What do y’all think I should do?

[cb526]

Hey everyone!

I’ll be visiting for 3 park days (hopper w/ VB) in late June, either Weds 6/22-Fri 6/24 or Mon 6/27-Weds 6/29. This will be either just before or after going to Disney for 4-5 days.

Am I going to be ok just staying at Cabana Bay without EP or is it essential for me to get an EP for the couple of park to park days we’ll be doing?

It’s just going to be my 13 y/o daughter and me, so while EP wouldn’t be a crazy add on, I’d prefer to not spend extra on it if it’s not going to make that much of a difference. I also can’t justify getting more than 1 night at an EP resort and don’t really know how inconvenient resort hopping for one night would be.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[greeneyedchick]

If you have a park hopper and three days, I think you'll be okay without the express. You can check online crowd calendars to see if those days are predicated to be especially bad. If so, then maybe spring for 1 day of Express passes (probably Saturday) and ride all of your top priorities then. Note that Velocicoaster and Hagrids are not included in the Express. I agree with this strategy because it would make the longest lines in the park even longer. I think Disney would be wise to get rid of lightening lanes/ genie for the most popular rides, but I know they won't give up that revenue.

Universal's hours are usually longer at that time of year. You can also get into the park a 1/2 earlier since you're staying at Cabana. I feel like most people who enter the park early, go right to Hagrids or Velocicoaster, so I'm not sure if you're saving a lot of time by doing that. I would watch the wait times in the app for a week or so before you go to see what the pattern is. A better strategy may be to get in line for them shortly before closing. Be aware that unlike Disney, Universal sometimes closes the Hagrid's line earlier than park closing if the wait is long. I would look up some touring plans for the two parks. The nice thing is that because you're not worrying about fast passes and such, you can minimize the amount of walking and back-tracking through the park. Utilize the single-rider lines for Fast and Furious, Hagrid's and Gringott's and any others that offer it. Prioritize the rides so that you don't waste your time on something like the Griffendorffer unless you've done all of the other rides first. Have fun!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Are you willing to use single rider lines, at least for re-rides? That will make a huge difference in how much you get done. Also willingness to go early and stay late (mid-day break or not).

 

[AJA]

I 100% agree with going early (and coming back/staying until close) to the parks. Plan on getting to City Walk about an hour before early entry (if you are staying at CB get in the Bus line about 1.5 hrs before park early entry).

Do some research to know what rides will be open early and are on your “must do” list. Plan on doing those rides first each day. Also if just walking through the Harry Potter areas and enjoying them is on your must do list (they are amazing if you are a HP fan) set aside one day to do that area early, they get super crowded.

Be ready to use the single rider lines as an option.

Eat lunch early or late.

You can always purchase Express one morning if you see it’s going to be too crowded to get in the must not miss rides together. But I would not purchase it day one, get familiar with the parks first.

 

[SkyGuy]

Hijacking - regarding single rider lines: we were there a few weeks ago for three days and could never catch the single rider line for Hagrids open. We finally caught the regular line at 50 minutes and jumped in - we were on site and had early entry, but we were too lazy to get up and go. Is it regularly closed, or did we just catch it at an odd time? (This was our first Universal trip in at least 8 years, so many new things!)