Am I going to regret not getting express pass

[kmacht]

My wife and I decided to do a quick trip 3 day trip to Universal the last weekend of April. We will be there Sunday the 30th through Tuesday the 2nd. Our budget isn't going to allow for 3 days of express pass or staying on-site. Reading through the trip reports it seems like almost everyone is staying on-site with express pass. I'm worried that we will get to the parks and have hour long + waits at all the attractions because of everyone going to the front of the queue with express. How does the system work? Do they let a number of non express people on with each ride cycle or does the non-express line only move once the express line is empty. I don't mind waiting in line or coming back later in the day during a less busy time for some of the major attractions but don't want to spend 3 days doing nothing but waiting in line. Is express really needed for a Sunday through Tuesday visit? For those of you who have visited without express, how bad is it really?

Keith

 

[hm8453a]

Hi, Keith! In the early days, like the first years of the on-site hotels, there was no Express. It was just the people who stayed on-site, and they used their room keys as a literal front-of-the-line pass (which is why you still see some people calling Express front-of-the-line out of habit). I'm from South Florida, and we used to go 4-5 times a year, so I have vague memories from when I was eight/nine of a TM literally walking us to the front of the line, and then anyone with the room keys got on before anyone in the regular line. It's not like that anymore. There are two separate lines that run virtually independent at each other. At the final fifth or so of the queue, the lines combine, but that's 4/5ths of time when the lines run independently. With staying on-site, you get unlimited Express pass, which I THINK costs ~$80 per day per person if you buy it yourself (there's also a separately purchasable Express pass that you can only use once per ride for I think ~$60). So you do save a lot by staying on site. The unlimited Express pass you get by staying on-site would cost ~$480 if you bought it on your own for you and your wife for all three days. You can download the Universal app yourself to see wait times whenever you'd like, but they do get pretty bad. Likes, yeah, hour long + waits for a lot of attractions. Not all, but a lot.

There are some rides, like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, that don't take Express anyway. For those, especially Forbidden Journey, I suggest you and your wife do single-rider. FJ pulls from that line really frequently, because the vehicles move quickly, so you'll be close together, and you won't want to be talking during that ride anyway. You can stay together in line and then whoever rides first can wait for the second person at the ride-end. The second person will likely be under five minutes behind.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Hayley

 

[bchbetha]

We survived without them. The wait time app was a big help. Does your budget allow for a stay at Cabana Bay or Sapphire Falls? Because the early entry did help. You just need to be strategic. Go first thing in the AM, use the app, do Minions right away (that line never seems to go down, other rides ebb and flow). You'll be fine.

 

[wagman67]

As it stands, and after looking up your options...good info with two adults and 3 days in the parks.

3 days of Tickets will cost you $255/each for a total of $510 (there is currently a 2 Day Park to Park Plus 2 Days Free Ticket for that price...don't buy an actual 3 Day ticket...more expensive). You can find this ticket cheaper at places like Undercover Tourist, but they do not sell the combo with Express Pass, so I am sticking with official site numbers.
If you buy a combo ticket, with Express Pass...up front...that will cost you $760. If you buy the EPs separately, it will cost you another $190.

So, you are looking at spending an extra $250 for EPs (again, if bought as a combo)

Currently, people are getting a pretty even match to upgrade these tickets to Season Passes. If you upgraded, you can get discounts on onsite hotels...for your dates, Hard Rock Hotel is $240/night with discount...Cabana Bay is $114/night with discount.

So, here are your real world options:

Just Tickets and stay offsite (EPs are not included): $510 plus hotel elsewhere (guessing about $100/night)...so, about $710.
Ticket Combo and stay offsite (EPs included with Combo): $760 plus hotel elsewhere (guessing about $100/night)...so, about $960.
Two night stay at HRH plus Tickets (upgraded to AP) (EPs are included)...$510 plus $480/two nights at HRH...so, about $1088
Two night stay at CB plus Tickets (upgraded to AP) (EPs are not included)...$510 plus $228/two nights at CB...so, about $738
Two night stay at CB plus Ticket Combo (upgraded to AP) (EPs included with Combo)...$760 plus $228/two nights at CB...so, about $988

None of these examples include taxes that are not already built in...or transportation, which may or may not include parking costs. These are also calculated with Annual Passholder Rates.

