Construction for Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure began early January 2018, after land clearing was completed on the site that Dragon Challenge occupied. According to Alan Gilmore, art director of the Potter films and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, over a thousand trees were planted to create the woodland that would set the theme of the Forbidden Forest. Ride testing began as of February 26, 2019. The grand opening ceremony took place on June 11, 2019 with actors Evanna Lynch, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Rupert Grint and James and Oliver Phelps in attendance. Robbie Coltrane, who portrayed Rubeus Hagrid, was not in attendance due to health reasons; however, he recorded video messages for the occasion.
Experience
Pre-show
will take Muggles on a very specialCare of Magical Creatures class and has inquired the help of Arthur Weasley to tinker with Hagrid's motorbike, whose original owner is mentioned to be Sirius Black, in an attempt to duplicate it in order to take Muggles to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. After Arthur successfully duplicates the motorbike, Fang, Hagrid's pet :wikt:boarhound|boarhound, releases Cornish Pixies that were covered in their cage and start to wreak havoc by taking Arthur's wand, burning the duplicate motorbike and then blowing it up. Arthur then casts Aguamenti to put down the flames and spraying Muggles with water before Hagrid departs to wait for the Muggles. Arthur then tells Muggles that he will try to duplicate the motorbike again at the stables, where there is plenty of space to do so and departs with the original motorbike following him before casting Reparo on it.
Ride
The ride begins with a small dip out of the loading station. Afterwards, the vehicles launch into a series of dips as Hagrid says he will meet up with the riders at an abandoned hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Once the bikes reach Hagrid's hut, a Blast-Ended Skrewt sprays the riders as the giant himself meets the riders to tell them they'll pick up the rest of the lesson later. After launching out of the hut, the bikes quickly go up and down a large hill into the area of an abandoned castle. Hagrid warns the riders that the bikes are out of his control and are flying into the Forbidden Forest. The vehicles then make a turn and slow down near Fluffy, the three-headed dog. They later speed past a group of Cornish Pixies that have taken over Arthur Weasley's flying Ford Anglia and rise up a spike before losing power and drop backwards through a series of turns as Hagrid attempts to put the bikes back on track. The vehicles slow down into the darkest area of the Forbidden Forest as the riders pass a centaur, stopping in the tentacles of Devil's Snare. Hagrid tells riders to say the incantation "Lumos Solem" and then free-fall into cave filled with glowing Blast-Ended Skrewts around the riders, which Hagrid congratulates the riders for finding them. He then tells the riders to push the button in front of them to expel dragon fire-breath to launch them out of the cave before the skrewts blast the riders, making a final launch out of the cave, dropping and turning once more until stopping at the abandoned castle, where a unicorn and her baby are spotted. As the riders slow down into the unloading area, Hagrid thanks the riders and asks them not to tell anyone at Hogwarts about the experience.
Characteristics
Described as a "story coaster" by Universal, the attraction takes Muggles on a journey through the Forbidden Forest, coming face to face with magical creatures of the Wizarding World on Rubeus Hagrid's motorcycle such as Fluffy the three-headed dog, Cornish Pixies, Devil's Snare, a Centaur and a Blast-Ended Skrewt, a creature that was never featured in any of the Harry Potter films. The attraction's vehicle is modeled after Hagrid's motorcycle, originally owned by Sirius Black in the book series, which appeared in the first and seventh films. There are seven rows on each train. Each row seats two passengers, one on the motorcycle itself and one in the sidecar. Each motorbike has speakers that provide theming to the attraction, with a score inspired by music composed by John Williams for the Harry Potter films. With a maximum speed of 50 mph throughout seven launches, the ride includes more launches than any other roller coaster in the world. It is the second coaster in the United States to feature a vertical drop track at nearly 17 feet, and the longest roller coaster in Florida, measuring nearly a mile in length. The track also features a "spike" that catapults guests 65 feet into the air at a more than 70-degree angle, followed by a backwards drop in one movement. The roller coaster was originally scheduled to be Universal Orlando's third attraction to employ a Virtual Line system, the first one at Islands of Adventure and the first Universal coaster to feature the virtual queue system.
Technical difficulties
The attraction "has been plagued by downtime problems from day one" and has been cited as "one of the most unreliable in the entire theme park industry" due to its frequent downtimes. During some months, the ride was unavailable about half of the time the park was open and Universal has not publicly stated what the problems are and if or when they can be resolved.
Awards
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure was awarded the Golden Ticket Award for Best New Attraction Installation by Amusement Today in 2019 and was awarded second place for Best New Roller Coaster.
