New to Universal

[LYSE]

Get express pass by staying at the nicer resorts, it's an expensive add on otherwise but possibly still worth it ..it is far superior to genie (as it should be for the price) I don't advise paying for genie but do advise people get express pass though..my 2 cents

 

[Nabas]

The "cheapest" way to get Universal's Express Unlimited Pass is to book one night at a Universal Deluxe hotel (Royal Pacific typically is the least expensive).

For the middle of July (the dates you mentioned), this is $599 per night. With taxes and parking, this comes out to about $700 for a one-night stay.



Wow, that is a lot of money. But this gets you:

• A hotel room that's less than a 10-minute walk from the theme parks.
• 2 days of early theme park admission. (One hour earlier than the posted park opening time.)
• 2 days of parking. (Universal charges $27 per day if you use their parking garage, so $54 for 2 days.)
• 2 days of unlimited 2-park Express Pass for up to 2 adults and 2 children. (You have to pay more if you have a third adult or 5th person in the room.)

Express Unlimited Pass gets you into the equivalent of Disney's "Lightning Lane" all day long as many times you want for pretty much all attractions except for VelociCoaster and Hagrid's. (For these two, nearly everybody has to use the standby line.)

I used July 12-13 as the check-in/check-out dates in my $700 example. For these days, park-to-park Express Unlimited Pass for a party of 4 costs $894.56 per day, or $1,789.12 for both days.




No matter how you slice it, Express Unlimited Pass is expensive. But Express Unlimited Pass means no waits in super long lines. You'll still typically wait from 10 to 20 minutes for most attractions, but that's a lot better than 60 minutes or more. (For example, right now at 6 PM, Escape from Gringotts has a posted wait time of 85 minutes.)

The key to taking full advantage of this is to show up at the hotel really early on the first day, no later than 90 minutes before posted theme park opening time. You go to the front desk and check-in. Even though your room might not be ready, you get your Express Unlimited Pass immediately. You then can use these all day on your check-in day and all day on your check-out day.

If you plan to sleep at the hotel, it's important that you drop off your luggage with bell services or in your car before you head to the park on the second day.

In summary:

1. Arrive at the Universal Deluxe hotel 90 minutes before park opening.
2. Leave your luggage in your car or with bell services.
3. Go to the front desk and check-in, picking up your Express Passes. (You also can pick-up your theme park tickets at the hotel, which tends to be faster than using a kiosk at the park to pick them up.)
4. Walk to the theme park with early opening.
5. Have loads of fun at the parks on your first day.
6. When you are done, walk back to the hotel, pick up your luggage, and head to your room.
7. The next morning, pack up and leave your luggage again with bell services or in your car.
8. Have loads of fun at the parks on your second day.
9. Walk back to the hotel, pick-up your luggage, and head to the hotel you are sleeping at that night.

Having Universal Express Unlimited Pass completely changes your theme park experience. Over the course of a 2-day theme park visit, this will save you hours and hours of waiting in lines.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

But this gets you:

• 2 days of parking. (Universal charges $27 per day if you use their parking garage, so $54 for 2 days.

You would have to pay to park at the hotel also.
The rest of your points are good ones!

 

[Nabas]

You would have to pay to park at the hotel also.
The rest of your points are good ones!

Yes, I wrote:

For the middle of July (the dates you mentioned), this is $599 per night. With taxes and parking, this comes out to about $700 for a one-night stay.​

Note that the image I posted for the Royal Pacific quotes a price of $673.87. Thus, the "about $700" includes hotel parking. (Current parking is $28 plus tax.)

From the official Royal Pacific website:

 

[MichelleCanada]

The "cheapest" way to get Universal's Express Unlimited Pass is to book one night at a Universal Deluxe hotel (Royal Pacific typically is the least expensive).

For the middle of July (the dates you mentioned), this is $599 per night. With taxes and parking, this comes out to about $700 for a one-night stay.