 

[kmacht]

To help clarify things, we are buying the 2 day plus 2 extra day base tickets from UT. They are $194 each so the 3 days we will be there, park entrance will cost us $388. We aren't interested in doing park to park. We want to spend one day at Universal, the second day at IOA, and then the third day at which ever of the two parks we liked better. We are planning on staying off site since we will have a rental car already and found a decent place for $80 a night ($240 total). So without staying on-site or doing express pass our cost is going to be right around $628. If we stayed on-site at $240 a night we would still have to buy tickets making the total just over $1100 for the 3 days. If we just buy express pass that is $408 for the three days plus the $628 making is $1036. Either way I look at it, being able to skip the lines would cost me between $400 and $500. I just can't justify that for this trip. As you can see, I already have a good grasp on the financial part of it, what I am looking for on this thread is for people to post their experience visiting the parks without using express pass. Were you still able to do everything you wanted? Do you wish you had spent $500 for express or is that money better spent on other things while there (dinners, shows, etc)?

Keith

 

[schumigirl]

There are 2 separate queues and EP line moves concurrently with the regular queue........

Everyone gets their turn.

We hate queueing, so for us we wouldn't do the parks without EP. Queues can get long even at so called quiet times of the year.

 

[wagman67]

Also, no Park to Park means no Hogwart's Express between the two Harry Potter areas...only an issue if you wanted to do that.

 

[wookiebeck]

You will have a great time. If your budget dictated your plans, I think you are good to go as is. We went in the summer and did not have the EP. Use the Universal app on your phone to see the wait times and just don't get in line if it is longer than you are willing to wait. Find the next closest attraction to walk over to that.

The wait times are very accurate. The standby line does move at a regular clip as express is mixed in. Don't be scared that you get boxed out, that rarely happens.

Be among the first to get into the park in the morning. That is always a good strategy. When all the wait times are long at midday, do some of the shows that are in theaters (Terminator, Horror Magic).

 

[kohlby]

The last weekend of April shouldn't be nearly as bad as mid-April. I think you can likely do it without express. If you find you need it, you can buy it in the parks your last day. We find studios side takes us longer so I'd do IOA planning on not having express for that.

 

[janicept]

Wow you got some detailed responses. I agree that express passes are expensive. If it's once in a lifetime trip I would try to find the money to stay onsite for unlimited express and early entry, but with three days you won't have any trouble seeing everything at least once without them. Just prioritize the things you want to do and get to at least two of them first thing. I agree with one other person that the Minions line never seems to be short - I would save that one for first thing on Mon or Tues or just skip it. The Universal app is a must. Another good time to ride Gringott's is during the Cinematic Spectacular night show at Studios. Single rider lines are nice but my husband refuses to use them when we are riding together - he would rather skip the ride. Some of the rides might have a long wait but the wait is interesting like Kong, FJ, or Gringott's. You can shoot for an early lunch then loop back to hopefully shorter lines at the lunch rush when everyone else is eating.

 

[cschaaf]

Last weekend in April might not be too bad. Can you do it without EP? Sure. Takes more planning, walking, and waiting, but you can do it.

We're totally spoiled by EP and Park Hopper and wouldn't go without them. We like the option of doing whatever we want, when we want, and that we can ride any EP over and over without worrying about having to eliminate something else off of our schedule.

EP allows us to take a mid-day break for a nap and not feel like we are missing out. Without EP, we'd spend less, but feel like we'd have to be in the park every second or we'd be wasting money. It's funny that, in spending more money, we feel like we can take a break and not be wasting money.

The second CB option that @wagman67 listed looks like a great deal. It would cost you $260 more than your estimate to get early park entry, park-to-park, and EP. Something to think about anyway.

 

[Squirlz]

Sunday is going to be your busiest day. Monday and Tuesday will be low crowd level.

 

[kitkat4622]

can someone tell me the name of the universal app for wait times? thanks

 

[cschaaf]

can someone tell me the name of the universal app for wait times? thanks

The Official Universal Orlando Resort App

Search for 'Universal Orlando', should be easy to find from there.

 

[shanew21]

According to Touringplans, your crowd levels (out of 10) are 4, 2, 2, so you should be perfectly fine without it. Longest waits will probably be 30-45 minutes tops.

Highly recommend Touring Plans btw, it's very cheap.

 

[kbelle8995]

I've been to Universal without an EP and did just fine. Is it a plus sure. But it doesn't make your trip awful if you don't.

Great theme park tips are Be at the park early and take a break when too crowded. And also go in the evening to the park. Rides like Kong and Minions are worth heading too early. These tend to be very busy and the lines get very long later in the afternoon.

I try to avoid the weekend. Actually I like going in late January and September. Short waits during both seasons

 

[macraven]

Mid September can change the past wait times since hhn will bring in more homies from Thursday and on