Universal doesn't provide wait times for single riders because it's pulled based by availability.
Unlike express and the regular line, where there are set ratios, (1 Regular guest for every 3 express guests, as an example) singles is pulled based on if it's needed.
This can depend on a variety of factors, including how the ride vehicle is designed, how quickly the vehicles get dispatched, the sizes of the groups in the normal and express lines, and can even vary based on the skill of the person grouping people for the ride.
Some groupers prefer to use singles as little as possible, some groupers like to use singles as much as possible.
It's always a gamble with the single riders line. I wouldn't recommend it unless the line is no greater than 20 people long, and if the normal queue isn't short.
This was beautifully explained, very thorough.
What I’ve noticed both throughout the parks and in the Hagrid’s single-rider line is that, what you’re really hoping for is an odd-numbered group of people. Any time there’s 3 or 5 to the group, a single rider will be placed on the ride. Occasionally, but rather rarely, there’ll be multiple odd-numbered groups of people will be on a single train, allowing multiple single-riders on the ride.
But boy, those odd groups are few and far between. When you’re 7 people away from the front in the Hagrid’s singles line, you may as well be halfway through standby. I stand there and stare at that line, and it’s always a couple, or parents with their 2 kids, or 4 friends. There’s never an odd number bro, I swear.
That's the thing though, and circles back to the grouper's skill.
Let's use Rockit as an example. 6 rows of 2 seats.
You have 3 parties of 2, so your first 3 rows are filled.
Then you have a party of 3. Typically, (on instinct) a grouper could direct a single to join that party of 3, making a party of 4, and leaving 1 row of 2 to group.
But then, your next party is a party of 3, now you don't have enough seats to get that party on. At that point, you would do 1 of 2 things, 1. Call out for a party of 2 to skip the line and ride, or 2. Pull 2 single riders to fill the row.
Or, if the grouper is skilled, they would ask for the next party's size, then realize they could get a full vehicle without pulling from singles, and send them on their way.
It's not only easier, but odds are they are instructed to prioritize the Regular and Express lines over singles.
Again, this adds to the variability of the Single Riders line. You're really gambling with your time.
>Or, if the grouper is skilled, they would ask for the next party's size, then realize they could get a full vehicle without pulling from singles, and send them on their way.
>It's not only easier, but odds are they are instructed to prioritize the Regular and Express lines over singles.
This right here, unless things have changed. When I worked at Spider-man back in '99-'01, single rider line was not a priority. I would always ask the next 2-3 groups how many they had because I can get 4 groups of 3 in one car and not use any singles.
Rightly or wrongly, us team members hated opening the single rider line. It was more often a pain in the butt than helpful. When I worked there, Spider-man was still an infant an working out the kinks especially during my first year. I talking long and many down times, almost daily. This caused our line to be very, very long. I'm talking filling up the extend queue that went down the side of the building next to the Toon Lagoon stage.
So when we were operational, plenty of families and large groups would go through the singles line because it was shorter. and get to us groupers and say "we didn't know it was for singles only, please let us ride together." Then arguments would follow when we told them no and told them to go back outside and get in the regular line. Most annoying was he parent with 1 or 2 kids in the singles line who then starts fighting with you because their kids can't ride alone. SO DON'T GET IN THE SINGLES LINE!!!
Some arguments got so bad that a supervisor would get called and 99% they make us put them on the ride, making us groupers look like ass wholes. We hated our supervisors because they almost never backed us up. This kind of thing didn't happen just a couple times a day, it was none stop. Like we break up a group that was begging to ride together only for the group immediately behind them to try the same thing.
Lord help us all when they saw a supervisor allow a whole group on, the next handful would also get own so the supe could avoid arguments, then it was just a domino effect before the supe would scurry off back to their whole. Then the times supes and managers would tell us to exclusively use singles for a few minutes because our single line was "too long". Mean while, the folks in the regular line are getting mad because they have waited hours and getting passed over for "singles".
I'm telling you from experience 25 years ago, we team members hated the single riders line. We viewed as a line cutting tool for groups would try to play dumb. The days we were aloud to close it or never open it at all were so much more enjoyable and calm.
Sorry for the rant, this got long.
