Do you think FOTL will be around for a long time???

[ChisJo]

I am going to US and IOA next year, and am hoping that FOTL will still be around when I go. But I am worried that what happened in WDW with Fastpass ~ originally for WDW resort guests only, now for all visitors ~ well, am worried that something like this will happen to US as well. I don't want to sound pesimistic, but it almost sounds too good to be true. I am honestly looking so forward to that option. Does anybody have any thoughts??

Joline

 

[Sleepy]

I have a thought. With another hotel going up onsite adding more onsite people and more FOTL usage AND with more people becoming aware of Express AND since Express line and FOTL line is the same line, I see FOTL not being worth much in the future as compared to Disney and Fastpass.

 

[Robinrs]

I have to agree with Sleepy.

I guess it comes from my skeptical nature that it's too good to be true. That's exactly why I jumped on it NOW before it's history.

I think it will be pared down then eventually ended, like a honeymoon. I think it will be a great way to get people to book the Royal Pacific, though, so I expect that this will happen AFTER this hotel is open and established.

 

[UrsulaFan]

When does Royal Pacific open?

 

[Figment78]

Ursula- On my HRH ressies it says Royal Pacific is coming in 2002. I think I heard somewhere that it is due to open around April.

I think that as Universal builds more and more hotels it will become impossible to offer FOTL access, they are already looking to cut it down to one ride per day, or only before 12 noon. As they say all good things must come to an end... I'm just hoping the all day FOTL will still be there when I go in October...

 

[Notatourist]

But there's still the VIP tour and you don't even have to stay on site...

 

[Beckles]

You folks are being too pessimistic!

Universal is making an investment that I'm sure is costing them a few bucks to read the room keys and limit hotel guests to one ride/day using their key for Express (you can still use your tickets to get more Universal Express passes though). If they were planning on getting rid of Universal Express for hotel guests, I don't think they'd bother with the investment of key readers ...

 

[johare]

I would rather see them get rid of Universal Express and keep the FOTL for the hotel guests. Without Universal Express they could easily accomodate the additional demand created by Royal Pacific.

I'm just not a big fan of Universal Express (or FastPass). When I go to a park, I like to relax and hit each attraction whenever I happen to come across it. There are enough schedules to keep in day to day life...I certainly don't want to spend my recreation/vacation time keeping 'appointments' with attractions.

It would seem to me that FOTL is much more important to Universal than Universal Express is since it gives people a BIG incentive to spend a day or two on Universal property.

 

[robvia]

Someone else is finally saying the same thing as me.

When you visit IOA and use Express Pass, you end up running to the Kiosk machines to attempt to get tickets. When you do this, you encounter long lines of people swiping their paper tickets and having no luck. When I say running, I meant that my daughter and I we're standing next to Hulk, then wanted to ride Popeye. She didn't want to walk all the way over there with me to get the tickets. So she waited, while I ran over there to get them.

And then you're re-arranging your schedule so you can be at the gate of the ride when your time is available. We we're heading towards DD, but then turned around because our times we're due for Spiderman/Hulk and we didn't want to miss them.

I just found my entire visit last time revolved around the Express pass tickets and not on enjoying the park, a rat race.

Yeah, you can leave FOTL for the hotel guests, which needs to be called something else, because it isn't FOTL anymore. We need a new abbreviation to describe the hotel people... I have one, Friggen Hotel People (FHP), but who knows, I may be one of them someday. They don't get Front of the Line, but rather, 1 express per day per ride, and then they get to try using the Kiosk machines (joy joy), which will be sold out by noon. Wait until these people post their trip reports talking about the Kiosk machines, they won't be happy campers.

I say they scrap the system and not worry about their investment, because it's not working.

Build more roller coasters and attractions, that's the answer.