Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal's Islands of Adventure
Bow to Buckbeakand he bows back Wicker hippogriffsHagrid's flying lesson Neverupside down

Universal's Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Florida

Flight of the Hippogriff

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“No real drops. More speed around the turns.”

65Hagrid's Ma.110Incredible.155VelociCoast.Flight of t.43ftNo. 4 of 4coasters wecover at thepark36into ride28mphtop speed
POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
Back row
My kid loves it.
Back row
What riders love
  • Good theming and suprisingly fast for a kiddie!
  • Buckbeak MAKES the experience.
  • Solid theming, especially with the Buckbeak animatronic.
  • As an adult I was surprised by how thrilling this was
  • My kid is in the short range and this one was a nice intro to the bigger rides.
  • We had 15 in our family ride this ride ranging from age 3 to 55 years and everyone had fun.
  • Fun, zippy, short coaster. Great views. Amazing animatronic.
  • The location is amazing and you get amazing views of hogwarts.
  • Enjoyed watching the HP Castle light show from the coaster (as everyone else was crammed in on the side walk)
Flight of the Hippogriff Watch Performance Should I ride it? The layout Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Flight Of The Hippogriff - Universal Islands Of Adventure - Front Row (4K HD POV) - December 2022

youtube.com › ThemeParkMark

Flight Of The Hippogriff - Universal Islands Of Adventure - Back Row (4K HD POV) - January 2024

youtube.com › ThemeParkMark

Flight of the Hippogriff Full Ride POV | Wizarding World of Harry Potter | Universal Orlando

youtube.com › The Potter Collector

Flight of the Hippogriff off-ride HD Universal Studios Islands of Adventure

youtube.com › CoasterForce

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Universal's Islands of Adventure

I’d say it’s nearly identical to Barnstorm IMO with a *slightly* larger 1st drop.

TommyJK

No real drops. More speed around the turns.

julie2750

Not much to say here. A forceless, short ride, that sometimes has unjustifiably long wait times.

Jay Van Linden

The coaster ride is fun and fast but no really steep drops.

Lunie Love

The ride does not have any large drops and is very short. Great for kids and potter fans!

Jacqui H.

The first drop is pretty big and it goes fast for such a small little coaster.

east_coaster
doesn’t jerk you aroundsmooth track
rougher in recent yearsjerky for some

It doesn’t jerk you around very much so anyone can ride it.

Universal Bob

The track itself is very smooth, however, so the worst you have to deal with is the dizzying action.

Universal Landing

It is very tame. It isn’t at all rough or jerky, which is great.

Brian Sheldon

It was kind of boring but it was a pretty smooth coaster.

Lachlan F.

Orlando’s Hippogriff has become increasing rough in recent years.

TouringPlans

Hippogriff is jerky as all get out...It’s very twisty.

soniam

This is the tamest ride I’ve been on and it’s a pretty solid kiddie coaster.

BLITZN00DLE

There’s not much to fear here as you soar across the rather tame track.

Orlando Informer

Not a “thrill ride” for most, but for young kids, probably about as thrilling as they can get.

ProudHufflepuff

The little ones may find it just a wee intense at first, due to how high it climbs and how quickly it reaches its top speed.

Orlando Informer

As an adult I was surprised by how thrilling this was

GringottsStoleMyHeart
about 20 seconds upthen a piece of cake
42.7 ft, outdoorsa moment of nerves

There’s a sort of steep part like 7DMT at the beginning and it’s outside, so it gives me a moment of nerves. After that, piece of cake.

ChimCher-ee

The little ones may find it just a wee intense at first, due to how high it climbs.

Orlando Informer

I mustered up all my Gryffindor courage and off we went!

Stephanie Dominguez

Each seat provides great views of Hagrid’s hut and Hogwarts Castle as you climb the hill at the beginning.

Orlando Informer

Honestly I don’t remember as it is the shortest ride ever. I think I blinked and it was done.

GC&S
feels fast for its sizezippy turns
28.5 mphslower than Mine Train

It’s an easy family coaster, feels fast, and has a kick in its own way.

Henry Marth

Good theming and suprisingly fast for a kiddie!

Seamus Gorr

Fun, zippy, short coaster. Great views. Amazing animatronic.

ImWhyTheRumIsGone

The first drop is pretty big and it goes fast for such a small little coaster.

east_coaster

Slower than Mine train. But reeeeeaaaallly short.

GoldmanTrust
kids ride it againExpress accepted
about a minute long40 to 60 minute waits

We rode this one several times. My kid loves it. It is worth the time.

Salena Echols

On an average day, you can expect to wait around 40 minutes, with peak times hitting a whopping 60 minutes. That’s quite a long time in line for a ride that’s only a little over a minute long.

Famvia

Flight of the Hippogriff is short and sweet but not worth much of a wait.

TouringPlans

Not worth the hour wait, even with express pass

Lantern

If this is below 20 minutes, I recommend trying it out.

am

It is rare to see wait times longer than 40 minutes, even on the busiest of days.

