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September 18, 2021

In this post, we discuss rope drop at Universal’s Islands of Adventure park at Universal Orlando Resort. We cover how to start your day at Islands of Adventure, including whether you should start with Velocicoaster or Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, and how to continue your morning from those rides. Read on to learn everything about the morning hours at Islands of Adventure!

The Hagrid’s Virtual Line

This post assumes a traditional day where both Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster open with regular standby lines to start the day. Hagrid’s occasionally switches to a virtual line later in the day, but that won’t impact you if you ride it early in the morning. However, Hagrid’s sometimes, uses a virtual line from the start of the day. This system (detailed officially here) requires you to use the app to snag a timeslot, and only once you have a timeslot can you go wait in line.

The tricky parts are two-fold. First, on the busiest days it can be very hard to grab a virtual line spot. You need to be searching on the app constantly. Second, the use of the virtual line is inconsistent. It’s not posted beforehand. Some days are only virtual line. Some days are only regular standby. Some days are both.

You can check the app and ask team members when you arrive to determine the status that morning. Often, it will start as a regular line—making it a fine place to start to maximize your chances of getting on it—before switching to a virtual line once it’s busy enough.

What time does Islands of Adventure open?

You should always check the official park hours, but Islands of Adventure typically opens at 8AM or 9AM. Keep in mind that guests with Early Park Admission may enter early on certain dates, in which case you need to read that post.

The times given in this post assume a 9AM scheduled open.

What Is “Rope Drop”?

Rope drop refers to the actual—as opposed to scheduled—opening of the park. Depending on the precise protocols at a park on a day, Team Members may actually have a rope up cutting off people from the park which is dropped when the park opens.

We also use “rope drop” more generally to refer to the very earliest of hours in the parks, when lines for rides haven’t plateaued for the day and you can walk right on to many of the rides.

What Time Is Rope Drop At Islands of Adventure?

Rope drop at Islands of Adventure usually occurs before the scheduled time the park is open. There are several times to know.

Turnstiles typically open 15-30 minutes before the park is scheduled to open. As of our recent visits, once the turnstiles open guests are let into the entirety of the park, and you’ll just head straight to your chosen first ride (we’ll discuss strategies more below). In the past, we’ve been held up at the entrances to Seuss Landing and Marvel Super Hero Island, though.

If you’re held up once inside the park (which may or may not be a thing of the past), a few minutes before the scheduled park open, guests will begin to be escorted to attraction queues. The walks to the rides can take a while. During the early days of Hagrid’s the walk to the ride to 16 minutes. We hope this is a thing of the past, but we’re leaving it here so you’re aware of the possibility.

So When Should I Arrive At Islands of Adventure?

Again, this post does not cover Early Park Admission at Islands of Adventure. The specifics of the two rope drop strategies are covered next, but generally we recommend arriving 60 minutes before the park opens. At 30 minutes early on a not-too-busy day, you’ll probably be fine.

Heading into holidays 2021 and spring 2022, a resurgence of tourism could cause us to push these recommended times earlier a little, but as of this update we’re comfortable arriving an hour early.

Islands of Adventure Rope Drop Options

In this section, we’ll discuss the two approaches to a morning at Islands of Adventure. We’ll start with how to pick between them (hint: the decision is made for you). Last reminder—this post does not cover Early Park Admission at Islands of Adventure.

Is Hagrid’s Using a Virtual Line to Start the Day?

Your two strategies are going to be to start with Hagrid’s if it is not using a virtual line immediately to start the day, and to start with Velocicoaster if Hagrid’s is using a virtual line to start the day.

If you look in the Universal app, you’ll see a few minutes before the park opens if Hagrid’s is using a virtual line. You can also ask Team Members are the front of the park. As of September 2021 it’s rare for the ride to start with a virtual line, but you should remain aware of the possibility.

Starting With Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure

I’m comfortable, for the purposes of this section, saying that Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is the single best ride in central Florida (that includes all of Walt Disney World’s rides). It’s also hugely popular, so if it is using a regular standby line to start the day, you should start there.

I would discourage you from watching videos of it because they contain spoilers, but if you’re at all comfortable with outdoor roller coasters (no upside downs), you’ll want to ride this excellent new story coaster.

Finally, keep in mind that Hagrid’s does not have Universal Express Pass access while pretty much every other ride at Universal Orlando Resort does. It does have single rider, though.

Rope Dropping Velocicoaster at Universal Islands of Adventure

Velocicoaster is newer than Hagrid’s but isn’t more popular. It’s a good coaster, but certainly not as good as Hagrid’s. The only reason you’d want to start with Velocicoaster—which you’ll see we otherwise recommend visiting second—is if Hagrid’s is starting the day with a virtual line.

What about Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or Incredible Hulk?

There are several reasons why you don’t start your day with Forbidden Journey. Morning waits are inflated by people who decide against waiting for Hagrid’s. The queue has about 20 to 30 minutes of indoor parts that are perfect for waiting in line in the afternoon.

