[quote=“divefool, post:619, topic:61323, full:true”]
What are express passes? Are they the ones that would come with a room reservation at Loew’s Pacific?
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Yes, the unlimited express pass comes with staying at Loews Pacific, and it works at almost all the rides. It doesn’t work at Hagrid’s right now though. The one we received was a special, paper pass. We were given the pass because we waited in line at Hagrid’s ride for 4 hrs and it never opened.
Oh! Okay, thanks. I got super excited there for a second. heh. 4 hours and it not opening! I’m very much trying to not getting my hope up for our December trip. But I’ll definitely employ some of the strategizing I’m reading on this thread. And I’m happy the bees got saved.
Just flagging this here for folks who may follow this thread but not read the TP blog:
Now that we’ve got the official TP expert advice I’m glad to see it basically matches what I’ve been saying. Hate to think I was going wrong with my amateur-hour version here! 
Happy Saturday, everyone! Here’s your update:
As ever, all the data is from the excellent folks at Touring Plans. Left axis is Universal’s average posted wait time at that time of day, while the right axis is the percent of days on which the ride was open and operating at that time.
Nothing really new to report since last week. Universal seems to be serious about routinely closing the ride at 3pm. Hagrid’s closed shortly after 3pm every day this week except Saturday 12/10, when it was open until 6pm. Morning downtime has also been reduced somewhat, with the ride opening by 9:30am each day except Friday 18/10.
The basic strategy outlined in the TP blog article is exactly what I would do at this point – attempt to rope drop, but bail immediately if the ride is delayed opening and come back later. Otherwise, if you can’t/don’t want to rope drop, I would try to ride in that early afternoon/1pm sweet spot. Make sure to be in line by 3pm no matter what.
Good luck to anyone riding this week!
Clearly we got very lucky today! Rode the HE from USF at that park’s closing time, arrived at Hagrid’s at 17.29, entered with a posted wait of 90 mins (increased to 2h while we were in the line) and rode at 19.20. Totally, 100% worth the wait - but I’m not sure we would wait that time again for a second go on our limited-time trip!
The ride only opened fairly late on in the day due to awful weather, and seems to have gone down for maintenance for a time too, so this may have contributed to lower numbers trying their luck, as well as the weather keeping people away from the parks in general.
I based the article on some info from TMs I trust along with my observations over my 10 day trip a few weeks ago. Things are much better than this summer but still room for improvement.
It’s Saturday again! (At least here where I’m at it’s Saturday still – might be edging into Sunday for some folks 
) Here’s your weekly update:
As always, all data is taken from the fantastic folks at Touring Plans. Left axis is Universal’s average posted wait time at that time of day, while the right axis is the percent of days on which the ride was open and operating at that time.
Strategy-wise, nothing major new to report – rope drop and early afternoon remain the best time-slots to ride in. Hagrid’s opened by 9:30am every day this week except Saturday 19/10. Closing times have been pushing a bit later as well – Saturday 19/10 the ride was open until around 6:30pm (possibly because of the extended morning downtime that day). In addition, both 23/10 and 25/10 saw it close closer to 4pm than the advertised 3pm. The other tip I’d say is that, if you see a posted wait time of 120 min or less, jump in line no matter the time of day – that seems about the lowest it goes consistently (although it has been posted as low as 60 minutes at times this week!).
Most amazingly, on Thursday 24/10, Hagrid’s was open from park open until about 30 minutes before park close, continuously with no downtime! That might be its best day ever. Here’s hoping the trend continues!
Saturday again! And more importantly (to me, at least!), it’s exactly 30 days until my trip! My love-hate relationship for Hagrid’s will soon be going from mathematical to experiential! 
Here’s your update:
As ever, all data is taken from the wonderful team at Touring Plans. Left axis is Universal’s average posted wait time at that time of day, while the right axis is the percent of days on which the ride was open and operating at that time.
Another week without anything major to report. Rope drop and early afternoon/1pm are still the best times to attempt a ride. With a few weeks of times now since Universal started posting the warning about 3pm closures in its app, there seems to be two consistent exceptions to those 3pm end times: (1) Saturdays, when Hagrid’s has been open until about 5-6pm, and (2) days when IoA closes at 6pm, when the ride has been open until shortly before park close. If you are there on a Saturday or an early park closure day, you may be able to risk a later ride, if necessary.
Good luck to everyone riding this week!
Our trips overlap! Hope to see you on Hagrid’s the first week of December! Thank you for all of your work!
Will you be there the evening of the 7th? Some of us are trying to get a Liner meet together at Citywalk then.
That’s our last night there. Are you thinking after park close? Its an anniversary trip so we may do a fancy dinner, but I’m not sure yet. Is there a thread for it? I’ll join you if I’m able. We’re also doing MVMCP at WDW on Thurs Dec 5.
I just invited you to the planning thread.
It’s that Saturday time again! Here’s the update:
As usual, all the data is taken from the hard-working folks at Touring Plans. Left axis is Universal’s average posted wait time at that time of day, while the right axis is the percent of days on which the ride was open and operating at that time.
This was a rougher week for Hagrid’s in terms of opening with the park. The ride was only up right at park opening on one day, Monday the 4th. Yesterday, it didn’t open until almost 2:30pm! The other days saw the ride open between roughly 9:30 & 10am. Saturdays & days when IOA closes at 6pm continued to see Hagrid’s open later than the posted 3pm cut-off time.
Because of the fall-off in morning reliability, while I’d still say that rope drop and ~1pm are the best slots to ride in, I’d recommend the later time more than rope drop right now. To rope drop you are probably going to be arriving at the IOA gates around 8am. If Hagrid’s doesn’t open until 10am (as on 3 out of 7 days this week), that’s a two hour wait (plus however long it takes you to get on the ride after it opens). And that two+ hour wait includes one hour of park time right at rope drop, when lines are short everywhere else. On the other hand, Hagrid’s posted wait reliably drops to 120 minutes or less in early afternoon. If you jump in line with a 120 minute posted wait, most liners have been reporting actual waits of 60-90 minutes. So you’re spending roughly the same total amount of park time in line, but at a time of day when you’re not forgoing your chance for short waits (or uncrowded spell-casting) elsewhere in the park.
Based on the trend the last few weeks, I would probably use my early morning time for something more reliable (especially if you don’t have express passes!), and keep on eye on the posted wait for Hagrid’s. When it drops to 120 minutes, head over and get in line.
Good luck to anyone riding this week!
Also – I am out of town to attend a friend’s wedding next weekend, so the next update will be the 23rd. 
2.30?! It as just not getting more reliable is it?
No, it’s really not. Overall daily uptime percentage has been pretty flat over the past month/6 weeks too — not getting worse but not getting better really either. The only thing that has (almost entirely) ended is multi-hour shutdowns during the operating day. So once it’s open these days it mostly steadily stays open until it shuts for the night. Not so much up-and-down.
That’s something!
We don’t like doing early mornings (the time change is hard on us), so I’m almost relieved to see that I’m not missing out on anything special by missing Rope Drop! LOL
Somehow we lucked out this past Saturday and it did open with the park. But despite being only 8 back from the tapstiles (is that what they are called at Universal? It was our first time!), we ended up with a 45 minute wait. The number of folks who passed us, many all out sprinting, was HUGE! My poor legs just couldn’t keep up. And then the locker debacle was another delay. In the end, I was grateful it was only 45 minutes but it was not a pleasant way to start a vacation (the process of getting there, not the ride…the ride was absolutely AMAZING and is our new favorite ride).
It’s fab isn’t it!
