Express pass..is it unlimited?

[Disney1fan2002]

I think I read on here that the express pass is only good for once per ride. Is this true?

I am not keen on having to pay for something Disney offers for free, so I don't think I would like paying almost $30 for the priviledge of cutting the line, if we can only use it once.

 

[damo]

The purchased express is good for once per ride. The express you get free by staying onsite is unlimited. That is one of the main reasons I stay at Universal onsite. I appreciate the great perks that you get over what you don't get at Disney deluxes for a much higher price.

 

[Metro West]

I am not keen on having to pay for something Disney offers for free, so I don't think I would like paying almost $30 for the priviledge of cutting the line, if we can only use it once.

You may not need to pay for the Express Plus pass if you're going before Harry Potter opens as the lines may not be too bad. Otherwise...it's not a bad idea but it's up to you. The problem with FastPass is that unless you get there very early, the more popular attractions have a LONG wait before the return time...if they aren't already gone. With Express, you can come back when ever you want.

 

[cieslack]

I think I read on here that the express pass is only good for once per ride. Is this true?

I am not keen on having to pay for something Disney offers for free, so I don't think I would like paying almost $30 for the priviledge of cutting the line, if we can only use it once.

When did Disney ever give you anything for free. You pay for everything in one way or another. Besides, you can't buy even once per ride at Disney.

To your question, I have purchased express for the past two one day visits and I never once regretted it. I highly recommend it for crowded days.

 

[Timmy Boy]

Yeah, a lot of people say "Wow Disney's is free let's go there!" But they don't realize that the catch is that it tells you when you have to experience that attraction. Or let's say your monorail is having technical difficulties, takes you 45 minutes to get to Epcot, and the Test Track and Soarin FastPasses are gone for the day, now you have no choice but to wait in the 120+ minute line. At that point, if Disney would say to you "hey, you can get a fastpass for everyone in your family, for EVERY RIDE for $30" it might sound reasonable to you then.

 

[derekburgan]

Completely agree with the above two posts and find the Express Pass system to be flawed in one degree, but also have a huge advantage over Disney in other areas. I'm not saying I have the ultimate solution to fix Disney's Fast Pass system, but the true "Biggest Secret at Disney" might be that, at times, you have to be at the parks pretty early if you want Fast Pass tickets to the popular rides.

I've stayed at the Universal Hotels for three trips, and bought the Express Pass on one other occasion. Couldn't have been more satisfied.

 

[Coach81]

The purchased express is good for once per ride. The express you get free by staying onsite is unlimited. That is one of the main reasons I stay at Universal onsite. I appreciate the great perks that you get over what you don't get at Disney deluxes for a much higher price.

 

[pktbMouse]

We always buy the express pass..I know technically Disney do give it free but there are perks in that you dont have to come back and ride when Disney tells you...you can jump on the ride anytime you like and not waste time waiting for your allotted time slot. This way I believe you can get a chance of actually riding just about everything at Universal in one day and at your own pace!
I personally think if you can afford it then its worth it weight in gold.

 

[floridianer]

If we go to Universal we always stay ONSITE...

Let´s see if I get this right (so that you can understand my bad english )

You have to stay in a Hotel anyway in Orlando. What is the appr. price for a Hotel (average one) in Orlando?
Let´s say between 100 and 150 $ a night, right??
To make it easy, say 125 per room.

This is for a ROOM, so it sleeps up to 4.

If you go with a Universal Hotel. How much would that be?
I guess somewhere between 260 and 300 per night, right?

OK, let´s say 280

Difference is 155 Euro.

Remember, an express pass (which is only good for ONE admission to every attraction) would be between 25 and 50 Euros per person. I guess a little OVER 50 Bucks at times...
OK, say you get it for ONLY 30 per person
That will be another 120 Bucks for your Room.
Difference now is only 35 Bucks!!!

PLUS, you´ll have a FABULOUS Hotel!!!
PLUS, you´ll have a FOTL Pass, which is not only good ONCE per Attraction,
PLUS this FOTL pass is valid on BOTH, check-in and check-out day!

Now, I ALWAYS go for the Universal Hotels and I hope that it came out WHY!!

 

[MadeToLove]

Ahh, the great Express (Capitalism) versus Fastpass (Socialism) debate.

Although I always appreciated the freeness of Disney's fastpass, there are so many things about it that I hate.

First, not all attractions have fastpass, which isn't really a huge downer, except when you take into consideration that nearly all attractions at Universal have Express.

Then, Disney's fastpass attractions are generally clumped together, at opposite sides of the park, (think Space Mtn and Buzz versus Splash Mtn and Big Thunder), but you can't get more than one fastpass per hour, and they may not have the same return times, so you end up zig zagging back and forth all day first to get a fastpass, then to get another for another ride in that section, then back again at the end of the day to try to ride the rides clumped together all in a row. You end up wasting a huge amount of time and energy that way. But at Universal you can go from one ride right into the next to the next to the next. Sure you'd have to wait in line to ride something twice in a row, but you'd have to at Disney as well, unless you wanted to wait hours for a second ride time to roll back around.

