Both parks - not staying on site is express pass necessary

[Twinprincesses]

We are looking at doing 2 day park to park passes during Spring Break. However we are DVC members so will be staying at a Disney resort. To add the express pass on is an additional $99 per ticket so that stings a bit. Do you think it is really necessary or do you think the park will still be enjoyable without it. My kids mostly love the Harry Potter part and I believe you cannot use it back there anyway. ALso they do not like the large roller coasters.

 

[damo]

As long as you know what you are getting into, it will still be enjoyable.

 

[tink1957]

Single rider line is your friend.

 

[godders]

I second the single rider lines! A lot of the Universal/IOA thrill rides take larger numbers than Disney so the single rider lines tend to move pretty quickly.

Both Gringotts and Hogwarts have single rider lines but you skip out on the storyline that sets up the rides so for your first ride on those I would definitely recommend going through the normal queues. There are loads of things to see and do so it is worth the wait (if it's under 2 hours but that's my family cut off time for must-dos)

 

[Marshmelo]

We just got back and spent one day for both parks...never would have done even half of what we did w/o the express passes. And this was a less crowded time. Spring break time will be twice as bad, so I would say you need them. However, I wish we hadn't wasted money or time to go there at all. I was extremely disappointed and underwhelmed with our whole experience there.

 

[tink1957]

Good....tell all your friends the darkside is a terrible place so stay away...might help with the crowds

 

[epcotty]

We were there in March and we didn't have express, we did everything we wanted, some twice each day. I really don't think it's necessary

 

[schumigirl]

Good....tell all your friends the darkside is a terrible place so stay away...might help with the crowds

Amen!!!! The more that don't like it the better for us.........


OP......I wouldn't do anytime at Universal without EP.....but spring break is extremely busy.......

Our trip last month we saw lines for regular queue for DM reach 100 minutes, Transformers reached 50 minutes.......if people are ok with that then that's fine, but queues like that are not for me.

 

[damo]

We just got back and spent one day for both parks...never would have done even half of what we did w/o the express passes. And this was a less crowded time. Spring break time will be twice as bad, so I would say you need them. However, I wish we hadn't wasted money or time to go there at all. I was extremely disappointed and underwhelmed with our whole experience there.

It sounds like the OP has already been before and wants to go again.

Spending one day for both parks is a terrible way to visit. You would never do Magic Kingdom and Epcot in the same day and have a great day. All you are doing is rushing around and not being able to take the time to see all the little things like the shows and the great interactive elements.

 

[johde]

Even though you're staying DVC, have you priced a room for 1 night onsite at Universal. You get Express Passes both checkin and checkout days. It may be cheaper to rent a "throwaway" room at Universal compared to buying express passes for 2 days.

 

[HM]

Either get the EP or add a day to your touring in Universal. You won't get much done in one day at spring break. At that time of year, when we stayed offsite (before HP) we couldn't handle the crowds by around 3pm. Luckily we had three days to do everything.


When we stay offsite, we don't get EP, but we do a least three days in the parks, so we can spread the rides out over the days we are there. I'd never go and do only one day.

 

[Twinprincesses]

We are planning on doing 2 days. Like I said my kids are not huge thrill riders so they don't want to do the roller coasters at all. Probably one whole day we will spend in the Harry Potter part because they love it so much and we have not been since the add on portion. The rest will be spent at Simpsons etc.

We are also doing Epcot and Disney stuff. I will look at staying at Universal again one night I just hate to pay for a room there when we have DVC.

 

[kohlby]

We used to have to do Disney and US over Christmas break - as in right after Christmas to right after New Year's, so the busiest time. And we had a blast and did so much with no express passed. However - single rider line was our best friend. And, we didn't have kids then so it was very easy to deal with crowds. I'd suggest looking up the crowd calendar for your spring break - as all spring breaks aren't the same time. Some fall at a better time than others.