General Discussion - Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure

[WAJAS]

Well, going by that logic the AT-ATs must be broken in Rise because they moved in the promo

Do they move in the promo?

 

[Mad Dog]

Free Fluffy.

 

[WillQ92]

I'd take two-thirds of a functional animatronic than another 360 degree screen any day

 

[rhino4evr]

Quite possible it’s working and you are moving too fast to notice.

 

[WillQ92]

Quite possible it’s working and you are moving too fast to notice.

Simply not the case. Fluffy moves before you pass him at it's plainly obvious that 2/3 of the heads have function.

In general, I wanted to point out that nobody is saying "Ugh! Can you believe Fluffy is broken?!" It's more of a matter-of-fact statement that the first head isn't doing what it was designed to do. Even with a mostly functioning Fluffy, I'd take Hagride over 80% of the other attractions in FL.

 

[rhino4evr]

Pre-order cancelled

 

[SpatulaShack]

Why is this even an argument? There is no debating the left head was working (on and off) when the ride opened. I rode 8 times in July and the three all had movement. I'd argue the lack of smoke from the Skrewt is a bigger loss than the Fluffy head given how ridiculous the red LED lights look and the fact that it's supposed to be an "explosion" with the soundtrack timed to the blast of smoke. The BOOM sound remains and all we get is a red butt-hole. I also miss the smoke effect after the drop-track. I hope they find a solution.

 

[BlueHorizon]

Why is this even an argument? There is no debating the left head was working (on and off) when the ride opened. I rode 8 times in July and the three all had movement. I'd argue the lack of smoke from the Skrewt is a bigger loss than the Fluffy head given how ridiculous the red LED lights look and the fact that it's supposed to be an "explosion" with the soundtrack timed to the blast of smoke. The BOOM sound remains and all we get is a red butt-hole. I also miss the smoke effect after the drop-track. I hope they find a solution.

Yeah it's definitely a glaring issue which I hope they fix, but if it's messing with the sensors as others have said i"m not sure how much they could really do

 

[Disneyhead]

I think we should start a GoFundMe for a giant tube of Preparation H for that poor Skrewt. That looks painful. Poor thing.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I think we should start a GoFundMe for a giant tube of Preparation H for that poor Skrewt. That looks painful. Poor thing.

I too would tear apart a hut if that's what I was dealing with.

Why is this even an argument? There is no debating the left head was working (on and off) when the ride opened. I rode 8 times in July and the three all had movement. I'd argue the lack of smoke from the Skrewt is a bigger loss than the Fluffy head given how ridiculous the red LED lights look and the fact that it's supposed to be an "explosion" with the soundtrack timed to the blast of smoke. The BOOM sound remains and all we get is a red butt-hole. I also miss the smoke effect after the drop-track. I hope they find a solution.

I don't have any inside information but I think this might be a situation of prioritizing issues. WB is extremely strict on show quality (which has helped UOR across the board by increasing standards) and would need to hear exemptions for why this isn't running. It is possible it's never returning, it's also possible they've shut it off till they figure out how to fix it appropriately. Considering the "fire breath" in FJ has gone down for months before and come back I'm leaning towards the second.

 

[SpatulaShack]

I too would tear apart a hut if that's what I was dealing with.



I don't have any inside information but I think this might be a situation of prioritizing issues. WB is extremely strict on show quality (which has helped UOR across the board by increasing standards) and would need to hear exemptions for why this isn't running. It is possible it's never returning, it's also possible they've shut it off till they figure out how to fix it appropriately. Considering the "fire breath" in FJ has gone down for months before and come back I'm leaning towards the second.

Great point about FJ and the fire breath. I forgot that was down for quite some time before coming back online and remaining reliably active for years to come. I'm holding out hope the skrewt fart is back in all its glory by early next year.

 

[BlueHorizon]

I was able to ride front row motorbike Saturday night in the dark and wow...what an experience. Everyone should try to get that seat at night at least once, because it really does make the ride even better. Aside from the missing skrewt blast and left fluffy head, everything seemed to be working just fine, but one thing I did notice riding at night is that the theming elements in the indoor section are far too visible when you ride at night since your eyes are already adjusted to the dark. Once the coaster enters the building I was clearly able to see where the 'trees' ended and the ceiling and lights began. To combat this it seems they can either add a flashing strobe right before you enter or tone down the lighting, so it seems like a pretty minor fix.

One interesting thing was the park closed at 8 for the OI meetup, and when I tried to get in line at 7 they said they were closed for day guests, but I came back at 7:45 and they reopened for all guests, so I guess they changed their mind about that? Waited about 40 minutes at 7:45.

