Last month, Universal Orlando Resort finally revealed the new roller coaster planned for Islands of Adventure’s Hogsmeade portion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It’s called Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and today Universal released more details about exactly what will be involved in the attraction and what guests will see on board it. Get ready to explore the Forbidden Forest in a way you never thought possible, because it's going to be as real as any theme park attraction could be.
The most impressive thing about the new attraction is that when it says you’ll be flying through the Forbidden Forest, it really means it. The attraction will contain more than 1200 actual trees, making it quite possibly the most realistic roller coaster environment ever.
Take a first look below.
As the coaster soars through the trees, guests will come up against numerous magical creatures who fans of Harry Potter will be familiar with, centaurs. Cornish pixies, Fluffy the three-headed dog, as well as an as yet unnamed creature that’s never been seen in the Wizarding World movies.
The storytelling behind the ride is that guests are attending a Care of Magical Creatures class with everybody’s favorite groundskeeper, Hagrid. Of course, it’s Hagrid, which means things don’t go entirely as planned. As well as seeing a number of creatures the roller coaster will also see ride vehicles avoiding Devil’s Snare along with other obstacles.
The ride vehicles have been made to resemble a motorcycle and sidecar, identical the one we see Hagrid drive in the movies. Guests will be able to sit on either side, which means that the experience will be slightly different depending on which side you choose, giving the attraction some natural re-ridability.
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure sounds like a lot of fun. According to Universal Orlando, the coaster will hit speeds of 50 miles per hour and will go both forwards and backwards.
The official reveal of the new attraction comes courtesy of a brief video hosted by Harry Potter film star Tom Felton, who speaks with Alan Gilmore, the art director for the Harry Potter franchise who has been directly involved in designing this new attraction as well. Keep an eye out for a piece of concept art which would appear to be a complete track layout
Universal upped the theme park game when it opened the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter area in Orlando. The level of theming and immersion was unforeseen in a theme park at the time. It’s only been nine years since Hogsmeade opened, but Universal is clearly already looking for ways to improve the space and make it even better.
I have to say riding a motorbike at high speed through an actual forest sounds like an immense amount of fun. As there are still a few details being kept under wraps, a few more details may be on the way before the new coaster is officially open. However, the best news is that we don’t have much time to wait to check out Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, the attraction will be open on June 13.
