Hotel guests and front of the line pass?

[pta-mom]

OK...excuse my ignorance on this but I just want to make sure that I am fully understanding this...

If I book a night at a motel on site of the US, IOA, my family and I get a room key that is good for the day we check in and the day we check out to use as a front of the line pass. Correct?

The front of the line pass means we by-pass the line and get to the front of the line on every ride. Correct? Is this just once per ride or multiple times?

Thanks.

 

[justprettynpink]

If I book a night at a motel on site of the US, IOA, my family and I get a room key that is good for the day we check in and the day we check out to use as a front of the line pass. Correct?

You get an express pass

The front of the line pass means we by-pass the line and get to the front of the line on every ride. Correct? Is this just once per ride or multiple times?

You get to use the express lane an unlimited amount of times, which is a MUCH shorter line than the regular line.

 

[Metro West]

The front of the line pass means we by-pass the line and get to the front of the line on every ride. Correct? Is this just once per ride or multiple times?

This is not correct. First off...there is no such thing as a "front of the line" pass anymore...it's all Express. Second...you will have unlimited use of the Express lines during your stay but you will not skip to the front of the line. There is still an Express line that you will have to stand in...granted it will be minimal in most cases. The only way you can skip to the front of all lines is with the guided VIP Tour.

I may be splitting hairs here but I just want to make sure you aren't confused when you arrive and are expecting to be at the front of each line because that's not the case.

 

[lachica]

I may be splitting hairs here but I just want to make sure you aren't confused when you arrive and are expecting to be at the front of each line because that's not the case.

I don't think of it as splitting hairs Metro. You are simply correcting the semantics or assumptions that arise by using old terminology. I'm totally with you we should be reffering it to unlimited express pass instead of FOTL.

 

[pta-mom]

This is not correct. First off...there is no such thing as a "front of the line" pass anymore...it's all Express. Second...you will have unlimited use of the Express lines during your stay but you will not skip to the front of the line. There is still an Express line that you will have to stand in...granted it will be minimal in most cases. The only way you can skip to the front of all lines is with the guided VIP Tour.

I may be splitting hairs here but I just want to make sure you aren't confused when you arrive and are expecting to be at the front of each line because that's not the case.

LOL!! No, probably NOT splitting hairs but as I said originally, I do have a degree of ignorance on this and have seen the Express pass referred to as the FOTL pass in other posts so just did not know if it was the same thing. Actually, I thought that the Express pass was what individuals purchased at the ticket counter and the FOTL pass was for hotel guests. Thanks for the clarification on that.

In either case, when I asked about going to the front of the line, I did not mean pushing past people to get in first....I did think there was probably a second line for these passes (or this pass as the case may be) but thank you for confirming that.

So, again, having this EXPRESS pass, allows my family to use the EXPRESS line to get on the rides as many times as we like, correct? Does every ride have an EXPRESS line or only certain rides? And is it only the hotel guests who have this pass or is this the same pass that individuals can purchase?

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

In Disney-speak, it means you go through the fastpass line for every attraction that has one, as many times as you want. You may not wait at all, but you may wait if a lot of people are in the same express line at the same time. We usually don't wait more than 5 minutes with a FP at Disney, but we have waited 30 minutes in the FP line for Soarin' before. That's still way better than the posted 140 minute wait time, but we didn't go to the front of the line.

A few rides don't have Express - Pteranodon Flyers and Rip Ride Rockit, and HP and the Forbidden Journey is rumored to be limited to one express line pass per day, once the express line is up and running.

We've done Universal both ways - staying onsite with express is SO worth it, and all three onsite hotels are very nice.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

So, again, having this EXPRESS pass, allows my family to use the EXPRESS line to get on the rides as many times as we like, correct? Does every ride have an EXPRESS line or only certain rides? And is it only the hotel guests who have this pass or is this the same pass that individuals can purchase?

Hotel guests have unlimited express for rides that have express (except that HP and the FJ is probably limited to one per day). Purchased express passes are once per attraction.

 

[pta-mom]

Hotel guests have unlimited express for rides that have express (except that HP and the FJ is probably limited to one per day). Purchased express passes are once per attraction.

Cool! Thanks for clearing that up!

Will that new Harry Potter Ride have an Express lane?

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Cool! Thanks for clearing that up!

Will that new Harry Potter Ride have an Express lane?

It has been designed with an express line, but the express line might not be open when the ride first opens. When I booked our trip, I was told hotel guests would have one express ride per day for Forbidden Journey once the express line is operational, but the reservations agent didn't know if it would open when the ride opened or at a later date. Rip Ride Rockit still doesn't have a functional express line, but I think that has been more due to technical difficulties than crowds.

 

[Metro West]

LOL!! No, probably NOT splitting hairs but as I said originally, I do have a degree of ignorance on this and have seen the Express pass referred to as the FOTL pass in other posts so just did not know if it was the same thing. Actually, I thought that the Express pass was what individuals purchased at the ticket counter and the FOTL pass was for hotel guests. Thanks for the clarification on that.

No problem...I'm just trying to keep the confusion on the boards to a minimum if possible...especially with newbies to Universal. If you learn the correct phrases, then you can help others too and you'll know what we're talking about...at least most of the time anyway.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

Let me make it really easy, it is soooooooooooooooooooooo worth it. You have very minimal, very minimal line wait. It makes Universal for us even better than Disney just bc of being able to bypass the lines. It's peaceful, its fun, it makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable, and yes, u go as many times as u want on the rides. Sometimes Disney with the long line waits as much as I love it can be really unbearable.
And I forgot to mention, the resorts are incredible and beautiful! You walk right to the parks, you walk right to City Walk, it's wonderful, really. Or u can talk a short boat ride. Hard Rock is the closest walk, but they are all very walkable. Aaaaaaaah just thinking about it. But they are not motels, they are resorts. Make sure u are staying at one of their resort properties, Hard Rock Hotel, Portofino Bay or Royal Pacific Resort.

 

[Jalva22]

So, clarifying question on one thing: If you stay in the Universal resort on Sunday night only, your express pass is good for Sunday and Monday? We will be checking out of a Disney property on Sunday morning and checking into a Universal resort that morning. Want to do a Universal park on that day, then check out Monday morning, do a Universal park, and start the drive home that evening. Thanks!

 

[Metro West]

So, clarifying question on one thing: If you stay in the Universal resort on Sunday night only, your express pass is good for Sunday and Monday?

 

[Jalva22]

Thank you for the information!

 

[patster734]

So, clarifying question on one thing: If you stay in the Universal resort on Sunday night only, your express pass is good for Sunday and Monday? We will be checking out of a Disney property on Sunday morning and checking into a Universal resort that morning. Want to do a Universal park on that day, then check out Monday morning, do a Universal park, and start the drive home that evening. Thanks!

FYI. The hotels have a luggage storage area, where they will store your luggage after you check out. Therefore, you won't have to worry about leaving your luggage unattended in your car. You can also store your luggage there after check-in if your room isn't ready.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

In addition the to express lines for the rides, there are also express lines for the shows -- so you can plan on great seats for those, as well! Just be there a bit before the shows start, as they will let you in first so you can claim those great seats!

And I also give this advice to newbies -- bring your AAA card -- you will receive a 10% discount at most restaurants and gift shops in the parks and CityWalk, and that includes the carts in the parks. You can get 10% off your pretzel or churro before you sit down to enjoy Beetlejuice's Graveyard Review (that may be something we just enjoy, but I like to let people know that 10% is out there just about everywhere!)

Maria