Universal Express - wait times in July

[SnowyShasta]

We are visiting Universal Orlando in July (9th and 10th) and staying on-site so
will have Universal Express. I've never been to the parks before and am not sure
what to expect in terms of wait times with the passes.

Is it truly close to front of the line, or do many rides have waits? Which ones
are likely to have say 15+ minutes of waiting? Transformers? What else?

Lastly are there any rides that are potentially worth waiting in the regular line due to theming that you miss with the Express version of the line?

 

[macraven]

We are visiting Universal Orlando in July (9th and 10th) and staying on-site so
will have Universal Express. I've never been to the parks before and am not sure
what to expect in terms of wait times with the passes.

Is it truly close to front of the line, or do many rides have waits? Which ones
are likely to have say 15+ minutes of waiting? Transformers? What else?

Lastly are there any rides that are potentially worth waiting in the regular line due to theming that you miss with the Express version of the line?

the only front of the line are the MAW families.

express line waits should be 20 minutes or less.


i stay onsite and there are some lines i do not use the express early when the park opens.
rest of the day, i use express.

some rides have an awesome story line in the regular line.
Mummy, MIB, ET, Spiderman, Dr Doom, are the ones i hit at least once on visits.

there are 4 rides that do not offer express lines.

 

[RMulieri]

Despicable me also seems to have longer than average Express Pass waits

 

[SnowyShasta]

Thanks for the information! We'll try to look at these for regular line at some point when it's not too long:

> Mummy, MIB, ET, Spiderman, Dr Doom

I'm hopeful that we can get through one park each day. If we want to experience most attractions, will we still have time to do some favorites more than once?

 

[Metro West]

I'm hopeful that we can get through one park each day. If we want to experience most attractions, will we still have time to do some favorites more than once?

If you are staying onsite, there should be no problems in doing what you want to do.

 

[heidijanesmith]

We are visiting Universal Orlando in July (9th and 10th) and staying on-site so
will have Universal Express. I've never been to the parks before and am not sure
what to expect in terms of wait times with the passes.

Is it truly close to front of the line, or do many rides have waits? Which ones
are likely to have say 15+ minutes of waiting? Transformers? What else?

Lastly are there any rides that are potentially worth waiting in the regular line due to theming that you miss with the Express version of the line?

We went in July 2010 and found the express pass to be an amazing perk for staying on-site. Crowds were huge 90min for Hulk, 60min Spiderman, 60 min Mummy. We used our express pass to ride the Mummy 5 times in a row with a 5min wait. The Simpson's had the largest EP wait time of about 15min, but compared to the regular line of 60min, it was no big deal.

At IoA,we hit WWoHP for the early morning entry and did Olivanders 1st thing. Lines get big quickly and are long. Then hit FJ as it does not have an express pass line. The queue is amazing, so we usually go as many times in the AM as we can. Then we spend the rest of the day hitting attractions that we run into as we go. No other touring plans, just taking it easy.

At US, we hit HRRR1st, but now I hear it has Express Pass. I would hit Transformers 1st, then Despicable Me, then HRRR and then what ever else you want to see. Hitting your favorites again.

The heat is crazy HOT in July, so we took a mid day break, eat at City walk and then back to the parks for evening touring. WWoHP at night is beautiful and worth seeing.

 

[SnowyShasta]

Many thanks for the touring advice, it's appreciated! It sounds like the EP will definitely make our day smoother. I had planned the 3 rides you mentioned (Transformers, Despicable Me, HRRR) in that order first thing, so sounds like a good plan!

And our other day we'll be in IOA and will definitely use early entry and do Ollivander's, then FJ. Maybe a couple times? The only issue there is that my youngest (5 yo) isn't tall enough for the ride, so hopefully the baby swap will work well and he won't get too impatient with us!