Both parks November 7th - express pass plus question

[disneylovr1]

Planning on going to Universal on Monday November 7th and getting a one day 2 park pass. We had planned on buying the both parks express plus pass, figuring we would rather have ridiculously expensive tickets but get to see as much as possible in one day and not wait in many lines (just the new HP ride and Rip Ride Rockit, hopefully, since they aren't on the pass, right?). I saw on the US website that the both parks express pass is only $25 that day. I think that's the lowest price it can be, which makes me think they aren't expecting large crowds. What does anyone think? Should we buy the express pass anyway, figuring it's like insurance and if we don't need it oh, well? Or wait and buy it that day if we need it? I would just be irritated with myself if they happened to sell out and we couldn't buy it, and my brother, who refuses to wait in lines longer than like 10 minutes, would kill me (and call me cheap!).

last time I was at Universal was in May 2009 and we had planned to buy the pass, but the lady at the ticket booth suggested we wait b/c they weren't crowded, and we were able to walk onto everything in both parks except for Disaster, for some odd reason, and Poseidon's fury. But that was before RRR and HP, and was a different time of year.

Any thoughts on crowds that day, crowds on Mondays, liklihood of the express pass selling out ahead of time, etc? Any advice or input is appreciated. We can't stay at US b/c we are booked at POR for the week, and don't want to move for one night, so we can't get the passes that way. Plus there are 8 of us, so it would be at least 2 rooms anyway.

 

[Bluer101]

You should have no problem doing both parks without express that day. Get there at opening and don't waste time. Also take advantage of the single rider lines. If it's busy by the middle of the day then add the express at that time. You can purchase it at many places throughout the parks.

 

[Toot Sweet]

I would wait on the Express Pass. If needed, you can buy it that day.

I just returned from my first trip, and I had the same thought as you. We only had one day to do both parks (first time) so I wanted to be sure we had time to see everything. We didn't need our Express Passes except for Flight of the Hippogriff, where the line was 45 min. All the other lines that accepted Express Pass were 5 or 10 minutes long.

I wish they used Express Pass on Forbidden Journey!

 

[disneylovr1]

Thanks so much for your input. That was what I was hoping to hear, I think we'll hold off on buying the passes until we get there if it hasn't been that crowded and the general consensus is the passes won't see out if we would need them. It's in less than 2 weeks, hopefully not that much will change in that time frame.

I also see my thread is somehow on here twice. I have no idea how that happened, I don't think I hit the post thread button twice! Sorry about that.

 

[zack123]

I don't know about November, but I was there on a Monday in October, and the only rides I wished I had Express for were rides that did not use Express. For rides that have single rider lines, that's the way to go if you can.

For a few rides on the US side, the crowds were so low that the single rider and Express lines were joined together. At Disaster, they were taking everyone in the Express entrance.

The only lines longer than 10 minutes were:
Forbidden Journey (no Express)
RRR (no Express)
Ripsaw Falls (it was hot outside)
Ollivander's (no Express)

Sometimes Mondays can be busy, but I'd wait until you get there and decide if it's worth it.

 

[Metro West]

You should always wait until you arrive to see if Express Plus passes are needed. I seriously doubt you will need them that day. WWoHP will be busy as always but the rest of both parks shouldn't be a problem.