Portofino Bay Express Passes Questions

[jimsanfilippo]

We've never stayed at a premier Universal hotel before but will be doing so in August for part of our trip. We want to get to the hotel before 8am, possibly by 7am, in order to maximize the Express passes on day 1 but I'm a bit uncertain about a few things.

1) What is the process for getting your Express Passes at check-in? I've read both that you get your room keys and then head to a kiosk to get something else as your Express Passes and that you just need your room keys, which act as the Express Passes (the first post of this thread states that). Or does something get added to your app account? I see conflicting information.

2) Does my whole party, everyone staying in the room, need to be there at check-in or can I send them ahead while I check in and get their Express Passes for them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[macraven]

Your hotel room is what you show for using the ep lines
you can get the room keys for all in your party when you check in

 

[schumigirl]

Everyone doesn`t need to be there when you check in. You will be given room keys for guests registered in the room with their names on.

There is no picture EP anymore. They went back to room keys as EP several years back.

 

[TaraD76]

I have a somewhat similar question. Would they let you pick them up the night before or can it only be the day of?

 

[DoryGirl1963]

I have a somewhat similar question. Would they let you pick them up the night before or can it only be the day of?

Since your room keys = your express passes, they can only be picked up day of at check in. You can check in as early as 6:00 a.m. on the first day of your stay.

 

[chimoe]

You can check in before your room is ready. They will give you hotel room key to use as your EP for the day. The whole party does not need to be with you.

one question. Why do you want to get there so early? EP makes rope dropping useless, unless u are going to IOA for Hagrids or velocoster

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Early Entry means that you can explore the Wizarding World with less crowds. And cooler weather, for that matter...

 

[jimsanfilippo]

You can check in before your room is ready. They will give you hotel room key to use as your EP for the day. The whole party does not need to be with you.

one question. Why do you want to get there so early? EP makes rope dropping useless, unless u are going to IOA for Hagrids or velocoster

Two reasons. One, we're generally stay open to close people at every park we go to every time. We only get to Orlando about twice per year for a week each time. Two, we have my son's friend along who has never been to US before and wants to maximize every minute.

 

[mom2rtk]

You can check in before your room is ready. They will give you hotel room key to use as your EP for the day. The whole party does not need to be with you.

one question. Why do you want to get there so early? EP makes rope dropping useless, unless u are going to IOA for Hagrids or velocoster

Hagrids and VelociCoaster are reason enough. We weren't as concerned with early entry rope drop on our Studios day.

 

[shawthorne44]

Look into online check-in to see if it is available at your resort. They had it at some resorts when we were there this Spring. You still have to physically go to get your keys, but the ones with online check-in as an option have a shorter line.

Which hotel? Just curious. I loved the boats.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

Are you driving through the night to get there that early, or is your flight just that early?

 

[mom2rtk]

Are you driving through the night to get there that early, or is your flight just that early?

We arrived the day before and stayed at a nearby offsite hotel. We left that hotel for Royal Pacific at 6:15 AM and checked in, left our bags at bell services, parked and were in line at IoA with express pass at 7:15 AM.

 

[mom2rtk]

We've never stayed at a premier Universal hotel before but will be doing so in August for part of our trip. We want to get to the hotel before 8am, possibly by 7am, in order to maximize the Express passes on day 1 but I'm a bit uncertain about a few things.

1) What is the process for getting your Express Passes at check-in? I've read both that you get your room keys and then head to a kiosk to get something else as your Express Passes and that you just need your room keys, which act as the Express Passes (the first post of this thread states that). Or does something get added to your app account? I see conflicting information.

2) Does my whole party, everyone staying in the room, need to be there at check-in or can I send them ahead while I check in and get their Express Passes for them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

What you can get early at a kiosk is your park tickets. We got ours the evening before when we visited City Walk.

 

[soniam]

Two reasons. One, we're generally stay open to close people at every park we go to every time. We only get to Orlando about twice per year for a week each time. Two, we have my son's friend along who has never been to US before and wants to maximize every minute.

We do rope drop and often early entry too, even though we always stay at Hard Rock and get Express Pass. Like others mentioned, Hagrid's is great during EE. We did it twice in November without even getting our stuff from the lockers between. We could have easily done it again, but the wait was a bit longer. This would allow you to not have to wait for Hagrid's later or even do virtual queue, if it's offered. You can just use the VQ for Velocicoaster then. You can usually ride the Wizarding World rides multiple times during EE without much wait, especially if you are there at the beginning. Plus, the line for Florean Fortescue's is nothing during EE or right as the park opens. It's vacation, so ice cream for breakfast is perfectly fine.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Plus, the line for Florean Fortescue's is nothing during EE or right as the park opens. It's vacation, so ice cream for breakfast is perfectly fine.

I never even thought of Florean's so early!

 

[shawthorne44]

I never even thought of Florean's so early!

Florean's is awesome. We would sometimes take the train over just to get some ice cream.

Yes, on the getting lots of rides in. When only USF was EA for us, I could ride Grighott's about 4 times during EA. The family would bail on me after 2-3 rides and they'd do the wand things. I could then get a couple of more rides in using the single rider line before the hordes arrived. The single rider line skips most of the pre-show, so I'd leapfrog over the people in the regular line.