I will have early entry as I’m staying on property, but uselessly the early entry on my dates is for USF and not IOA.
What is the best strategy to get a ride on Hagrid and / or VelociCoaster.
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We rode both yesterday easily. Went straight to Velocicoaster and it was walk on, then over to Hagrid’s which took maybe 20-25 minutes. Could have gone to Hagrid’s first and waited less, but Velocicoaster was the priority as we had never ridden it.
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What time? From where?
IOA opened at 9 yesterday, we were staying onsite, walked to parks an hour before open. When they let us in we walked into the park and headed to the right and around the lagoon. There’s a bridge on the left before you get to the HP areas, takes you right to the ride.
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I’ve been monitoring the times at Universal A LOT this month. Universal is doing an AMAZING job keeping wait times low. Neither ride is ever more than a 1 hour queue and often about 30 - 40 minutes.
Of the two, Hagrid’s does get a longer wait more often! (In my research!)
Don’t forget both rides offer Single Rider queues too! I understand that not everyone likes breaking up their group / family - so it may not be your best option, but is available
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Not sure if you are reporting posted waits versus actual waits, but we also found in May that the posted wait times for Hagrid’s, at least, was often quite a bit higher than actual wait times.
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I’m going by the actual reported waits submitted in by users in the Universal Lines App.
Universal often posts 60 - 70 minutes… actual tends to be 30 - 40
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Okay. Yeah. That’s in line with what we experienced.
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Finally! Being all alone in this world is paying off!
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I love SR queues too. My family would rather bypass the wait. It’s not like we are talking to each other & such during the experience!!
FYI - Both attractions do have queues with good theming & preshows. IMHO - if you can spare the time, like a repeat ride, it would be worth wait to see them.
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The only problem with SR’ing Hagrid is that you’re going to end up in the sidecar.
I rode Hagrid in December 2019: once during the Orlando Informer meet-up and did walk the regular line. (I also rode it twice on two VIP tours.)
I’ve never been on VC, obviously, and I do love Jurassic Park / World, so I’m into being in that line.
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Yeah… Kinda how at MF:SR you always get the Engineer role w/ SR queue!! 
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I mean it is a Thursday in Sept, but those are good numbers!
When I go travel to Orlando in Sept., most years, this is the week I typically do it. These low waits (and over at WDW) aren’t crazy. It’s just awesome that Universal put out two major attractions back-to-back and have them running well.
(It did take Universal exactly a year to get Hagrid’s operating smoothly though)
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Based on @Wahoohokie and my experience Tuesday I would do Hagrids first. The wait time was always higher than day than Velocicoaster.
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First time at IOA today, we rode both twice - including all the other non-kid rides and were only in the park 4 1/2 hours! Wait times super low. Pretty close to walk on. Taking a break before going to Epcot.
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Wahoo! I’ll be at Universal next week! Hoping Universal crowds stay low next week while everyone is at disney 
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My family is going November 3rd. The Universal site doesn’t say which park is EPA for that day (doesn’t go past 10/31). TP Calendar says it’s IOA. Not sure how reliable that is? On our last trip we used EPA and went to Universal but it was so stressful to get over to IOA. Cast member advised that waiting for the Hogwarts express to start running would take longer than just walking over to the IOA entrance, so we did that but still had a hefty wait.
If EPA is at US, should we do the same (US 8-8;30) and then go get in line at IOA? Seems like wasting a perk 
Thanks!
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Unreliable… IOA is rarely the EPA park. They are using 2020 information when Universal opened up both parks for EE to drive attendance during COVID
True! It can take 40+ minutes to take HE in the mornings. They intentionally delay it a few minutes at park opening to slow down the “rush” going to WWOHP. You can walk all the way around in about 20 - 25 minutes - depending on the wait at the front gate. (and if you have small kids in tow!)
Not quite sure what you are asking… If you don’t want to go to Diagon Alley for EPA then just don’t go. You don’t have to use EPA just because it’s available. I’ve done trips where after day 2, I would rather not bother with EPA because so few things are open and I’ve already done them. I’ll just go directly to IOA instead.
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Thanks @darkmite2. Appreciate the insight. We may opt to skip the early entry to ride Hagrid at opening and check it off the list.
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It turns out that early entry tomorrow, our park day, is at IOA but the map in the app says Hagrids opens at 9am while Velocicoaster and Forbidden Journey open at 8am. Does this make sense?