What crowd level makes the Express Pass necessary?

[phinz]

For many of us it's always necessary.

I'd like to stay at CB or SF but just can't give up the express pass.

With the amount of money we saved by staying at CBBR instead of one of the premium hotels we were able to buy the Express Unlimited passes and still have money left over.

 

[Mom3girls]

Here are the nachos from the Bula Bar...we tried the chicken YUM!!!! They also have beef. The two of us couldn't finish!

 

[Mom3girls]

We stayed at RPR in August and are going back next Friday with our teenagers and my Mother!! We are absolutely over the moon excited to show them the entire resort Weather looks like it's gonna cooperate and we will get to swim in the afternoon. The EP is GREAT!!! We almost feel bad about going ahead of everyone and practically walking onto the rides NOT!!

 

[ELSA711]

If your focus is HP, I'd stay onsite for a least one night to at least get 2 days in the park

The various crowd calendars can differ a bit for same dates. A good tool but not definitive by any means IMO, especially when you have the 'free' EP @ U & an hour EE to HP.

To highjack the OPs question. Harry Potter will be our main focus for 3 days in June. Do you think EP or staying on site is necessary? Family of 5 and kids will be 13, 9, 7

 

[keishashadow]

To highjack the OPs question. Harry Potter will be our main focus for 3 days in June. Do you think EP or staying on site is necessary? Family of 5 and kids will be 13, 9, 7

'When' in June? Tour groups in short supply last year due to economy but it still does get busy when school lets out. 1st week in June, I'd say maybe offsite.

If booking onsite make sure to pick a room that sleeps 5.

You could always do just 1 night onsite (for 2 days FOTL perk). It's really worth it if you factor in the cost of buying EP for a family of 5 for 2 days IMO!

Good luck

 

[ELSA711]

'When' in June? Tour groups in short supply last year due to economy but it still does get busy when school lets out. 1st week in June, I'd say maybe offsite.

If booking onsite make sure to pick a room that sleeps 5.

You could always do just 1 night onsite (for 2 days FOTL perk). It's really worth it if you factor in the cost of buying EP for a family of 5 for 2 days IMO!

Good luck

We will be there 6/15-6/17. We have an off site place booked but maybe the extra hour in the morning onsite is good enough without EP
We are new to HP and are now all dying to see it.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

To highjack the OPs question. Harry Potter will be our main focus for 3 days in June. Do you think EP or staying on site is necessary? Family of 5 and kids will be 13, 9, 7

We really loved having the express pass by staying at Royal Pacific, however be aware that in the Harry Potter areas there is no express pass for Gringots and Forbidden Journey rides. We were there in November and the express pass was very handy for some of the lines.

The one hour early admission which you get by staying at any of the on site resorts really helps get a jump on the Harry Potter area and above rides, whichever park is open one hour early. Granddaughters rode Gringots twice in a row!

I don't know which hotels have rooms that accomm

 

[ELSA711]

We really loved having the express pass by staying at Royal Pacific, however be aware that in the Harry Potter areas there is no express pass for Gringots and Forbidden Journey rides. We were there in November and the express pass was very handy for some of the lines.

The one hour early admission which you get by staying at any of the on site resorts really helps get a jump on the Harry Potter area and above rides, whichever park is open one hour early. Granddaughters rode Gringots twice in a row!

I don't know which hotels have rooms that accomm

Thanks! So only one park opens early to the onsite guest each day, not both.

 

[keishashadow]

We will be there 6/15-6/17. We have an off site place booked but maybe the extra hour in the morning onsite is good enough without EP
We are new to HP and are now all dying to see it.

It will start to get busy mid June. You may be very surprised to find that the other attractions in the park are amazing too. We love HP and the theme park did a great job but you will have plenty of time to experience the rest of the parks, this is where the FOTL perk is invaluable.

Re pricing out the resorts for June, the rates are crazy expensive last year or so out of the gate. Keep stalking for price drops & consider buying an AP for one person as the APH rate can make a huge difference.