This is why at Epcot, Test Track tends to keep a very low single rider wait. They have two rows of three per car, and Disney grouping CMs are instructed that they shouldn't split one person off from a group to fill a seat in a different row, so if they have a party of four, they do two in the front plus a single, and two in the back plus a single.
Good intel. I guess if you get in there and see that many people just jump out and get in the normal line???
My idea of a single rider line from every other theme park I’ve been to is that it’s a drastically reduced time at the expense of riding alone.
Depends on how the ride is set up and how many seats available at a time though. Hagrids is 2 per bike so the likeliness of needing to use a single rider is quite reduced …
Typically, this is true. However, when the wait times get really long, large parties are more inclined to accept riding alone in exchange for a shorter wait. If everyone does this, then the single riders line gets crowded, and now the wait is longer than the normal line.
In other words, the single riders line is shorter because less people go into it. But if more people go into the singles line, then it spirals out of control.
And yes, you can absolutely go into the singles line, and turn around to go into the normal line. There's no rule saying you can't swap lines. The only rule is that you go to the back of whatever line your switching into.
Yeah I recently went to a park on opening day of a new ride, so obviously the park was crowded with enthusiasts and they tend to be much happier to split parties. I was on my own, went to a ride with a 2hr queue and got in the single rider, but realized there were hundreds of people in that queue so I noped out of there. Spoke to someone later who said they were in that queue over 3hrs...
Went back a week later when the queue was 50 minutes and got on in 15 single rider.
Single Rider is *not* guaranteed to give you a faster wait than the posted wait time.
The goal of Single Rider is to fill extra space on the ride. However, this only really works particularly well when you have wider rows.
Take Hulk for instance. 4 seats per row, Parties numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 11, and so on, will leave at least one seat for a Single Rider to occupy.
For Velocicoaster and Hagrid, they're 2 seats per row. That means that parties numbered 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and so on, will allow a single rider. This means that the Single Rider line moves *very* slowly.
That’s exactly why Disney doesn’t even offer single rider on new attractions that seat 2 per row. Instead, they split the line into even and odd groups to fill every seat.
Single rider doesn’t make sense for 2 per row rides — there’s no benefit to the single rider.
I have also found this to be the case, in my experience you’re more likely to get pulled into a car from single rider if you are on a ride with an odd number of seats per row, or if an odd numbered party gets seated in the regular line. If they pulled a party of two onto Hulk, Mummy or Gringotts they would just pull another party of two instead of two single riders.
Ok ouch with the downvotes, guys. It just seems like the only purpose of this single rider line is to do universal a favour?? Like we aren’t the ones paying $200 to get into the park. God forbid they do us a favour.
I mean it increases the used capacity of the rides so more people ride it per hour so the most people can get on. In a way it’s doing both a favor, but agreed that you shouldn’t get downvotes since it is a genuine question.
I agree, people shouldn’t be downvoting you. The single rider lines are essentially scams and don’t garner any good will. They should cut the lines off way sooner than they do. It’s essentially tricking unknowing guests into waiting in a much worse line. They could split the line once you get to the part where you enter indoor queue or something.
They literally announce in the queue for hagrids and VC that single rider does not guarantee shorter standby time so maybe that’s why the downvotes. Not sure how you can be surprised at this point
This seems obvious but most people don't understand.
Rides with 2 seats per row, the single rider queue is almost always longer than the main line. You have to wait for parties of one, three, five, etc.
This has been my experience each of the 3 times I've used the single rider line. It always take longer.
There is one good thing to come out of it though. I've ridden at the very front (1st bike) twice now.
Agree. I like walking through the normal queue anyways and enjoy the props, it builds the anticipation and excitement imo. Unless I’m there and they open it for the first time of the day I will avoid SRL like the plague.
Yep, which is why MIB is so good for singles. 2 rows of 3. Group of 2 gets on, plus a single. Group of 4 gets split to 2 and 2, plus 2 singles fill the car. Group of 5, plus a single.
But Everest single rider is almost always short. The only reason I can think of for that is not many people know about it? It’s kind of hidden. SR for Space in Disneyland also seemed to work well when I was there.
Yeah Everest is fairly hidden away, I know where it is but I don't think I've ever actually noticed it. My guess for Disney is that there's also a demographic thing there. There are more families with younger kids, who are less likely to use single rider. I think Universal attracts more teens and young adults who are happier to split up for a quicker queue.
