Express Pass---still a wait?

[firstwdw]

Are there still long waits even with Express Pass during busy times? Or does EP essentially allow you to skip the lines? Considering a trip during Thanksgiving week with EP but are we still going to be waiting a lot in lines? (our heart is over at WDW but thought Universal EP would save us the frustration of long lines and be more enjoyable during a busy week). Thanks experts!

 

[starry_solo]

Are there still long waits even with Express Pass during busy times? Or does EP essentially allow you to skip the lines? Considering a trip during Thanksgiving week with EP but are we still going to be waiting a lot in lines? (our heart is over at WDW but thought Universal EP would save us the frustration of long lines and be more enjoyable during a busy week). Thanks experts!

depending on the number in your party, consider a USO hotel room that includes express pass. i haven’t been around thanksgiving so I have no idea how the lines are

 

[DoryGirl1963]

Express Pass generally offers significantly shorter waits but aren't straight to the front of the line passes, so you'll still be waiting in lines some, just not as much as stand by. Also currently express pass is not available for Hagrid's or Velocicoaster.

 

[macraven]

Ride lines will be pulsed between ep lines and regular lines

Those in the express lines do have the edge of a
Lesser wait

 

[ChanaC]

When I worked at Universal in 2012, we were told to tell guests that the Express Pass cuts your wait in half. So if there is an hour long line, the Express Pass will get you through in 30 minutes. Not sure if that is still true or not.

There are pros and cons when comparing Disney's Fastpass and Universal's Express Pass, and one pro that Disney has is that, for the most part, the Fastpass system only gives away so many Fastpasses at a time. I have no idea what the numbers are, but just to throw around a number let's say Splash Mountain only has 1000 Fastpass reservations between 9:00-10:00am. Universal's system doesn't keep track of that, so theoretically everyone with an Express Pass might decide to go on Hulk at 9am which greatly increases that Express line, while no one is using it for Cat In The Hat.

At the end of the day though, it will be similar enough to Disney's Fastpass. Even with Fastpass, there are times you still have a line. I've definitely had to wait a few minutes on some lines. It will be the same with Express Pass. However, the Express Pass line will always be shorter than the regular line, so no matter what you will be saving some time. And saving even a little bit of time is nice.

And, just as a note, remember that some attractions will always have waits unless you time things just right. For example, when I worked at Universal I worked on Shrek 4-D, which is a 3D movie type attraction like It's Tough To Be A Bug at Animal Kingdom. Nearly every day someone with an Express Pass would complain about waiting on a line to get into the theater. The problem was that you are entering a theater! The show starts and stop and sometimes you have to wait 10-15 minutes for the theater to empty before you can get on! I tried to explain that it's not like the Haunted Mansion where the line is always moving because the ride vehicles are always moving. But people expected with the Express Pass that they will never have to wait on a line, but sometimes it's just the nature of how the attraction operates. I actually knew someone who worked on It's Tough To Be A Bug and they got the same complaint from guests!

 

[mom2rtk]

We are just back and were in IoA on a very busy day and Studios on what I hear was a sold out day (by whatever today’s limits are). I have no complaint about our waits with EP. Many were nearly straight on. Some had a bit of a wait but always lesser than we used to have with FP at Disney.

 

[MinnieMSue]

We had great wait times with express June 16-20. Sometimes it was close to a walk on. Other times it was slower but it was always much faster than the regular line. We were able to ride every ride we wanted in Studios (which was most of them except the little rides ) on the Sunday morning before we left in 2 hours and that counted getting stuck twice on Gringrots lol.

 

[ramee]

When we used express pass last weekend, our waits were walk on or no more than 15 mins. Mummy might have been under 30 minutes because it went down shortly after we got in line.

 

[yesman70]

Was there this past week with express passes and never waited more than 20-30 minutes for the busiest rides like Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Hulk, Kong, Simpson’s, Men in Black, Rip Ride Rocket and the Mummy.

Rides like Fast and Furious and Jimmy Fallon I didn’t feel like they saved much time because the lines were not super long and we ended up merging with the regular standby lines fairly quickly.

 

[FoxC63]

Are there still long waits even with Express Pass during busy times? Or does EP essentially allow you to skip the lines? Considering a trip during Thanksgiving week with EP but are we still going to be waiting a lot in lines? (our heart is over at WDW but thought Universal EP would save us the frustration of long lines and be more enjoyable during a busy week). Thanks experts!

Was there this past week with express passes and never waited more than 20-30 minutes for the busiest rides like Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Hulk, Kong, Simpson’s, Men in Black, Rip Ride Rocket and the Mummy.

Rides like Fast and Furious and Jimmy Fallon I didn’t feel like they saved much time because the lines were not super long and we ended up merging with the regular standby lines fairly quickly.

Our 2019 Thanksgiving break with EP's was exactly as @yesman70 described: 20-30 minutes for the busiest rides like Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Hulk, Kong, Simpson’s, Men in Black, Rip Ride Rocket and the Mummy. I'll add during peak hours. Later on in the evening 15-20 minutes.