NEWS: Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry Hits 300 MINUTE WAIT (!!!) Without Virtual Queue System in Epic Universe

During the many weeks that Epic Universe previews have been going on, we’ve seen fans clamor to ride Harry Potter and the Battle At The Ministry, one of the most anticipated new rides in the park. For a while, the only way to ride the attraction was via a virtual queue reservation (which was NOT easy to secure).

The virtual queue system struggled with many issues that have essentially made getting a spot in the queue a game of chance. Guests have been pretty frustrated with this, and so we were shocked to find that something CHANGED — the attraction opened recently with NO virtual queue, only a standby line!

That’s right. As of May 16th, the ride was accessible via a standby line. Now, we need to preface this by saying that there’s no guarantee this will replace the virtual queue system. Universal has not announced if that’s happening or the reason for the change. We only know that the park is still in technical rehearsal up until its official opening on May 22nd, so this could just be something they’re trying out.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry

Regardless of whether it’ll stick around, it did give us a good look at what this attraction could look like with just a standby line, and that looked like THIS!

We hit the ride at rope drop (a.k.a. first thing in the morning). The line extended all the way out of the main queue into the land itself, and it was at a 300-minute wait around noon.

This change has been met with some pretty mixed reviews. Some people were frustrated with the virtual queue and its unfair process and were willing to wait in this long line to experience the attraction. However, others are saying that they would much rather try their hand at the virtual queue, which, if they do get it, would likely mean a much shorter wait when their time was called.

We’re really curious to see if this change will stick around for opening day, or if the park will return to a virtual queue system. There is a single rider option available for this ride, so that’s something to keep in mind!