How Early to Arrive

[DisJules423]

1 day/2 park ticket for Friday, July 2. Anticipating big crowds and am just curious what time it is recommended you be in line to enter? Also--is it possible to buy an express pass once there if the lines end up being insanely long?

Thank you!!

 

[KrzyKtty101]

My experience might not be exactly universal Orlando, but I found it is pretty regular for the course. Arrive as early as you are allowed to. If you have early entry make sure you're there, otherwise be there when park opens. If you want to be towards the front of the line be there at least an hour before your entry time. So if you have early entry at 8:00 a.m. be prepared to start lining up around 7:00 a.m. this is what we did in 2019 when we went to Disneyland one day after Christmas. It also tends to be what we do when we go to Disney World as well. We are going to Universal at the end of next month so I have been reading the forums a lot. And most people generally say if you are going to get there at opening get there around an hour beforehand to be at the front of the line.

I have been to Universal a couple times and you have always been able to buy the express pass the day of if you feel it's needed. That being said, the general consensus right now of people coming back from the parks is that the express pass was a godsend.

 

[bchbetha]

FYI the unlimited EP is $260 for your date and $230 for the single use EP. I expect that it'll be crazy crowded and there's a chance EPs could sell out.
I'd be arriving onsite (ride share, taxi, in the parking garage) an hour before opening with tickets already in hand.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Note you can enter the park during early entry even if you do not have early entry privileges - you just can't go into the Wizarding Worlds or go on any rides. But you can get into the park and start to explore a bit, and be in good position for official opening.

 

[mamamelody2]

Yes, it will be very busy. If you want to get on one of the big rides right away (Hagrid's, Velocicoaster, etc) I would be there 1.5 hours before opening. Unfortunately, if you are not staying onsite, and therefore don't have early entry, you will not be able to ride any of the big rides with a short wait.

Day of EPs are very expensive if they're not actually sold out. I checked today and the 2 park unlimited express pass was $330 each person. Tomorrow's is $300 each.

 

[jimandami]

We are currently in line to get in IOA for early entry at 7:00. We arrived at the boat dock at Sapphire Falls around 5:50 AM and were on the first boat to arrive at City Walk. We are the 4th group back from the turnstiles, and there are several hundred people here already.

 

[jimandami]

And for further reference, they let us in the gate at 6:50, and we were walking off Hagrid’s at 7:17 AM. The posted wait time at that point was 75 minutes.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

And for further reference, they let us in the gate at 6:50, and we were walking off Hagrid’s at 7:17 AM. The posted wait time at that point was 75 minutes.

I'd be curious if it was really 75 minutes at that point...

 

[jimandami]

I'd be curious if it was really 75 minutes at that point...

We almost got back in line to check, but the line was all the way back to the fountain so it was pretty long.

 

[bmarinari]

I'm planning my first trip to UO, and I am staggered at how much the EPs cost. Everyone says they are "a must," but I just can't bring myself to pay those prices. I'm bringing my 2 kids in late July for a day (we're staying at WDW), and 2-park tickets + EP is like $1200 for one day. Booking a room just to get the included EP saves maybe $100.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

We almost got back in line to check, but the line was all the way back to the fountain so it was pretty long.

How long was the wait for you? When you did ride?

 

[bchbetha]

I'm planning my first trip to UO, and I am staggered at how much the EPs cost. Everyone says they are "a must," but I just can't bring myself to pay those prices. I'm bringing my 2 kids in late July for a day (we're staying at WDW), and 2-park tickets + EP is like $1200 for one day. Booking a room just to get the included EP saves maybe $100.

Your saying that a hotel room costs $1100? Or is that your Disney room plus a Universal room on the same night? That's why people do a split stay vs a throwaway/overlapping room when rates are high. Your hotel stay gives you 2 days of EPs too- a lot of people don't know that. You can arrive for check in super early in the morning to pick up your keys/express Passes AND hit early entry on day one. and on day you have early entry and Express Passes for that day too.

 

[DisJules423]

Omg i am deceased!!!!!!!! I am a Disney regular but a Universal noob and haven't been to Disney or universal over a Holiday weekend in ... forever. So, if on Friday the park opens at 9 AM, and I don't have early entry, if I arrive at 7:30 AM, will I be able to get into the park (just no rides)? Will I be too late? I don't mind waiting in some lines, in fact the rides usually make me sick so I need the buffer, but I am only going for 1 day and want to get on as much as possible.

I'm an idiot and saw the "69.99" price and thought that was the price every day... I am blown away.

 

[bmarinari]

Your saying that a hotel room costs $1100? Or is that your Disney room plus a Universal room on the same night?

No, I'm saying that's the cheapest I could find for the day of park tickets + EP for 3, which in this case happens to be by booking a deluxe hotel room ($510 for 3 one-day P2P tickets + $520 hotel room at the Royal Pacific). The rest of my family/extended family will still be at WDW, so I can't check out of the room there and get value out of the Universal hotel.

Even if we were staying at Universal, we're the type to get a moderately priced room just for sleeping, so we'd probably go with Endless Summer for $225 instead, so it's still +$285 for us to get the EP for the day anyway.

I understand that it's possible to get the per-day cost lower if you do multiple days, but the whole family wasn't interested, so one day to see some HP made sense for us. I just wasn't expecting that the EP cost would be > 120% of the price of the tickets themselves. LOL.

 

[torontominnie]

We went to early admission today as well, joined the line to get in at 6:40, walked "briskly" to Hagrid's, got in line, were off by 7:35 and headed out of the parks by 8:30. When we were headed to the parking lot the line to get through security was being held in each garage and everyone looked both frustrated and hot. I was definitely glad we were done for the morning!

 

[state08]

And for further reference, they let us in the gate at 6:50, and we were walking off Hagrid’s at 7:17 AM. The posted wait time at that point was 75 minutes.

What else is open at that point? You're clearly well ahead of the crowds so just curious what else you'd be able to get on with low waits.

 

[jimandami]

Just Harry Potter rides for early entry.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Are Hagrids and Velocicoaster both operating as soon as the park opens for early admission?

We've never really done a true rope drop before so Im so confused. Today for example, I see park open at 9 am and early admission at 8am but I see Escape from Gringotts on the app starting at 7am, Velocicoaster at 9am and Hagrids at 8am

We'll only have one park day this trip (saturday, July 3), 3 park APs, staying at Portofino and my plan was to arrive at 6:30am thinking there was an 8am opening but wasn;t sure if it was best to head to Hagrids or Velocicoaster

 

[jimandami]

Velocicoaster is not open for early admission, so I would go to Hagrid’s first, and then head there.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

@bmarinari Do you happen to have Chase Ultimate Rewards points? You could book a room with points and get your EP that way instead. For me, the high cost of WDW/UO trips makes me want to avoid splitting vacations between the two resorts, because you do get more value out of multiple days in one place. UO is winning this year for my family because WDW still hasn't brought back FP+ and I refuse to tour WDW without it.