Express Pass what?

[WinGS]

Originally Posted by macraven

april will be busy in the parks.
not just the rides but the restrooms, restaurants, etc.


you can only use the purchased express pass once per ride/show.
there are three major rides and one show that do not have express lines.

express passes can increase in cost.
what you see now posted for that day and park could stay the same or rise.
depends on the crowds.

the larger the crowds, the higher cost for the ep's.

Is there a limit of how many express passes are sold in a day? I am thinking of maybe holding off on the purchase until the actual day to see if I really need them...

[RMulieri]

Originally Posted by WinGS

Is there a limit of how many express passes are sold in a day? I am thinking of maybe holding off on the purchase until the actual day to see if I really need them...

yes there is, not sure what they cap it at though.I would still wait to see if you need them.they are PARK SPECIFIC ,DATE SPECIFIC and NONREFUNDABLE should your plans change or you find you don't need them

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by WinGS

Is there a limit of how many express passes are sold in a day? I am thinking of maybe holding off on the purchase until the actual day to see if I really need them...

Unless you're visiting during one of the busiest travel periods of the year (Christmas week, Spring Break, etc.) EPs will not sell out. Prices could change until purchased but that's rare. They base the price on the anticipated crowd levels for that day and don't often change. Wait until you arrive to see what the lines are like before spending the money. You can purchase EPs throughout both parks.

[Trevski220]

Originally Posted by Metro West

Unless you're visiting during one of the busiest travel periods of the year (Christmas week, Spring Break, etc.) EPs will not sell out. Prices could change until purchased but that's rare. They base the price on the anticipated crowd levels for that day and don't often change. Wait until you arrive to see what the lines are like before spending the money. You can purchase EPs throughout both parks.

In our trip early August 2011 they sold out almost everyday we were their! It was very busy though!

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by Trevski220

In our trip early August 2011 they sold out almost everyday we were their! It was very busy though!

That could have been the EPs for IoA since HP was only a year old...I mean you're talking about 1.5 years ago...not recent. You can still buy the two park EP even if the EP for one of the parks is sold out...I'm talking about the two park EP.

[Trevski220]

Originally Posted by Metro West

That could have been the EPs for IoA since HP was only a year old...I mean you're talking about 1.5 years ago...not recent. You can still buy the two park EP even if the EP for one of the parks is sold out...I'm talking about the two park EP.

Granted it was sometime ago, but it was all passes we couldn't get anything either park as 1 park ticket or both parks! And i don't think HP had anything to do with the EP behind sold out as EP don't work on forbidden journey anyhow! Though I do take your point that this was 1.5 years ago and times could well have changed!

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by Trevski220

Granted it was sometime ago, but it was all passes we couldn't get anything either park as 1 park ticket or both parks! And i don't think HP had anything to do with the EP behind sold out as EP don't work on forbidden journey anyhow! Though I do take your point that this was 1.5 years ago and times could well have changed!

Yeah...things are changing so fast any more with all the construction and whatnot. Hopefully your family can return soon.

[Jubilee]

I agree with you, OP. I don't know about "rip off", per se, but charging for "express passes" extremely undermines the *value* of the park tickets themselves to me. It really makes me reevaluate thinking about coming to these parks, as I already have a laugh every time I read the list of characters and attractions here. It's amusing to me that Woody Woodpecker, E.T., Twister, Barney, The Simpsons, Scooby Doo, Beetlejuice (etc. to just about every other themed land other than Harry Potter) are supposed to be a huge pull nowadays. My last visit here was 2007 and at that time I actually had said "this is not what I remember as a child" and "never again."

I am revisiting the idea now solely because I am a Harry Potter fan, but as a FL resident, it is a terrible value to just go to the parks for 1 day, pay for parking, get in an hour later than resort guests and have no "Express pass" unless staying on property. By no means am I happy with everything Disney is doing nowadays, but I consider Disney theming to be classic, and UsO theming to be extremely outdated. JMO

[3princesshome]

My family has booked a vacation for Jul28th to Aug 11th this year. We have a time share booked for this whole time period. When I look into the express pass, it's a ridiculous price for a family of 5 - basically doubles the cost of the per day ticket. I was planning on buying 2 day tickets for our stay (we're also planning to do Disney, a day or two out to the beach, maybe Kennedy Space Center, etc)

I am interested in going to US 1 day and IOA 1 day. Do you think the crowds would be big enough at this time of year to warrant spending $300 to stay onsite and get two days of unlimited express pass? This is a cheaper option than outright buying the express pass as an add-on, but it's basically paying $300 additional dollars that I don;t really need to spend on accommodations, just for the benefit of unlimited express pass for the two days. If crowds tend to be really big at this time of year, it would seem worth it to me to be able to avoid worrying about which rides to ride at which times to try to optimize a touring plan, but instead I could feel like just touring around the park at our own pace knowing that we won't have huge lines at each ride we come to.

Any thoughts from the experts?

Thanks!

