Universal - NOT LIKELY TO RETURN

[goofy!]

Question, regarding the universal express pass. We are a family of 5 staying at an offsite location. We will be in town for a whole week and plan on doing a lot of parks. We are planning on visiting US/IOA for 2 days. Can someone explain to me the express pass/room key thing. If I have 5 people in my party and we all want to ride the same ride, does the one room key get all 5 of us through the express line or only one of us? Not quite understanding how it all works.

Also, work it maybe be worth getting a room onsite, just for the express pass perk?

When you stay onsite, ever person in the room gets their own room key. The key will have their name on it, dates of stay, whether they are a child or an adult and if the key has charging privileges.

So, since everybody has their own key, everybody gets to use the express line as often as they want, whenever they want.

 

[SamRoc]

We went to Universal today, havent been there in 6 years. The only new thing we saw at Universal studios was The Mummy ride, which we really liked. But we probably wont be going back for a few years again. i just felt everything was just far to walk to. we had my nephew with us who was never there before, and he didnt like all the "shaking" rides like Shrek, back to the future, and even terminator with the loud guns shooting. We went to Shrek at 9am, and had to wait til 11 for jaws, and 10 for earthquake and twister. that caused alot of back and forth walking. I couldnt understand why everything wasnt open at 9 am. all those arcade games and restaurants in between the rides seemed like a waste of space to us. We did the rides we wanted by 1 and then the crowds were really crazy, so we left. $50 for 4 hours seemed like alot of money. We were lucky to get in at opening though and do everything we wanted to before it got too crowded.

 

[Timmy Boy]

Yes, all the central Florida parks are very crowded this week, from the Daytona race.

With some attractions not opening til later, Disney does that too. It has to do with budget, and wear and tear on vehicles if no one is using them.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Is there a good time of the year to visit this park when its dead (besides summer when its 100 degrees there)?

We were just there a couple weeks and there were NO lines for anything. We took our 2 yr old and 8 month old. You're right about no rides for the little ons but the play areas and shows are fantastic! Since the lines were so short--pretty much walk right on--my husband and I took turns playing with the kids while the other went on adult rides. It was great!

 

[calgarygary]

We went to Universal today, havent been there in 6 years. The only new thing we saw at Universal studios was The Mummy ride, which we really liked. But we probably wont be going back for a few years again. i just felt everything was just far to walk to. we had my nephew with us who was never there before, and he didnt like all the "shaking" rides like Shrek, back to the future, and even terminator with the loud guns shooting. We went to Shrek at 9am, and had to wait til 11 for jaws, and 10 for earthquake and twister. that caused alot of back and forth walking. I couldnt understand why everything wasnt open at 9 am. all those arcade games and restaurants in between the rides seemed like a waste of space to us. We did the rides we wanted by 1 and then the crowds were really crazy, so we left. $50 for 4 hours seemed like alot of money. We were lucky to get in at opening though and do everything we wanted to before it got too crowded.

I really do want to comment on this review. If a show (not ride) like Shrek is too much for your nephew, a little research would have told you that he wasn't going to like Twister much less Terminator. It almost appears that you were taking your nephew on the things you wanted to do rather than communicating with him as to the types of rides he would enjoy or observing what he was enjoying.

 

[Mari annie]

Everyone's views are different.........for sure.

Doing Disney for years we have AP passes for Universal as well now, our "kids" are almost 18 and 13, we go to FL 3 times a year so it's worth it for us.

Anyway, theme parks are theme parks.
We were at Universal all last week=Feb vacation, same lines as Disney, it's the MECCA for Feb break, come on people, lots of waiting-if you don't like theme parks, then try another style of vactioning.
Stop the whining! LOL!

Universal has alot to offer, although our kids are older, there were hundreds of families with really small kids there, lots for everyone!
You as a parent have to investigate the rides you take your kid on to make sure they are age appropriate for your kids, don't complain afterwards!
Each themepark offers something different.
There are alot of child things to do there.

They should bring back alot of their production back for Nick.
Years ago when They did Nick there my kids loved the live shows.......
as well as they should bring back some of the old characters back, email themeparks on suggestions, who knows, if they get enough requests maybe they'll think about putting them back.........Teenage Mutant Turtles as well
Ghostbusters.............remember when.......there's a new generation who are into these characters or know of them........

