Is FOTL necessary in April?

[3kidsfordis]

I have been to Universal once and stayed on-site. Now the family totals six and I would have to rent two rooms to stay on-site. Would you stay off-site and go early (week of 4/21) or just stay on-site for a day or two? I'd appreciate opinions of how necessary FOTL will be at that time. Also, only two or three in the party are able to ride the headliner rides. Will the rest of the rides have long waits as well. thanks for any info.

 

[ky07]

I have been to Universal once and stayed on-site. Now the family totals six and I would have to rent two rooms to stay on-site. Would you stay off-site and go early (week of 4/21) or just stay on-site for a day or two? I'd appreciate opinions of how necessary FOTL will be at that time. Also, only two or three in the party are able to ride the headliner rides. Will the rest of the rides have long waits as well. thanks for any info.

If it is during spring break and kids are out of school then it is more than likely to be very busy and staying onsite would make it more enjoyable but thats like me I am on a very tight budget and you may have to wiegh that in but I would stay onsite if you can swing it.

 

[Metro West]

If it is during spring break and kids are out of school then it is more than likely to be very busy and staying onsite would make it more enjoyable but thats like me I am on a very tight budget and you may have to wiegh that in but I would stay onsite if you can swing it.

Lawrence speaks the truth. I went to the parks in April for Spring Break and it was mobbed!

If you can...stay onsite and use FOTL access...you will be glad you did.

 

[wwessing]

Keep in mind that Easter is very early in 2008 - like March 23 or something. Spring Breaks will likely be over by your week. There are no park hours listed for April yet, which is sometimes an indication of the crowds they expect. The parks are staying open late, til 10:00, from March 15 - March 29, then they go back to closing at 7:00 or 8:00. It looks like those are the weeks they are expecting to be busiest.

Also, there are on-site hotel specials for April 13 - June 4, which is another indicator that they may be expecting spring break crowds to be gone. There are no supersaver rates for this time, yet, but they are advertising Extra Value Weeks right now, and the above referenced time frame is included in the promo.

If you just can't swing staying onsite, be certain to get to the parks very early in the AM. You may not need express passes or fotl if you go early, especially if you have several days to visit the parks. Check the hotel you are staying at to see if they offer free shuttle service and what time the shuttle begins running. You may be able to save yourself the parking fee as well.

We are a very large family - 6 children, but only 3 left at home. There would be no way we could stay onsite if we were traveling with all our kids. Last time we vacationed in Orlando, we had all our kids and stayed at the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in 2 connecting rooms. Our kids loved it.

 

[3kidsfordis]

Thanks for all your input. I'm going to have to make some decisions. Leaning toward onsite for at least 1 night for FOTL for 2 days.

 

[wings91]

I've gone the last two years at the end of April, and stayed onsite both times. While it wasn't crowded at all, the waits might have been 30min tops. We loved the FOTL. It allows you to finish the parks at your own pace. If you want to ride all day, that's fine. If you want to ride everything once, your done by 2pm. I wouldn't go to US/IOA without it.

We split our stay between Disney and US. Staying at Disney 3 nights, US 2 nights and back at another Disney resort for the last 3 nights. It's a lot of moving around, but you get to see so much more that way.

 

[Darcy03231]

The week of April 21 is a spring break week in New England. I found if you get there for rope drop the lines aren't too bad in the early morning. By noon the lines are starting to form for the more popular rides and by 2 pm we found there was a long wait (60-90 minutes) for rides. If you're going to be there for a week I would stay off-site to save money and just get there early in the morning, you'll have plenty of time to do everything at least once. If you're only staying for a few days I would try to swing at least one night on-site.

 

[3kidsfordis]

Thanks, That's the week we're going for MA spring break. Thinking of staying offsite with some Disney days and some Universal. Maybe doing the last day or two at Universal hotel just for FOTL.

 

[mtmbyck]

we are going March 4th - 20th and we have rented a house for this timne but we are focusing our visit on Universal as opossed to Disney this year. These FOTL passes are pricey and for our party of 9 it would be expensive to invest in this especially given that ionly about 5 of us ride the big crazy thrill stuff (which I assume draws the biggest lines). I have heard that you use your room key as you FOTL pass if you stay on site for a day. If we get a room for a night, do they know which guests are on the room key or can 4 guests go on any ride for these 2 days?? I had hoped we could just pass around the key to those that was to ride the "long line-up" attractions. I know if is sneaky, but at least they would be getting an extra $250 out of us for the night's stay.