I saw them selling Express Pass booklets at USF today (don't know about IOA). Here's how it works:
For $20 you get a booklet that gives you Express access ONCE for each of the 14 rides at USF that have Express Pass lines. Anyone can buy them.
I was told that they'd be selling them thru the summer. After that, who knows? Maybe whenever the park is busy.
My observation was that the Express Pass lanes were longer than I have ever seen them. Now a 10 minute wait is a lot better than a 90 minute wait, but time was when you'd literally breeze onto a ride with your hotel key card.
I think there is some possibility that hotel guests could be alienated by this policy. It certainly decreases the value of being a hotel guest when the booklets are being sold. And the booklets are apparently only being sold at the busiest times, which is when you'd most like to have the preferred access the hotel cards give you.
Consider this: I'm paying roughly $200 a night (Club Level at HRH) for my wife and myself. We could have stayed at a much cheaper hotel, paid $40 for 2 booklets and had much the same benefits. Granted, the booklets only work once, not for multiple rides, but still...
It'll be interesting to see how the public reacts to this, especially the on-site hotel staying public.