Fastpasses run out for the most popular attractions by noon, and it always seems that everyone hordes their FPs to use at the end of the day, making the fastpass lines pretty long at the end of the day (Space Mtn at Disneyland is a perfect example where the FP line at 7pm is one hour in the summer). Universal's Express lines may not be short during busy seasons, but at least they are more steadily spread out thoughout the day.

I'm not saying Express doesn't have its flaws. Truthfully neither seems like a fair system when you are the one who missed out on getting the pass and are now standing in a line that has twice the wait time as it would have if everyone had to go through the same line. I remember the days before Express and Fastpasses when we were all treated equally as cattle and the regular lines never seemed to take as long to get through as they do now. And I remember my first trip to Disney after fastpasses started, and I didn't know how they worked and how upset I was that I had to wait an hour for Space Mtn during slow season, while other people jumped right in front of me, when I'd never had longer than a 45 min wait during busy season before fastpass.

So, in retrospect, Universal's Express doesn't seem like such a bad system.

 

[floridianer]

Totally agree with this!!

Disney was actually thinking about a similar thing fpr Resort Guests but they dropped it quite quickly...

Imagine all Resort guests actually do have FOTL passes with their roomkey...

Even if they ONLY do that with the LUXURY resorts it would be WAY too crowded and the lines would be insane for the regular riders...

 

[bubba's mom]

ie: last summer it was like 1000 degrees out and our party decided to ride Popeye at IOA. We rode TWICE and passed the SAME LADY standing in the standby line just before the stairs down to the loading/platform area.

Then, as we were buckling our belts taking off, we heard an announcement of inclement (=thunder) weather approaching the area...attractions may have to close.

Now, I did notice the standby time was 2 hrs. Let me tell you, if I had stood in line for 2 hrs only to have the ride close just when I was thisclose, "mad" isn't the beginning of what I'd be.

Express is the only way to go for us.

And...we stay onsite, because in the long run, it's just cheaper than buying EPs. Usually in summer EPs are appx $50pp. People are getting rooms for appx $150-$200/night. If you are a family of 3 or 4, it's a no brainer.

 

[freediverdude]

I agree, that for the price people are paying at those Disney deluxes, they really should be getting at least a few anytime-fastpasses. I realize because of the number of deluxe rooms they cannot do the unlimited room key thing like universal, but they really should be handing you a few fastpasses at check-in at the Disney deluxes.

 

[EAP'sDAD]

I also vote for the one night stay at Universal, While I we usual will stay for more then that, if you are planning on only one to two days at universal I would make a one night stay at the begginning or end of the trip. With that you get 2 days of the FOTL passes. One day for IOA and the other day US. Plus you have place to cool off or take a nap. When we went for the first time we stayed at HRH, I had no idea what the FOTL pass was, my Daughter wanted to ride the Hulk ride, waittime was 80 minutes and I told her no way. Well we went to the person checking the heights of kids and asked about the FOTL. she pointed over to a seperate entrance, we walked right in and the next time my feet stopped was when I was sitting on the ride. I was able to do every ride several times in one day. Disney's fp is more aggravating then helpful. Running over to RNR in HS to get a FP while the rest off the family is riding something else and then having to be back at the appointed time to see a crowd of about 20 people waiting for their alloted time to become available is not a pleasant expeirence.

 

[bubba's mom]

...make a one night stay at the begginning or end of the trip..

It is recommended you add the one night at Universal on AFTER doing Disney.

You (and others in your party) will NOT be happy standing in Disney lines after skipping them at Universal for 2 days.

 

[cieslack]

Ahh, the great Express (Capitalism) versus Fastpass (Socialism) debate.

That may be the best analogy I have ever heard.

 

[EMom]

So if you stay onsite, you can go on the same ride multiple times? How about this.....When you get a fastpass, you are assigned a time to return. Does the express pass give you a time to return or do you just get in the "express line" whenever you want?

 

[macraven]

So if you stay onsite, you can go on the same ride multiple times? How about this.....When you get a fastpass, you are assigned a time to return. Does the express pass give you a time to return or do you just get in the "express line" whenever you want?

at Universal and if you stay on site, you show your hotel card key at the check point in the express line to the TM.

that is all you do



the express line for the rides and attractions at UO are for all on site hotel guests and for the individuals that buy the express pass for the day.

the exception is, hotel guests can have no restrictions on the number of times they can ride.

 

[bubba's mom]

Does the express pass give you a time to return or do you just get in the "express line" whenever you want?

Like macraven said, it does NOT give you at TIME to return, you show your room key at the entrance to the ride each time...whenever you want.

Do that, ride your ride, get off and go right back on again if you want. Sometimes our group (11) rides Popeye 3 or 4 times in a row...taking about a half hour total for all of them

The only ride you will not get unlimited on (just 1x per day) is the new Forbidden Journey ride at Harry Potter...well, just for now anyway. Because it's new and going to be very popular, onsite guests will only get their express once per day.

 

[knieriem]

We have the Annual Pass (The more expensive one, can't think of the name) and we get express pass after 4 which is great when the park is open late! We rode the Mummy about 3 times in a row last night.