No Express Pass During The Summer

[Peter Pirate]

tarheel, it's not the hotel FOTL that is irritating most folks, it's the 'pay for' EP add on.

True no one has to buy it but USF is making a mockery of fair play by offering two high priced FOTL options with nothing available to the average guest, whom I guess just isn't spending enough in their greedy little eyes.

Also, staying on site isn't an option for everyone, we have a home in Celebration. I'm not made of the kind of cash that will let me get a hotel room 15 miles up the road for the sake of FOTL.

Don't get me wrong, FOTL is a great pull for USF to its hotels and I have no problem with that, it's the removal of the free EP option in favor of the 'pay for' option that really, really bugs me.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

tarheel, it's not the hotel FOTL that is irritating most folks, it's the 'pay for' EP add on.

True no one has to buy it but USF is making a mockery of fair play by offering two high priced FOTL options with nothing available to the average guest, whom I guess just isn't spending enough in their greedy little eyes.

Also, staying on site isn't an option for everyone, we have a home in Celebration. I'm not made of the kind of cash that will let me get a hotel room 15 miles up the road for the sake of FOTL.

Don't get me wrong, FOTL is a great pull for USF to its hotels and I have no problem with that, it's the removal of the free EP option in favor of the 'pay for' option that really, really bugs me.

I understand what some people are upset about. I just didn't express my thoughts very well.

The point I was trying to make is, if you're planning more than one day in the parks, Universal's admission price is very low compared to WDW. The one day ticket is also a little cheaper. They need to do something to make up for at least a portion of that difference. One way is to charge a higher premium for their hotel guests, therefore offering them this FOTL perk. Another is to sell the Express Passes. When more people are able to use the EP lines, it diminishes the value of the perk for those guests. I'm not saying I agree or disagree, I'm just saying their decision make sense to me. We live 1hr. & 15 min. away, not as close as you, but not that far. However, we don't go to the UO parks w/o staying onsite. If for some reason we ended doing that, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase the EP passes.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Im voting with my pocket book and will not visit US/IOA if this is how they treat loyal Annual Passholders. We will not renew and we will not elect to stay onsite because I don't like any of their hotels enough to spend that kind of money to stay there.

I understand both sides, and yet I choose not to support this decision or them!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

If you feel that strongly about it, no longer buying an AP is the best way to voice your displeasure. It's your decision, after all. I was just trying to explain why the policy makes sense to me. Below is a comparison for UO & WDW AP's. As you can see, there's a big difference. They have to make up the money some way.

Universal:
AP - $179 + tax
Power Pass - $119 + tax


WDW:
AP - $415 + tax
FL Res. AP - $325 + tax
FL Res. SP - $215 + tax

 

[Peter Pirate]

It's kind of like comparing apples and oranges though, isn't it? I mean USF has two Parks plus City Walk. WDW has 4 Parks, 2 Water Parks and Downtown Disney...Looks like more than twice as much to me so the prices don't seem that out of line, IMO.

 

[phamton]

It may be twice as many parks but there are still only 365 days in a year. Just because they have more parks doesn't mean you can be in twice as many places at the same time.

BTW, Disneyland's annual pass is $349 and it is only two parks.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

It's kind of like comparing apples and oranges though, isn't it? I mean USF has two Parks plus City Walk. WDW has 4 Parks, 2 Water Parks and Downtown Disney...Looks like more than twice as much to me so the prices don't seem that out of line, IMO.

I suppose it depends on how you look at it, & which rides you enjoy. For us, MGM has very little we enjoy. Same goes for AK. We don't consider either of those worth the price of a single day admission. Basically, WDW has taken the rides & shows we enjoy & divided them between 4 parks. They could easily fit into 2 parks, 3 max. The Water Parks aren't included in the regular AP. That will cost you even more. Then there's CW vs. DTD, again a matter of personal preference. Personally, I do prefer DTD, but that has nothing to do with the price of admission. So, no I don't consider it apples to oranges. More like red apples to yellow apples. It all comes down to, which you prefer. (not you personally) We like WDW too (Epcot's my fav. of all the Orlando parks), but we feel Universal's park tickets give you much more bang for your buck. There's really no comparison.

 

[Peter Pirate]

I agree Tarheel, it is personal preference, you see Animal Kingdom is my favorite Park and that was before E:E, but I like the other three in varying degrees but neither IOA or US (or Epcot, AK or The Studios) compares to Magic Kingdom in general terms, IMO. I know there are people who will personally like IOA(or Epcot) better than MK and that's fine (I love AK), in fact I find MK tedious personally (and I like US a LOT better than IOA, aside from IOA's wonderful theming) but generally speaking, looking at the whole MK is far and away superior to all of the other Parks in the view of most people, wouldn't you agree?

