express pass ?

[mozzman]

i believe this express pass is the same as fastpass but you have to pay extra would i be correct,how much extra for one of these please and are child passes the same price

 

[bubba's mom]

It is similar to FP, but better.... The Express Pass is one of 2 things: 1) your onsite hotel room key=unlimited Express Pass for your length of stay or 2) you can purchase an EP, but it is limited to only once per ride (you cannot use it over and over....just once for each attraction). The price varies depending on the time of year...anywhere from $30-$50 per person. Someone will probably come along w/ a current price. Child prices are same. (Most here stay onsite because it works out to be cheaper in the long run = hotel offsite + buying EP VS. staying at onsite hotel).

 

[mozzman]

hhmmm smells of rip off to me disney fastpass is free and universal want $30 to $50 extra,i dont think i will buy advance tickets in case i don't go there,i am not tight but i don't like being ripped off either there are 7 of us i have to pay for so it could be $350 extra on top of entry.hell i have just made my mind up NO THANK YOU UNIVERSAL

 

[bubba's mom]

hhmmm smells of rip off to me disney fastpass is free and universal want $30 to $50 extra,i dont think i will buy advance tickets in case i don't go there,i am not tight but i don't like being ripped off either there are 7 of us i have to pay for so it could be $350 extra on top of entry.hell i have just made my mind up NO THANK YOU UNIVERSAL

sorry you feel that way, but that is why a lot of peeps stay onsite at one of the hotels....to get the room key unlimited EP (whereas Disney, you have to wait for a certain time to get another FP...AND, they could be gone by the time you want a certain one for a certain attraction.) An onsite room will run you around $200 (with AAA rate).. give or take $50 given the time of year you are traveling. With the size of your party, I wouldn't PAY for each person to get their EP's either...but I would, and have, stayed at their hotel onsite. Another perk to onsite hotel...everything is within walking distance of the hotel--no waiting on buses or boats (unless you WANT too)....CityWalk, Universal AND Islands of Adventure.....not even Disney can beat that ! Maybe you can work some numbers and see if it will work for you......good luck!

 

[mozzman]

after spitting the dummy out totally i am going to get ep for 3 eldest as they will get the use out of them,but i will be with the little uns so not likely to go on many thrill rides,still not happy and people will probably here me on my soap box telling them of the great injustice ooh they will know i'm in da house

 

[bubba's mom]

are you sure you wouldn't rather get an onsite room?? if you're going to purchase 3 EP's anyway, it'll probably be about the same price--or close. This way, you get unlimited EP (instead of once each ride) AND you'd have the EP's for 2 days (day of check-in & check-out) for your entire party. You may not use the room, but you would have it for a mid-day rest for the "young-uns" and yourself and be able to use the pool. Only problem I can foresee, is you mentioned you're a party of 7....Fla. law only allows 5 per room, so, even if you got 5 EP's, still better than nothing. I'm just saying to check the room rates (try RPR=cheapest of the 3) and if you have AAA, use it in the promo box....you get a decent discount using AAA. Work it....maybe some will happen for you.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

One other consideration is, when are you going? If it isnt a peak time you can easily do without express.

 

[bg4]

Express is nothing like fastpass.

Universal Express Pass
costs money- one pass for each ride but you have all of your passes up front. No need to go to machine as there is no machine. No time frame to go on ride.

Disney FastPass
free to use- only one pass at a time- must use machine each time and go back when printed on ticket.

Oh yeah there is another express pass at Universal - the Unlimited Express Pass. This allows on-site guests unlimited front of the line access. Does WDW have this? That answer would be a no.

What Universal did is give a perk to on-site guests while on-site guests at Disney upon arriving at a park are treated exactly like day guests. I recently went to WDW (ALK) and would never stay at any WDW resort again. Universal treats its hotel guests much much better and unlimited express is much better than fastpass.

 

[horseshowmom]

Express is nothing like fastpass.

Universal Express Pass
costs money- one pass for each ride but you have all of your passes up front. No need to go to machine as there is no machine. No time frame to go on ride.