While our “backup” rope drop strategy used to involve starting with Incredible Hulk, that isn’t viable anymore. Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster do a good job of pulling people to the back of the park. There might be a tricky question of when to get to Incredible Hulk, but it certainly shouldn’t be first.

Our Islands of Adventure Rope Drop Strategy

Now that we’ve established that you’ll either be starting with Hagrid’s (most days) or with Velocicoaster (if Hagrid’s starts with a virtual line), let’s talk about specific strategy, what to expect at the park, and where to go after those two rides.

We recommend arriving at Islands of Adventure 30 to 60 minutes early to start your morning with Hagrid’s, with 30 minutes added on busy days (Holiday weekends, summer). This should get you near the front of the turnstile lines, though you’ll need to avoid getting passed up during the rest of the process.

Here’s a look at the crowds 82 minutes before open on a busy day.

The guy who claimed the last open turnstile told me he arrived 110 minutes before opening.

Here’s 30 minutes early on a standard day:

Gates typically open 15-30 minutes before the scheduled park open. If you have a slow ticket scanner and you’re not up front, you can lose serious ground here.

Depending on crowd levels and the specific operations of that day, one of two things will happen. Once the gates open, you might just be allowed to head straight to the rides, specifically to Hagrid’s for our strategy. To get to Hagrid’s from the front of the park, you’ll take your first right, go through Seuss Landing (a left when you get into Seuss Landing) and basically follow the main path to Hogsmeade.

The biggest likely source of confusion along the way is that you might see a path to your left while you’re in The Lost Continent (the land after Seuss Landing). Luckily, this path has a clear Jurassic Park sign—don’t go that way. Continue past it toward Hogsmeade.

Hagrid’s is on your right just after you pass the outdoor Hogwarts Express train.

Alternatively, you may be corralled at the entrance to Seuss Landing until a few minutes before the scheduled open. Here’s the look from the middle of this crowd one day.

From here you’ll either be walked by Team Members to the ride, or they’ll just open the park and you’ll want to follow the same path we indicated above.

Let’s look at two example rope drop schedules, one from each of these types of days. First, from a day where we were let right into the park:

• 8:19AM - Arrive (able to grab first spot at a turnstile)

• 8:49AM - Gates Open

• 8:59AM - Board Hagrid’s (on first vehicle of the day)

• 9AM - Official park opening time

Here’s an example timeline from a 7:41AM arrival on a day when they corralled us inside the park. I consider this a good example of what a typical guest might experience:

• 7:41AM - Arrive at Islands of Adventure

• 8:30AM - Gates open

• 8:36AM - Through gates with a slow ticket scanner, held at Seuss Landing

• 8:50AM - Walk to Hagrid’s begins, fall farther back in the pack due to pushing / shoving / running

• 9AM - Official park opening time

• 9:07AM - Arrive at Hagrid’s queue

• 10:06AM - Time I was off the ride

Obviously the differences between those days aren’t a single factor. The second was a busier day (why I arrived earlier and still had quite a crowd ahead of me) and one in which we were escorted s-l-o-w-l-y to the ride (it was a 17-minute walk, as you might have noticed).

Where to Head after Hagrid’s at Islands of Adventure

Once you’re off Hagrid’s, you have might have a decision to make. In most recent days, if you’re quickly off Hagrid’s Velocicoaster has had waits of 20 minutes or under, which makes it the obvious choice for your second ride.

Once the wait for Velocicoaster is up to 20, or maybe 30 minutes, whether you’ve ridden it or not (if not, you’ll save it for later in the day), it’s time to start thinking about the rest of the park.

Early in the day, you won’t yet want to get wet on Jurassic Park River Adventure, Ripsaw Falls, or Bilge-Rat Barges. You also don’t have to worry about the rides over in Seuss Landing yet, and we don’t think the morning is well spent on the other three Harry Potter rides (particularly, we like waiting in the Forbidden Journey queue later in the day).

Instead, you’ll be looking at Skull Island: Reign of Kong, Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, and Doctor Doom’s Fear Fall. That’s my preferred order, reasoning that you can got on and off Kong relatively quickly from Velocicoaster (or directly from Hagrid’s if you’re skipping Velocicoaster) and then knock out the Marvel rides in the optimal order.

If the waits are starting to increase already, though, you might go straight to the front of the park, hoping to get through the Marvel rides relatively quickly, leaving Kong for later.

Example Morning at Islands of Adventure

Here’s an example morning from a recent day with pretty low crowds:

• 7:53 Arrive at Islands of Adventure

• 8:48 Gates Open

• 8:58 Board Hagrid’s

• 9AM Official Park Open

• 9:12 Board Velocicoaster 

• 9:25 Board Reign of Kong

• 9:45 Board Incredible Hulk

• 10AM Board Spider-Man

• 10:10 Board Doctor Doom’s Fear Fall