FOTL pass is worth it

[Becca61]

It was our first trip to Universal this past week. We stayed at the PBH. Been to Disney a dozen times. As much as I love Disney, it will be hard to go back after being spoiled by the FOTL pass. I can not begin to expess how terrific that was. We walked past hundreds of people standing in line for MiB. We rode it 3 times in about 30 minutes. I couldn't even look at the people in the regular line that we kept passing again and again while we kept riding and they were STILL standing in line.
My best advice to anyone going to US: Stay at one of the hotels and get the FOTL. We would never go any other way now. Even if I LIVED in Orlando, I would check into a room at RPH (least expensive on-site hotel) just for the FOTL. It changes the pace and tone of your entire vacation. I have never had a relaxing trip to Disney. Fun, yes, but frantic. Get up early, be there when the park opens, tour according to a pre-set plan, run get the Fast-Passes, DON'T WASTE TIME! (I tend to be rather type A in a theme park)
This trip to Universal was the exact opposite from that. We got to the park when we felt like it, because of the FOTL pass. We didn't need a plan, or to criss cross the park. We just set out in one direction and rode anythin we wanted. Even if DD 5 couln't ride, with FOTL her wait time while we took turns riding wasn't long enough to agitate her.
Bottom line: stay on site, and get FOTL, it is soooo worth it. If you need to justify the extra expense, I would say you need less days in the park (therefore less nights in a hotel) if you have FOTL. You could do in 2 days what would take you 3 or 4 without it.

 

[corvair]

I agree.. we just came back from disney and from PBH.... came back on Tuesday... disney it is run run run to get a fastpass when the time slot comes up.... to the other end of the park,,,,then get those tickets in the slot and try not to forget them....all i did was run run run at disney,,, i still love disney, but ...with fotl it was relaxing.. we also did MIB a couple times in a row.... and hit spiderman alot too...amy

 

[TreeOfLife]

That's why they say if you're visiting both parks, do Disney first or you'll resent being treated like the average Joe even as one of their resort guests. Nothing beats the pampering that Universal offers its guests!

 

[MadamG2U]

So glad to hear FOTL is so worth it. We will be staying at PBH in August. What did you think of the hotel? Where was your room? How was the restaurants? Crowds? So sorry for so many questions.

August just won't come fast enough!

 

[corvair]

maddam... loved the PBH... we were in room 2663 that is a deluxe... over looking the beach pool.... the restaurants are the best...mams dellas is the best...i did not see many people around. the resort... crowds in the parks were ok,,, it did not matter you have fotl........amy

 

[Becca61]

Madam, I thought the hotel was very quiet and peaceful. We went to all 3 pools to play, and the PBH was practically empty. We were there Mon.-Thursday. I wonder if it isn't a bit more crowded on the weekend? It seemed there were not very many families, but lots of convention people walking around the PBH.

Our room was also a deluxe, and it overlooked the beach pool. My only complaint, and it is a tiny one, is that it was a little complicated to get from our room to the boat dock. We figured it out eventually, but we either had to carry the stoller up and down sets of stairs, or we had to go the long way around.

Are you a Lowes First member? You get free goodies at check-in.

The only restaurant we ate at on site was the Hard Rock and it was very good. It was so easy to leave Universal and go to INternational Drive for dinner that we usually did that and saved a few bucks. But to answer your question, the hotel resataurnats were empty. No telling what August will bring though. If you are going later in August my guess is that it will be empty again because school has started for so many.

Like Covair said, I don't think crowds matter too much because of the FOTL. If you don't want to deal with crowds, go early and leave to have a nap and swim during the busy peak hours. You can leave Universal and be at the HRH in about 5 minutes. Walk the path, don't take the boat.

If you are staying in the deluxe room, you will have a nice tub and seperate shower. I took my favorite bath bubbles and candles and relaxed after a long day in the parks. That was heaven!
Becca

 

[*Fantasia*]

Disney...run run run...wait wait wait.

Universal...come as you please without being rushed and no waits.

Our first time at Universal this past Easter...It was wonderful!!! We stayed at RPR (BEAUTIFUL resort) We sometimes take a bus to the park or the taxi boat. And on the way back...we sometimes just walk back to the resort. We had a wonderful time.