I went by myself last week. The line was posted as a 70 minute wait. I chose the single rider line first, but it was longer than I had ever seen it. I walked back and waited in the normal line. I was off the ride in just under an hour.. counting my walk to single rider and back.
Inevitably since I rode by myself, I was paired with a single rider. She seemed like a nice lady so I asked how long she waited. She said her and her family waited an hour and 15 mins. Luckily she sort of laughed and I didn’t say anything.
Single rider can be very quick. I walked on transformers, hulk, and gringotts because of single rider. but for some reason, on bigger rides like Hagrids and velocicoaster it’s viewed as a free express line.
The reason it doesn't work as well on Hagrids and VC (and really RRR too) is that two abreast rides just won't create many single rider opportunities. Anything 3+ is going to create tons of them.
Look at Test Track. Incredibly popular ride that's always breaking down with relatively low capacity. But the SRL is usually very short. Its because its three abreast and takes a single rider in nearly every row. I would have used MIB as an example, but even the standby isn't that bad on it.
The first time I did single pretty sure it was faster, like 45 minutes. The 2nd time I did single I was stuck in that corner that gets all the sun baking away for like 20 minutes. A guy ahead of me had gone single rider while his wife and kid went normal line and we could see the motorcycles and still no sign of his wife then here she came and got on 10-15 minutes ahead of us.
Also probably harder to get the motorcycle seat if you’re single rider… bring your bandana 😎
Me and my tall friend both want bikes, so we always take a single rider from the line with us. The joy on their face is chefs kiss. I had this kid join me and he was BEYOND excited. Meet new friends and also always get a bike.
I go solo so I use single rider lines a lot.
Hagrid’s is the one and only ride I will not use it for. Because of the seat layout it takes long as can be. I’ll go through regular and then they can pull someone from the purgatory of standing right there for ever in the single rider line lol
For the rides that are 2-car seats it's probably not going to save you a lot of time, there are just less groups that require single rider lines to fill out seats.
It's pretty good in other rides though, like Hogwarts and Mummy.
Singles does and will most likely cut down your wait time, you just need to be smart with deciding whether it’s backed up or not. The hour mark for Hagrid’s singles is just outside of that door after the stairs.
Hagrid’s generally does save you 15-30 min so long as it’s not overly backed up. Sometimes you’re better off joining the regular or express queue or trying again later in the day.
Due to the setup of the singles queue, Hagrid’s is one of the most brutal singles queues to stand in. It moves in surges rather than when singles are pulled (1st half)
Velocicoaster is almost always backed up, but still saves you time generally.
However, if you want to restore your faith in singles, try MIB, Forbidden, or Hulk singles. They are almost always not backed up and will almost ALWAYS be better than express. (Hulk is generally a walk-on to a 15 min wait.)
You are warned that singles does not garuantee a shorter wait time, so queueing there is completely at your own risk. What might be a 15 min reduced wait may be a 30 min reduced wait an hour later, even with the same length singles queue. Singles is only used to fill empty seats and is not an express queue nor receives any priority (actually the least priority out of all the lines).
If it looks backed up, hop over to the main queue or come back later.
We used single rider on Hulk and went on 4 times yesterday!!! This ride set our expectations that single rider lines functioned the way I had experienced elsewhere in the world. But NOPE!
Honestly it’s just being smart with WHEN to hop in singles. If it’s backed up you’re better off coming back later. I’ve backed out of singles queues plenty of times and I don’t regret doing it. For many rides I choose singles over express.
That being said, I do avoid Mummy and Velocicoaster singles. Express is better for those generally
Is hagrids a good ride to start the day with to get the huge queue over and done with? I’m here now just waiting for the park rides to open to everyone. It’s been open for early access ticket holders since 8 and i overheard someone say hagrids was crazy busy.
I’m here by myself and the single rider queues at universal studios yesterday were great.
It is an amazing ride!! I would go by the other tips in this group - don’t do single rider unless you can run all the way to inside the castle.
I just regret missing out on all the theming throughout the stand-by queue and waiting just as long.
