Should I buy Universal Express Pass?

[New England Eeyore]

Hello Universal fans,

I haven't visited either Universal park since 2004 but we will be returning this April. Right now we plan to have our 2 Universal days be Tuesday and Wednesday April 17 and 18. If I were to purchase the Universal Express passes for those days right now it would only be $15 per person, which seems to be the cheapest option they have on their website. I assumed because it is school vacation week for some states that this would be a crowded time to visit so I thought the express pass might be worth the money. Does the fact that the price is so low mean they don't anticipate big crowds? If you were me would you make that investment to get the passes? There are 4 of us, so the total I'd be spending would be $120 plus tax. The only downsides I can think of are that I 'wasted' the money if the parks aren't that crowded and that it would take away any flexibility by forcing us to visit those parks on those days (which is not the end of the world.)

I did take advantage of the discounted multi-day tickets that just came out so I feel like saving money on that was a sign that I should spend the money on these.

What would you do?

Thanks in advance!

 

[rpbert1]

I would book a room in one of the onsite hotels,for the 17th [express pass only allows you once on each ride]then i would check in at 9:0 am and have express pass which you can use all day and then the next day you check out you are allowed express pass till park closes, and you can ride as many times as you like, plus you can walk back to the hotel and rest up ,then head back to the park or citywalk

 

[PlutoLuvr]

The price definitely seems to fluctuate depending on how crowded it is. I've been when it's dead and the parks are empty, and the passes were going for $15. We went last February during Mardi Gras, and the passes were either 20 or 25 (we didn't buy them).

What we've done when we don't stay on site is see what the wait times are once we're in the park before we decide to buy them. You can buy them at shops throughout both parks. Don't wait too, too long, as they can sell out during the very busy times, but at IOA, they have the big screen with all the wait times. You could even walk up to, say, Spiderman, see what the wait is, and if it's too long, go right into the shop and buy your EPs there.

 

[New England Eeyore]

If I were to wait until I got there to buy it, isn't it possible that it could be a lot more money?

The Universal hotels are a bit out of our price range. We arrive the 16th, so it would have to be two nights minimum. I didn't realize that you could get two days of Express out of one night stay though - I may have to rework the numbers and see if that's feasible.

 

[yaytezIOA]

You can get a room at the Royal Pacific those days for about 179 bucks. If you know a florida resident or a AP holder its cheaper. They let you check in early and use the passes then even after you check out...you can still use it. For the money, the hotels are a lot nicer and give you more benefits than disney hotels. Though if you were going to go cheaper, you could stay offsite.....but the thing is GET THERE EARLY. If the crowds get large at the gate they let people in early. The park opens at 9...be there at 8 or so. The schools in Orlando are in session at that time, so it wont be terribly crowded.....though it will have some crowds.

 

[New England Eeyore]

You can get a room at the Royal Pacific those days for about 179 bucks. If you know a florida resident or a AP holder its cheaper. They let you check in early and use the passes then even after you check out...you can still use it. For the money, the hotels are a lot nicer and give you more benefits than disney hotels. Though if you were going to go cheaper, you could stay offsite.....but the thing is GET THERE EARLY. If the crowds get large at the gate they let people in early. The park opens at 9...be there at 8 or so. The schools in Orlando are in session at that time, so it wont be terribly crowded.....though it will have some crowds.

Where are you getting that rate? The Universal website gives me $259 a night and through AAA it would be $233. Florida resident/AP rates would not apply to us.

 

[robvia]

Spring break for the Orlando area is the first two weeks of April. You are coming just after spring break, which is why the express passes cost less than peak times.

Staying at the RPR would be worth it, even if it costs $250 for one night. You could check in very early on your first day, and head over to the parks. For some lucky people, their room is ready in the morning. And yes, your keys would work the day you check out. A big perk with staying at the RPR would be walking back and forth to the parks, and the pool.

 

[New England Eeyore]

I think you've convinced me. I ran it by DH today and he's agreeable to changing hotels once. (His grumpiness was more of a deciding factor than the money. ) It'll have to be RPR - can't justify the higher priced ones. If I were to buy the Express Passes as I originally thought, $60 a day is very close to the difference between the nightly rate of our current condo and RPR so it's actually pretty much a wash.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Corwin12]

I bought 4 of those express passes for our trip last week, 1 for DW and I for 2 days. I bought them online before I got there. What a waste of money. The parks were dead. I would definitely wait until I get there or do the hotel room thing.
P.S. DW hated Island of Adventure. She wouldn't go on any of the rides. We only spent 3 hours there and she was so miserable we had to leave. This is nothing against the park, just sayin' is all.

 

[kristinw]

We just got back!!! We purchased express passes with our AP for only $5 a person for IOA. And then wished we wouldn't have, because we didn't need them. We only needed it for spiderman. But last weekend was before the holiday rush. While you are there definitely try to eat at Mythos, it was amazing.

 

[cardaway]

I would really suggest not going the extra mile to get the passes, or stay on site for front of the line if you are going on an off time.

We were just there and it was totally dead and front of the line would mean nothing. The only reason we ever waited is because we wanted the fornt of the coasters. Anybody could walk right on and sit in the middle.

I'm not exagerating. I never saw a full coaster car and everything else was a walk on as well.

 

[New England Eeyore]

I think my issue is that I am going at a busy time. For WDW it's certainly still a very busy time and I kind of assume it will be for Universal as well, even if to a lesser extent.

 

[cardaway]

I think my issue is that I am going at a busy time. For WDW it's certainly still a very busy time and I kind of assume it will be for Universal as well, even if to a lesser extent.

Maybe not. Best to give us the time and let the Uni experts chime in. You might be surprised how many fewer days Uni gets as busy as WDW.

Unless it's Summer or near Halloween I have heard all weekdays are very slow. We went on a Mon - Thur in Dec and there were times when I had to ask if sections of the park were open, it was that dead.

 

[New England Eeyore]

As I originally said, we'll be there April 17 and 18.

 

[cardaway]

As I originally said, we'll be there April 17 and 18.

Sorry, missed that.

That's a Tuesday and a Wednesday, no passes or front of the line needed for that time IMO.

 

[phamton]

April 17-18 will be moderately busy. The busy week will be the week before you go. I'd wait and see if I needed them.

 

[David R]

But even if you end up staying at a resort hotel and don't really need express pass, you can always use it to bypass a lot of the walking in lines. For example, in Dueling Dragons, you'll be walking for a few minutes inside of the castle, while express gets you to the coaster selection area in 2 seconds. At Men in Black, with express you skip the annoying preshow. In ET, you skip a lot of the forest walk. Spiderman has 2 different sets you walk by depending on which line you choose. And so on.

So while you can go on and experience the entire queue at least once (Dueling Dragons is great to walk through at least once), you can then use Express to avoid all of that.