No matter what park or park(s) you choose for your family, choose wisely for your own family's needs............
have fun!!!!

cannot wait for our April trip!

 

[damo]

Everyone's views are different.........for sure.


No matter what park or park(s) you choose for your family, choose wisely for your own family's needs............
have fun!!!!

cannot wait for our April trip!

I totally agree.

 

[GemmaPixie]

MGM Hotel ride?? Dueling Dungeons??

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Now that this has been brought back to the top, I wanted to comment on the fastpass debate. I never understand why people have such a problem with paying for fastpasses at UO. I don't get the idea that WDW's are free either. How can you possibly explain the huge difference in price in themepark tickets? UO gives you the option of buying multi-day tickets cheaply & spending nothing more, or purchasing fastpasses, or staying onsite for FOTL. WDW charges much more for there passes & there are no options. Personally, I think those "free" fastpasses at WDW cost a whole lot of money. Will I take advantage of them, when I'm at the parks? Sure! Would I rather pay less for park admission & purchase a fastpass for every participating ride in any given park. Absolutely!!! To me, that's a no brainer.

BTW, I agree the moving walkways are to be used for riders on the right, & walkers on the left. We always stay onsite at UO, so it's a non issue for us there. I've been in many airports that use this method for "people moving" though, & that is always the understood etiquette. IME, if I need to move more quickly & someone want's to stand, a polite "excuse me" is all that's ever needed to pass.

 

[GailT]

My advice to you would have been to use the free shuttle service from the Clarion where you stayed and arrive before opening to ride the rides before the huge crowds arrive. Arriving early is always your best bet to get to avoid the lines.

Just as a side note, how many fastpasses were you able to use each day at Disney? I don't ever seem to have much luck with them.

We usually stay onsite, and go at non-peak times. For $150/night, unlimited express passes and $85 7 day passes, we really think it is an absolutely amazing deal and vacation. When we go to Disney, the hotels are more expensive for comparable quality, we usually manage to get about 3 fast passes a day and our tickets are well over $300 each for the week. It takes us several days to actually ride the number of rides that we could ride in one day at Universal. We come home feeling run ragged and frustrated. I guess everyone has different preferences and it is great that there are parks that accomodate and satisfy us all.

what hotel is considered on site for US?

 

[phamton]

what hotel is considered on site for US?

Hard Rock Hotel, Portifino Bay Hotel, and Royal Pacific Resort

http://www.universalorlando.com/ht_index.html

 

[GailT]

Hard Rock Hotel, Portifino Bay Hotel, and Royal Pacific Resort

http://www.universalorlando.com/ht_index.html

I thought they were talking about CA. thanks for the info. I did stay at HR and after the 1st night I went back to Disney, I did not like it. I am going to CA US in September, I wonder if I will like that one.

 

[Love2TravelAnywhere]

We were there the week of March 9th (spring breaks were just starting) and I would just like to add my thoughts. We were traveling with 3 kids (3, 8, and 14). We visited both Disney MK & US/IOA. During our Disney visit, we started off great. We arrived @ 8:30, there was no line for parking, we pulled right up and into the parking lot - we were even really close to the monorail station. We were at MK before rope drop and as soon as that happened we headed straight to Fanastyland. We did a lot the first 2 hours of the day (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Small World, Hauted Mansion and a couple of others with most not even having a line). After that it was all down hill. We tried using fastpass - that was a joke. Without doing a lot of back-tracking it didn't work for us. So, we did a lot of the character greeting during the middle of the day and then when the night parade began we were back in luck. We had watched a parade during the day - so we didn't really need to see the night one. But, during the night parade and fireworks - we did a lot. About 30 mins before the fireworks were to begin we were going to ride Space Mountain and there was a 2 hr & 10 wait - we past. As soon as the fireworks begin we watched the first 5 mins and then headed to space mountain - we walked right on, twice. This park was mainly for the 3 year old, however my 8 year old enjoyed himself as well.
Okay, I know this is not a Disney thread but, I'm trying to paint a picture here. Stay with me....
The next day we went to US/IOA we knew we had 1 full day, possible a 2nd but we were not for sure. Again we arrived @ 8:30 with no wait to park and we were parked on the "JAWS" level. The walk wasn't that bad. We decided to go to IOA first. We got right in, and remember we have 3 kids (3, 8, & 14) and the older 2 do not do roller coasters and my husband and I myself love them - so, we immediately went to Hulk. I went first, walked right on, when I got off, my husband went - again walked right on. We then headed to Sueuss Landing for the kids - they loved it. We did DD and Jurassic Park, then to Spiderman (we took advantage of the single rider line/baby swap area) thank god we did the "normal" line had a 45 min wait time and we both walked right on. We got autographs with characters and then headed to US. We ate lunch and then did some of the more popular rides, Shrek, Jaws (line was really long - like 1 hour, looked around and left the park at closing time. We did return to US another day (b/c we purchased the $85 deal) and we finished up US (the mummy, men in black, back to the future, et, jimmy and a couple of other things in a 1/2 day. Again, on our 2nd day we arrived @ 8:30.
Now, to compare the parks. I did a lot of research prior to going and that worked out for the best. I will have to say the winner for us was IOA/US. During our week stay we also did Busch Gardens and Sea World - so we did 5 parks in 6 days and the family favorite was IOA/US. It was just perfect for us. My 3 year old loves Shrek, Scooby, Curious George, Nicktoons, my 8 year olds loves superheros, that is what is room is decorated in - so we got great decorations for his room with his autographs from Spiddy, Captain America, Woverine and the list goes on. And of course, by 14 year old enjoyed it much more then Disney.
We all agree the next time we go - it will be IOA/US all the way. I don't think we will even bother doing a different Disney park.