Last time I went they still didn’t have single for Hagrid’s. There’s a lot of good explanations in here but the short version is don’t do single rider with 2-person rides like Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster. There’s two many groups of 2’s and 4’s like traveling families and couples that will fill those seats 100 times before there’s a spot for you.
Rides with multiple seats like Mummy, MIB, and Gringott’s will plow through single riders pretty quickly, especially depending on who is running the show at the front of the line. That in my experience has as much influence as anything. I get single riders being an “as needed” line but I’ve seen workers go a dozen groups back to find a group of 2 to fill seats rather than grab 2 from the single riders. Which I find kind of ridiculous, makes it slower for everyone. Then you got women like who I’ve seen run the mummy coaster and they don’t play games with finding groups. If they don’t have their right group number in first bunch or two, I’ve seen them throw 6 single riders into one cart before 😅😅
A lot of factors go into the worthiness of the single rider line, it has its place for sure but you just gotta know the rides in contrast to the length of the line. Ones like Velocicoaster I would avoid the single line at all cost unless you can confirm it has -87 people in it becuase that’s the worst experience I’ve had as a single rider multiple times over.
SRL is always a crapshoot. Sometimes it’s faster sometimes it’s not. Depends on how many odd-numbered parties there are. Park employees have no control over that so I’d stop complaining to the employees who work hard getting people loaded as quickly and safely as possible by the rules. SRL on Hagrid’s and VC generally isn’t good since the rides only seat 2 across.
I used to fly solo all the time, and the single rider lines were my friends. I never attempted Hagrid's single rider line. I'd heard nothing but horror stories.
Single rider doesn’t necessarily mean shorter wait sadly. From my experience, I only wait if the line is in the stairs (covered part) if it’s out in the open, it’s gonna be too long
It’s little bit of both. As some of already mentioned with party size, volume etc and time of day. There have been times I’ve waited over hour and times less as well. Last solo visit I was able to ride back to back single and regular line both under a hour, was a weekday though lol. Just be prepared to wait regardless unless you get lucky with X pass lol.
Thankfully when my fiancé and I went the worker at the front saw we were together and warned us that the single rider line was going to be a much longer wait. We thought they were lying but both times we went on the ride we kept track of the single rider line and breezed past everyone in that line.
Seems like single rider is the better bet on rides thar have more than 2 seats per row, where wait times are reasonable (so parties don't just split up), and where you could easily swap to the regular line if things aren't working out. Hagrids kind of has everything going against it for single riders to be worse than the regular line (other than avoiding the claustrophobic cave areas in the regular queue).
If people are queuing up in even numbers, single riders are going to be waiting. Maybe there just happened to be a lot of even groups getting on today.
Hagrids is not the line for single riders. I swear everyone know to use even numbers on that ride. And because each cart only seats 2 it ends up taking longer than the regular queue.
This happened to my husband and I. We only had a few more hours left on our trip so we decided to get in the single rider line to get on faster. We waited what felt like 3 hours in the direct sun, then both of the cars we were put on broke down mid ride. We waited 30 mins in darkness then had to walk out
There’s a break-even point for SRL. It’s only worth it if the line is at or near the stairs leading downstairs. If you see the line twisting around the statue outside, it’s not worth it.
Universal doesn't provide wait times for single riders because it's pulled based by availability. Unlike express and the regular line, where there are set ratios, (1 Regular guest for every 3 express guests, as an example) singles is pulled based on if it's needed. This can depend on a variety of factors, including how the ride vehicle is designed, how quickly the vehicles get dispatched, the sizes of the groups in the normal and express lines, and can even vary based on the skill of the person grouping people for the ride. Some groupers prefer to use singles as little as possible, some groupers like to use singles as much as possible. It's always a gamble with the single riders line. I wouldn't recommend it unless the line is no greater than 20 people long, and if the normal queue isn't short.
This was beautifully explained, very thorough. What I’ve noticed both throughout the parks and in the Hagrid’s single-rider line is that, what you’re really hoping for is an odd-numbered group of people. Any time there’s 3 or 5 to the group, a single rider will be placed on the ride. Occasionally, but rather rarely, there’ll be multiple odd-numbered groups of people will be on a single train, allowing multiple single-riders on the ride. But boy, those odd groups are few and far between. When you’re 7 people away from the front in the Hagrid’s singles line, you may as well be halfway through standby. I stand there and stare at that line, and it’s always a couple, or parents with their 2 kids, or 4 friends. There’s never an odd number bro, I swear.
