May 26, 2026, 4:44 PM ·
It looks like the Universal Express experiment is over for one of Universal Orlando’s most popular attractions.
Universal Orlando Resort has removed Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure from the list of eligible attractions for the Universal Express pass. In social media replies, Universal’s official account said that the change comes into effect on July 1, but the roller coaster is no longer listed as an Express attraction on Universal’s website as of today.
(If anyone is Islands of Adventure today, please let us know if the Express lane is open for the ride or not.)
The addition of a Universal Express queue has been awful for fans waiting in the standby queue for Hagrid’s, which was already one of the longest waits in the park, due to the ride’s popularity and its capacity. Standby wait times for the ride routinely stretched into multiple hours, which could not have been good for the guest satisfaction scores at Islands of Adventure.
Hagrid’s opened in 2019 but did not initially offer Express, so it’s been a late addition to the Express package. Universal made money on Express before Hagrid’s, and I am sure that it will continue to do so within the Harry Potter-themed coaster in its Express line-up.
My biggest problem with line-skip passes such as Universal Express is overselling. To paraphrase Syndrome, when too many people can skip a queue, no one does. A line-skip pass used by more than 10% of a park’s visitors becomes an operational impediment, IMHO. From my ex-ops perspective, an ideal line-skip pass would provide only one use per attraction and be priced at a point where about five percent of park visitors would buy it on any given day. That would allow for true line-skips on the pass, as there would be next to no express lane waits, and the express lane would not substantially inflate the standby wait time.
With its higher prices, Universal Express long has come closer to my ideal than Disney’s cheaper-priced Lightning Lane. But Hagrid’s could not handle the volume of people using Universal Express, given its free use by guests of Universal’s original three hotels as well as those who purchased it each day. So, as a fan of the coaster, I am happy to see Express go away at Hagrid’s so that the vast majority of Universal fans again can enjoy shorter wait times on this highly rated coaster.
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