Disney FastPass
free to use- only one pass at a time- must use machine each time and go back when printed on ticket.

Oh yeah there is another express pass at Universal - the Unlimited Express Pass. This allows on-site guests unlimited front of the line access. Does WDW have this? That answer would be a no.

What Universal did is give a perk to on-site guests while on-site guests at Disney upon arriving at a park are treated exactly like day guests. I recently went to WDW (ALK) and would never stay at any WDW resort again. Universal treats its hotel guests much much better and unlimited express is much better than fastpass.

I agree. We've used the purchased passes before and been pleased. The only time they punched the pass was later in the day when it got busy (and then only on Spiderman). Of course, you're only guaranteed one FOTL per attraction You can check the Universal site for dates/prices. The lowest price starts at $15 and goes up from there.

It is an additional expense (as opposed to the Fast Pass), but I get to ride/see the attraction while I'm there and not have to walk back later. Also, from what I'm told, the Disney Fast Passes often are completely given out by mid-morning (which would be pretty limiting).

As mentioned above, the unlimited pass (hotel room key) is really great (haven't tried that one yet but may be getting a room onsite in December - the purchased pass is $20 up until Christmas).

I can understand why some people don't like it, but we were pleased.

 

[bubba's mom]

..What Universal did is give a perk to on-site guests while on-site guests at Disney upon arriving at a park are treated exactly like day guests.

Onsite Disney guests extra magic hours.....but I can't remember what other "perks"?? (If you stay onsite at UO, you don't need the "extra hours".....you'll do/see it all with your room-key EP.)

 

[MassMom94]

Onsite Disney guests extra magic hours.....but I can't remember what other "perks"?? (If you stay onsite at UO, you don't need the "extra hours".....you'll do/see it all with your room-key EP.)

The other major Disney resort guest perk is free parking at all parks, which Universal does not give to its resort guests.

I agree FOTL is awesome, but I also understand why Disney can't offer it - there are something like 22,000 rooms in Disney resorts compared to only about 1,500 at Universal. If there were FOTL at WDW, lines would be impossible for both on-site and day guests!

 

[damo]

hhmmm smells of rip off to me disney fastpass is free and universal want $30 to $50 extra,i dont think i will buy advance tickets in case i don't go there,i am not tight but i don't like being ripped off either there are 7 of us i have to pay for so it could be $350 extra on top of entry.hell i have just made my mind up NO THANK YOU UNIVERSAL

I used fastpass at Disney when I was at AK in March. I got one ride out of it. ONE RIDE!!! By the time I was able to use my Everest fastpass and go get another, the time for my next ride was three hours in the future. We had left by then since the lines were mostly all over an hour.

When we used unlimited fastpass at Disneyland (obtained through a special deal with AAA), it was great since you could hold as many fastpasses as you wanted. You were still limited by the times posted on your passes though and if you didn't gather all of your fastpasses by noon, they were pretty much all given out.

I would much, much rather spend $30 and get an express pass for every single ride that has no time constraints. To me, Disneyworld fastpasses are pretty much useless and should be free. They make people think they are getting something for nothing but really they are getting hardly anything for nothing.

 

[phamton]

They make people think they are getting something for nothing but really they are getting hardly anything for nothing.

Best statement I've read in a long time!

The best rides run out of fast pass and many of my favorite rides don't even offer it like Pirates and Haunted Mansion.

 

[bubba's mom]

The other major Disney resort guest perk is free parking at all parks, which Universal does not give to its resort guests.

oh...didn't know that....we never park at the parks. Car picks us up at MCO, drops us at Disney, we use their transportation and rent a car to leave. Dontcha think most peeps use WDW transportation when they stay onsite???--another perk

I agree FOTL is awesome, but I also understand why Disney can't offer it - there are something like 22,000 rooms in Disney resorts compared to only about 1,500 at Universal. If there were FOTL at WDW, lines would be impossible for both on-site and day guests!

agreed ---BUT, don't bash Universal for offering it.