That's the thing though, and circles back to the grouper's skill. Let's use Rockit as an example. 6 rows of 2 seats. You have 3 parties of 2, so your first 3 rows are filled. Then you have a party of 3. Typically, (on instinct) a grouper could direct a single to join that party of 3, making a party of 4, and leaving 1 row of 2 to group. But then, your next party is a party of 3, now you don't have enough seats to get that party on. At that point, you would do 1 of 2 things, 1. Call out for a party of 2 to skip the line and ride, or 2. Pull 2 single riders to fill the row. Or, if the grouper is skilled, they would ask for the next party's size, then realize they could get a full vehicle without pulling from singles, and send them on their way. It's not only easier, but odds are they are instructed to prioritize the Regular and Express lines over singles. Again, this adds to the variability of the Single Riders line. You're really gambling with your time.
>Or, if the grouper is skilled, they would ask for the next party's size, then realize they could get a full vehicle without pulling from singles, and send them on their way. >It's not only easier, but odds are they are instructed to prioritize the Regular and Express lines over singles. This right here, unless things have changed. When I worked at Spider-man back in '99-'01, single rider line was not a priority. I would always ask the next 2-3 groups how many they had because I can get 4 groups of 3 in one car and not use any singles. Rightly or wrongly, us team members hated opening the single rider line. It was more often a pain in the butt than helpful. When I worked there, Spider-man was still an infant an working out the kinks especially during my first year. I talking long and many down times, almost daily. This caused our line to be very, very long. I'm talking filling up the extend queue that went down the side of the building next to the Toon Lagoon stage. So when we were operational, plenty of families and large groups would go through the singles line because it was shorter. and get to us groupers and say "we didn't know it was for singles only, please let us ride together." Then arguments would follow when we told them no and told them to go back outside and get in the regular line. Most annoying was he parent with 1 or 2 kids in the singles line who then starts fighting with you because their kids can't ride alone. SO DON'T GET IN THE SINGLES LINE!!! Some arguments got so bad that a supervisor would get called and 99% they make us put them on the ride, making us groupers look like ass wholes. We hated our supervisors because they almost never backed us up. This kind of thing didn't happen just a couple times a day, it was none stop. Like we break up a group that was begging to ride together only for the group immediately behind them to try the same thing. Lord help us all when they saw a supervisor allow a whole group on, the next handful would also get own so the supe could avoid arguments, then it was just a domino effect before the supe would scurry off back to their whole. Then the times supes and managers would tell us to exclusively use singles for a few minutes because our single line was "too long". Mean while, the folks in the regular line are getting mad because they have waited hours and getting passed over for "singles". I'm telling you from experience 25 years ago, we team members hated the single riders line. We viewed as a line cutting tool for groups would try to play dumb. The days we were aloud to close it or never open it at all were so much more enjoyable and calm. Sorry for the rant, this got long.
This is why at Epcot, Test Track tends to keep a very low single rider wait. They have two rows of three per car, and Disney grouping CMs are instructed that they shouldn't split one person off from a group to fill a seat in a different row, so if they have a party of four, they do two in the front plus a single, and two in the back plus a single.
not to mention those odd groups have had a lot of time together in line and not uncommon for them to merge together to make an even group.
Good intel. I guess if you get in there and see that many people just jump out and get in the normal line??? My idea of a single rider line from every other theme park I’ve been to is that it’s a drastically reduced time at the expense of riding alone.
Depends on how the ride is set up and how many seats available at a time though. Hagrids is 2 per bike so the likeliness of needing to use a single rider is quite reduced …
Typically, this is true. However, when the wait times get really long, large parties are more inclined to accept riding alone in exchange for a shorter wait. If everyone does this, then the single riders line gets crowded, and now the wait is longer than the normal line. In other words, the single riders line is shorter because less people go into it. But if more people go into the singles line, then it spirals out of control. And yes, you can absolutely go into the singles line, and turn around to go into the normal line. There's no rule saying you can't swap lines. The only rule is that you go to the back of whatever line your switching into.
