Torn- worth it for Express Pass in mid-Nov?

[bookworm71511]

We will be staying onsite. Cabana Bay looks really fun. We plan on going to the parks for 2 days and hang around the hotel for another half a day. We're going mid-November (I believe Monday the 14th thru Wednesday the 16th). Undercover Tourist says that's a 4/10 for crowds.

Is it worth spending $150+ a day to stay at a hotel we're not as excited about just to get the express passes? We REALLY don't like to wait in line. When we've gone to disney, it's always been late January or early Feb. We rarely waited in line and if we did, it was only 10 or 15 min. I don't want it to be any worse than that.

What do you think? I don't want to kick myself for not staying somewhere that will get us this benefit, but I also don't want to kick myself for spending a lot more to stay somewhere that didn't really fit what we wanted.

What about doing a spilt stay? Would that help us at all?

We will probably only make this one trip, so I want to make it count. Kids are 8 and 10, if that matters.

 

[macraven]

Take advantage of early entry and have a plan what rides you want to do each day

If you run into unexpected line waits, you can buy the ep in the park at the shops or guest service

You can also use the SR lines if the ep is not affordable

Stay at the hotel that is best for your family
You may find out your children would want to do the pool and lazy river at Cbay in the afternoons

You could do the parks in the morning up to noon and do the hotel pool
Then return around 4:30 and hit the rides in the parks

 

[damo]

As long as there are no school holidays at that time, lines should be very manageable. Staying one night at one of the express hotels will give you two days of express, so staying at one for the first night or last night of the vacation would work nicely (if you don't mind changing hotels).

 

[kohlby]

I'd think you would be fine as long as you use early entry. Another option would be to do another half day to decrease lines. I'm not sure how that ticket increase would compare with the hotel increase - it depends on your family size.

 

[gigi from canada]

Well I'll say the opposite. We are here now which is considered a low crowd week and there are still lines at major attractions. I don't regret the extra money for a hotel with express pass. I don't think after this stay I WILL EVER GO WITHOUT. cabana Bay is nice. We like the pool and lazy river but you can pool hop quite easily from RPR. You will get more pool time if you get EP.

 

[tony67]

I typically go in November (first week) and during the week Universal is very doable without the EP IMO.

From what I recall some of the HP rides don't even utilize EP - there are also single rider lines if there are rides the 10 year old would go on but the 8 year old and/or yourself would not

Another option may be to do one night at RPR (for example) - that gets each of you two days of express pass (check in day and check out day) and the second night at CB.
I'd guess that is less expensive than buying the EP and gives you both options if you don't mind moving

 

[schumigirl]

We will be staying onsite. Cabana Bay looks really fun. We plan on going to the parks for 2 days and hang around the hotel for another half a day. We're going mid-November (I believe Monday the 14th thru Wednesday the 16th). Undercover Tourist says that's a 4/10 for crowds.

Is it worth spending $150+ a day to stay at a hotel we're not as excited about just to get the express passes? We REALLY don't like to wait in line. When we've gone to disney, it's always been late January or early Feb. We rarely waited in line and if we did, it was only 10 or 15 min. I don't want it to be any worse than that.

What do you think? I don't want to kick myself for not staying somewhere that will get us this benefit, but I also don't want to kick myself for spending a lot more to stay somewhere that didn't really fit what we wanted.

What about doing a spilt stay? Would that help us at all?

We will probably only make this one trip, so I want to make it count. Kids are 8 and 10, if that matters.

Since you really don't like waiting in line, and this is going to be your only trip in the foreseeable future, definitely pay the extra for one of the hotels that give you Unlimited EP.

No question you will enjoy it a whole lot more. I will add, we hate to wait in line and wouldn't stand in some of the queues we see. So our view is always have EP.

Even when we go it's supposed to be a quiet time, but we see lines on certain rides that are long. Despicable Me is one of them that is always long.

Gringotts, Forbidden Journey and the Hogwarts Express are the only rides in Potter areas that don't participate with EP.

