Family's first UOR trip in 2 weeks!

Universal Orlando Resort
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I’m also a RD Hagrid’s fan. I will say that I am often solo. However, my family is willing to get up and do a real RD for this ride.

My wife, who doesn’t “love” theme parks and does love sleeping in, is more willing to do RD because it means we can knock it out and catch an early mid-day break before the sun is too bad.

Night rides are the best.

For the record, I rode Hagrid’s 30 times in 2022. I rope dropped most days. I only ever had one delay during EPA.

I had worse luck getting a night ride near closing. I experienced three separate “delays / early closings” on nights I tried to ride before close.

(All big theme park rides are a gamble in regards to delays and closings)

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Wow! That’s amazing!

I’m sure we saw three delays during our July 22 trip.
One we bailed on and another was maybe only an extra 20/30 mins. One we saw when we were VCing, so I don’t know how long that was.

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We love to RD to take advantage of lighter crowds and cooler temps in the summer! (Edit to say, this was at Disney)

Since IOA has EE everyday of our stay, thinking of RD IOA every morning but would like to hop over to US at park opening. Could I take HE at 9am or is that not recommended? Should we just do a traditional RD at US?

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Sorry to hear that. I am afraid of that happening while we are there. Glad to know the afternoon has a dip in wait times in case we don’t ride at RD

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We were there for 2 weeks, so it wasn’t a problem. We had plenty of non-delayed opportunities :+1:t2:

Well actually never did a regular RD at the studios at all on our last trip. We were always aiming for Hagrid or VC.
HE is a good option for low wait time at park opening, but I believe you would be behind the gate RD crowd.

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It’s very different than Disney, in that there is basically only one area that has open attractions (about 5). And when 95% of the crowd goes to Hogsmeade, it definitely does not feel like lighter crowds.

Rope dropping USF and walking to DA will get you there at least 10 minutes faster than the train from IOA. If you do this one day, you will be surprised how empty DA is. Great for photo taking.

If you want a less crowded experience at Three Broomsticks, you could hop in there during EPA for a Butterbeer or breakfast.

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2 weeks! So fun :tada: Glad you had plenty of other opportunities :blush:

I have a feeling those rides will be big hits with my family too. They love coasters!

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Thanks bebe80! Sounds like we will be walking over :blush: I love pictures in an empty park.

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So much for the low crowds :joy:

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It’s always a huge morning rush to Hagrid’s which jams up the whole land. Hogsmeade is much more pleasant after the first few hours.

Reiterating earlier advice. Keep your eye on Hagrid’s wait times late morning to early afternoon. Here is an example from yesterday.

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If you see waits under 70, I’d head there. You see the lowest posted wait time of the day was 60. But I can tell you, the actual wait was probably only 30-40 minutes.

I’ve ridden before at 10:30 am with a posted wait of 45 minutes, but only waited 2 minutes!

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A 2 minute wait sounds amazing! Thanks again! Definitely will be watching the wait times.

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Can confirm. I had a posted wait of 75 mins. Was in and out in the regular line, including pre-show in 35 mins.

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We just booked a December trip! Looking forward to experiencing Grinchmas :santa::evergreen_tree::blush: The Macy’s parade looks great!!

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