Orlando Informer

Its stop into the station is too rough, but it has pretty good theming so

brian123 white123

It’s very twisty and that stop at the end can cause internal bleeding.

soniam

The brake run is pretty intense!

Jacob Rigby

A crazy long wait, uncomfortable and small cars, a pretty intense rattle, and extremely short layout.

Elliot Lambert

It is very tame. It isn’t at all rough or jerky, which is great.

Brian Sheldon

It´s a pretty smooth ride, don´t know why some people say it´s not

Pedro Valverde
never upside downabout a minute
quick helicesdizzy turns

The track itself is very smooth, however, so the worst you have to deal with is the dizzying action.

Universal Landing

Hippogriff is jerky as all get out...It’s very twisty.

soniam

It doesn’t jerk you around very much so anyone can ride it.

Universal Bob

Fun little kiddie coaster, packs some decent laterals.

Drive Safely

It doesn’t give you as much whiplash as barnstormer, and does give you a really neat view of Hogwarts.

only_hope

Should I ride it?

Organize by

The layout, to scale

42.7 ft, top of the lift20 ftstation levelBuckbeaklift, about 20 secondstop curvefirst drophelices and a bunny hillbrake run

Specifications

43 ftHeight
155 VelociCoaster 110 IncredibleHulk 65 Hagrid'sMagicalCreatures 43 Flight oftheHippogriff
28 mphTop speed
VelociCoaster70 IncredibleHulk67 Hagrid'sMagical Creat…50 Flight of theHippogriff28 070 mph
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Buckbeak bowing backHagrid’s hut and the themingviews of Hogwarts from the lifta real first coaster for small kidsfun for the whole family

Criticised for

over in about a minutelong waitstame for adultshard stop at the endcramped for tall riders

We rode this one several times. My kid loves it. It is worth the time. My kid is in the short range and this one was a nice intro to the bigger rides.

Salena Echols, Orlando Informer guest review

No real drops. More speed around the turns. My 8 year old - who was fairly scared of most rides - loved it.

julie2750, forum post

Fun, zippy, short coaster. Great views. Amazing animatronic. Great for littles if they’re too short for Hagrids.

ImWhyTheRumIsGone, AllEars reader review

The ride itself is mid. Buckbeak MAKES the experience.

Aubry Crenshaw, Captain Coaster review

Very, very short roller coaster. It was fun, but wish it was longer! Good for kids, and the theming is great. I would not recommend waiting in a long line for this, as the ride is over in under a minute.

anagram, AllEars reader review

Take your little ones on it, but don’t plan to ride it if you only have adults.

Grayson Lee, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal's Islands of Adventure
The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek, CC BY 2.0
Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal's Islands of Adventure
The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek, CC BY 2.0
Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal's Islands of Adventure
The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek, CC BY 2.0
Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal's Islands of Adventure
Snowman Guy, Public domain
Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal's Islands of Adventure
The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek, CC BY 2.0
Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal's Islands of Adventure
The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek, CC BY 2.0

6 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History

June 29, 2000Opened as Flying Unicorn

Added in the park's second year, in The Lost Continent, to give Islands of Adventure more family rides.

June 18, 2010Reopened as Flight of the Hippogriff

Same track, new story: Hagrid's flying lesson, with wicker hippogriff trains, Hagrid's hut in the queue and Buckbeak beside the lift.

2 yearsClosed for the Wizarding World build

Standing but not running from July 8, 2008 until the new land opened.

4 ridesshare this name

Universal Studios Japan's (2014) is the same model. The ones at Universal Studios Hollywood (2016) and Beijing (2021) are a different design.

Sources

Track plan from above: traced from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: popculturegeek.com (CC BY 2.0), The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek (CC BY 2.0), Snowman Guy (Public domain). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

Quote at the top of the page: julie2750, forum post.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Mr Coller Roaster, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It is a great family coaster and is brilliantly…”; Seamus Gorr, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Good theming and suprisingly fast for a kiddie!”; Aubry Crenshaw, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Buckbeak MAKES the experience.”; Henry Marth, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Solid theming, especially with the Buckbeak animatronic.”; Anthony Dean, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Great ride for younger kids, my niece and nephew…”; GringottsStoleMyHeart, reader review on AllEars: “As an adult I was surprised by how thrilling…”; Salena Echols, guest review on Orlando Informer: “My kid is in the short range and this…”; Universal Bob, guest review on Orlando Informer: “We had 15 in our family ride this ride…”; Alexia Englund, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Cute and fun, gives good views of the Hogwarts…”; ImWhyTheRumIsGone, reader review on AllEars: “Fun, zippy, short coaster. Great views. Amazing animatronic.”; Toutatis, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The location is amazing and you get amazing views…”; Anonymous, reader review on AllEars: “Enjoyed watching the HP Castle light show from the…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: ThemeParkMark's back row POV, Flight Of The Hippogriff - Universal Islands Of Adventure - Back Row (4K HD POV) - January 2024 (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.