 

[chrystie4141]

I have to agree on paying the extra and getting the EP. After years of Disney's lines we took my then 6 year to RBR and never looked back. I was amazed that EP meant EP. It was amazing the things we were able to do again and again. If you get it at the gate you can only ride each once (if nothing has changed), however if you stay onsite you ride as many times as you want. That being said my child LOVES the CB and we split our stay normally. I would say either stay the whole time onsite and just pool hop over to the CB or do 2 nights on site and one night at CB. Normally we do not even go to the parks when we make the change over, however if we do it would be to do Harry Potter (since we don't get the EP benefit for that). Just to give you a example (and I know it will not always go like this) we had two times last year that stood out. Once was in early June when Rock It had a 40 min wait. I started talking to someone as I was standing waiting on DS and my husband and they keep waving at me telling me they were going again. After the 8th or 9th time the women looked at me and said how are they doing that I have been standing here for 35 minutes and my family is still in l line waiting for to go for the first time. Another time was for Despicable Me where the wait was 90 minutes in October and we were in line for a total of 10 minutes before we were in and on our way. Having a 10 year old myself, I will say not waiting in line is worth every penny to me.

 

[Milhouse911]

Be aware that Cabana Bay does not include Express Pass. Only the more expensive Universal hotels offer it. If you stay at Cabana Bay, you would have to buy Express passes separately. They are cheaper in November, fortunately.

According to the links below, the Universal parks expect to have a few rides with 20-30 minute wait times in Mid-November, but most will be less than 15 minutes. If those wait times seems unreasonable to you, then you should get the Express Passes.
https://touringplans.com/universal-studios-florida/wait-times/date/2016-11-14
https://touringplans.com/islands-of-adventure/wait-times/date/2016-11-14

I'm going in early November and I'm getting Express Passes. I last went to Universal Studios in June 2014. The day started WITHOUT express passes. We got in line for Despicable Me, waited 1 hour, and then the ride broke down while we were still in line. We were so frustrated we left the line, then got in line for Shrek. It had a long line that didn't budge for 15 minutes. So we left that line, more frustrated. The day was on the verge of being a disaster, but then we discovered the Express Pass kiosk. Afterwards, we got on Transformers in 1 minute. We rode everything we wanted with minimal lines and the rest of the day was awesome. Express Passes saved the day! So now I always get Express Passes at every theme park.

 

[TheConsciousness]

I can't imagine November being more packed than late August. We just got back last week, didn't buy an express pass, and the lines weren't bad at all.

An hour for Despicable Me
50 minutes for Shrek
5-30 minutes for The Mummy
5-15 minutes RipRideRocket
5 minutes for Fear Fall
30 minutes for Gringotts and Forbidden Journey
No lines for Dragon Challenge

 

[dmanwi]

We are going over Thanksgiving and have not yet decided on the EP. We are staying off-site and are planning on one day at Universal either Thanksgiving Day or the day after. Will an EP be needed those two days? We mostly want to do HP attractions and a few of the other rides like Transformers.

 

[keishashadow]

Be aware that Cabana Bay does not include Express Pass. Only the more expensive Universal hotels offer it. If you stay at Cabana Bay, you would have to buy Express passes separately. They are cheaper in November, fortunately.

According to the links below, the Universal parks expect to have a few rides with 20-30 minute wait times in Mid-November, but most will be less than 15 minutes. If those wait times seems unreasonable to you, then you should get the Express Passes.
https://touringplans.com/universal-studios-florida/wait-times/date/2016-11-14
https://touringplans.com/islands-of-adventure/wait-times/date/2016-11-14

I'm going in early November and I'm getting Express Passes. I last went to Universal Studios in June 2014. The day started WITHOUT express passes. We got in line for Despicable Me, waited 1 hour, and then the ride broke down while we were still in line. We were so frustrated we left the line, then got in line for Shrek. It had a long line that didn't budge for 15 minutes. So we left that line, more frustrated. The day was on the verge of being a disaster, but then we discovered the Express Pass kiosk. Afterwards, we got on Transformers in 1 minute. We rode everything we wanted with minimal lines and the rest of the day was awesome. Express Passes saved the day! So now I always get Express Passes at every theme park.

