Queue

The exterior queue remains the same as Dragon Challenge, with the exception of the removal of the broken-down Ford Anglia, which was incorporated to the ride, and the pennants in support of the Triwizard Tournament champions. Muggles enter the Forbidden Forest by passing under the archway entrance, where they encounter signs along the way. A ring shaped path leads to a bridge over the exit pathway. Heading towards Flight of the Hippogriff, there is a flying horse made out of wood. Approaching a long switchback section, Muggles see huts, pumpkin patches and farming equipment. After passing a rose garden, Muggles cross the bridge and access a castle. Straight ahead, there is a vertical sculpture with a mermaid from the Black Lake surrounded by a couple of Grindylows. To the left of the sculpture is the castle entrance. Muggles enter a room with cages and several murals, such as Buckbeak and Ravenclaw. While walking down the hallway, there is a Dueling Club mural with ice and fire dragons, which pays tribute to Dragon Challenge. After this, Muggles head into a switchback room with a fireplace, pieces of wood, kitchenware and salamander footprints. This is followed by another storage room containing dragon eggs and more murals. After exiting the pre-show, Muggles pass along a study area with hourglasses, books, scales and other items. They can find several cards with creatures, including unicorns, cornish pixies, manticores and nifflers, as well as the Book of Monsters.^[25] Then, Muggles follow some dark hallways. Getting closer, they spot a test seat and a screen that shows safety instructions. After another switchback area, Muggles enter the station, where they stand on a moving conveyor belt and climb into the ride vehicles.^[26]

Pre-show

Rubeus Hagrid (played by Robbie Coltrane) will take Muggles on a very special Care of Magical Creatures class and has acquired the help of Arthur Weasley (played by Mark Williams) 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 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 sprays Muggles with water before Hagrid departs to wait for them. 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.

The pre-show is sometimes preempted during longer-than-usual wait times and, instead, Fang is seen walking around.

Layout

View of the attraction's vehicle trains and the track from the exterior queue.

The ride begins by turning right out of the loading station. Afterwards, the vehicles hit the first launch which accelerates from 0 to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) in 1.2 seconds. It moves through an s-curve slope and makes a right turn and hit the second launch, accelerating from 22 miles per hour (35 km/h) to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) in 1.5 seconds. Hagrid says he will meet up with the Muggles at an abandoned hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Once the bikes reach Hagrid's hut, a Blast-Ended Skrewt sprays smoke at the riders as the giant himself tells them they'll pick up the rest of the lesson later. The vehicles exit the hut by turning right, which leads into the third launch from 0 to 32 miles per hour (51 km/h) in 3.5 seconds. The vehicles head up an airtime hill, passing by the abandoned castle and making a left-handed dive into a tunnel. Following a series of turns, the vehicles approach the fourth launch, accelerating from 27 miles per hour (43 km/h) to 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) in 2.3 seconds. While going through a double right turn, Hagrid warns that the bikes are out of his control and are flying into the Forbidden Forest. The vehicles then make a right turn and slow down on the mid-course brake run. Fluffy, the three-headed dog can be found on the left side. The vehicle turns left past a switchtrack and accelerate from 21 miles per hour (34 km/h) to 41 miles per hour (66 km/h) in 2.1 seconds. They speed into a tunnel with a group of Cornish Pixies that have taken over Arthur Weasley's broken-down flying Ford Anglia on top. After the tunnel, they rise up a 65-foot (20 m) tall 70-degree vertical spike before losing power and dropping backwards. Now accelerating from 37 miles per hour (60 km/h) to 44 miles per hour (71 km/h) in 1.7 seconds, It speeds through another tunnel and a helix. The vehicles slow down into the darkest part of the Forbidden Forest as the Muggles pass a centaur, stopping in the tentacles of Devil's Snare. Hagrid encourages Muggles to say the incantation "Lumos Solem" and then free-fall 17 feet (5.2 m) into a cave filled with glowing Blast-Ended Skrewts around riders, which Hagrid congratulates for finding them. The vehicles exit the building and approach the final launch, accelerating from 0 to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) in 4 seconds. During this launch, Muggles are told to push the button in front of them to expel dragon fire-breath. Fog effects begin to appear in a straight line near the tracks. The vehicles hit a left banked turn and pass the on-ride camera, which takes photos of the guests. After this, the vehicles make a right turn before stopping at the abandoned castle, where a unicorn and her foal are spotted, thus ending the ride. As the vehicles slow down into the unloading area, Hagrid thanks and asks them not to tell anyone at Hogwarts about the experience.^[27]

Technical difficulties

The attraction "has been plagued by downtime problems from day one"^[35][36] and has been cited as "one of the most unreliable in the entire theme park industry". 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/when they can be resolved.^[37]