Early Entry with Express Passes

[supamaki]

Is there any reason to get up early and do EE if we have Express passes?

 

[kevdad]

One reason would be to experience the HP areas without crowds. On busy days the two areas can be wall-to-wall crowded.

 

[schumigirl]

No.

We never do EE as EP is worth it`s weight in gold.

We heard various guests mention how busy EE can be some days and can negate the benefit. A couple of days on our last visit were like that, so it`s not always a quieter time to go.

 

[macraven]

EE is good as you can concentrate your time in certain sections that are open early
Potterville and a few select rides.

Then when the rest of the park opens up, move to another section of the park.

Crowds are low that first hour in the morning for EE compared to the rest of the park day.

 

[mjhtvchick]

No.

We never do EE as EP is worth it`s weight in gold.

I had to laugh when I read this!! We are very like-minded!

When I am on vacation, the last thing I want to do is get up early! I don't think we have ever experienced EE or "rope-drop" at a park.

 

[hhoope01]

If we are staying for a week or more, we normally won't make use of EE every day. But depending on the crowds, we may use EE for one or 2 days mostly to just be able to leisurely walk through the HP stores. Since both of the main HP rides now have EP, we don't necessarily use EE just to ride the rides. While I'm sure that there can be days where EE will be just as crowded as the regular opening hours will be, that hasn't been our 'normal' experience. Normally, it will be less crowded. And sometimes it is nice to just walk through area without constantly bumping into people.

 

[macraven]

I only do the EE if I have a friend that is meeting up with me.

I"m there for 14 days and hit everything sooner or later during my stay.
I like sleeping in ....


In the fall, it's dark outside when I did do do EE....
a different experience and worth it for the experience

Just remembered on shorter trips when a son is with me, we end up doing EE a couple of the mornings.
As long as I have someone to wake me up and drag me out of bed, I can hit the park early.

On my own, not the case

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We did EE our first morning and spent time in Hogsmeade doing spells with fewer people around. After that we didn't bother. We preferred to stay until closing instead. There were fewer people that way. You really don't need to do it with EP.

 

[schumigirl]

I had to laugh when I read this!! We are very like-minded!

When I am on vacation, the last thing I want to do is get up early! I don't think we have ever experienced EE or "rope-drop" at a park.

Lol........Absolutely!!!

I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when the new hotels offering EE are up and running..... if it “can” be a nightmare right now.......

A lot of people that won’t have EP will take advantage of EE.

Not for us.........

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Lol........Absolutely!!!

I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when the new hotels offering EE are up and running..... if it “can” be a nightmare right now.......

A lot of people that won’t have EP will take advantage of EE.

Not for us.........

If they don't open more rides during EE it's going to be a waste when those resorts come online. There was 45 min stby wait for FJ during EE when we went. Just as bad as regular hours.

 

[Blue32]

That’s what I am wondering...when will they start opening more rides for EE? With all the new resort rooms they have to at least consider this, and probably should have added more for EE as it is now..

 

[123SA]

I think for our upcoming early August trip we will do EE at each park one time, just to experience the HP areas, not the rides.

I was wondering if we arrived at 8:30 on an EE day at IOA, do you still get herded to HP? Could we head to Kong to get in the standby line for 9am opening? Or some other ride that has a standby queue that is worth foregoing the UExp to experience?

 

[slpeters]

We are sort of early risers in general so have always rope dropped in the past. We will be at the RPR so have EE and EP. What do people who have express pass do during EE to best use the time? It's so weird to me that most of the park is closed. Will the Three Broomsticks/Leaky Cauldron be open for breakfast? How about Olivanders? It almost seems like we would have a shorter wait for the rides if we waited for park opening, so what do we do with the time?

 

[macraven]

We are sort of early risers in general so have always rope dropped in the past. We will be at the RPR so have EE and EP. What do people who have express pass do during EE to best use the time? It's so weird to me that most of the park is closed. Will the Three Broomsticks/Leaky Cauldron be open for breakfast? How about Olivanders? It almost seems like we would have a shorter wait for the rides if we waited for park opening, so what do we do with the time?

Many potter fans love the EE period.
They can wander throughout potterville with less crowds.

It is still to your advantage to enter the park during that 8- 9 period

You can go to the park around 8:45 and be able to enter if you have the EE allowed.
You'll have a head start on the other rides that will be open when the entire park allows entry to all

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I was wondering if we arrived at 8:30 on an EE day at IOA, do you still get herded to HP? Could we head to Kong to get in the standby line for 9am opening? Or some other ride that has a standby queue that is worth foregoing the UExp to experience?

No, you can't get into other lines. There is a rope similar to RD at Disney. We waited by Hulk at IOA even though Hogsmeade was open. They asked people in the crowd who were right up against the rope trivia questions and people who answered correctly got to go get on Hulk and have a ride with the car all to themselves. I don't know if they do that every day or if it's TM discretion. But you couldn't get in the stby line until official park open.

It almost seems like we would have a shorter wait for the rides if we waited for park opening, so what do we do with the time?

If you have EP there's no real wait for lines. We rode FJ and FotH during EE with EP. The stby line for FJ was 45 mins and we maybe waited 10 in the EP line. Similar for FotH, although stby wasn't as long. In retrospect, I wouldn't do it again simply because as a family with EP we were talking ride capacity from people who only had EE. That's really Universal's fault for not having more open, but we didn't need to ride then. In the future we'll stick to doing spells and shops, and enjoying quieter time the HP areas.