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Two More 2027 Closures Surface at Universal Orlando, and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Is One of Them
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Two More 2027 Closures Surface at Universal Orlando, and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Is One of Them

Michael Travels
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Winter is normally when Universal Orlando takes its water rides offline for maintenance. This winter the list has picked up a headliner.

Two more temporary 2027 closures have now surfaced for Universal Orlando, on top of a Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges closure already listed for January. The headliner is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the anchor ride inside Hogwarts Castle at Universal's Islands of Adventure. The other is Fyre Drill, the interactive boat ride in How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk at Universal Epic Universe. WDW News Today reported both on Saturday, and TouringPlans lists the same windows.

A wooden Viking longboat with an orange dragon-head prow floating in a turquoise splash pool, water spraying up beside it, with a large purple and gold dragon figurehead and rustic Isle of Berk buildings behind

A Viking longboat takes a soaking at Fyre Drill in How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk. Photo: Universal Orlando Resort

The dates

  • Fyre Drill, closed January 25 through February 4, 2027, back on February 5
  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, closed February 8 through February 19, 2027, back on February 20

Fyre Drill is the more routine of the two. It is a water ride, and as WDW News Today put it, "It's normal for water rides to close in the winter for maintenance." Universal's own blog calls it a competitive interactive fire-fighting boat ride, the result of Ruffnut and Tuffnut rebranding Berk's Fyre Skööl, and says its water cannons shoot up to 28 feet.

Forbidden Journey is the one that stings

Forbidden Journey is not a seasonal water ride that guests can shrug off in the winter. Its queue is the walk through Hogwarts Castle itself, and the ride will be down for twelve days.

Universal describes the ride this way: "Enter through the towering castle gates and make your way down the familiar passageways and corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Then soar above the castle grounds as you join Harry Potter and his friends on a thrilling adventure."

Two guests seen from behind, one in a black Hogwarts robe carrying a wand and a taller companion in a maroon Potter jersey with an arm around their shoulders, walking up the path past the winged boar statues toward Hogwarts Castle in low golden light

Guests walk toward Hogwarts Castle, which houses Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Photo: Universal Orlando Resort

A crowded maintenance winter

These two are not alone. TouringPlans' Universal Orlando closure calendar shows early 2027 filling in, the two new closures included, with the site's own caveat that refurbishment details are subject to change and that it sometimes inserts guesses where Universal has not released details:

  • Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, closed starting January 4, 2027, reopening February 3
  • Fyre Drill, closed starting January 25, 2027, reopening February 5
  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, closed starting February 8, 2027, reopening February 20
  • Universal's Volcano Bay, the entire water park, closed starting October 26, 2026 and not due back until spring 2027

Jurassic Park River Adventure is still out as well, closed since January 5, 2026 and listed to reopen November 20, 2026.

That is two water rides, an entire water park and the Wizarding World's original dark ride, all closed at some point inside the same seven weeks in early 2027. Only the two water rides genuinely overlap each other, both down from January 25 to February 2. Forbidden Journey goes down three days after Fyre Drill reopens. Volcano Bay is shut through the whole run.

What it means if you are planning

The two new closures do not touch a 2026 visit, but two of the closures above do: Volcano Bay goes down October 26, 2026, and Jurassic Park River Adventure is out until November 20, 2026. For an early 2027 trip, every ride listed is scheduled to be open again from February 20, though Volcano Bay stays closed into the spring. Dates this far out can still move.

Sources

Image credits: All photos courtesy of Universal Orlando Resort.

Mentioned in this story

Check out our guides for more on each place in this story:

Islands of Adventure Epic Universe Fyre Drill Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Jurassic Park River Adventure Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges

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