Yeah I recently went to a park on opening day of a new ride, so obviously the park was crowded with enthusiasts and they tend to be much happier to split parties. I was on my own, went to a ride with a 2hr queue and got in the single rider, but realized there were hundreds of people in that queue so I noped out of there. Spoke to someone later who said they were in that queue over 3hrs... Went back a week later when the queue was 50 minutes and got on in 15 single rider.
I typically do SRL for the attractions that allow it, but for Hagrid's, I just wait in the regular line even if SRL is open.
Or drastically reduced wait time** I should say
Single Rider is *not* guaranteed to give you a faster wait than the posted wait time. The goal of Single Rider is to fill extra space on the ride. However, this only really works particularly well when you have wider rows. Take Hulk for instance. 4 seats per row, Parties numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 11, and so on, will leave at least one seat for a Single Rider to occupy. For Velocicoaster and Hagrid, they're 2 seats per row. That means that parties numbered 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and so on, will allow a single rider. This means that the Single Rider line moves *very* slowly.
That’s exactly why Disney doesn’t even offer single rider on new attractions that seat 2 per row. Instead, they split the line into even and odd groups to fill every seat. Single rider doesn’t make sense for 2 per row rides — there’s no benefit to the single rider.
I have also found this to be the case, in my experience you’re more likely to get pulled into a car from single rider if you are on a ride with an odd number of seats per row, or if an odd numbered party gets seated in the regular line. If they pulled a party of two onto Hulk, Mummy or Gringotts they would just pull another party of two instead of two single riders.
Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster single rider are almost always the same length if not longer than standby
Ok ouch with the downvotes, guys. It just seems like the only purpose of this single rider line is to do universal a favour?? Like we aren’t the ones paying $200 to get into the park. God forbid they do us a favour.
I mean it increases the used capacity of the rides so more people ride it per hour so the most people can get on. In a way it’s doing both a favor, but agreed that you shouldn’t get downvotes since it is a genuine question.
I agree, people shouldn’t be downvoting you. The single rider lines are essentially scams and don’t garner any good will. They should cut the lines off way sooner than they do. It’s essentially tricking unknowing guests into waiting in a much worse line. They could split the line once you get to the part where you enter indoor queue or something.
They literally announce in the queue for hagrids and VC that single rider does not guarantee shorter standby time so maybe that’s why the downvotes. Not sure how you can be surprised at this point
I’m not surprised, I’ve always known and never done it. But I don’t expect the average person to expect that.
So why have one?!? So frustrating…
To fill the trains. More throughput regardless of your personal wait time.
I’m assuming once it’s not the new hot ride the line is going to be converted to an express pass line.
This seems obvious but most people don't understand. Rides with 2 seats per row, the single rider queue is almost always longer than the main line. You have to wait for parties of one, three, five, etc.
This has been my experience each of the 3 times I've used the single rider line. It always take longer. There is one good thing to come out of it though. I've ridden at the very front (1st bike) twice now.
if the single rider line is beyond the staircase down, i don’t bother, esp if it’s outside the way it was today.
That staircase felt like an eternity, you will NEVER catch me single riding hagrid ever again, under NO circumstance
Agree. I like walking through the normal queue anyways and enjoy the props, it builds the anticipation and excitement imo. Unless I’m there and they open it for the first time of the day I will avoid SRL like the plague.
I did it again yesterday and got to do it twice in 30 minutes?! It truly is a gamble.
If it has 3 or 4 across single rider will be fast. If it's just 2 you are waiting on odd number groups until your line moves.
Yep, which is why MIB is so good for singles. 2 rows of 3. Group of 2 gets on, plus a single. Group of 4 gets split to 2 and 2, plus 2 singles fill the car. Group of 5, plus a single.
Same way at WDW for test track, the three across seating means the single rider queue is always extremely fast.
But Everest single rider is almost always short. The only reason I can think of for that is not many people know about it? It’s kind of hidden. SR for Space in Disneyland also seemed to work well when I was there.
Also a difference in throughput - Everest can do 2050 riders an hour, Hagrids 1700
Yeah Everest is fairly hidden away, I know where it is but I don't think I've ever actually noticed it. My guess for Disney is that there's also a demographic thing there. There are more families with younger kids, who are less likely to use single rider. I think Universal attracts more teens and young adults who are happier to split up for a quicker queue.
