how long is the wait for rides when staying on property?

[hannymom]

i know we have front of the line access, but what is the average wait?
also, what besides harry potter does not qualify? train?
thanks

 

[Cinderella822]

What time of year are you going? We have stayed in the summer and, even then, the FOTL wait was usually 5 - 10 minutes on the major attractions. Sometimes a bit longer depending on the crowd level. Last time we went, it was mid November and we probably didn't even need it, but we used it. Walked onto most things with little to no wait. No, when we went 2 years ago, HP was not included in that but we went for the early entry and had a short wait, not too bad.

 

[hannymom]

i guess i should have mentioned that. we are going next week!!!

 

[schumigirl]

With Express Pass you shouldn't generally wait any longer than 20 minutes.

We never have. Last September the queue for Despicable Me was between 75 and 110 minutes most days we were there. Longest we waited with EP was 15 minutes. And that was one time only. That was the longest EP queue we had the whole trip. Most days regardless of queue we either walked on most rides or waited 5-10 minutes or so max depending on ride.

EP is not valid for both FOrbidden Journey and Gringotts and Hogwarts Express. Also not valid for Pteranandon Flyers and Olivanders.

 

[Bluer101]

20 minutes and under. Most are 10 and under, some walk on.

It's not really front of the line but express pass.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh we've waited longer than 20 for shrek and DM. And we do t go at busy times.

It's not "front of the line". It's express pass. You might in a shorter line but there's still generally a line.

As you can see from the list of excluded rides, it does work for Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge coasters.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We went in June and the only real waits we experienced were when we were queuing up for the rides. Minions was the longest "wait"...maybe 10 minutes?

 

[macraven]

the true front of the line perk is for WISH families only

but, so many use that acronym, it gets used a lot instead of express lines.

 

[canadiankim]

Three weeks today and I will be in one of those express pass lanes! Can't wait which is funny as that's exactly what I will be doing - hopefully not for too long though

 

[crazywig]

We are here now. We haven't waited more than 20 minutes for anything. However we did not do Shrek or DM today because the express lines were huge (around 10am)

Did Gringotts at early entry and was a walk on basically. Did not need express at all for MIB or Simpsons (a little after 8am) or Transformers. Park gets really busy around 10:30am-ish but by then we were halfway done. Took Hogwarts Express around 11am and no wait to speak of at King's Cross. Hogsmeade however was packed when we arrived.

 

[RMulieri]

Longest we waited is for despicable me and that was 20+ mins with express.Without express is was 180 mins wait in August .Still waited about 20 mins with express in late January this year , standby line was 110-120 mins .Everything else included was walk on or 5 -10 mins tops.Express pass is not valid on : Pteranodon flyers, Hogwarts express,Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, Olivanders, and Kang and Kodos twirl and hurl

 

[canadiankim]

Yes I have been boning up on what rides are excluded but I am loving the idea of 20 minute or less lines for our visit. We have been before but the family we are travelling with have not. First time with FOTL so everyone is being totally spoilt!

 

[crazywig]

Yes I have been boning up on what rides are excluded but I am loving the idea of 20 minute or less lines for our visit. We have been before but the family we are travelling with have not. First time with FOTL so everyone is being totally spoilt!

I cannot stress enough that you go at early entry, which is 7am , if you want to ride either of the Potter rides. Otherwise forget it. We slept in Sunday and planned to try the "ride it right before park close" and the wait for Gringotts at 9pm was still about 45 minutes. Not bad but after a long day the kids were beat and the wait seemed longer.

 

[keishashadow]

We experienced exceptionally long EP line early afternoon last October, pre Columbus day. Asked the attendant if there were technical difficulties that backed things up, but she said just an abundance of EPs that day.

jmho but the EP lines have gotten increasing longer over the dates we have visited last few years.

 

[Monykalyn]

We visited in Mid June and the longest we waited was 30 minutes for DM-and we wanted to wait as it was pouring rain and we wanted to stay sheltered LOL-in fact we afraid the line was gonna move too fast and we'd be popped back out in the storm. We could have waited a wee bit longer than 5 minutes if we wanted front row for coasters (Hulk). We figured if we were waiting out the rain might as well hop in a line (regular line was well over 90 min long). MiB we walked on over and over and over with EP-my DS favorite ride in universal and very close rival to Buzz in MK. After using EP at US you will be spoiled and never want to do the parks during busy season any other way. Even my DH realized the benefit from onsite stay after we zipped through nearly everything-we just hit WWoHP early or late and no problems (we were staying in a TS the week we did US and he didn't see why I wanted to stay onsite for a night so badly-why pay for a room when we had a place already?-but being able to split up or or head back and chill in club lounge waiting out rain was AWESOME and probably only way I'll do US again)