Was @ U last year during Jersey week (end) which is usually first full week in November I believe. it was crowded. Guessing they got overflow from a Run Disney event of those who wanted to skip the road closures/crowds that day. We moved over to WDW. The first week of Nov @ Disney usually allows people to straddle both special parties with many possibly working in a HP run mid week.

 

[Patch'sD]

Well I'll say the opposite. We are here now which is considered a low crowd week and there are still lines at major attractions. I don't regret the extra money for a hotel with express pass. I don't think after this stay I WILL EVER GO WITHOUT. cabana Bay is nice. We like the pool and lazy river but you can pool hop quite easily from RPR. You will get more pool time if you get EP.

It's still Summer, Northeast schools are still not is session yet. I am headed there the Tuesday after labor day. Will let you know how the crowds are then.

 

[disneyseniors]

WE went to Universal for one day only last November, and like you, worried about getting a EPor not. We decided to just bite the bullet and get EP for our one day trip. Honestly, we found we did not need the EP. The only rides with longish lines were Minions and Shrek. The others were walk on's and I felt foolish being the only ones in that line at most attractions! Of course, HP does not use EP, so that was okay. I would recommend doing Minions on first entering the park, then on to HP world. If we go this November, we will not make that mistake again and will not get EP's.

 

[GaryDis]

If you get it at the gate you can only ride each once (if nothing has changed), however if you stay onsite you ride as many times as you want.

The USO website offers both the Express Pass (once per ride) and the Express Unlimited Pass (unlimited times per ride). I don't know whether the gates or shops only offer the former.

 

[damo]

The USO website offers both the Express Pass (once per ride) and the Express Unlimited Pass (unlimited times per ride). I don't know whether the gates or shops only offer the former.

They offer both.

 

[keishashadow]

It's still Summer, Northeast schools are still not is session yet. I am headed there the Tuesday after labor day. Will let you know how the crowds are then.

Most Pittsburgh area schools started August 23rd

 

[khgreen]

We went in October and stayed off site. We spent 2.5 days at the parks. Having neither Express nor EE we did almost everything-the only things we skipped were things no one wanted to do-which wasn't much. We did go immediately to the headliners, but otherwise we just wandered around with no plan. Over the course of those 2.5 days we only turned away from a handful of rides because the waits were too long. AND those were all rides we had already experienced earlier in the day. The kids rode FJ so many times too.

However this year we are staying onsite and getting Express. We only have 2 days and I want to make sure the kids can do everything they want to do in that short time.

 

[kineticGEEK]

My family normally stays at Royal Pacific so we can skip the lines. We love that hotel.
We are planning a trip for next month and are planning to stay at RP for a few days so we can hit the parks hard without the lines. Then we will be staying at Cabana Bay to enjoy that hotel and have an easy day or two at the parks. The lines won't matter then. We would have already done everything we wanted to do.

 

[Patch'sD]

Was at both parks on Tuesday September 6. Crowds were moderate with a mild European mixture. at about 12 Noon at Island's of Adventure the wait times were Hulk 35 Minutes, Spiderman 20 Minutes, Dr Doom 10 Minutes. Dudley Do Right 75 Minutes, King Kong 90 Minutes, Jurassic Park 20 Minutes, Harry Potter 10 Minutes, Dueling Dragons 10 Minutes. Harry Potter Train 10 Minutes. Universal Studios about 1:30 PM Escape from Gringot's 15 Minutes, Men in Black 10 Minutes, Transformers 10 Minutes, Simpson's 20 Minutes, Shrek 10 Minutes, Mummy 5 Minutes. Rip Ride Rocket 10 Minutes. Parks were open till 7 PM for IOA and 8:30 PM for Universal. Ate at Margrittaville at about 6 PM it was empty.