EP Lines over spring break?

[mickeyfan0805]

We will be at Universal for 4 days the week following Easter (arriving Easter night). We know that this will be a busy time with long waits for many rides, but what I don't have a sense of is what the waits will be for EP users. Can anyone give me a sense of what rides get the longer lines and what those waits might be with EP? Just trying to get a sense of how much we need to worry about early entry, what kind of lines we'd be looking at, etc.

Thanks!

 

[cschaaf]

I'm assuming you will have EP. With EP, you'll be fine. The biggest reason, IMO, to do early entry if you have EP is Hagrid's. There are kind of two schools of thought for Hagrid's - try to get there first thing in the morning or go late in the day near closing.

We prefer the early option - it gives us the best, and most, chances at riding. Lines could be shorter in the evening, but there's also a chance that they close the ride early either due to capacity or a technical issue.

With EP, you typically don't have to worry about super long wait times (barring technical issues, we've probably waited 30-40 minutes max the week before Christmas) and can head to whatever ride you want, whenever you want. We just pick a direction to walk and as we walk past a ride, decide if we want to ride it or not.

The HP rides typically have some of the longest waits. Right now, the Hogwart's Express might be the longest. Shrek has had some crazy long waits recently, too.

 

[mickeyfan0805]

I'm assuming you will have EP. With EP, you'll be fine. The biggest reason, IMO, to do early entry if you have EP is Hagrid's. There are kind of two schools of thought for Hagrid's - try to get there first thing in the morning or go late in the day near closing.

I don't quite understand this issue with Hagrid's. I'm assuming that Easter week it will have virtual waits. Isn't that the best way to ride? Am I missing something on this?

 

[Leigh L]

Last week we got a virtual wait for Hagrid's and when we got there, the line for that was stretched out into the next land. My teen was like "no way" and we dropped the pass (weekends the Potter areas are pretty crowded in our experience). I agree with PP about first thing in the morning. That's what we'd do next time.

At Christmas week 2019 we had EP and ride everything several times (except Hagrid, we didn't try on this trip). I think if you have EP during spring break, you'll be fine

 

[mickeyfan0805]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

 

[cschaaf]

I don't quite understand this issue with Hagrid's. I'm assuming that Easter week it will have virtual waits. Isn't that the best way to ride? Am I missing something on this?

Some days they open Hagrid's with VQ; other days they start VQ when the line gets to a certain length. You're probably right about Easter week being 100% VQ.

Either way, my preference would be to go early. If you can get in standby, great. If not, try to grab an early VQ. If nothing else, it might give you a second chance later in the day to ride again.

I haven't been when they were running VQ, but I think it would be an inconvenience in our day to have to plan around a VQ return time. If I had to get a VQ, my preferred times would be either early in the morning or near park close. That would leave the rest of my day open to do anything in either park.

 

[cfoxga]

Hard to guess what Spring Break EP lines will be this year, but during busy times I've seen EP lines go beyond 45 minutes. Thanksgiving 2017/2019, that usually happened in the mid-afternoon. Pretty much all of the rides get long, though still better than the non-EP lines. I think both ESS and ESD resorts will be open (with only SF and Aventura closed), so I'd expect even more people in the parks than at Christmas.

So even with EP, your best bet is to go in reasonably early when the lines are short, or in the late afternoon...

 

[foolish-mortal]

We'll be there this year over spring break, as well. We will also have EPs. Hoping we get to ride Hagrid's! Last time we were there none of the HP rides were available on EP - so that's a bonus!

 

[becauseimnew]

We were there over Thanksgiving break, I'm guessing it was a busy week as VL were used the entire time we were there for Hagrids. EP line was no problem, nothing was more than 20 minutes. Totally worth the extra cost of staying at HRH.