Is FOL Access comparable to VIP Tour?

[displanner]

Is the Front of Line Access one gets as an on-site hotel guest comparable to the VIP Tours offered at IOA and US? I know that the VIP tours come with a guide who tells interesting stories, but is the wait (or, rather, lack of a wait) about the same?

Am I correct in understanding that this Front of Line Access does not apply to all the attractions?
The VIP tours get us into: JAWS, Back to the Future the Ride, E.T. Adventure, Earthquake, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, Twister, Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time, Kongfrontation, Men in Black Alien Attack. Incredible Hulk Coaster, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, Jurassic Park River Adventure,
The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad, Poseidon's Fury: Escape from the Lost City, and Dueling Dragons.

 

[WebmasterBarry]

The VIP tour is for 5 hours, while FOTL is good for the entire day at the park. The parks, at the earliest, close at 5:30, so you will have at least 8 1/2 of FOTL. The VIP tour is about the same as the Entertainment book rate for HRH (minus $7). The bonus about the VIP tour is that you get to hear interesting stories from the tour guide.

FOTL is not good for Fifel's slide at USF and Pterandon Flyers at IOA (and possibly One Fish).

Barry Hom
The moderator formerly known as Barry aka usagi
Moderator, Universal and Sea World Boards


"If you were me, you'd be good looking."

 

[displanner]

Would you say the wait time using Front of the Line Access is the same as the wait time using VIP tour? Is one ushered into an attraction more quickly using the VIP tour than one using Front of the Line Access? (I figure there are more people using FOL Access than are using VIP tour).

(We will be at IOA and US on 8/27 and 8/28...so I know it will be HOT and I want to avoid waiting on lines).

 

[CoasterFEV]

Assuming from your question you are only interested in wait times:

Now that most of the "new" queue construction is complete for Universal Express, there IS a difference in the "wait time" between your typical front of the line access for on-site hotel guests or those with an Express ticket for that specific time, and that of a VIP tour.

ALL guests (on-site hotel guests, guests with a disability pass, guests who reserved a time slot using Universal Express, etc) are directed into the Universal Express queue - with the only guarantee that their wait will be less than 15 minutes.

VIP tours are now, really, the only guests getting true front of the line access. These are the only guests now allowed to enter an attraction via the exit or unload points (using the "old" ways of the on-site hotel guests). When arriving at the load platforms, VIP tours and their guides receive priority over all other guests - including those in the Express queue. In addition, they typically get their choice of rows and/or seats - unlike guests in the Express queue.

- not to mention all the personal attention/story lines/and accessibility to ALL rides (yep, if you have a small child they can even get you on P-flyers with no wait!).

Hope this helps

 

[displanner]

Thank you for the input. I was considering canceling 2 of my 6 nights at the Polynesian in WDW in order to stay at one of Universal's hotels in order to get FOL Access IF I deemed it comparable to the VIP Tour...although I really just wanted to stay at one hotel for the duration of our trip (we are doing 2 days at US/IOA and the remainder at WDW). I am going with the VIP tour since waiting on line in the August heat even 15 minutes would leave me all wilted. Plus we only do this trip about once every 4 years!

 

[Robinrs]

displanner:

Here's a link to my trip report on the tour.

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MOM
Mother of Michael
Proverbs 3:5-6

<font color=purple>Co-Moderator of the Community and Universal/IOA Boards</font color=purple>