Re: When to purchase Unlimited Express Passes for July Vacay

[Malela9]

Hello!
My children are now old enough to visit and enjoy Universal. (They have been afraid of big coasters until recently.) We are going to leave Disney to visit, but I hear that it is very busy in July. We are planning on purchasing Express Passes before we leave home, but are unsure of when to buy them.
How late can we wait to get them? The crowds without Fast Pass seem a bit daunting. It has been at least 18 years since the hubs and I last visited.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[snoopboop]

You may find that booking one night at one of the on-site deluxe hotels may actually be more cost-effective than purchasing the EP by itself. Furthermore, the EP perk that comes with the hotel stay is unlimited, meaning you can use it multiple times for each attraction. I'd check into this option. You actually get TWO days of unlimited express with ONE night at the hotel!!

 

[RMulieri]

If you are going to buy them, most of us don't recommend buying them in advance since they are DATE specific, PARK specifc and are NON REFUNDABLE.If your plans change , you are stuck. Now the downside to this is 1) the price could very well increase ( price goes up with projected crowds). 2) they could sell out..Not sure if this happens in summer ( it does happen at Christmas time)

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I just got an annual pass. I will be going to Universal July 11, 16 and 19. I will buy the unlimited pass upon arrival.

 

[xlsm]

You may find that booking one night at one of the on-site deluxe hotels may actually be more cost-effective than purchasing the EP by itself. Furthermore, the EP perk that comes with the hotel stay is unlimited, meaning you can use it multiple times for each attraction. I'd check into this option. You actually get TWO days of unlimited express with ONE night at the hotel!!

This is what we did, but if you go this route (or even just buying the passes on their own), do it asap. We ended up paying almost $100 more because we booked a couple weeks later than the first time we got a price quote. However, it was still cheaper than buying our one day hoppers with UEP, because the price of the Express Pass had gone up too. We know we'll be there during a busy time, and we're glad to have the room to come back to if we need a break or swim during the day.

We're staying onsite at Disney and will be going back after we're done at the Univeral/IOA parks, but it's just nice knowing we have that room as a home base. Plus, like I said, we saved money doing it that way AND we get the bonus of early entry. Yes, we have to be up early to get over there, but we feel it will be worth it since we just have one day.

Good luck and have an amazing vacation!!

 

[HM]

With multiple family members, it would make a lot of sense to check out the rate for a night at each of the deluxe resorts and see if it's less than buying individual EP online beforehand. It's highly likely that you'd pay between $99 or $149 each depending on the day you go and adding that up could very likely be more than a night at the hotel.

 

[SCDizFan]

We were just at US/IOA and the Unlimited Fast Pass per day per person was $109.99. It would definitely be cheaper for a family of four to book an onsite hotel.

 

[hpfan100]

Another vote for onsite hotel if possible...if not then buy express pass when you get there if needed. If you have 3 or more days then you can get on everything without using the pass. Also, getting to the park early is very important. Most things are walk-on for the first hour or two except HP area.