One-Time Express Pass if Park Crowd Levels are 5 and 4?

[MickeyMonstersMom]

Necessary? Worth the cost? If it helps, I'm doing a one-day park-to-park for Harry Potter only.

Many thanks for any feedback!

 

[reddog21]

If the park is busy then my personal opinion it’s 100% worth it!! We always get the pass and I think the longest we ever wait for a ride is 5-10 minutes except my 7 year old wanted to ride flight of the hippogriff even with express it was like a 40 minute wait. He never asks to ride anything so we waited the 40 minutes was it worth it just for the ride no way but he was happy.

Keep in mind Hagrid and velocicoaster don’t have express pass.

 

[georgina]

What is the makeup of your group? For me, doing HP areas only, it wouldn't be worth it. EP is nice for the Hogwarts Express especially, but if really all you are doing are the Harry Potter areas, besides HE you will have it for Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, and the Hippogriff, which is a kiddie coaster to me and I haven't been on it in years. But it depends on your group and how they feel about lines.

 

[Smugpugmug]

If you're doing the Harry Potter areas only, then yeah I don't think it's worth it. Especially since one of the rides, Hagrid's, doesn't use Express. But if you have 1 day only I think it's worth it 100%. I only go to Universal if I am able to get Express hence why I don't go that often. My longest wait was 15 for Spiderman and even then I still think it's worth the extra money. Everything else was a literal walk on. YMMV of course, that's just my experience with waits when using Express.

It gives you way more flexibility in your day where you don't have to run from attraction to attraction all day. If it matters both times I've been to Universal and did Express were in June and July, so peak summer time and a high crowd period.

 

[mamapenguin]

Single rider is a great way to save time on Gringott’s especially early in your the morning.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Single rider is a great way to save time on Gringott’s especially early in your the morning.

Yes & no - it is a great way to save time but you miss the entire story including the elevator intro. I think it's a great option for re-rides. I'd sooner do Forbidden Journey single rider than Gringotts for the first ride on either. You miss the queue either way, but there's not much really to the "back story" for FJ so I don't think it really detracts from a first ride in the way it would to skip the elevator into Gringotts on a first ride. If it's the only viable option to be able to do the ride, then by all means hop in single rider line.

 

[georgina]

Yes & no - it is a great way to save time but you miss the entire story including the elevator intro. I think it's a great option for re-rides. I'd sooner do Forbidden Journey single rider than Gringotts for the first ride on either. You miss the queue either way, but there's not much really to the "back story" for FJ so I don't think it really detracts from a first ride in the way it would to skip the elevator into Gringotts on a first ride. If it's the only viable option to be able to do the ride, then by all means hop in single rider line.

Got to strongly disagree with this one. Single rider for FJ misses the gardens, castle including the mirror of Erised, entrance to Dumbledores office, talking portraits (my favorite!), dumbledores speech in his office, Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the dark arts room, basically the whole story of why you are getting on a flying bench to skip Professor Binns history of magic lecture to go watch a quidditch game instead. I can’t remember if it skips the Fat Lady portrait at the entrance to the common room. For a Harry Potter fan these are not to be missed! I am usually a solo rider and I go through the whole queue! To me the elevator in Gringotts is a one and done, thought the part with Bill Weasley and the goblin is cute.

 

[AJA]

No not for Harry Potter only. Like others have said you will miss a lot of theming if you do the express line.

If you are going in a group that has HP as a high priority but still needs some time for other attractions and the extra money isn’t putting a strain on the budget then with crowds at a 4-5 Express world be worth it

 

[bchbetha]

How much more are the unlimited?

 

[SPJoeG]

At 4 or 5 it's not worth it, especially if you are only doing HP. Go early and/or stay late. With crowd levels at 10, I could do every HP attraction (excluding Hagrids) before lunch as long as I was in the park at 8.

As you can see in this thread, the lines are really part of the overall experience. HP only has 3 attractions that you can use EPs, and really the immersive experience from the shops, to the shows and so on is as much if not more of the appeal of the wizarding world.

Some people won't go to Universal without fast passes because they just can't stand to wait in lines. If you're focusing only on HP you're still going to have to wait in lines for everything from butter beers to Olivander's even if you have EPs.