Lines or No Lines

[megan722]

Hi

I just decided last minute to book at Bonnet Creek and plan to get the 2 for 4 passes. Is it necessary to do any fast pass stuff? I have never been so I appreciate any feedback about the current crowds. Thanks!

 

[yorkieteacher]

Most rides will go to virtual lines if they get over 30-45 minutes, but you get you reservation for the virtual lines on the Universal app while you are there day-of. If the ride goes completely to
Virtual Lines, as Hagrid’s always is, you have to have the reservation to ride. They drop reservations throughout the day, though. We finally got a Hagrid’s about 1:30 for the 5:40 to 6 time slot. Most lines for popular rides will be less than 30 minutes, many rides are walk ons.

 

[dallasdis]

I’ve been watching the wait times on the universal app the past several days and they seem to be pretty low. Hardly ever over 30 minutes for anything.

 

[nkereina]

You can decide when you're there if you want to purchase express pass. There are two kinds of EPs you can buy - the more expensive one allows you to ride an unlimited amount of time through the EP queues. The cheaper one allows you to ride once per ride in the EP queue.

As PP mentions, Universal is now using virtual queues for most of the popular rides which is separate from EP. You need to book a time for the VQ, similar to WDW's FP. However, if you have EP, you don't need to worry about VQ and can simply enter the EP queue when you want to. Crowds and wait times have been low recently, but there were some reports during a recent busy weekend shortly after reopening that said many people were having trouble obtaining a VQ time. They were filling up. Without a VQ time, you can't ride that ride because VQ is the same as the standby line. So, in those cases, EP would be beneficial because a VQ is not needed to ride. I have not heard of that happening since that particular weekend, but something to watch.

I would simply wait and decide on the fly while you're there if you want to go to Guest Services to buy them. See how wait times and VQ availability are looking.