Universal Express - I'm confused!

[Dimmo]

Can anybody help me? We are going to stay at Royal Pacific in summer 2007 and one of the main reasons was because of Universal Express. Someone has subsequently told me that the system has changed and as well as it not being available with ordinary park passes, you can only use Universal Express to access each ride once a day when staying at an onsite hotel. Is that right? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[aztecgoods]

Unless it just very very recently changed, staying onsite at their hotels gets you at the front of the line with your room-key, no express passes needed at all. I doubt very seriously that this has changed.

 

[patster734]

People staying off-site can purchase an express booklet that gives them front-of-the-line access to each ride but can only be used once for each ride. People staying on-property have unlimited access to each ride by showing their room key and its one room key per person. So a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children) should receive 4 room keys when checking in. What has changed (happened last year) is that the distribution of free front-of-the-line tickets (similar to Disney's fastpass) has been discontinued. This only affected off-site visitors.

 

[cleo]

Onsite guests still get 'front of the line' access with Universal Express. What's changed is, there are no Universal Express passes available to off site guests, who would otherwise have used their park pass to get a Universal Express pass, just as they would for Disney's FastPass. Off site guests have to purchase Universal Express Plus, if they want quick access similar to what onsite guests get.

 

[gschmerl]

Don't worry. By staying on site you will get unlimited express access every day.

 

[Notatourist]

Okay, I say this again...

When you approach the front of attractions at Universal, there are two lines..one is Express, the other is the regular line.

A room key gets you right into the express line. In there will also be people who bought express tickets.

That's your access.

If you want no line at all, take a tour.

That is all.

 

[MassMom94]

Okay, I say this again...

When you approach the front of attractions at Universal, there are two lines..one is Express, the other is the regular line.

A room key gets you right into the express line. In there will also be people who bought express tickets.

That's your access.

If you want no line at all, take a tour.

That is all.

True, but when we were there (8/23 - 8/25) I don't think there were ever more than two people ahead of us in the Express line. Except when you were in a group waiting for an attraction that wasn't continuous (e.g., Earthquake). Also, unlike Disney, most Express lines don't ever merge with the standby line. For example, people coming from the Express line are ushered right onto Mummy and Duelling Dragons (though if you want the front seat for that, you have to join the standbys at that point).

After our most recent trip (our first) I would NEVER visit US or IOA without staying onsite. Besides, the hotels are really nice - my kids loved the HRH pool. Yep, we've been spoiled!

 

[Amity 3]

yesterday the standby for ROTM was 60 minutes most of the day. the Express line was over 30 minutes. by the time we got to the parks, the 2 park EP's were completely sold out.

EP does not = FOTL.

 

[Dimmo]

Thanks guys for the advice, everything is much clearer now and we're really looking forward to our vacation.

 

[bubba's mom]

yesterday the standby for ROTM was 60 minutes most of the day. the Express line was over 30 minutes. by the time we got to the parks, the 2 park EP's were completely sold out.

EP does not = FOTL.

That is my fear....once the word is out about staying onsite, the EP lines will get longer ..... along with the standby lines.....

 

[lindalinda]

Since the express lines aren't metered (like at disney) , no specific return times, the lines, even express can ebb and flow. While at disney, the fastpasses seem to be distributed to allow about so many guests per hour, the lines arent usually REALLY short. For instance, the fastpass line to test track were pretty much 30 minutes all day, once there was a line. But at universal, this isnt true, sometimes express has no line, and sometimes it can go to 30 mins. The difference is , for on-site guests, you can just skip it and come back anytime if thats the case. We did this at Mummy a few times. Most of the time no line, but a couple of times there was a line, so we would just come back a little later....no line again. Does this make sense or am I just rambling?

 

[bubba's mom]

Since the express lines aren't metered (like at disney) , no specific return times, the lines, even express can ebb and flow. While at disney, the fastpasses seem to be distributed to allow about so many guests per hour, the lines arent usually REALLY short. For instance, the fastpass line to test track were pretty much 30 minutes all day, once there was a line. But at universal, this isnt true, sometimes express has no line, and sometimes it can go to 30 mins. The difference is , for on-site guests, you can just skip it and come back anytime if thats the case. We did this at Mummy a few times. Most of the time no line, but a couple of times there was a line, so we would just come back a little later....no line again. Does this make sense or am I just rambling?

This is the PLUS that Disney FP doesn't offer...... you make sense.....

 

[Amity 3]

Since the express lines aren't metered (like at disney) , no specific return times, the lines, even express can ebb and flow. While at disney, the fastpasses seem to be distributed to allow about so many guests per hour, the lines arent usually REALLY short. For instance, the fastpass line to test track were pretty much 30 minutes all day, once there was a line. But at universal, this isnt true, sometimes express has no line, and sometimes it can go to 30 mins. The difference is , for on-site guests, you can just skip it and come back anytime if thats the case. We did this at Mummy a few times. Most of the time no line, but a couple of times there was a line, so we would just come back a little later....no line again. Does this make sense or am I just rambling?

it makes sense because there's so many variables. we met up with friends who had stayed onsite because of the Labor Day weekend crowds. sunday afternoon, a storm rolled in and shut down everything outside at IOA. poseidon's fury was a 75 minute standby. a lot of the crowd shifted back to US, and even though the ROTM standby was still an hour, the EP line backed up.

 

[Dimmo]

Just read in the Brit's Guide to Orlando 2006 that at peak periods Universal hotel guests are limited to one UE ride at each of the 5 main attractions in each park until 3pm. Is that right?

 

[damo]

That hasn't happened since summer 2005. Now that you can only get express by purchasing or staying onsite, there doesn't seem to be any limitations to on site express.

 

[damo]

That is my fear....once the word is out about staying onsite, the EP lines will get longer ..... along with the standby lines.....

The hotels seems to be at maximum capacity quite often and I don't think the lines have gotten that unreasonable.

 

[nogooddeed]

I stayed on-site back in July....my gripe about the Express Pass was that every line we went to there was always someone ahead of us claiming to have lost their pass or part of their party was already in line and had their passes and they were always allowed in the Express Line. Plus we kept seeing the same pair of kids at differant rides sneaking into the express line when the attendant wasnt looking. Really started to tic me off that I paid for this and others were just taking advantage of it for free.

 

[JC Butterfly]

so are there signs posted with the wait times for both the standard and the express lines?

Are there times of day when the express line is not running? ie: the park feels attendance does not warrant it?

 

[bubba's mom]

There are separate entrances for the regular line and the EP line.....the EP line is usually open (because of onsite guests). Some rides (that can get busy) have the "Single Rider" line to help it move along faster.