First or second week of March- do we NEED to stay onsite for the express pass?

[Sparkly]

Next year we're doing Universal again and I really want to spend my birthday at IOA. However, I want to stay onsite at Disney, and we can't do that AND stay onsite at Universal too. So is it essential to have a express pass? If we don't, we can just drive over from our villa or whatever.

Thanks

 

[tweak89]

You didn't give much info on what you wanted to accomplish on your visit. Prefer shows, thrill rides, Harry Potter?

All those things will help determine the worth of Express Pass. If you're a Harry Potter nut, you will be spending a lot of time at both parks to get the full experience (which will require park to park tickets) which will be made worse as you will not have the benefit of early entry (through a resort stay).

If you aren't worried about all things Potter, you may be able to get through IoA without an Express Pass, but it wouldn't hurt. With the Diagon Alley area still being new, there will be bigger crowds at IoA than normal for the near future.

 

[damo]

First week shouldn't be too bad. Second week will be busy as it is spring break for a lot of Canadian schools.

 

[Sparkly]

I do certainly want to see Harry Potter and the new Diagon Alley- I just adored that part in the film so want to take a good wander through.

We're not massive rollercoaster riders TBH, mostly preferring the milder ones. Forbidden Journey is probably the most intense we will go on.

 

[glocon]

If you are a Potter fan and haven't seen Hogsmeade yet, you should definitely get a Park to Park ticket. Hogsmeade is incredible, and I have no doubt that Diagon Alley will be as detailed and beautiful. You will need a P2P ticket to ride the Hogwarts Express. And for sure, it will be difficult, even without the big coasters, to see and do as much as you will want to without ep in two parks.

But eps are available to purchase without staying onsite. Pretty expensive though.

 

[Sparkly]

Oh yeah, I've seen Hogsmede so it isn't as big a priority.

We'll see.

 

[Anita123]

I was at US today (March 4) and it was just insane. The lines were really long. In 6 hours we managed to 3 rides and 2 shows and then gave up for the day.

MM was a 75 minute wait, Transformers was 1 hour, Men in Black said it was 20 but it was closer to an hour (then they tried to charge us for the locker since we went over the allotted time), Simpsons said 15 but took 45 minutes to get through the line.

RRR was down all day.
Transformers was down all morning.
Simpsons was broken and at 1/2 capacity.
After waiting for the Fear Factor show it was canceled.

 

[blackjackmark]

Next year we're doing Universal again and I really want to spend my birthday at IOA. However, I want to stay onsite at Disney, and we can't do that AND stay onsite at Universal too. So is it essential to have a express pass? If we don't, we can just drive over from our villa or whatever.

Thanks

Diagon Alley won't be open until sometime this summer

Edit:Sorry..just saw you said next year!

 

[declansdad]

We were at IoA this past Wednesday (March 5) and were able to purchase the Ultimate Express Pass without a problem. IN the end it was a total waste of money. Everything we did was a walk-on, right to the front of the line. All it did was save us some walking.

We rode the Forbidden Journey twice with nothing longer than a 30 minute wait in the morning and about 15 minutes in the afternoon.

 

[bumbershoot]

I was at US today (March 4) and it was just insane. The lines were really long. In 6 hours we managed to 3 rides and 2 shows and then gave up for the day.

MM was a 75 minute wait, Transformers was 1 hour, Men in Black said it was 20 but it was closer to an hour (then they tried to charge us for the locker since we went over the allotted time), Simpsons said 15 but took 45 minutes to get through the line.

RRR was down all day.
Transformers was down all morning.
Simpsons was broken and at 1/2 capacity.
After waiting for the Fear Factor show it was canceled.

We were at IoA this past Wednesday (March 5) and .... it was a total waste of money. Everything we did was a walk-on, right to the front of the line. All it did was save us some walking.

We rode the Forbidden Journey twice with nothing longer than a 30 minute wait in the morning and about 15 minutes in the afternoon.

So it depends on the day and the park!

 

[counselormom]

We are here now , arrived on March 6th. The first two days the crowds were moderate , wait times were around 45 min for the headliners. Yesterday the Spring Break crowds hit and the parks seem packed, wait times around an hour or more. We are staying onsite so we have express passes and have never waited more than ten min for anything other than FJ. We must have said 20 times that express passes are the best ever as we ran from ride to ride. Seriously, even if I had to postpone my trip for awhile to save the extra money I would never, ever do without them during busy times. It has made the trip so much more enjoyable, my opinion is, cut something else if you have to but get the express passes !!!