Hagrids Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure Ride Footage & Reaction

Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure opens on June 13th, 2019, and we were able to get an early preview of the newest addition to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And we loved it -- it is the best Harry Potter ride to date.

Watch Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure ride footage from the queue and more, a quick reaction, and highlights from the world premiere opening ceremony featuring Evanna Lynch, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Rupert Grint, James, and Oliver Phelps.

Hagrid's Magical Creatures successfully does what most rollercoasters are unable to do -- presents a thrilling experience within a themed fully-immersive story experience. Most coasters hang on pure thrill and adrenaline and don't even attempt theme, and some that do are literally just painted on. Hagrid's brings you into the Forbidden Forest of the JK Rowlings books, a vast 7-acre landscape featuring 1,200 newly planted trees. To give you an idea, that's a massive size that's bigger than Hogsmeade and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey combined.

The ride might feel like a response to any criticism Universal Studios has gotten over the last decade. There are no screens, there is no motion simulator, there are no 3D glasses -- this is a high adrenaline coaster with unexpected twists and turns. If I had to compare this attraction to other rides, I would say it is 75% like Everest in Disney's Animal Kingdom and 25% a dark ride with creatures, and characters from the Harry Potter films and books brought to life with practical effects and impressive animatronic figures. During the ride, you will encounter Fluffy the three-headed dog, Cornish pixies, Devil's Snare, a Centaur, a Blast-Ended Skrewt (a creature that was never featured in any of the Harry Potter films) and maybe some other surprises.

The theming in the ride queue is on par with anything else in the Wizarding Worlds; the only negative is since the particular location is not featured in the films or books. Since it is invented for the attraction, it can't lean on the usual exciting props and locations we recognize. Instead, the queue focuses on the idea of the magical beasts, and I think that will be good enough for most. But the photo ops here are less than the other two big Potter attractions -- the ride here takes center stage.

This coaster reaches speeds up to 50 miles an hour, but it really isn't about the max speed -- it accelerates from 0 to 10 in a way that makes it feel faster than the numbers may indicate. And the story moments act almost as an almost break from the intense action, replacing the g-force with the awe and amazement of experiencing the magical creatures we know and love from the Potterverse. And this rollercoaster does some things that I have never experienced on a coaster before. I would talk about them here, but I feel this is one of those times when it might be better to discover and experience it for yourself.

Thanks to Universal for flying us out and hosting us for this event.

#universalorlando #themeparks #harrypotter
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