Do I need it?

[Tank]

Now that the kids are both in school DW insists that we only vacation during their breaks.(sigh) This means we will be going to Sea World and UO/IOA over spring break. We have 3 1/2 days at the parks. I figured on goint to Sea World, Sat 3/31. UO, Sun 4/1. IOA Mon 4/2 and back to UO on tues for 1/2 day before we need to head off to the rest of our trip. With this much time and getting there at opening can we do this without express pass? They really jack up the price during spring break.
Also, have they completely gotten rid of the express kiosks they used to have? I am a master at the fast pass, but haven't been to universal in many years. This will be my kids first trip. DD8 and DS5

 

[yaytezIOA]

Yeah the express kiosks are gone....GOOD RIDDANCE. Fastpass, Express, all of it...a bane on existance. But, if you do want to skip the lines there are some ways to do it at Universal. The biggest way is to stay onsite at one of their three world class hotels. Your room key is your express pass, and you dont have to make a reservation, and you can go as much as you like. You can also BUY the express pass for anywhere between 25 and 50 dollars depending on the day you go....but those are only good for one trip on each ride. BUT if you are at the gates at least 30 minutes before the parks open, you can get most of the rides done by 12.....and before the rest of the springbreakers can get their lazy butts out of bed.

 

[macraven]

spring break varies per region.
my son has spring break starting on march 10.
where i teach spring break starts march 26.


i think universal has longer hours for spring break. check out the UO website for the hours listed.
you will probably have better luck on the week days than weekends.

have a plan and start early. look at the map of the parks on line at UO website. figure out which rides are a must do and plan from there.

be at the ticket gates very early before the park officially opens.
start at one park, IOA, do the coasters and highlights of what is on your agenda to do first. mid afternoon move over to the studios in hopes the crowds are changing at that time.

it might be to your advantage to stay on site for one night.
you get the fotl/front of the line perks when you do. if you stay one night on site and check out the next morning, the hotel room key is valid for fotl until the park closes that check out day.
you get two full days of fotl for the cost of one nights stay.
you can work that to your advantage.


if you stay off site, go early and have a plan.

others here that are UO homies would be more knowledgable on spring break time for crowds. i stay away from it at all costs.

 

[Tank]

Thanks for the quick response. We will not be staying onsite. We have relatives who live in FL and will be joining us, so we have rented a condo where we can all be together. I can be at the parks for opening, no problem, we have done it at Disney many times. My concern is this will be our 1st visit at a peak time. We have always managed to go at the best time of the year, but this year my DW will not have it,(grrrr). Just kidding, but I haven't been to UO in so long, and never this time of year, I wasn't sure what kind of crowds to expect.

 

[kenban]

If you get there before the parks open each day and have a good plan you should be able to ride everything you want at least once over the three days. I would try to do the shorter attractions and rides without preshows first then do the longer rides in the afternoon when lines get longer. Just based on the fact that the parks are open until 10PM shows Universal expects large crowds. If your hotel is close to the parks a good plan might be to get there before open stay until noon or 1 then go back to the hotel for a few hours and then come back later in the afternoon. This way your not at the park for the busiest part of the day.

If you do decide to purchase express passes I would get them for just April 1st (cheapest day) and get the 2 park passes. But I would not get them unless you want to make sure you have the time to get multiple rides on everything or want the time to spend somewhere else (busch gardens, you could always get the 7 day sea world, busch gardens combo pass for $85 if you don't have tickets yet).

 

[macraven]

Thanks for the quick response. We will not be staying onsite. We have relatives who live in FL and will be joining us, so we have rented a condo where we can all be together. I can be at the parks for opening, no problem, we have done it at Disney many times. My concern is this will be our 1st visit at a peak time. We have always managed to go at the best time of the year, but this year my DW will not have it,(grrrr). Just kidding, but I haven't been to UO in so long, and never this time of year, I wasn't sure what kind of crowds to expect.

very important tip:

be at the parking garage by 8 at the latest.
the line to get into the garage will swell after that.

be at the ticket turnstyle asap.
early in to the park and you will have a head start of the crowds.

eat at off times. while others are lunching between 11:30 to 1:30, do the the rides.

most of all, have a blast !!