Need feedback from someone who has done Universal WITHOUT express

[lake queen]

We have done March Spring break trips the last 3 out of 4 years. We have always stayed off site, and did not have express passes.

We just went with a different mentality than we have a WDW. We knew we would be waiting in long lines, so it didn't surprise us, or bum us out. The first year we went on FJ, the lines were 75-90 min waits. But we loved it so much, we didn't even care!

Remember, that FJ does not have FOTL access, and I assume that Gringotts will not either. So the express pass would not help you there anyway.

You can do it, however, since it will be so hot and crowded, a 3 day pass would help you out a lot.

 

[Planogirl]

We have been during busy times and only stayed onsite once. However we go for several days and we make it a point to be there at rope drop. You can usually get quite a bit done if you go early and stay ahead of the crowd and then try to see some other things in the evening.

It'll be interesting to see what the new area does to the Studios though. It might just make IOA more manageable but who knows?