First visit - Express passes?

[freshstart19]

Hello! We are coming to Universal for the first time in late July before dropping off our DD to her 5 month Disney College Program. We won't do Disney Parks without Lightning Lanes. I've read about Express Lanes and it being included with some hotels but not others. We're only planning 3 days in the parks, 1 day each. I"m reading about crazy waits at Epic. I think it will be fun to stay at Hellios and walk right into Epic Universe, but then we'd have to pay for Express passes to 3 parks. Is the smarter option staying at a hotel that offers the unlimited express pass for the other parks. and then buying it for Epic? I don't see how we'd get a lot done with just 1 day in each park? Does any park need 2 days? DD has lost her interest in Harry Potter so we won't be doing anything affiliated with that franchise.

Thanks for your help!

 

[musika]

I think you've posted in the wrong form

But to answer your question, I think it depends on whether you feel you have to ride everything. If you're willing to wait in line, Express pass isn't really required. For our family it was a godsend skipping any lines because our kids like to fight with each other lol. Personally we prefer staying in hotel with express pass but at this stage you may have left it too late to get a reasonable room rate.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Hello! We are coming to Universal for the first time in late July before dropping off our DD to her 5 month Disney College Program. We won't do Disney Parks without Lightning Lanes. I've read about Express Lanes and it being included with some hotels but not others. We're only planning 3 days in the parks, 1 day each. I"m reading about crazy waits at Epic. I think it will be fun to stay at Hellios and walk right into Epic Universe, but then we'd have to pay for Express passes to 3 parks. Is the smarter option staying at a hotel that offers the unlimited express pass for the other parks. and then buying it for Epic? I don't see how we'd get a lot done with just 1 day in each park? Does any park need 2 days? DD has lost her interest in Harry Potter so we won't be doing anything affiliated with that franchise.

Thanks for your help!

I am currently here at epic. We stayed at the Helios, which was a big help. We spent two days in epic because day number two we had Express passes and we use day number one to do the three rides that did not have express lines. We pretty much spent one entire day just doing those three things and a couple of extras plus having dinner. The Harry Potter ride broke down while we were in line and I think we waited about 20 extra minutes for that so in total it took us about an hour and a half to do that one ride. The racers had no issues and they were probably about 3540 minute wait. However, mine Cart madness broke down five times while we were in line and it took us over Two hours to get that one completed. That pretty much sums up day number one. The second day we had Express passes and we literally did everything we wanted to do some two or three times because we split our day. We went in the morning and we’re done maybe around four went to the pool and came back in the evening when the crowds were very light One of the rides we did over in the dark universe. They just let us stay on the ride for three times around and probably would’ve let us do more if we had wanted to. I also noticed when I came back to the room at nine that some of the rides were running well past 10 o’clock. I know I saw the Stardust racers going past 10 o’clock just giving you a little bit of information to help you, but we really enjoyed the Express passes. That said they’re not perfect. You don’t get to go right to the front of the line. Some of the lines merge with standby They will do a standby than an express, than a standby than an express so it does shorten your wait time significantly, but don’t expect to go straight to the front as far as Universal Studios or islands of Adventure. The only one we have found that we really would use an express pass for would be the Harry Potter Ride. However, I don’t think the Express pass covers that one most of the other otherwise don’t have too terribly long await, and unless staying at a hotel that provide a free express passes I probably would not spend the money for them. Only if you have very limited time.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I am currently here at epic. We stayed at the Helios, which was a big help. We spent two days in epic because day number two we had Express passes and we use day number one to do the three rides that did not have express lines. We pretty much spent one entire day just doing those three things and a couple of extras plus having dinner. The Harry Potter ride broke down while we were in line and I think we waited about 20 extra minutes for that so in total it took us about an hour and a half to do that one ride. The racers had no issues and they were probably about 3540 minute wait. However, mine Cart madness broke down five times while we were in line and it took us over Two hours to get that one completed. That pretty much sums up day number one. The second day we had Express passes and we literally did everything we wanted to do some two or three times because we split our day. We went in the morning and we’re done maybe around four went to the pool and came back in the evening when the crowds were very light One of the rides we did over in the dark universe. They just let us stay on the ride for three times around and probably would’ve let us do more if we had wanted to. I also noticed when I came back to the room at nine that some of the rides were running well past 10 o’clock. I know I saw the Stardust racers going past 10 o’clock just giving you a little bit of information to help you, but we really enjoyed the Express passes. That said they’re not perfect. You don’t get to go right to the front of the line. Some of the lines merge with standby They will do a standby than an express, than a standby than an express so it does shorten your wait time significantly, but don’t expect to go straight to the front as far as Universal Studios or islands of Adventure. The only one we have found that we really would use an express pass for would be the Harry Potter Ride. However, I don’t think the Express pass covers that one most of the other otherwise don’t have too terribly long await, and unless staying at a hotel that provide a free express passes I probably would not spend the money for them. Only if you have very limited time.

I’m also glad we did the epic universe Harry Potter day 1 because day 2 we got there for the extra hour, and when they open the gates, it was like the running of the bulls. No one hardly paid any attention to the cast members and it was full on racing. We were trying to get to the Stardust racers and had to cross over a whole line of running. people. It scared my granddaughter so much she wouldn’t go back into the Harry Potter land until late at night when a lot of people had left. We ended up watching the circus on my phone through YouTube. With ice cream while sitting at the hotel and looking over the Park.