How to Use the Single Rider Lines at Universal Orlando

No one enjoys long wait times and once we discovered single rider lines at Universal Orlando theme parks it drastically cut our wait times for rides and attractions. In this post I am sharing your guide to how to use single rider lines at Universal Orlando.

There are two main ways to lessen your wait time at the Universal park: use express pass or take advantage of the single rider lines.

Express Pass is an add-on purchase to your Universal Orlando theme park ticket or guests staying at a Premier resort receive express pass as a guest perk. Both can cost you extra money. I share details on how it works in this post: Universal Hotels that Offer Express Pass.

Today I want to talk about Universal Orlando single rider line and how it can save you time during your Universal Orlando vacation.

What is the Single Rider Line at Universal Orlando

The single rider line is a line separate from the standby line or express line. It is open at select attractions. Basically it is a seat filler line.

Guests are selected one by one to fill the empty seats in ride vehicles. If there is a party of 5 and there are 6 seats, 1 person from the single rider line will be selected.

This means you will be split up from your party and is not a good choice if you want to ride with your group.

Single rider times lessen your wait times tremendously, especially at the Universal parks. It is also free! There is no cost to use the single rider lines at all of the Universal theme parks.

There are three theme parks at Universal Orlando Resort. Below I am listing the rides and attractions guest can use the single rider line on.

List of Universal Studios Single Rider

• Fast & the Furious Supercharged
• Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
• Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
• MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack
• Revenge of the Mummy
• TRANSFORMERS The Ride-3D

List of Islands of Adventure Single Rider

• Doctor Doom’s Fearfall
• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
• Jurassic World VelociCoaster
• Skull Island: Reign of Kong
• The Incredible Hulk Coaster
• Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure **This is not always open, ask a team member

List of Epic Universe Single Rider

Universal’s Epic Universe is a brand new theme park opening in 2025. It will have lands dedicated to Super Mario, How to Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter, and Classic Monsters.

There is a lot of excitement around Epic Universe opening and as of right now we do not know which attractions will use a single rider line.

Once this information becomes available I will update it here. If I had to guess I would think single rider lines will not be available when the park opens but at some point down the road they will.

How to Use Singer Rider Line

To use single rider line guests need to check with a team member that the line is open, at times it is not and is subject to change. If it is open enter the single rider entrance.

This line will usually skip parts of the regular line like preshow entertainment. On Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts guests will skip both the preshow rooms and head directly to the entrance to the ride.

If this is important to you or it is your first time riding do not use the single rider line.

Typically our wait times are under 10 minutes with most being a walk on. If the standby wait time for the attraction is under 20 minutes we will typically wait it out so that we can experience the attraction together.

There are times when the single rider line does not seem to move as quickly and your wait time can fluctuate. A general rule of thumb is the single rider line cuts the standby wait time in half.

One thing everyone using single rider line needs to understand is that your group will get split up. If you are riding with young children that you do not want riding without you, do not use single rider line.

Do not ask a team member to seat you together, their job is to fill the carts and it is not fair to the other guests that have waited in the standby line.

With that being said at least 80% of the time our family ends up on the same cart or even next to each other.

There are five of us so what we usually do is have one adult go first if they call one guests, then have the kids in the middle, then the other adult. If they call two guests together we will send two of the kids to sit together.

We never expect to sit together and we never ask but it does happen that we end up close together on the ride. If your child is not comfortable with this do not use the single rider line, we waited until my kids were all old enough to ride alone before we took advantage of it.

Is Single Rider Line Better Than Express Pass?

This may be an unpopular opinion but we think it is. The Express Pass lines typically do not skip the pre-shows and at Universal there are a lot of them. They are very good but if you have seen them numerous times you may not want to wait for them.

It is not always the case that single rider is better than express pass because it depends on crowd levels but in our experience the single rider lines were faster than the express pass lines.

Pros and Cons of Using the Single Rider Line

As you can see single rider line can save you a lot of time at the parks. Let’s go over the pros and cons of single rider at Universal to help you decide if it works for your family trip.

Pros

• cuts wait times in half (at minimum)
• free way to skip the lines

Cons

• will be separated from your group
• at times you will miss the preshow for the attractions

We approach single rider lines with a basic rule. Is it a new ride? Have we experienced it before?

If it is new to us and we have not experienced it as a family we will typically ride it the first time together. If it is a ride we have done many times then we don’t mind single riding it.

Do you use the single rider line at the Universal Orlando parks? Do you think it is worth it?

Are you planning a Universal Orlando Vacation? Check out these helpful posts:
–14 Helpful Tips for Universal Orlando First Time Visit
–Universal Studios vs. Islands of Adventure (Best Universal Park)
–Best Universal Hotels for Families for 2024

Thank you for reading my post! This post may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Although we try to provide the most up-to-date prices, we do not guarantee prices listed on our site. At times we are compensated or hosted by destination and brands. All opinions are honest and my own. If you would like to learn about how I work with affiliate partners you can read more here.

Sharing is caring!