[damo]

Originally Posted by 3princesshome

My family has booked a vacation for Jul28th to Aug 11th this year. We have a time share booked for this whole time period. When I look into the express pass, it's a ridiculous price for a family of 5 - basically doubles the cost of the per day ticket. I was planning on buying 2 day tickets for our stay (we're also planning to do Disney, a day or two out to the beach, maybe Kennedy Space Center, etc)

I am interested in going to US 1 day and IOA 1 day. Do you think the crowds would be big enough at this time of year to warrant spending $300 to stay onsite and get two days of unlimited express pass? This is a cheaper option than outright buying the express pass as an add-on, but it's basically paying $300 additional dollars that I don;t really need to spend on accommodations, just for the benefit of unlimited express pass for the two days. If crowds tend to be really big at this time of year, it would seem worth it to me to be able to avoid worrying about which rides to ride at which times to try to optimize a touring plan, but instead I could feel like just touring around the park at our own pace knowing that we won't have huge lines at each ride we come to.

Any thoughts from the experts?

Thanks!

Definitely!!!! It is a great idea. Get to the hotel at least by 7 am on the first day. Check in and get your express passes made and head to the park. I would assume that there will be early admission for Wizarding World at IOA and Transformers at USF.

Do the same thing the next morning at the other park.

With Transformers and the newly done Simpsons area opening this summer, the parks are going to be very busy. It is $300 very well spent. Your kids will think you are a genius.

[bumbershoot]

Originally Posted by Trevski220

Granted it was sometime ago, but it was all passes we couldn't get anything either park as 1 park ticket or both parks! And i don't think HP had anything to do with the EP behind sold out as EP don't work on forbidden journey anyhow! Though I do take your point that this was 1.5 years ago and times could well have changed!

FJ isn't the only attraction in WW though. And if people were going to be spending hours in the line for one attraction, why not make the most of almost all the *rest* of the attractions? HP fans (or the family members of the rabid fans) could certainly have caused that.

Originally Posted by Jubilee

It really makes me reevaluate thinking about coming to these parks, as I already have a laugh every time I read the list of characters and attractions here. It's amusing to me that Woody Woodpecker, E.T., Twister, Barney, The Simpsons, Scooby Doo, Beetlejuice (etc. to just about every other themed land other than Harry Potter) are supposed to be a huge pull nowadays.

My son is absolutely crazy about the Woody Woodpecker coaster, adores ET, and loves to see the Barney show. He loves the Simpsons ride even though he's never seen the show. Loves Scooby Doo, and thinks Beetlejuice is some forbidden adult thing that he's getting to see.

Just because we can get jaded over time doesn't mean there isn't a constant new crop of newer humans who haven't experienced those things yet.

How Scooby Doo can be considered outdated but Snow White isn't, I just don't know....

[Jules123]

We are a family of 5 and are planning on being at US/IOA the week of Memorial Day. We have a condo booked but i am contemplating booking a room on site for the privileges too. Express passes for that time are $29.99 so I'm thinking they are not anticipating being horribly busy that week. We don't want to spend all our time waiting in line, but that is a lot of money on our tight budget. How long can we anticipate being in line?

[Dean1972]

We will be staying 3 nights @ Portofino bay & the perk for on-site guests with EP's was a swaying vote for us.
We visited Universal in Singapore @ Easter & glad we paid the $75 each for the day to upgrade for EP's as the lines were crazy busy... Lol

[damo]

Originally Posted by Jules123

We are a family of 5 and are planning on being at US/IOA the week of Memorial Day. We have a condo booked but i am contemplating booking a room on site for the privileges too. Express passes for that time are $29.99 so I'm thinking they are not anticipating being horribly busy that week. We don't want to spend all our time waiting in line, but that is a lot of money on our tight budget. How long can we anticipate being in line?

Really hard to tell. Rumours are the Transformers ride might be opening around then. That might be a game changer.

[snoopboop]

Originally Posted by Jubilee

I agree with you, OP. I don't know about "rip off", per se, but charging for "express passes" extremely undermines the *value* of the park tickets themselves to me. It really makes me reevaluate thinking about coming to these parks, as I already have a laugh every time I read the list of characters and attractions here. It's amusing to me that Woody Woodpecker, E.T., Twister, Barney, The Simpsons, Scooby Doo, Beetlejuice (etc. to just about every other themed land other than Harry Potter) are supposed to be a huge pull nowadays. My last visit here was 2007 and at that time I actually had said "this is not what I remember as a child" and "never again."

I am revisiting the idea now solely because I am a Harry Potter fan, but as a FL resident, it is a terrible value to just go to the parks for 1 day, pay for parking, get in an hour later than resort guests and have no "Express pass" unless staying on property. By no means am I happy with everything Disney is doing nowadays, but I consider Disney theming to be classic, and UsO theming to be extremely outdated. JMO

Sheesh, with this attitude, why bother going to a theme park at all!? Perhaps you don't understand how the Express passes work, or why they cost extra... If having shorter wait times is important to you, then buy the Express Pass. If it's not, then don't. *shrug*