Universal Studios Wait Times for March 2022

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We’ve had an eventful month at Universal Orlando Resort. After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, Universal officials just changed the rules.

Photo: Facebook/Universal Orlando

Guests can take off their masks and roam the parks in comfort, even in indoor locations. This change hasn’t happened in time to impact the Universal Studios wait times, at least not much. But they will have a profound impact moving forward.

So, we’ll use this month’s average Universal Studios wait times as a baseline for the rest of 2022. Here’s what we know for March!

Universal Studios Florida – The Big Four

This month, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts led the pack as the ride with the longest wait. For the past month, Escape from Gringotts averaged 58 minutes of line time, up 12 minutes from last time.

As a reminder, some of that timeframe covers late January and early February, one of the slowest periods on the annual theme park calendar. As such, we should expect most attractions to come with longer waits.

If you remember last month’s discussion, we actually had a different ride at the top of the chart.

That attraction was Revenge of the Mummy, which is now closed for renovations. So we probably won’t see that ride on the list again until September’s article.

So, Hollywood Rip Rockit moves up to second place with an average wait of 45 minutes. That’s up 10 minutes from last month.

Photo:instagram/universalorlando

Only two more attractions at Universal Studios Florida come with a wait of 30+ minutes on most dates.

The first of those is Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, which averaged a 40-minute wait. That’s an increase of 11 minutes from last month.

Meanwhile, Hogwarts Express is running smoothly again after extensive downtime in January.The King’s Cross Station depot came with a wait of 33 minutes, up four minutes.

Overall, the park’s big four rides came with slighter longer waits during the past month…but remain substantially shorter than toward the end of 2021.

Universal Studios Florida – Everything Else

Here are the other rides at Universal Studios Florida, all of which required waits of less than 30 minutes.

• Transformers the Ride 3D – 28 minutes, up 10
• MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack! – 26 minutes, up 6
• T. Adventure – 22 minutes, up 2
• The Simpsons Ride – 21 minutes, up 5
• Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl – 18 minutes, up 5
• Fast & Furious – Supercharged – 16 minutes, up 2
• Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster – 12 minutes, no change
• Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon –11 minutes, up 3

Photo: USA Today

The average Universal Studios Florida attraction came with a wait of 27 minutes, up five minutes from last month.Still, I just listed eight rides that you can ride in less than four hours…and I’m including walking time and a bathroom break or two in my calcs.

Folks, the lines at Universal Studios Florida remain pretty reasonable, and you don’t need to wear a mask to visit. It’s a great time to go!

Universal’s Islands of Adventure

Photo: Thrillist.com

As usual, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure claimed the longest line at either park.For the past four weeks, the Harry Potter ride averaged a wait of 72 minutes, an increase of 10 minutes from last month.

Photo: Universal Orlando

Second place goes to Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, which had a 52-minute wait. However, that’s more than a little bit misleading. Universal had closed this ride for most of the past month for refurbishment. So, we’re discussing a small sample size here, one that reflects its absence.

After Universal performs annual maintenance, rides often get a bump from people who want to see whether anything significant has changed. That’s all we’re witnessing here, not a sudden explosive surge in popularity for this wet ride…although it is pretty great, and you should hop on board!

Photo:instagram/universalorlando

The next ride with a prolonged wait is the VelociCoaster, the new Jurassic World roller coaster. Its average wait was 50 minutes, up 10 minutes.

Here’s a look at the rest of the wait times at Islands of Adventures:

• Jurassic Park River Adventure – 45 minutes, up 28
• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – 42 minutes, up 17
• The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride! – 40 minutes, up 8
• The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man – 38 minutes, up 10
• Skull Island – Reign of Kong – 35 minutes, up 7
• The Incredible Hulk Coaster – 32 minutes, up 5
• Pteranodon Flyers – 31 minutes, down 3
• Flight of the Hippogriff – 30 minutes, down 22
• Hogwarts Express (Hogsmeade) – 28 minutes, up 4
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish – 15 minutes, up 8
• Doctor Doom’s Fearfall – 13 minutes, no change
• The Cat in the Hat – 7 minutes, down 3
• Storm Force Accelatron – 5 minutes, down 3

Photo:attractions magazine

Overall, Islands of Adventure attractions averaged a wait of 34 minutes, up nine minutes from last month.

Photo: Universal Orlando

The one wait time that requires some explanation is Jurassic Park River Adventure. Its surge comes down to a simple fact.

Florida grew warmer over the past month. So, people wanted a wet ride more than they had during the rare sub-50-degree temperatures early in 2022.

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Feature Photo:instagram/universalorlando