The Rides of Harry Potter RANKED

Ranking Harry Potter Rides

Harry Potter is the most popular intellectual property that Universal Parks and Resorts gets to work with. In Orlando, there are six rides attached to the Harry Potter brand. They exist in all three Orlando theme parks, and I have ridden all of them multiple times. This begs the question, which one is the best?

Hogwarts Express (Either experience)—I like that there are two different variations of this attraction and I like that it goes from park to park. I love the Platform 9 ¾ effect they use on the Hogwarts Express from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade. The Diagon Alley train has the best queue, and the best ride experience. The cabins can get a bit stuffy, and the screens on top of that make this attraction not as fun as it could be. This was the easiest bottom attraction I could make. I would rather walk than save the time to do this attraction, if it even is a time saver. I think it is a step saver more than anything.

Flight of the Hippogriff—A nice family coaster that is very fun at night. Looking over at Hogwarts at nighttime during the climb is beautiful. The ride layout is just an easy introductory coaster for smaller kids. The animatronic of the Hippogriff is amazing too.

Forbidden Journey—This was the first E-ticket attraction that Harry Potter got and it was incredibly well-themed. The castle facade is one of my favorite facades in the world and I think anyone that goes to Islands of Adventure as a picture on the bridge directly in front of the castle. The queue is awesome as you get to visit a few areas from the movie such as the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The ride experience was great when I was younger. Now, the heavy reliance on screens and the bobbing of the ride vehicle makes my head hurt. I think this is an awesome ride and still holds up later on. I just don’t ride it very often.

Escape from Gringotts—It feels a bit wrong to rate this over Forbidden Journey, but I am able to ride this a lot more. This attraction is also amplified due to the weak surrounding attractions. Indoor roller coasters are always a classic and this one has two very fun roller coaster portions. Overall, is it a strong attraction? Maybe just a good one. Diagon Alley increases the level of theming as it just feels right to walk through Diagon Alley along the shops to get to the building with a dragon on top of it. Good attraction. Still too many screens. But this was during the screen mandate of the Universal 2010’s. I like the queue, and I like the ride.

Battle of the Ministry—This is the newest Harry Potter attraction on the list. The queue alone catapults this up the rankings. The grand reveal into the Ministry makes the Gringotts reveal look puny in comparison. The surrounding land doesn’t really make sense in the way that Diagon Alley and Gringotts does, but it is still incredible surrounding land. This is a great attraction that signifies “bigger is better” it is the most money that Universal has ever put in an attraction and there are so many jaw dropping moments. The death eater animatronic is incredible, the scale of the magical rhino 😊 animatronic is incredible, and the scale of the queue is incredible. The only weak points on this attraction are the projected face animatronics, and the reliance on screens—especially in the first section.

Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure—I don’t see how any Harry Potter ride can top this one. It is a perfect attraction with thrills, animatronics, and cool show scenes. It is consistently the highest wait at Islands of Adventure, and it is due to the massive popularity. The one issue I have with it is the capacity. Velocicoaster next door has an amazing capacity, and the line moves much quicker. The easiest list topper I think I have ever made.

I can’t wait for more Harry Potter attractions in the future. Universal really is comfortable investing as much money as possible into Harry Potter so the attractions are always amazing.