Express Pass

[sammyncramer]

Sorry for all the newbie questions. I feel like I know so much about Disney, and so very little about Universal. DD and I will be going for spring break 2017. I'm debating over getting the Express Pass. It will save us over $300 to not get it and $ for this trip is very tight. DD (10 yo) and I are not huge roller coaster fans. We like more of the tame Disney-like rides and honestly, I think if she gets her interactive HP wand, she will mostly want to do that. When we were at Disney, if there was something with a huge wait, we just went with the flow and found something else to do. It wasn't a big deal for us. Do you think we will be at a huge disadvantage to not get the Express Pass? I'm probably going to get the UT deal for 2 days with the 1 day free, so I feel like we might just be able to use that last day as a day to try to get to the rides we weren't able to. Thoughts? Thanks for all the help!!

 

[kohlby]

If you mean the typical spring break time, then yes, I'd get Express. If you stay at a hotel that offers Express included, then one night there gets you two days of express.

However, schools have different spring break times. I took my nephews during their spring break this last year and crowds were moderate. We were able to do it easily without express. (This was in mid-April which wasn't near Easter this past year). The only time I saw an issue was how packed the Harry Potter areas were. The rides didn't have crazy lines, but it was very hard to walk around. We stayed at Cabana Bay that trip and it included the early extra hour. One of my kids used that early hour just to be able to use his wand without worrying about crowds. It's much more enjoyable to walk around the HP areas without the mobs. (And even moderate crowds can mean hard to walk around at times). The hotels that include express also include the early hour. (But two include the early hour but not express).

If money is super tight and there's no way you can splurge for express or one of the hotels that has it, then I'd still stay at a hotel with the early hour since it will make using her wand much easier and much more enjoyable.

 

[macraven]

spring break has crowds period

A lot depends on the dates of your trip


If you book one deluxe hotel for one night you get two days of free unlimited express passes

The day you check in and the day you check out

So if you are doing 3 days at UO this will help you cut costs

You can check out if the hotel the next day and have your belongings held at the hotel until you move on to another place to stay the last night

Since you will have done everything in the park with express the last day will be the only time you would encounter line waits for rides

Disney has quite a few rides that are coasters
Mine train
Btmrr
Space mt
Dinosaur
Splash mt
are ones I can think of right now

UO has
RRR
Mummy
Hulk
Dragon challenge
Hippocraf kiddie coaster

But both parks do have other rides that can fill your day

 

[sammyncramer]

Thank you for your response. Yes, we'll be going the typical spring break week (3/26-28) and we are staying offsite, so we won't be able to use any of the early extra hour.

 

[macraven]

Check out onsite hotel rates with orbitz and cheap tickets

Try to get one night at a deluxe for the hotel perks

This way the ep for two days will help you do everything in the parks with less waits

 

[sammyncramer]

Thank you that is a great suggestion, but we already booked a place offsite for the entire time. We have other family going with us who won't be doing the parks, so we had to get a 4 bed condo.

 

[macraven]

Sometimes booking a through away room works to a persons advantage

 

[kuhljeanie]

I would HIGHLY recommend doing whatever you need to do to get the express passes for those days. It may well be worth it to book an onsite room - the cheapest you can find (usually Royal Pacific) just for the passes. You don't have to stay there, and the room cost may well be cheaper than buying the passes. If the room is $240, you'll still get two days of express for everyone in your family. We made the mistake of staying offsite during spring break this past year to save money, and the lines quickly became a real issue for us. I've got a 9 yr old and a 5 yr old, so we're not doing lots of big coasters - we were missing the passes big time. We never got on Minions because the wait was always insane (we're talking 90+ minutes, getting there 30 minutes after rope drop), 45 minutes for E.T., 45 minutes for One Fish Two Fish, an hour for Cat in the Hat. We rolled with it (what else are you gonna do? and saw the Animal Actors show twice (which no one except a five year old ever wants or needs to do) but it definitely impacted our enjoyment.

 

[PHXscuba]

Two other thoughts: Would your daughter be willing to use the single rider lines? Maybe of the longer lines have them available. Or think about just getting the Express Pass for one day, and then deciding what is really worth waiting in line for again the other day or two.

PHXscuba