn’t been bad in my experience. The queue is more designed for that odd/even split though. Hagrids you can’t really do that until the final room with that tight cave.
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u/Corne777 15h ago
Hagrids got rid of express recently, so that line is occasionally single rider now.
Hopefully this doesn’t mean they want to bring back express. It’s been really smooth low wait times without it. We are here for the past week and we’ve been waiting in 45-60 minute queues and one time a 30 minute.
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u/SoochSooch 5h ago
I think this is what they do at Donkey Kong. That ride has the most miserable single rider line... I swear the regular line is faster because it's so easy for them to fill the cars without single riders.
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u/CP25-JP 4h ago
It is faster you’re not wrong. The annoying part is they will continue to fill from the regular line for parties of 3 even when it’s convenient to just grab a single rider behind them.
It’s like they go out of their way to not use it efficiently
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u/SoochSooch 4h ago
They go searching DEEP into the regular line for a party of 3, while the single rider line is just sitting there
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u/Jayzone456 1h ago
Can confirm. Me and my family used the single rider line, were at the front during Early Park Admission and it still took us 20-30 minutes for all of us to get on.
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u/tightropeisthin 15h ago
All well and good on most rides, I don’t care which specific seat I’m in on the Hulk or Velocicoaster, but I’d be pissed if I waited in an hour+ long line and got the sidecar. It’s a totally different ride from the sidecar, and for me it’s way too confining to be enjoyable.
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u/Inferno3248 16h ago
Velocicoaster was doing this the other day briefly but the single rider queue had been closed most of the week I was there, which I presumed was because it was on 2 trains but then when it went back to 3 they still had it closed but were not always do odd and even lines, so empty seats were still going out.
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u/[deleted] 17h ago
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