Early admission/express pass

[emcarle27]

My husband and I are considering a trip later this year. September 21-24 to be exact.

We plan to do the parks for two days. I know if we stay at a premium hotel we get the free express unlimited pass per day as well as get into the park an hour early.

I'm just torn if it is really necessary. The park tickets themselves are pretty expensive as it does not seem like they are running any deals.

Thoughts?

 

[georgina]

My husband and I are considering a trip later this year. September 21-24 to be exact.

We plan to do the parks for two days. I know if we stay at a premium hotel we get the free express unlimited pass per day as well as get into the park an hour early.

I'm just torn if it is really necessary. The park tickets themselves are pretty expensive as it does not seem like they are running any deals.

Thoughts?

You will hear from a lot of people who say they won't go without it. Weekdays in September you will be fine without. A stay at any of the universal resorts will get you early entry at one park, usually at US during the fall HHN season. Hours tend to be a little shorter during the off-season, but there should be plenty of time.

I would plan to get to IOA at least a half hour before it opens if you want to do Hagrid's first thing, then head over to Velocicoaster if you are thrill ride people.

 

[AJA]

I agree with the above. Adults (who are fine riding apart using single rider lines if necessary) do not really need Express in September.

Do your research.
Take advantage of early entry.

The Studios side will close early if it is a HHN night. Keep that in mind when you are planning.

We haven’t used Express in years even in moderately busy times (October/May).

 

[emcarle27]

We decided to stay on-site as this will most likely be our last trip for a couple years. We ended up booking Loews Pacific as it was the lower cost between the 3.

 

[tinkertoes]

We just stayed at the Portofino as it was the only premium hotel available. This was a really busy time for Universal as it was first week in January. Honestly, wasn't too impressed with the hotel. Felt a little shabby for being "premium". Other than the Harry Potter rides, I saw no real value to the express pass. Plus we couldn't use it for Hagrids. At times it felt the express pass line was longer. If I would have had to pay extra for it, I would have been even more dissatisfied. If you don't have kids, I would stay at one of the lower tier hotels. They looked really nice and the price difference was significant. I would skip the express pass.

 

[tinkertoes]

And I forgot to add that preferred seating was non-existent. We went to Mythos and their response to us was "that they are not sure why guest are being told about preferred" according to them it doesn't exist. Very dissapointing as I did not make any dining reservations.