10 Surprising Facts About Universal Orlando’s Most Popular Attraction

Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is a one-of-a-kind attraction. With a track that measures nearly 1 mile in length, this coaster, which is the longest in Florida, takes riders on a journey through the Forbidden Forest. As part of Hagrid’s Care of Magical Creatures class, this adventure is packed full of unique, up close experiences, familiar Harry Potter scenes, and favorite characters.

While this ride has so much that meets the eye, it also has a lot under the surface. We’re going to journey into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and uncover 10 secrets and fun facts about this magical ride which is easily the most popular attraction at Universal Orlando. 

READ MORE – Rides Disney Almost Built But Didn’t (And Why They Never Happened)

1. Two Students in Love

Most of the queue for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure takes place in ruins on the grounds of Hogwarts. While these ruins aren’t inhabited, it’s easy to see that this is a location where students came to hang out during their down time. As you make your way through, you’ll see that the students graffitied the walls with drawings, phrases, and even signs of their affection for each other.

There are a variety of different magical creatures that the students drew on the walls, including dragons, Buckbeak the hippogriff, and magical birds. Keep a look out for the blue bird. To the bottom left of this bird, there’s a heart engraved into the wall with “J + L” carved inside of it.

This J and L stands for James and Lily. Ring a bell? These are the names of Harry’s parents!

2. Remembering Past Attractions

On another wall, you’ll see the words “Dueling Club” along with the image of a red dragon and a blue dragon. The Dueling Club was a club that was created to help the students of Hogwarts learn how to defend themselves. However, this is also a nod to the attraction Dueling Dragons, which previously stood where Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is today.

Dueling Dragons was a dual-track challenge coaster that depicted a battle between a fire dragon and an ice dragon. On the ride, each track represented one of the dragons – the red track for the fire dragon and the blue track for the ice dragon. It had multiple inversions, intertwining tracks, and a simultaneous launch. With its speed, twists, and sharp turns, the ride had many locations where it felt like the two coasters might collide.

Dueling Dragons was an opening day attraction for Universal Islands of Adventure. In 2010, the name of the coaster was changed to Dragon Challenge and was part of the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter land. During this time, the ride kept the theme of the red and blue dragon.

Dragon Challenge closed in 2017 to make way for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which opened in 2019.

3. Hagrid’s Love Interest

James and Lily Potter aren’t the only ones who professed their love on the walls of the ruins. You can see the initials of another set of love birds while you’re in the queue.

After leaving the room where the pre-show with Hagrid and Arthur Weasley takes place, make sure to turn around. Above the door, on the left hand side, you’ll see “H♥O”. This is a nod to Hagrid and his love interest, Olympe Maxime!

4. Hagrid’s Magical Creation

In Hagrid’s study, we can see that he has two copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. One of these books is opened up to information about Manticores while the other one is opened to Fire Crabs.

This is most likely the exact area where Hagrid came up with his idea to create Blast-Ended Skrewts. After all, Hagrid is the one who first bred Blast-Ended Skrewts, which are Manticore and Fire Crab hybrids.

One thing that’s special about Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is that it’s the first place that we get to see a Blast-Ended Skrewt. While they’re discussed in the Harry Potter books, we never see them in any of the films. Finally, during our journey through the Forbidden Forest, we’re able to get our first look at one.

5. Teddy Bears for the Magical Creatures

Even though his large stature may lead you to believe otherwise, Hagrid is a big softie. Especially when it comes to his magical creatures. Hagrid took his role of dragon mother very seriously after he acquired an egg in a game of cards. After Norbert, the baby Norwegian Ridgeback, hatched from his egg, it didn’t take long before Hagrid started referring to himself as Norbert’s mummy.

Hagrid continued to care for the little dragon, even after accepting the fact that there was no realistic way for him to keep him. When Norbert was crated to be shipped to Ron’s brother, Charlie, Hagrid made sure to pack the dragon rats and brandy for the journey as well as his teddy, so he wouldn’t be lonely.