If doing Universal...there is no other way but to stay on the property to take advantage of the FOTL. We enjoyed Universal. We used to only do Disney...but now...there is no way I am going to see Disney without stopping at Universal!

 

[MadamG2U]

Thanks for the replies! I can't wait! I think I am more excited than my family. We will be at PBH 8/9-8/12. But I'm not gonna worry about being there over the weekend since we will have FOTL. We have a deluxe room also and I am am a Lowes member.

Hoping to get a room with a balcony. We will be getting to Orlando at 9:50 am. Will keep my fingers crossed!

 

[Becca61]

Believe it or not, we checked in on Monday at 9 am and our room was ready and waiting!
Even if your room is not ready, they have plenty of those big carts, and they just pile your stuff onto one and roll it into this room for safe-keeping.

 

[bbchurch]

We just got back from our trip yesterday so I can tell you with fresh memory all about the Expess Pass. It can really be called Front of the Line on some of the rides but it does not work as well on others. The rides it works best on were Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Jaws, MIB, and Jimmy Neutron. The absolute worst express line was dueling dragons, the walkway to the ride is the exit so you are going against everyone coming off, the doorway inside the ride just dumps you into the flow of people coming up from the regular line. You still had to walk forever just to get to the part where you decided which side to go on. We waited way longer than fifteen minutes for Dueling Dragons everytime we rode it. The shows also worked well they seated the express line before anyone else we always ended up on front row, but do as that sign says and get there early. Ripsaw falls could use some improvement too you get ahead of everyone else in the regular line but you still have to wait a while to get to the loading platform. I guess I just got spoiled from walking right onto Spiderman and Hulk! But overall it was still better than waiting in the neverending standby lines. And definetaly better than having to wait two or three hours for your window of time to open up like Disney fastpass does. I really enjoyed getting to ride at our own pace and getting to ride more than once a hour. We could enter the park and with 5 minutes be seated on the Hulk for our first ride even though the wait time posted was 45 minutes! Very Nice especially in the 90 degree 70% humidity!

 

[heart4dis]

OK...at the risk of sounding peevish...
Are you telling me that since I am not staying on-site at Universal, I'll have to wait longer in line because those w/FOTLs can ride 3 times in a row while I wait? That makes me not want to go at all.

 

[gschmerl]

heart4dis,
You can get free express passes at the machines. It works much like FastPass at Disney. They also sell booklets of express passes.

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

We went to US for 5 nights the end of April and then 7 nights at WDW. I agree with how great the FOTL is. We were at US along with every pre, grade, junior and senior high school in Florida. There were tons of unsupervised kids and the wait times for all the rides were long. We rode every ride we wanted to as many times as we wanted to and never had to give a thought as to how long the line was. I know DH will never admit it, but he was glad that I did all the research I did and knew about the FOTL. We loved WDW, but there were several rides we couldn't go on since the wait was 45 min-1 hr. I felt that we were always scrambling to get to the next fast pass booth. We're planning another trip to Orlando next year and now I'm torn between US and WDW. Still love the Disney magic, but can't resist being able to walk to the parks from HRH and FOTL.

 

[bbchurch]

Originally posted by heart4dis
OK...at the risk of sounding peevish...
Are you telling me that since I am not staying on-site at Universal, I'll have to wait longer in line because those w/FOTLs can ride 3 times in a row while I wait? That makes me not want to go at all.

You can use your park ticket to get what is essentially the same thing as a fast pass for any of the rides. The difference is that the hotel guest can just show their room card and get into the express line anytime they want to as many times as they want to without having to get another pass from the machine.

 

[ErikdaRed]

Unfortunately I think this program will be its own demise if it gets too popular since Universal will only have people in the parks that stay onsite since FOTL drove everyone else away.

 

[JessicaR]

Where did it drive them to? Disney to stand in hour long (or more) lines? This program has been around 3 years? I see no demise happening here. If you are willing to stand in lines elsewhere why not at Universal? You can always use express pass.

 

[h20jag]

Even if on-site Express becomes "its' own demise", why not just enjoy the ride for now?! Or go on a week-day in offseason (have the park to yourselves & no Express needs!).
Jim