Do I need an EP in January?? I am a Disney fastpass junkie! Will I go into shock?!

[disprincess2213]

We are Disney freaks taking our first trip to US the week after MLK weekend (slower time in Disney, not sure about US). I plan my day to the minute in Disney with fastpasses, second fastpasses, second magic bands, etc so we usually have little to no wait time for all of our rides!

I am doing as much research as I can on US and noticing that many people purchase APs, get the hotel discounts, and stay a minimum number of nights in order to get EPs for their stay...

1. Do we need EPs if we are the kind of people who are 100% USED to the fastpass system at Disney? How long are the waits for the EP lines? We would only ever go during lower seasons (sept, Jan)

2. If we are going the 3rd week in January AFTER MLK weekend, is it still wise to have EP?

3. How does it work if I want to buy an AP to US for the hotel discounts? I am absolutely looking for the seasonal pass and want to get hotel discounts- if I purchase the seasonal AP today, is it active today or does it become active once in US? Meaning, I am going in January and want to get discounts on hotels before my trip to stay during a trip in January, could this be done??

4. How long are the waits if you have the EP, typically?? (again going in January)

Thanks everyone! I just want to do what is best for my family and what we are used to and want to know the best way to go about getting it!! Who knows? I may become just as obsessed with US as Disney lol!!!

 

[hm8453a]

I don't know how many people are going with you, or ages, but if you want to share, I can give more specific advice for your particular family.

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 to BOTH Universal and Disney World 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 two people for three days. You can download the Universal app yourself to see wait times whenever you'd like, but they do get pretty bad. Like, 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 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 young children, and I can adjust this recommendation in turn.

Honestly, if you're used to Disney and waiting for rides for which you don't have FP, you'll probably be okay at Universal without Express. HOWEVER, I still highly recommend staying at one of the on-site hotels. For one, there's the cost you save, which I posted above, but you also save a significant amount of time. You don't have to plan for Universal the same way you plan for Disney. With Express, it's like having a FP for every single line. I've rarely waited longer than thirty minutes for an Express line. This also means that you don't have to worry about fitting everything in. If you have young children, you can go back to the hotel (which will be a ten minute walk if you stay on-site) and let them take naps, so that they're not cranky. You could also go back to the hotel to change in and out of bathing suits and take showers after water rides. You can go back to the hotel to relax and then go back out, because you don't feel like you're wasting time, because Express means you save a lot of time.

Feel free to ask me anything else, but I highly recommend you stay on-site.

 

[disprincess2213]

wow that is awesome- thank you for taking the time to write that for me as I have NO CLUE how EP works!!

We are all adults (6 adults) and 1 5 year old.

We basically want to do whats best for us to get on the rides with the shortest possible wait time.

How long is the wait for EP on attractions, typically??
What is the best way to get AP rates on hotels so that I can take advantage of EP for the family?! Thanks again!!

 

[hm8453a]

For sure! I'm so happy to help! One more question--how long will you be at Universal? Two days, three, or four? Then, I'll respond to everything.

 

[gotomu212]

That time of year with EP we typically walk right on to a ride (maybe we'll have to wait for one or two cars to go by)....and the amazing thing with EP from the hotels you can use it for multiple rides (my son will go on some rides over and over and over). To me it is the ultimate in theme park luxury.

You definitely don't NEED them, but my family cannot imagine going without them now that we know how fantastic they are.

On the AP you don't have to have it to make a reservation. Just type APH into special rate on the Loews website (discounts aren't out that far in advance yet). After you check in you can pick up your AP and they may or may not ask you to stop by reception to show it before the end of your stay.

 

[disprincess2213]

For sure! I'm so happy to help! One more question--how long will you be at Universal? Two days, three, or four? Then, I'll respond to everything.

we were thinking 2 nights and 3 days!! :0)

 

[disprincess2213]

That time of year with EP we typically walk right on to a ride (maybe we'll have to wait for one or two cars to go by)....and the amazing thing with EP from the hotels you can use it for multiple rides (my son will go on some rides over and over and over). To me it is the ultimate in theme park luxury.

You definitely don't NEED them, but my family cannot imagine going without them now that we know how fantastic they are.

On the AP you don't have to have it to make a reservation. Just type APH into special rate on the Loews website (discounts aren't out that far in advance yet). After you check in you can pick up your AP and they may or may not ask you to stop by reception to show it before the end of your stay.

Thank you so much for your help!! So I don't have to actually HAVE the AP to get and book on the AP room discounts?? WIth Disney you actually need the pass to even see the rate! I want to get it bc its makes sense (as we will go again next year) I just wanted to be sure to have it to be able to book when January rates come out!! Is there any historic data or anything to see what I should "expect" to pay at one of the top hotels in January season? And with a group of 5 (possibly 6) adults and 1 child, I would also assume I would need 2 rooms....

 

[disprincess2213]

also can someone tell me the website to view the AP rates? even for whats available now

 

[bchbetha]

I've been during that time frame and EPs would have been a total waste for us. Sure, there were occasionally stand by lines that were too long mid day but wait times ebbed and flowed all day. I used the app and we went where lines were low.

 

[schumigirl]

You can go to Loews website and out in your dates and click on AP option........you definitely don't need to buy it to book with it, long as you have it at some point when they ask.

We wouldn't do the parks without EP.......even on a so called quiet time some queues can still be long.......it's better to have it. We hate queueing, so EP is an essential for us. Even though we stay for a longer time it's still important to us not to have to queue.

Despicable Me can have queues up to and longer than 100 minutes.......with EP we have never waited longer than 15 minutes........the regular queue was 90 minutes that day.

Most times with EP we walk straight on....so called quiet time in September........

With 6 you will definitely need 2 rooms unless you stay at Cabana Bay with rooms that can take 6, no EP at Cabana Bay of course..........the Deluxe hotels have larger suites that take 6 also.

Read the stickies on here about hotel choices, EP info, damo created an excellent food sticky and macraven created an excellent quick access sticky, that has some fantastic links for beginners and newbies............so much information has been put into them and many people have contributed with their experiences.

Most of us are regular visitors, so there's always someone on here to help with questions........

 

[gotomu212]

Thank you so much for your help!! So I don't have to actually HAVE the AP to get and book on the AP room discounts?? WIth Disney you actually need the pass to even see the rate! I want to get it bc its makes sense (as we will go again next year) I just wanted to be sure to have it to be able to book when January rates come out!! Is there any historic data or anything to see what I should "expect" to pay at one of the top hotels in January season? And with a group of 5 (possibly 6) adults and 1 child, I would also assume I would need 2 rooms....

I know isn't it awesome?! Don't need anything in hand to check rates. https://www.loewshotels.com/ You can play around with dates and the APH code there. There's also a sticky here that has how far out the discounts are now so you can track them.

The three EP hotels are Portofino Bay, Royal Pacific, and Hard Rock. All also have an hour early entry to one of the parks (great for the HP ride that doesn't use EP) and a boat to the parks or you can walk about 5-10 minutes) You can also pool hop to any of the hotels if you want.

There's a ton of info in the stickies!