Universal Fast Pass

[Kaz65]

Has anyone 'purchased' Universal Fast Pass? and is it the same as the complimentary ones first introduced by Disney? Im not sure if they would be worth the EXTRA cash on top of the admission fee, especially as may is not a particularly busy period in comparison to July / Aug holidays.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

If you are not visiting at a busy time of the year you shouldn't need the 'express pass' - in addition getting to the parks early means you will miss the worst of the queue's.
However, Spiderman/Hulk at IOA, and SHREK, The Mummy and Jimmy Neutron at Universal Studios do attract queue's as they are some of the best rides in Orlando and are also situated close to the park entrance - so they can get busy at any time of the year.
I would imagine that quite a high percentage of people head straight for one of the above rides as they enter the parks.

 

[Dimplenose]

2 years ago it was cheaper for the 4 of us to book and share a room at RPR than to buy 2 days worth of fast passes. As hotel guests we got front of line access by showing our room keys. Although the parks were not busy (late August) it meant we could get a lot done in our 2 days.

I don't know if it still works out cheaper to do this.

Libby

 

[Graeme]

This year, (17days in fact!!!), will be the third time we've been in early May. The only time I've ever seen the parks quieter was on Sept 11. You wont need the fastpass. The Mummy had about a twenty minute wait last year but nothing else did.

 

[Kaz65]

Thats great news - hope it stays the same for late May as we must be arriving just as you leave! Thanks for the tip though cos will definately go in first week before UK schools break

 

[nomy]

We are also thinking about buying this FOTL ticket for Universal. We will be there the second week in June, so do you think the crowds will be big enough to justify by then?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We are also thinking about buying this FOTL ticket for Universal. We will be there the second week in June, so do you think the crowds will be big enough to justify by then?

Difficult to say, US schools break up I think mid-June, if you plan your days and get to the parks early you will probably be alright I think.
Best wait till you get there I feel and see what the crowds are like.

The popular rides such as Spiderman, Shrek, Jimmy Neutron and The Mummy you are advised to get on as soon as you can really.

 

[spencem]

Whatever you do, wait until you are in the park and can see the length of the queues yourselves before buying the passes. We were there in Feb when it was 'walk straight on' quiet, but that didn't stop Universal putting a sign up every few feet from the car park to the entrance pushing the passes with dire warnings of multi-hour waits.

As others have said GET THERE EARLY and you will not need express pass on even the busiest days. If later in the day it gets busy and you still want to then buy the passes then.

 

[pixiepower04]

We went in for Christmas 04 and the biggest wait we had was Spiderman and it was about an hour and a half, nothing else was that long so I've looked in to the fast pass for when we go back next year but I can't justify the cost especially since it says this:

"Allows you to bypass the regular lines by providing Express Access to participating attractions at either Universal Studios Florida OR Islands of Adventure theme park.
Express Access is a separate line with a shorter wait time at each valid attraction.
Valid for use only one (1) time at each participating attraction.
Universal Express Plus pass is not valid for admission to either theme park"

As everyone else says get to the park early and go on the rides you really want to go on and then see how the rest of the day pans out.

 

[Dimplenose]

As I mentioned before our one night at RPR was cheaper than 2 days Express Pass. It gave us unlimited front of line access at both parks for 2 days. For us I certainly feel it was money well spent. We may have thought again if we could only go on each ride once.

Libby

 

[Kaz65]

Thanks for all these great tips - only 29 days to go and cant wait

 

[Ware Bears]

We've just come back from Universal. There was no way I was going to buy Express passes for 5 of us.
Well, even though it was Easter we never had a problem. We got there early and the longest wait we had was Spiderman at 40 minutes. The Mummy was supposed to be 45 minutes but it moved much quicker than that. The times got far worse during the day but we concentrated on other things and rode them again later when the queuing time went down to 15 mins.
We are big wusses so don't do Hulk/Duelling Dragons but if we did I wouldn't even consider it worthwhile buying the Express passes to ride them, I would rather put the money to overnighting at an Universal hotel to get FOTL.

As others have said, the important thing is to get there early.

 

[diswix]

Arrive Early- we were always at the gates 45 mins prior to official opening time.
IOA opened over Easter period at 0820hrs and universal shortly after.
We would walk on the Hulk, Spidey- no queue; then hit the Dragons,front rows. Double back to Jurrsssic park and Toon Lagoon rides. No queue.
Then we would amble round, sit at the crescent moon bakery watching all the people flood in and queue anything from 30- 120 mins for a ride.
Don't buy the Express pass, ride them early, save those hard earn't dollars.
Have a fab trip.

 

[wicket2005]

The last two years we have been in July and have had no problems in any of the parks with lines because, as people have already said, we got there early. If you do this there is no need for FPs. However, if arriving late and in peak times especially lines will be longer notably water rides (when it is hot). The longest line we saw was for Everest which was 2 hours but we did that as soon as we got into the park and grabbed a FP for it before we lined up so managed to do it twice.

 

[angelbaby29871]

we purchased these tickets the first time we went to IOA and never again, i felt they were not worth the very high price!! didn't cut the wait itme down that much, got a free set once after making a complaint and a staff member actually said "you didn't buy those did you?" after we said no he said even he wouldn't pay the price for them and that they are a rip off. i agree get there early do the rides and then stroll round and do them later when the lines get quieter again