Very normal. Most groups seem to be pairs, so it can take a very long time for singles to get hooked up with groups of 3 or 5.
I went by myself last week. The line was posted as a 70 minute wait. I chose the single rider line first, but it was longer than I had ever seen it. I walked back and waited in the normal line. I was off the ride in just under an hour.. counting my walk to single rider and back. Inevitably since I rode by myself, I was paired with a single rider. She seemed like a nice lady so I asked how long she waited. She said her and her family waited an hour and 15 mins. Luckily she sort of laughed and I didn’t say anything. Single rider can be very quick. I walked on transformers, hulk, and gringotts because of single rider. but for some reason, on bigger rides like Hagrids and velocicoaster it’s viewed as a free express line.
The reason it doesn't work as well on Hagrids and VC (and really RRR too) is that two abreast rides just won't create many single rider opportunities. Anything 3+ is going to create tons of them. Look at Test Track. Incredibly popular ride that's always breaking down with relatively low capacity. But the SRL is usually very short. Its because its three abreast and takes a single rider in nearly every row. I would have used MIB as an example, but even the standby isn't that bad on it.
The first time I did single pretty sure it was faster, like 45 minutes. The 2nd time I did single I was stuck in that corner that gets all the sun baking away for like 20 minutes. A guy ahead of me had gone single rider while his wife and kid went normal line and we could see the motorcycles and still no sign of his wife then here she came and got on 10-15 minutes ahead of us. Also probably harder to get the motorcycle seat if you’re single rider… bring your bandana 😎
Tried it once… barely moved after a long time so we bailed.
Me and my tall friend both want bikes, so we always take a single rider from the line with us. The joy on their face is chefs kiss. I had this kid join me and he was BEYOND excited. Meet new friends and also always get a bike.
I go solo so I use single rider lines a lot. Hagrid’s is the one and only ride I will not use it for. Because of the seat layout it takes long as can be. I’ll go through regular and then they can pull someone from the purgatory of standing right there for ever in the single rider line lol
Don’t single ride on a two seater. I’ve even had cast members tell me it is a mistake to do that.
Never do the singler rider on coasters with 2 seats in a row. It's often much longer of a wait.
Congratulations, today you learned the single rider line isn't an express lane.
NEVER do hagrids single rider or velocicoaster single rider. It’s horrible and 10 times the wait
For the rides that are 2-car seats it's probably not going to save you a lot of time, there are just less groups that require single rider lines to fill out seats. It's pretty good in other rides though, like Hogwarts and Mummy.
And on a random Monday, too? Not even a break or holiday.
It’s Passover. NY and NJ schools (and maybe more) are on break.
Singles does and will most likely cut down your wait time, you just need to be smart with deciding whether it’s backed up or not. The hour mark for Hagrid’s singles is just outside of that door after the stairs. Hagrid’s generally does save you 15-30 min so long as it’s not overly backed up. Sometimes you’re better off joining the regular or express queue or trying again later in the day. Due to the setup of the singles queue, Hagrid’s is one of the most brutal singles queues to stand in. It moves in surges rather than when singles are pulled (1st half) Velocicoaster is almost always backed up, but still saves you time generally. However, if you want to restore your faith in singles, try MIB, Forbidden, or Hulk singles. They are almost always not backed up and will almost ALWAYS be better than express. (Hulk is generally a walk-on to a 15 min wait.) You are warned that singles does not garuantee a shorter wait time, so queueing there is completely at your own risk. What might be a 15 min reduced wait may be a 30 min reduced wait an hour later, even with the same length singles queue. Singles is only used to fill empty seats and is not an express queue nor receives any priority (actually the least priority out of all the lines). If it looks backed up, hop over to the main queue or come back later.
We used single rider on Hulk and went on 4 times yesterday!!! This ride set our expectations that single rider lines functioned the way I had experienced elsewhere in the world. But NOPE!