 

[ELSA711]

It will start to get busy mid June. You may be very surprised to find that the other attractions in the park are amazing too. We love HP and the theme park did a great job but you will have plenty of time to experience the rest of the parks, this is where the FOTL perk is invaluable.

Re pricing out the resorts for June, the rates are crazy expensive last year or so out of the gate. Keep stalking for price drops & consider buying an AP for one person as the APH rate can make a huge difference.

Thanks! I did Universal in 2000 and loved it, but my kids are not thrill seekers and I always think of Universal as thrill rides.
Space Mountain is about most my kids can handle

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

I think only one park opens the hour early, on our day it was Universal Studios, so upon entering we just followed the crowd to Diagon Alley. Spent the first hour there then took the Hogwarts Express (opened at regular opening time, not the hour early) to IofA to ride Forbidden Journey and spend time there. You need the "park to park" ticket in order to ride Hogwarts Express.

There are many rides for the non thrill seekers. Loved Despicable Me and the ET ride! Even though ET is an old movie, out little granddaughters loved the ride and did it several times.

 

[ELSA711]

I think only one park opens the hour early, on our day it was Universal Studios, so upon entering we just followed the crowd to Diagon Alley. Spent the first hour there then took the Hogwarts Express (opened at regular opening time, not the hour early) to IofA to ride Forbidden Journey and spend time there. You need the "park to park" ticket in order to ride Hogwarts Express.

There are many rides for the non thrill seekers. Loved Despicable Me and the ET ride! Even though ET is an old movie, out little granddaughters loved the ride and did it several times.

Oh, we will love the ET ride. I swear I did it in 2000 but my sister doesn't remember. Was the wait really long on that one?

 

[juliebee]

With the amount of money we saved by staying at CBBR instead of one of the premium hotels we were able to buy the Express Unlimited passes and still have money left over.

Not us. It is $100-110 per person per day for Unlimited Express during our travel dates. Ouch! At the cheapest, that is $300. I'm paying $364/night for RPR so basically that is $300 for the unlimited express and $64 for the hotel per night.

 

[juliebee]

I think only one park opens the hour early,

When and where is the early opening park announced?

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Oh, we will love the ET ride. I swear I did it in 2000 but my sister doesn't remember. Was the wait really long on that one?

Not when we were there. In fact, granddaughters loved it so much they got off and then went back and rode it again! They loved hearing ET say their name at the end of the ride.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

When and where is the early opening park announced?

check the Universal web site. They announce the early park maybe a month or so out. We are going back in February and the February schedule for early opening is not published yet.

 

[ELSA711]

I will be bombarding the Universal experts over the next few months so I apologize.
Planning 2 trips next year. 2 weeks in June and 1 week in November (Thanksgiving week). One trip will be all Disney and the other will be a mix.
Which time of year should we choose for Universal?

And do you need to purchase EP for everyone or only a few tickets?

 

[phinz]

And do you need to purchase EP for everyone or only a few tickets?

Judging by our experience two days ago, you could have two express passes for four people and nobody would be the wiser. Two people ride. Two people wait. Then they swap passes and the other two people ride. Unless all lines are really long, this would work. The EP is not tied to you in any way once you fingerprint at the front gates.

 

[dmanwi]

We were off-site on Thanksgiving and the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We did not have EE or exxpress pass but were there for rope drop and used touring plans to choose the day we did each park and used their touring plans. I am not sure if we lucked out and it wasn't busy or what but we had almost no lines except the HP rides which we didn't mind at all. Were done both days by 5pm easily. We did skip the big coasters like Hulk but did everything else.

 

[nkereina]

We are going 3/30-4/2, so almost the same dates. The rates at RPR are pretty high right now. We compared a 3 night stay at RPR to a 3 night stay at Sapphire Falls/adding 3 days unlimited EP for two adults, and the price difference was negligible. It was essentially the same cost, so we're giving Sapphire Falls a try. CBBR may be even less.