As for the water parks, my WDW premium pass, which is $400.00 gets me into all 4 parks, the water parks, PI and includes parking. The Universal AP which is 179.00 (although I'm going to buy the AAA discount very soon, lowering that rate) gets me two parks and parking. The question is purely how much park hopping will be done, this and this alone I'd guess is the deciding factor on whether it's an apples to oranges argument or not.

Until recently we had just the Power Pass at USF ($99) and the FRSP at WDW ($199) and I honestly do feel that the WDW pass warrants the higher price tag (not that I TRUELY don't wish it would come down just a tad).

It's all personal preference I guess.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I also agree that WDW warrants a higher admission price, but no where near as much of a discrepancy as there is. IMHO, it's just not THAT much better, not even close. This is one of the classic agree to disagree threads, I suppose.

 

[Peter Pirate]

Agreed!

Hey, I just noticed I got tagged! I wonder when that happened?

 

[damo]

For us, WDW only has about the same number of rides as Universal does that we are interested in riding. Too many rides are kiddie rides, so the annual pass cost is way too high.

 

[disneygal55]

Let me start by saying that I absolutely LOVE US and IOA! When making recommendations for what "not to miss" in the Orlando area I always rave about how great these two parks are. Years ago I visited Universal and enjoyed it but absolutely hated the long waits...2 hours for Back to the Future, 1& 1/2 hours for Jaws etc... I couldn't believe how great the express system {also fastpass in WDW} was and made as many trips as I could {being from Massachusetts}. We are returning this June and will visit the parks without the free express pass system. NO way will my family pay the highway robbery prices charged by Universal for the paid express!! I feel like they are taking advantage of the everyday visitor who can't afford to pay the large fee. We won't be staying on site because we just purchased timeshare at the Disney Vacation Club. Some people stay off property because the offsite hotels are ususally a lot cheaper. We have 2 days left on our three day pass and will see how it goes but if the lines are really long I guess we will have to think about how often we go to US in the future.

 

[La2kw]

Let me start by saying that I absolutely LOVE US and IOA! When making recommendations for what "not to miss" in the Orlando area I always rave about how great these two parks are. Years ago I visited Universal and enjoyed it but absolutely hated the long waits...2 hours for Back to the Future, 1& 1/2 hours for Jaws etc... I couldn't believe how great the express system {also fastpass in WDW} was and made as many trips as I could {being from Massachusetts}. We are returning this June and will visit the parks without the free express pass system. NO way will my family pay the highway robbery prices charged by Universal for the paid express!! I feel like they are taking advantage of the everyday visitor who can't afford to pay the large fee. We won't be staying on site because we just purchased timeshare at the Disney Vacation Club. Some people stay off property because the offsite hotels are ususally a lot cheaper. We have 2 days left on our three day pass and will see how it goes but if the lines are really long I guess we will have to think about how often we go to US in the future.

We are also DVC members, but we stay at the Universal Resorts because of the FOTL access. Spending Friday and Saturday night at Universal is a great way to save points, since those two nights eat up alot of DVC points.

 

[DISUNC]

Let me start by saying that I absolutely LOVE US and IOA! When making recommendations for what "not to miss" in the Orlando area I always rave about how great these two parks are. Years ago I visited Universal and enjoyed it but absolutely hated the long waits...2 hours for Back to the Future, 1& 1/2 hours for Jaws etc... I couldn't believe how great the express system {also fastpass in WDW} was and made as many trips as I could {being from Massachusetts}. We are returning this June and will visit the parks without the free express pass system. NO way will my family pay the highway robbery prices charged by Universal for the paid express!! I feel like they are taking advantage of the everyday visitor who can't afford to pay the large fee. We won't be staying on site because we just purchased timeshare at the Disney Vacation Club. Some people stay off property because the offsite hotels are ususally a lot cheaper. We have 2 days left on our three day pass and will see how it goes but if the lines are really long I guess we will have to think about how often we go to US in the future.

Thanks, I tought that the Express price is way too extreme also. I really dont think that this park is something that is 'doable' during the summer months without express pass. JUST NO WAY I would wait 1 1/2 for Jaws, etc.
And unfortunately, Express price is . We will not be going to Universal this year.
Our Universal visits will be placed on hold for our Off season visits.