 

[JoeCamel]

I was able to ride front row motorbike Saturday night in the dark and wow...what an experience. Everyone should try to get that seat at night at least once, because it really does make the ride even better. Aside from the missing skrewt blast and left fluffy head, everything seemed to be working just fine, but one thing I did notice riding at night is that the theming elements in the indoor section are far too visible when you ride at night since your eyes are already adjusted to the dark. Once the coaster enters the building I was clearly able to see where the 'trees' ended and the ceiling and lights began. To combat this it seems they can either add a flashing strobe right before you enter or tone down the lighting, so it seems like a pretty minor fix.

One interesting thing was the park closed at 8 for the OI meetup, and when I tried to get in line at 7 they said they were closed for day guests, but I came back at 7:45 and they reopened for all guests, so I guess they changed their mind about that? Waited about 40 minutes at 7:45.

Usually there is an hour while the park switches over and everything is closed. I know Taylor worked on that downtime and has made changes but don't know exactly what they are.

 

[Evan]

I was able to ride front row motorbike Saturday night in the dark and wow...what an experience. Everyone should try to get that seat at night at least once, because it really does make the ride even better. Aside from the missing skrewt blast and left fluffy head, everything seemed to be working just fine, but one thing I did notice riding at night is that the theming elements in the indoor section are far too visible when you ride at night since your eyes are already adjusted to the dark. Once the coaster enters the building I was clearly able to see where the 'trees' ended and the ceiling and lights began. To combat this it seems they can either add a flashing strobe right before you enter or tone down the lighting, so it seems like a pretty minor fix.

One interesting thing was the park closed at 8 for the OI meetup, and when I tried to get in line at 7 they said they were closed for day guests, but I came back at 7:45 and they reopened for all guests, so I guess they changed their mind about that? Waited about 40 minutes at 7:45.

A bright light blast would definitely combat the night ride sightline issue.

 

[JoeCamel]

A bright light blast would definitely combat the night ride sightline issue.

Second photo op? They could offer two for the low low price of "just a little more" than the one photo!
Or, you could have your choice!

 

[Steptwice]

Whatever happened to what looked like an LED lighting strip that was installed on the hut along the blasted part of the roof. Thought it was going to be for lighting or a smoke effect of a blast, but I haven't noticed anything.

 

[SpatulaShack]

Whatever happened to what looked like an LED lighting strip that was installed on the hut along the blasted part of the roof. Thought it was going to be for lighting or a smoke effect of a blast, but I haven't noticed anything.

Good question. I never really understood how that effect would work since the strip was behind the rider's field of view based on the direction of the train. Maybe it was something for guests to see when viewing the ride from the queue?

In other news, has anyone ridden Hagrid recently (within the last week)? The most recent reports both here and on WDWMagic were that the Hagrid AA was no longer moving. I hope that has been fixed and it doesn't join the growing list of non-functioning effects. I know the maintenance team has been spending the last few months perfecting the the ride system to maximize capacity and reduce down times during the day but hopefully the show scenes get some attention soon.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Good question. I never really understood how that effect would work since the strip was behind the rider's field of view based on the direction of the train. Maybe it was something for guests to see when viewing the ride from the queue?

Maybe it wasn't that or wasn't for the show. I dunno.

In other news, has anyone ridden Hagrid recently (within the last week)? The most recent reports both here and on WDWMagic were that the Hagrid AA was no longer moving. I hope that has been fixed and it doesn't join the growing list of non-functioning effects. I know the maintenance team has been spending the last few months perfecting the the ride system to maximize capacity and reduce down times during the day but hopefully the show scenes get some attention soon.

1) Texted a friend who rode Thursday and it was working.
2) There's two fog effects not working, it's not like this ride is being cut back. It's like the fire in Mummy, don't sweat it.

 

[Riler]

Good question. I never really understood how that effect would work since the strip was behind the rider's field of view based on the direction of the train. Maybe it was something for guests to see when viewing the ride from the queue?

I always assumed that was to give the smoke from that section a warm orange/red glow to give the effect of burning embers as you travelled underneath that opening? Never saw it in action though.

 

[brkndwnbus]

First time post here on the forums...my wife and I were down at Universal from December 5-8. During our stay, we were able to get on Hagrid's a total of five times. Once at night and once during the day we got lucky enough to get the front motorbike.

We thought the ride was pretty great and incredibly fun. I don't think I've been on a coaster that was more smooth.

I'm not sure if it beats out Forbidden Journey for my favorite ride, but as far as my favorite coaster, there's no questions that Hagrid's takes my top spot.

Also, even when the queue said 90 or 120 mins, we never actually waited close to the time. The longest was maybe an hour and 15 mins and that was when the wait time was 120 mins. When it was 90, we'd be in line and off the ride in an hour.