One of the best attractions in Orlando area returned to being open during early theme park hours recently. So, what are your best park touring options at Islands of Adventure now that Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is back open during early park admission?

The traffic patterns for early park admission changed significantly since March 2^nd. The very popular Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure calls guests with its siren song. This incredible attraction develops long queues almost all day. If you have early park admission, you should consider using it to ride this attraction with a lower wait than later in day. However, unless you are in first group of people to Hogsmeade, you should still expect a wait.

Through several sources, I gathered wait time data for Islands of Adventure from March 2^nd through March 5^th. I knew March 5^th would be an important day in terms of data. March 5^th was a Saturday and expected to be busy. The Universal Orlando Resort anticipated high crowd levels. They added Universal Studios Florida to parks open for early park admission as a last-minute move to help alleviate crowds this weekend. In addition, the LL Cool J Mardi Gras concert (included with admission) adds to expected crowd levels for Saturday March 5^th. On a side note, always watch the Universal Orlando app for changes to park operating hours and early park admission options. For record, Universal Studios Florida showed low crowd level for early entry hour and first hour of official park opening on Saturday March 5^th.

So, what strategy should we use to rope drop Islands of Adventure now that Hagrid attraction is back? Well, the simplest strategy involves arriving at least 45 minutes before early theme park admission time. You should expect the park to open earlier but you cannot count on it. If you are in the first group of people, then race to Hogsmeade to ride Hagrid attraction. If you can arrive with nothing that needs to go in a locker, then you will have an additional advantage.

Hagrid attraction still suffers reliability issues and vulnerability to bad weather. These factors might lead to the attraction still not opening on time. Those are the plights of theme park visitors. If everything goes correctly, you should go to the Jurassic World Velocicoaster next. If time allows, you can back-track to Forbidden Journey attraction during your early entry time. Another alternative option involves going to wait at the entrance to Marvel Super Hero Island for it to open for official park opening to rope-drop those attractions. Personally, I would wait for “rope- drop” of Marvel Super Hero Island since the wait time for Forbidden Journey attraction have not been excessive in recent months.

Based on four days of data, Hagrid attraction will have shortest waits during early park admission. Actual waits (not posted waits) have been 35 minutes or less during early park admission. After early park admission ends, actual waits have been 60 minutes or more on average.

On Saturday March 5^th, the actual waits were closer to 90 minutes on average. I could bore you with all the tedious data. However, I think this plan will work best with current procedures. However, if you do not have early park admission privileges, I suggest turning left as you enter the loop of the park so you may start in Marvel Super Hero Island. Your waits for Velocicoaster and Hagrid attraction will be similar most of day when you arrive.

I hope this helps for your day at Islands of Adventure. If you really are interested in more of the boring hard data, feel free to leave a comment. I will try to respond as quickly as possible