Is FOTL limited before 3PM?

[PavelB]

Last July when we stayed at RPH, FOTL was limited on some rides, such as HULK. We could only ride 1 time with the room key before 3pm. After 3 FOTL was unlimited. Has anyone heard about this yet this year? Did they only do this at the height of the summer season?
Thanks.

By the way, has anyone been to RPH lately. How is it holding up?

 

[RyGuy]

Limiting front of the line was just something they did last July because the crowds were unexpectedly high. Not sure if they plan to do it again this summer. I was at RPR earlier this month and am leaving tomorrow morning to go again. Everything was fantastic as always!

 

[Metro West]

Last July when we stayed at RPH, FOTL was limited on some rides, such as HULK. We could only ride 1 time with the room key before 3pm. After 3 FOTL was unlimited.

I would imagine they would continue this in the busy summer months. During the off season, they probably wouldn't enforce it.

 

[PavelB]

And RyGuy thank for the comments on the RPH. After having such a fantastic time last summer I have talked some other families into coming with us this July. I was hoping it was still as good! Have a great time yourself. (My kids still have a month of school!)

 

[Eclpz314]

PavelB, what part of July are you going? We will be at RPR July 2-9th. We were there last July during the limited fotl but didn't feel constrained by it. After 3, we tended to gravitate towards MIB, Spiderman, or Mummy and ride several times in a row. Can't wait to be back there again! Like yours, our schools are in session for another month also.

 

[bcoyoh]

We just returned today and we were at IOA yesterday 5/29. When we rode Spiderman, we turned around to go again and they said we could only use FOTL once every two hours for this ride. At this point there was maybe only a 30 minute wait for standby line, so I couldn't figure out if this was just for Memorial Day weekend, or if this was an everyday thing. Anyway, we were very disappointed that we couldn't ride it again right away, but returned a few hours later and rode it again.

 

[Foladar]

Hmm .. anyone use FOTL in Oct (1st-5th to be exact) .. I was planning to get the hotel onsite and use the FOTL probably twice per ride as I would be taking family around to see the rides and all.

 

[Michelle2]

We went the very end of September, and that is pretty close to your dates. We were never limited on the FOTL access, but I think it was before they started putting limitations on them, so I am not sure if it would still be like that this year...you never know. But it is a slower time...so that is a good thing.

 

[RyGuy]

I just returned home from RPR yesterday and there were no restrictions in place during my visit. Let's hope it stays that way.

 

[tycon07]

This is very discouraging considering the price we are all paying for these rooms.
Does anybody else think this way??

We just returned today and we were at IOA yesterday 5/29. When we rode Spiderman, we turned around to go again and they said we could only use FOTL once every two hours for this ride. At this point there was maybe only a 30 minute wait for standby line, so I couldn't figure out if this was just for Memorial Day weekend, or if this was an everyday thing. Anyway, we were very disappointed that we couldn't ride it again right away, but returned a few hours later and rode it again.

 

[Frances999]

This is very discouraging considering the price we are all paying for these rooms.
Does anybody else think this way??

Yes. I don't see how it can have that much difference limiting it to 1 express per ride until 3pm. I'm suprised they are even allowed to do this - they always advertise FOTL with no restrictions

 

[gschmerl]

It really doesn't make that much of a difference. We were there last July when the policy was supposedly in effect. The only place they enforced it was the Mummy and they didn't even do that every day. If you ride everything once and then stop for lunch and a little pool break (it gets HOT in the summer), it's already after 3:00. The parks are open late in July so you get plenty of time to use FOTL. It didn't hamper us at all!

 

[PavelB]

Last July they were enforcing this rule on the hulk also. That was a pain!
Over the years I have found that the problem with Universal is that you never know what they will do. Several years ago they changed the express rules the day before we arrived - again they had advertised one thing and then did not honor it. I went to the customer service office and asked about it. I was told they have the right to change the rules any time they want.
I am a little nervous about what they will come up with this July. - I am going at the end of the week of July 4th.

 

[goofy!]

I have to agree with Gschmerl here. We were also there last year (first week in August) when they had it in place. Before we went, I was livid that they had changed the rules. However, once we got there, we found it to not be an issue at all.

Early in the morning, you didn't even need to use FOTL, so we would ride Hulk, Spiderman, etc numerous times till the parks started getting busy. That left only about 4 1/2 - 5 hours where they were supposedly limiting it. At times they did, but there were also times they did not enforce it.

So, after riding everything we wanted in the mornings, we would then ride everything once again with the 1 time FOTL. Low and behold, it was then at least 3:00. Now we had a full 7 hours (parks closed at 10pm when we were there) to enjoy unlimited rides.

In the beginning, we thought we were being smart and even pulled express passes for the limited rides to pad our 1 time FOTL. We found that we never once had to use the Express passes. Either it was past 3:00 by the time we returned to ride or they weren't enforcing the limits. We ended giving LOTS of express passes away or just not using them. In fact, I have several Hulk express passes in our scrap book that we never needed to use. After a couple of days, we just stopped pulling Express passes because we realized we were just taking them away from people who could actually use them.

So, for the 4 1/2 hours where the heat is unbearable and the crowds thick, I can live with the 1 time FOTL. If they enforce it this year during our July trip, I won't care. Just give me the 7 hours after 3pm of unlimited rides!

 

[Frances999]

Thank you for that excellent post, Goofy! I will be there for the first week of this August too and it sounds as if it will be fine if they do decide to enforce the rule. We can go back to the PBH and chill from about 12pm - 3pm and then head back into the parks until late.

Thanks!

 

[damo]

If restrictions are not put in place during heavy times, the express lines are no longer express. The restrictions keep the line length in control. It is a very reasonable solution.