Honestly it’s just being smart with WHEN to hop in singles. If it’s backed up you’re better off coming back later. I’ve backed out of singles queues plenty of times and I don’t regret doing it. For many rides I choose singles over express. That being said, I do avoid Mummy and Velocicoaster singles. Express is better for those generally
Is hagrids a good ride to start the day with to get the huge queue over and done with? I’m here now just waiting for the park rides to open to everyone. It’s been open for early access ticket holders since 8 and i overheard someone say hagrids was crazy busy. I’m here by myself and the single rider queues at universal studios yesterday were great.
It is an amazing ride!! I would go by the other tips in this group - don’t do single rider unless you can run all the way to inside the castle. I just regret missing out on all the theming throughout the stand-by queue and waiting just as long.
I made it through single riders in 30 minutes one day, and 75 the next. It’s so hit or miss.
Last time I went they still didn’t have single for Hagrid’s. There’s a lot of good explanations in here but the short version is don’t do single rider with 2-person rides like Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster. There’s two many groups of 2’s and 4’s like traveling families and couples that will fill those seats 100 times before there’s a spot for you. Rides with multiple seats like Mummy, MIB, and Gringott’s will plow through single riders pretty quickly, especially depending on who is running the show at the front of the line. That in my experience has as much influence as anything. I get single riders being an “as needed” line but I’ve seen workers go a dozen groups back to find a group of 2 to fill seats rather than grab 2 from the single riders. Which I find kind of ridiculous, makes it slower for everyone. Then you got women like who I’ve seen run the mummy coaster and they don’t play games with finding groups. If they don’t have their right group number in first bunch or two, I’ve seen them throw 6 single riders into one cart before 😅😅 A lot of factors go into the worthiness of the single rider line, it has its place for sure but you just gotta know the rides in contrast to the length of the line. Ones like Velocicoaster I would avoid the single line at all cost unless you can confirm it has -87 people in it becuase that’s the worst experience I’ve had as a single rider multiple times over.
SRL is always a crapshoot. Sometimes it’s faster sometimes it’s not. Depends on how many odd-numbered parties there are. Park employees have no control over that so I’d stop complaining to the employees who work hard getting people loaded as quickly and safely as possible by the rules. SRL on Hagrid’s and VC generally isn’t good since the rides only seat 2 across.
Single rider on a 2 seat ride is always going to be a pain/crapshoot as to how many odd number parties are in the line.
I used to fly solo all the time, and the single rider lines were my friends. I never attempted Hagrid's single rider line. I'd heard nothing but horror stories.
Single rider doesn’t necessarily mean shorter wait sadly. From my experience, I only wait if the line is in the stairs (covered part) if it’s out in the open, it’s gonna be too long
It’s little bit of both. As some of already mentioned with party size, volume etc and time of day. There have been times I’ve waited over hour and times less as well. Last solo visit I was able to ride back to back single and regular line both under a hour, was a weekday though lol. Just be prepared to wait regardless unless you get lucky with X pass lol.
Thankfully when my fiancé and I went the worker at the front saw we were together and warned us that the single rider line was going to be a much longer wait. We thought they were lying but both times we went on the ride we kept track of the single rider line and breezed past everyone in that line.
Seems like single rider is the better bet on rides thar have more than 2 seats per row, where wait times are reasonable (so parties don't just split up), and where you could easily swap to the regular line if things aren't working out. Hagrids kind of has everything going against it for single riders to be worse than the regular line (other than avoiding the claustrophobic cave areas in the regular queue).
It's common for Universal to lie about their wait times. I have heard if you see a 75 min on hagrids, it's really about 45 or 50.
Chalks up to luck
If people are queuing up in even numbers, single riders are going to be waiting. Maybe there just happened to be a lot of even groups getting on today.
Hagrids is not the line for single riders. I swear everyone know to use even numbers on that ride. And because each cart only seats 2 it ends up taking longer than the regular queue.
This happened to my husband and I. We only had a few more hours left on our trip so we decided to get in the single rider line to get on faster. We waited what felt like 3 hours in the direct sun, then both of the cars we were put on broke down mid ride. We waited 30 mins in darkness then had to walk out
There’s a break-even point for SRL. It’s only worth it if the line is at or near the stairs leading downstairs. If you see the line twisting around the statue outside, it’s not worth it.
Single rider is a scam. Every time I tried that It took way longer. I did it on the Velocicoaster and it took forever
Universal has never said that the single rider line will save you time.