In the queue for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, we see that Hagrid still has the same soft spot for his magical creatures. In his study, there’s a make-shift nursery for the young Blast-Ended Skrewts. We can see in one of the crates that there’s a teddy bear, showing that Hagrid is still thoughtful of his creatures and cares about their comfort.

6. Motorbike License Plates

The unique ride cars for the attraction feature side-by-side seats, one being a motorbike and the other being a sidecar. On the motorbikes, you may notice that they all have license plates on them. While the letters and numbers may seem random, they actually aren’t!

The letters that are seen on the license plates are the initials of different crew members that worked on the ride. The numbers stand for the car and row number of that particular motorbike, but in reverse order. For example, if the license plate says 205, that motorbike is on car #5 row #2.

7. These Creatures Like the Heat

In one room of the queue, there’s a fireplace. This may not seem exceptionally special as you’re walking by, but if you take a closer look inside, you’ll be able to see the footprints of a magical creature. Going up and down the walls inside of the fireplace are Fire-Dwelling Salamander footprints!

These may be a bit difficult to see, especially since the room isn’t well lit. If you’ve never seen the footprints before, and you’re wanting to, you can use your phone’s flashlight to get a better view.

8. A Special Egg

In another portion of the queue, you’ll come across Hagrid’s collection of dragon eggs. In this same room, you’ll want to keep an eye out for a special egg. This one isn’t out in the open like the rest. It’s tucked away in a dingy cabinet.

Once you’ve spotted it, you won’t be able to unsee it. It’s a golden egg from the Triwizard Tournament! This was the egg that the players needed to retrieve from a dragon during the first task. After successfully securing the egg, the players needed to open the egg and solve the clue inside. The answer to the clue would tell them what the second task of the tournament was.

9. The First for a Coaster in the U.S.

As with any ride, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure comes with a set of precautionary warnings. It’s specifically stated that “This is a high speed roller coaster that includes sudden dramatic acceleration, climbing, tilting, dropping, and backwards motion”. When I first rode the ride, I didn’t think anything about the fact that there was dropping on this attraction. After all, most roller coasters have drops, right? Wrong. Not like the drop on this ride, at least.

For most roller coasters, a drop is a plunge down a hill. On Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, however, drop means something entirely different. On this ride, there is an actual drop track. This means that the train, along with a portion of the track, disconnects and free falls to a lower track that it then connects to.

The drop track on Hagrid’s falls down a total of 17 feet, which is quite a big fall! This portion of the ride is both surprising and extremely fun. It also gave Universal Orlando the title of having the first roller coaster in the United States to have a free-falling vertical drop.

10. You Won’t See These Creatures

Right at the beginning of the ride, you’ll hear Hagrid say, “Don’t mind the Thestrals”. While we do come face-to-face with a number of magical creatures, such as Fluffy the three-headed dog, a Centaur, Cornish Pixies, a Blast-Ended Skrewt, and Unicorns, you won’t be seeing any Thestrals.

However, since Hagrid is speaking about them, they’re clearly there with us. What Hagrid may not remember, though, is that not everyone is able to see Thestrals. Thestrals can only be seen by an individual who has witnessed death and has a genuine understanding of it. Hagrid is one of those that are able to see these creatures, which is why he may not always remember that they’re invisible to many.

However, even though we can’t see the ones on Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, we were able to see them on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We were able to see that Thestrals are winged, skeletal, horse-like creatures. Even though their appearance may suggest otherwise, they are kind and gentle creatures.

READ MORE – These 10 Disney Rides Have Changed Dramatically Since Their Opening

I’ve seen changes come and go, and like many seasoned Disney park goers, I’ve become familiar with the resulting emotional rollercoaster. It can be sad when the company decides to overhaul or even remove a beloved attraction. On the other hand, there are times when it’s easy to embrace a much-needed update. Here are ten Disney attractions that have transformed substantially since opening day, for better or worse.

READ MORE – Disney World Pros Know Not to Ignore These 10 Overlooked Food Items at the Parks