How much better is FOTL?

[HLAuburn]

We are going to Universal/IOA this weekend, staying at RPR. I'm a little concerned about the holiday weekend crowds, so I'm really glad we'll have FOTL access. But my question is - how much does it really reduce your wait time? I know it doesn't literally put you at the front of the line, but does it really make a huge difference when it comes to waiting, especially when lines are 45+ min long?

Also, other than FJ and (I think) Pteranodon Flyers, is there anything else that doesn't have a FOTL line?

Thanks!

 

[damo]

Rip Ride Rockit doesn't have it either.

Express can reduce your wait times significantly. Sometimes the normal line will be an hour and the express line will be 5 minutes.

 

[SmallWorld71]

We found it reduced our time significantly; we often walked onto attractions that said 30 min. or up. Even when the regular line is only posted at 5 min. use your FOTL; it will still probably help. We found that even in those short lines, they took the FOTL people first which afforded us small perks we hadn't even thought of such as DD choosing the front seat on Flight of the Hippogriff. Really, the only times we had any wait at all with FOTL were on those attractions that only let a certain number of people in at a time such as Simpsons and then it was just waiting for the next group.

 

[IdesOmarch]

Yes everytime we've been there it has made a huge difference, at least the times when we went during peak times. Now I have been in off peak times and it doesn't really matter because the lines are small anyway. But yes during peak times, it has for the most part, not literally got you to the front of the line, but reduced say an hour wait to 5 minutes or less, typically. At least that has been my experience. Now this will be different with the HP area because I think they don't allow the FOTL passes for the new HP ride, but this should be the only area that is effected that I know of. But from what I've heard you probably don't want to do FOTL with the Forbidden Journey anyway, because there is so much in the line to experience and view that it is like part of the experience anyway.

This is also the case for lots of the rides. If you have time I would suggest not using FOTL passes to experience the long line. At least for some of them, like MIB and the Mummy, there are really cool things in those ques that are not to be missed, that you will miss if you use the FOTL pass, but it all depends on how much time you have. For example with the MIB que, in the long line, you pass by the coffee break room where the worms are and they are talking and saying funny stuff, not to be missed, but you skip this part if you go through the FOTL que.

 

[patster734]

Have you been to Disneyworld? FOTL/Express Pass for Universal hotel guests is like Disney's Fastpass. Each ride (that has express pass) has 2 lines - one for standard and one for express. The difference is that there are no limitations on how often the espress pass can used for the Universal hotel guests.

For people staying off-site, they can buy an Express Pass ticket for Universal, but that's limited to one Express Pass access for each ride. So the hotel version is vastly superior.

 

[HLAuburn]

Thank you all for the replies!

Have you been to Disneyworld? FOTL/Express Pass for Universal hotel guests is like Disney's Fastpass. Each ride (that has express pass) has 2 lines - one for standard and one for express. The difference is that there are no limitations on how often the espress pass can used for the Universal hotel guests.

For people staying off-site, they can buy an Express Pass ticket for Universal, but that's limited to one Express Pass access for each ride. So the hotel version is vastly superior.

Yes, we go to Disney all the time, so I get the FastPass comparison...FP lines never seem to be more than 10-15 min even when the regular lines are 60+ minutes. With a 2 year old, I'm glad to hear FOTL will save us a good deal of time.

 

[lvloopingbag]

FOTL access is awesome! I wish Disney had the same system...

 

[bumbershoot]

Even when the regular line is only posted at 5 min. use your FOTL; it will still probably help. We found that even in those short lines, they took the FOTL people first which afforded us small perks we hadn't even thought of such as DD choosing the front seat on Flight of the Hippogriff. Really, the only times we had any wait at all with FOTL were on those attractions that only let a certain number of people in at a time such as Simpsons and then it was just waiting for the next group.

Had the same experiences!

 

[fort lauderdale dave]

huge difference. with fotl you can get a good deal of both parks in one day.(not if you are waiting in line for HP) but nothing is better than seeing the hulk line at an hour and your on in 10 minutes

 

[cheshireqt]

Posted wait times were 30-40 minutes and up. We usually practically walked on. I think our longest wait was 10 min.

 

[HLAuburn]

Just wanted to update and say Express Pass is definitely as great as it sounds! I don't think we waited more than a few minutes any of the 3 days we were there. Some of the wait times were 45+ min and we literally walked right on. We really liked the Royal Pacific Resort, too...great trip!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Just wanted to update and say Express Pass is definitely as great as it sounds! I don't think we waited more than a few minutes any of the 3 days we were there. Some of the wait times were 45+ min and we literally walked right on. We really liked the Royal Pacific Resort, too...great trip!

Glad you had a good time!