Thank you! We will RD it tomorrow and maybe get in line around 7 if it’s open and looks short.
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Good luck!
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So excited for you. I just checked your Instagram and it looks like your rope drop game is as strong as I thought it would be.
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She mentioned IG in another post so I checked and her username is the same on IG.
(Not stalking, I promise!)
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Thank you!
Yes the same name, and I would be delighted if you followed me!
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Ok, for those not on chat -
We arrived at 7.39, I would guess there were 50 people already there. At 8.25 they scanned the first 2 groups in each line - we were 2nd - to speed up entry. We were let in at 8.30 and held at Seuss Landing. There were dire warnings about running and we were told that this would result in being sent to the back of the line. We were in the 3rd row of people when they started walking us back at 8.50. People ran. Lots of people. By the time we got to the ride there were probably 200 people ahead of us. We did have to use the lockers but we were in and out in about 30 seconds and most people had at least one bag so very few went ahead of us there. We didn’t stop walking until the short passageway before the final big room you are loaded from. But 2 mins later, the ride broke down. I estimate (based on trying to check the time on other people’s phones 
) that it was down 9.10-30. We rode, stopped to look at our picture and get a temporary card, and walked back to the lockers by 9.59. I estimate about 20 mins actual waiting (not walking and the ride operating).
And it was fantastic!!
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Congrats on a successful rope drop and short wait! And glad to hear you didn’t get trampled! That was my fear and why we avoided RD but so happy it worked for you.
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No the people walking were very civilised! And the runners were on the outside and didn’t affect us.
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Thanks for the update! We’ll likely have a stroller with us. Do you think getting it parked will be a challenge at rope drop? Fortunately/unfortunately one of my kiddos won’t be tall enough to ride so we won’t have to deal with lockers as we’ll be rider swapping.
I didn’t notice any strollers ahead of us - or behind for that matter. But by the time we got that close to the ride everyone was just walking, I don’t think it will be a major issue.
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I don’t understand why they don’t walk the line back like they do at Disney to prevent running and potential trampling.
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I know, it sounded like they were going to and there were a few CMs there, but it ended up just one.
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We go Monday and Tuesday. I’ve been “stalking” this chat to figure out the best plan for our group of nine. I think we’re going to try RD if the whole group agrees. Otherwise we’re assuming for the 1pm spot. I can’t tell you how great it’s been to get all this insight!
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This is fantastic information in this thread, especially this most recent update from missoverexcited.
I wonder what the RD wait would be like if you arrived later, like 8:00am or even 8:30am? How much does the line build during that time?
By 8am I would say there were 500 people there, probably more. When we got to the ride entrance it was posted 180 - though of course I have no idea if it really was 180 for people at the back of the RD crowd.
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We had a few reports earlier in the thread from people who arrived at 8 or so – I think they were mostly off around 11am? So it does seem like it builds pretty fast.
Your Saturday update:
Not much change with this one either – is the pattern starting to become more consistent day-to-day?
It still looks like, based on data and liner reports, rope drop is the best option for Hagrid’s to guarantee (A) that you do get to ride, with (B) a relatively short wait. 7:30am arrival to the IOA gates seems to be the ideal here.
Outside of rope drop, the 1pm “sweet spot” is still present, with the ride showing low average wait times and being open on around 75% of days.
There is also a spike in ride up time around 7pm. I am very interested to see if this continues. If it does, it might be a better option than 1pm. This is because the downtime after 1pm (especially between 3pm & 5pm on the chart) is due to “true” ride downtime, mostly due to weather. The “downtime” after 7pm is mostly due to the ride closing to capacity for the day – for those people already in line, the ride should still be operating. So you are less likely to get “caught” in line during a lengthy delay jumping in line at 7pm than at 1pm. The risk with the 7pm option is that the ride sometimes only reopens post-afternoon-storms for a very short period – on some days it’s been as little as 5-10 minutes of being open before closing again for capacity for the day. So to hit it correctly you might basically have to be waiting outside the ride entrance waiting around for it to reopen after a weather closure.
As always, let me know what you think and good luck to those whose trips are coming up soon!
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Thanks so much for sharing all of this info! We are arriving in the afternoon of 8/18 for our first ever USF trip and have been trying to figure out the best way to get this coaster in! It’s a must do for the kids but I’m not sure in real life if we’ll all be able to handle the wait. Or the RD running of the bulls. Or honestly arriving at 7:30am (not so bad) but still technically waiting at least 90 minutes before actually getting into the real queue. I guess we’ll be obsessively looking at the forecast…