Value of the Express Pass on 4/10 crowd days?

[DiannaVM]

It depends when it November you are considering. If it was the week after Thanksgiving and it was anything like this year or two years ago, it's not needed. If it's Thanksgiving week, then it would be tough.

Sorry, we are going to be there the first week in November.

 

[macraven]

in past years, the first week of november have been decent, low attendance.

with the parks becoming more popular, who knows if past crowd patterns will change or not.

 

[HM]

How many days will you be there?
If you are there three days or more, there is no need for the EP. You just prioritize the rides so that you get some done each morning that will have lines later on in the afternoon. Do take time to use the resort pool in the afternoon and then return to the park for the less crowded evening hours.

 

[3darlings]

We stayed at Cabana Bay last week which has EE but not EP. We have always stayed at one of the deluxe hotels before but the days we went were going were suppose to be slow days and I wanted to try the new hotel. Let's just say I will never go without the EP again. While EE was somewhat helpful (but not as much as I thought), the parks seemed jammed to us and we kept lamenting not having EE. We all agreed that we will never do that again! To me the value of EE is even higher now!

 

[keishashadow]

We had a level "2" day that saw a 50 minute standby wait for Superman, so yes I say go for the Express Pass.

imo the crowd calendars are a good tool but by no means perfect. Parks always subject to ebbs, flows & tour groups.

The FOTL perk makes even really crowded times bearable. Not to mention being able to easily duck back to hotel for a break if it gets too crazy.

 

[macraven]

Many of the regulars here will look at the ep costs for a specific date to get an idea of possible crowd level the parks could have

That UO site helps us establish the info we give to those that come here to ask about what to do
Buy the ep or pass on it

Ep prices change
They can go up closer to the date but they don't drop in price

Like Keisha said, it's not perfect but a general guage

Go during a holiday time, ep is worth it
Go during a 6 crowd level, wait until you are in the park to decide
Why buy them if it is not needed
They are date/ park marked and not refundable
Even with a thunderstorm going nonstop, UO will not do a refund

 

[rdevine10]

We have spent lots of time over the last few weeks debating the need for express pass for our 1st Universal Studios trip. In the end here is what we did. My kids really preferred the look of Cabana Bay over the deluxe hotels. The price was much better on our budget. I like being able to get a family suite with just a little more room. We are going the 3rd week of april. I have consulted crowd calendar after calendar and know nothing is perfect. In fact, our crowds were predicted to be lower than they actually were for our last Disney trip in late August. That being said the crowds are predicted to be slow to moderate that week.

Additionally, a good friend of mine went the same week last year and stayed at Cabana Bay. She said the lines were very reasonable and really told us not to waste our money on the passes. (or upgraded / throw away room). Hopefully that is the right answer. But we will have unlimited tickets and 8 days to tour- so I am more than confident we will experience everything we want to easily. If we only had 3 days I would probably go with the deluxe hotel.

 

[macraven]

you have a valid point.
since you will be at the parks for 8 days, you can get it all in over that time period easily.

 

[dixonsontour]

I agree a longer trip makes a big difference.

We tend to do parks mornings (early entry or from opening) and evening. Betyour kids love Cabana bay.

I've done a couple of trip reports from our two cabana bay trips if you want a look

http://www.disboards.com/threads/he...-12-added-universal-section-complete.3471391/

http://www.disboards.com/threads/sh...october-2014-universal-food-complete.3418576/