Express Plus Pass- Necessary?

[SteeleTig]

Is the Express Plus Pass necessary for the week after Easter? This is my first trip to Universal so I don't know how crowded it gets. We are 3 adults and will be spending a full day in each park. We want to ride all the major attractions, don't care about kiddie rides/areas, and don't really care about having priority seating at shows. Will the Express pass be worth the extra money, or a waste for us?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

The first few weeks of April is generally a busy time, and I would personally recommend going for the EP or staying onsite to get the FOTL.

FWIW, I was on the phone last week with USO's hotel services, and April is considered "peak" for them. We actually moved around our dates to the last couple days of April and first week of May because there's a window there between spring break and summer where the rates -- and I'm assuming crowds -- are much lower.

 

[SteeleTig]

Thanks! Moving our dates isn't an option for us so we'll have to make the most of the time we have there. Staying onsite is way out of our price range, I wonder if AAA does a discount on the express passes, I know they do the tickets.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

You're most welcome!

Just something to keep in mind, re the cost of rooms: Be sure to figure out what the price of the EPs will cost your party per day and deduct that from the price of the room per night.

For instance, if the RPR will cost $229 per night (I've done three adults in one of the USO hotels before), and the EPs will cost $40 per person, you should deduct $120 from the $229, since if you stay onsite, you won't have to pay for the EPs. So, by crunching the numbers, you'd basically be staying on site for about $100 per night using those assumed numbers.

And the onsite hotels are top notch. We've stayed at skanky places on I-Drive for $70 per night.

Plus, with the room key FOTL, you can go on the rides unlimited. You can only use the EPs once per ride.

Be sure to factor in everything -- even the cost of gas driving to the parks versus just parking your car for a few days and hopping on the boat.

And have a great time. You'll love it

 

[phamton]

There is no AAA discount on express. The express for one parks is $40 per person on April 9-11 and the 14th; $30 on 12-13; and $20 on the 15th.

Easter is April the 8th so I wasn't sure which day you were going. But if you multiply a $40 pass times 3 people for two days, it makes the price of staying onsite look more affordable. The cost of express passes for 2 days would be $240. If you stayed onsite one night, you would have two full days of front of the line.

 

[SteeleTig]

Thanks phamton, that was my next question. So we'd only have to stay 1 night to get the FOTL for 2 days? That's nice. We'll be going on either April 11-12 or 12-13. We're incorporating this into a trip to Ft. Myers to visit family, so we're pretty flexible. I'm guessing because the EP is cheaper on 12-13 they anticipate lower crowds on those days, so I'm thinking that is when we'll go. Now to research room rates and convince Mom that the cost is worth it.

 

[SteeleTig]

We just got a good rate for Hard Rock on AAA so we booked it, yay free express passes!