View attachment 657481

Wow, that is a lot of money. But this gets you:

• A hotel room that's less than a 10-minute walk from the theme parks.
• 2 days of early theme park admission. (One hour earlier than the posted park opening time.)
• 2 days of parking. (Universal charges $27 per day if you use their parking garage, so $54 for 2 days.)
• 2 days of unlimited 2-park Express Pass for up to 2 adults and 2 children. (You have to pay more if you have a third adult or 5th person in the room.)

Express Unlimited Pass gets you into the equivalent of Disney's "Lightning Lane" all day long as many times you want for pretty much all attractions except for VelociCoaster and Hagrid's. (For these two, nearly everybody has to use the standby line.)

I used July 12-13 as the check-in/check-out dates in my $700 example. For these days, park-to-park Express Unlimited Pass for a party of 4 costs $894.56 per day, or $1,789.12 for both days.

View attachment 657482


No matter how you slice it, Express Unlimited Pass is expensive. But Express Unlimited Pass means no waits in super long lines. You'll still typically wait from 10 to 20 minutes for most attractions, but that's a lot better than 60 minutes or more. (For example, right now at 6 PM, Escape from Gringotts has a posted wait time of 85 minutes.)

The key to taking full advantage of this is to show up at the hotel really early on the first day, no later than 90 minutes before posted theme park opening time. You go to the front desk and check-in. Even though your room might not be ready, you get your Express Unlimited Pass immediately. You then can use these all day on your check-in day and all day on your check-out day.

If you plan to sleep at the hotel, it's important that you drop off your luggage with bell services or in your car before you head to the park on the second day.

In summary:

1. Arrive at the Universal Deluxe hotel 90 minutes before park opening.
2. Leave your luggage in your car or with bell services.
3. Go to the front desk and check-in, picking up your Express Passes. (You also can pick-up your theme park tickets at the hotel, which tends to be faster that using a kiosk at the park to pick them up.)
4. Walk to the theme park with early opening.
5. Have load of fun at the parks on your first day.
6. When you are done, walk back to the hotel, pick up your luggage, and head to your room.
7. The next morning, pack up and leave your luggage again with bell services or in your car.
8. Have loads of fun at the parks the second day.
9. Walk back to the hotel, pick-up your luggage, and head to the hotel you are sleeping at that night.

Having Universal Express Unlimited Pass completely changes your theme park experience. Over the course of a 2-day theme park visit, this will save you hours and hours of waiting in lines.

This is a great break down!! We could just take a day bag from our timeshare we are booked into for the one night but do the two days. you have given us a lot if food for thought!

 

[bchbetha]

Price out the bundled ticket pricing too https://www.universalorlando.com/web-store/en/us/combo-tickets/uep?days=2
It's hard to find on the website- hopefully that link takes you to the right spot
Get Your Tickets Now Too – Bundle with Express.
Be ready to hit the parks with combos that include park-to-park admission plus Universal Express Unlimited access.
It is cheaper than a la carte most of the time if you have 2+ days. You'll want to run the numbers on that vs the hotel option.

 

[Alicefan]

I don’t think that we need to do the HP shows. Especially if it means that we can spend some time around the rest of the park.

Disney has their Genie+ system - does universal have anything similar or is everything just stand in line?

The shows aren't really time sucking shows like they are at Disney. They're more shows that you just walk up on and stand there for a few minutes and move on. No one really lines up for them or stakes out a spot. You'll have plenty of time for those if you like. They only last about 10 minutes or so. The Beauxbaton/Durmstrang show is worth stopping for IMO and the Tale of the 3 Brothers too. I skip the Frog Choir and Celestina Warbeck usually.

 

[disney-inspired]

I recommend YouTube videos of All Ears Universal Orlando. Search All Ears Universal Orlando and there's an entire section of them. Molly is a huge Harry Potter fan and has a few videos of just those areas. Granted, some of it might be a 'spoiler alert' if you want to be surprised by the actual land when you go there, but you'll also get great information on the secret spells, as well as pointing out details in the HP lands from the books and movies.

Hogwarts Express has different 'shows' on the train screens depending upon which way you go (to and from UO & IoA)

Another YT channel I've found is The Pugh Two - great couple who put some really helpful videos. I've been watching all theirs as I prepare for my trip in Sept.