Universal virgin questions

[dclpluto]

Well it’s been around 18 years since I last been. So feel like a universal virgin. Figure now is the time to go since you can’t buy annual passes at wdw now and universal was cheap. Plus running out of points since I rented out over 1000 dvc points in the last year.
So question one- I will have express pass since I will be staying at one of the hotels that comes with it. I know it will be very busy when I’m there beginning of December. If the regular line is one hour., about how long will it be with express pass?

question two- I don’t have to make park reservations like I do with Disney. Is this correct?

question three- my wife is a vegetarian. Any good places to get vegetarian for fast food?
veggie burgers and pizza gets old quick.

we are excited to go. Can’t believe it’s been so long. Thanks

 

[greg9x]

1. Typically Express will be around 1/2 the time of regular line...but it can be faster or slower depending on how many are using the Express line at that moment. Last year under 'normal' summer crowds, we waited 5-25 minutes in Express lines if they ride didn't break down.

2. You can but date of use tickets or general anytime admission tickets,

But if a capacity day at parks....What I wrote in other thread:

If you buy date of use tickets (ticket for a specific day) then you are let in to the parks if at capacity as those are the only tickets that are figured in to the capacity for the day. Staying on site does NOT guarantee entrance to the parks, it gives you priority entrance which means you will be in a line to get in as people leave that park ahead of off site guests. However if on site stay and utilize the early entry benefit you will probably get in ahead of off site guests who aren't let in until regular opening time.
If want to go park to park on a capacity day, you need to use the Hogwarts Express train which may have a very long wait. If you walk out the front entrance you will not be guarantied entrance back in to either park.

3. Question for someone else.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

We just returned from a 5 day trip, we stayed at RP so we had EP as well.
Typically we were in EP lines less than 10 minutes regardless of the posted wait times. It's likely different than in the past due to the fact that Universal offered Florida a special to Florida residents which basically sold them a one day ticket that can be used as much as they want until Dec. 24. I'd guess that the majority of the people at the park were locals as the lines were often posting 120 minutes on the most popular rides and we basically walked on the ride with EP regardless.

You don't need to make any reservations for the parks, hotel guest with EP's are allowed in Islands of Adventure (Hogsmead area) at 9 am and Island's officially opens at 10 am. for the rest of the guest. Universal Studio's section opens for all guest at 9 am.

Honestly, food was simply a struggle for us at Universal, we literally ate at WDW 3 of our 5 nights. Ha In the park they are fairly standard compared to Disney. They have a new Crepe station located at US side, pretty sure you could get them to make a meatless version for her. The Today Cafe is likely going to be her best bet for vegan salads and sandwiches. We actually ate there for breakfast most mornings and found it to be pretty good. The Harry Potter restaurants will basically offer British based food and have very limited offerings for a vegan. Just check the app and look at the menus. The Hotels and City walk likely have something to offer, but I can't really help you there as we didn't eat dinner there. I'd recommend that you call and get dinner reservations for the restaurants that will take them. We were told we didn't really need reservations because we would receive priority seating if we showed our RP room key, but we found that wasn't the case and most of the City Walk restaurants that were open were on and hour to two hour wait on a Monday night. Ha

 

[nkereina]

Typically Express will be around 1/2 the time of regular line

Everyone's experience will vary, but this has not been my experience. We frequently see standby waits of 60+ minutes when we travel, and very rarely do we wait more than 10-15 minutes in the express pass line. Unlike Fast Pass at WDW, there is not a "merge point" for express pass users. Express pass stays in a separate line all the way through. On some rides, they will operate a certain side or certain ride vehicles only for EP users. On other rides, they will take riders from the EP line first and then fill in with the standby line. It varies and depends on the ride, but we find it to be generally be faster and more efficient than Fast Pass wait times.

 

[Indio]

We were there in July 2019, and as previously stated, we usually walked on every EP ride. I don't recall slowing down for anything except for Kong. We did wait about 20 minutes for that one, but it had a 75 minute posted wait time. This was right after Hagrid's opened so we waited almost 3 hours to ride that! Best. Ride. Ever!!!

 

[Jane Miller]

The crepe stand actually has a vegan offering.

Vegan Sausage – $9.99
Filled with vegan mozzarella, Gardein sausage, vegan pesto, diced tomatoes, and balsamic glaze

 

[Jane Miller]

Maybe this article will help as well, is from 2019.

ETA: blocked the web address. Google Universal Studios vegetarian