My advise - as everyone else's is to arrive at the park opening you can do all most all of the big rides prior to it getting busy late morning.

 

[phamton]

I thought they were talking about CA. thanks for the info. I did stay at HR and after the 1st night I went back to Disney, I did not like it. I am going to CA US in September, I wonder if I will like that one.

Oh, I see. I didn't notice you were quoting Damo's post. I must have had a blonde moment.

 

[phamton]

My advise - as everyone else's is to arrive at the park opening you can do all most all of the big rides prior to it getting busy late morning.

Excellent advice!

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

We LOVE LOVE LOVE Disney, but NOTHING compares to staying onsite at Universal and going on the rides with the head of the line pass, nothing. If you have never done it, try it at least once. My husband is now hooked on Universal so much I have to push Disney on him since the first time we stayed on property. I have never been to Disneyworld where I didn't wait on lines particularly at Magic Kingdom although sometimes longer than others, and if they had the same thing it would be worth its weight in gold. However, we still do Disney of course, its magic, Universal is also magical in a different way and particularly if you stay on property its just incredible!

 

[joiev98]

I am planning on visiting both WDW and UO/IOA for the first time May 19-26 with my family, and I am so excited for both!!
I would love to stay onsite at universal but simply cannot afford it. The prices are $239 per night!!! Plus, I can not fit my entire family into one room as they only hold a max. of 5 people. And to purchase the express pass would cost $50 per person. So, does anyone have any suggestions for me on how to make the most of my visit to Unviersal? I don't want to be let down...

 

[phamton]

I just checked the prices of the days you are there and none of the days are $50 for express. Some of the days are only $15. I don't even think you will need express when you are there except for possibly Saturday.

 

[joiev98]

I just checked the prices of the days you are there and none of the days are $50 for express. Some of the days are only $15. I don't even think you will need express when you are there except for possibly Saturday.

Oops! Sorry! I guess I should've been more specific. We will be at Universal May 25 & 26. For these 2 days combined, the express pass will cost $50/ person. That works out to $300 for our family. I wish I could afford that, but unfortunately, I cannot...Although I am concerned that they might be needed since that is Memorial Day Weekend. Oh well. I am looking forward to going nonetheless
Thanks for your reply!

 

[damo]

I am planning on visiting both WDW and UO/IOA for the first time May 19-26 with my family, and I am so excited for both!!
I would love to stay onsite at universal but simply cannot afford it. The prices are $239 per night!!! Plus, I can not fit my entire family into one room as they only hold a max. of 5 people. And to purchase the express pass would cost $50 per person. So, does anyone have any suggestions for me on how to make the most of my visit to Unviersal? I don't want to be let down...

Hard Rock is $179/night with APH. If you call, you can probably get obstructed view for around $159. If you go during the week, it is much cheaper; many have reported that it is $129. The preferred annual pass costs $179. If the kids are staying in the adjoining room, you only need one annual pass.