Will We Need Express Pass Jan 31/Feb 1 2023?

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We are traveling to WDW Jan 26 - Feb 5, 2023. We are currently planning to visit Universal parks 1/31 and 2/1. Will we need Express Pass to enjoy the rides with little wait times or is it slow enough this time of year? I am hoping that being between MLK weekend and Mardi Gras, it will be relatively low crowds.

If needed, I could make a one night ressie at RPR for 2 days of line skipping for our family of 4 adults but I would rather not waste the $500 if it is not needed. Thoughts?

 

[Grumpy92]

I really don't think you will. We have found the lines very manageable except on holidays.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I personally wouldn't bother for 2 winter weekdays that don't skirt holiday weekends anyways.

Is it a first trip? For me, using the single rider lines to save $500 is absolutely worth it, in the event of larger than expected crowds.

 

[Lashed34]

As always, I'd look at one of the 3 premier hotels to stay 1 night in and get 2 days express passes.

 

[georgina]

We are traveling to WDW Jan 26 - Feb 5, 2023. We are currently planning to visit Universal parks 1/31 and 2/1. Will we need Express Pass to enjoy the rides with little wait times or is it slow enough this time of year? I am hoping that being between MLK weekend and Mardi Gras, it will be relatively low crowds.

If needed, I could make a one night ressie at RPR for 2 days of line skipping for our family of 4 adults but I would rather not waste the $500 if it is not needed. Thoughts?

I agree EP should not be needed, especially with a group of adults that can use SR lines. Since you are going 2 days, a night onsite at a non-EP Universal resort hotel would give you early entry at 1 park and save you 2 days parking fees at the Uni garage if you are driving over (although the hotels all charge for parking, 1 night is less than the garage for 2). During the off-season the parks close fairly early.

 

[wdwrule]

I agree with the many posters who said you probably won’t need them… especially on weekdays. Single rider line as mentioned is a huge time saver and in many cases results in back to back multiple rides. This past Monday for example was walk on after walk on and when we waited in the stand by lines, it was less than 20 minutes (except for Hagrid’s of course). January and February are usually the lowest crowd months unless during specific holidays.

Note on single rider line for first-timers: you’ll miss the pre-shows for the rides that offer them and some interesting details in the main queues if that’s important to you.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Thanks for all the replies! We will not be utilizing single rider lines nor will we have a car (will uber from WDW staying at POFQ). We haven't been to Uni in many years and there are several new rides we want to experience. Our last visit was after Gringotts was opened. We waited for almost 5 hours one day for that ride because of break downs but we were staying on-site for 5 days that trip so we had "time" to waste on long lines and were VERY determined to get on that ride....lol

I may keep an eye on wait times the week before our trip to see if a night at RPR might be necessary for express line access. At least it won't be hot and humid thus allowing us more patience

 

[MarBee]

Hello! Sorry to hijack OP’s thread, but I had the same question but for the end of February. We were looking at going on Thursday and Friday February 23 and 24.
Will we need EP do you think? We only have two things to get everything done, and we really want to do all of the newer rides (we haven’t been since 2018). 2 adults and 2 kids if that matters. Any advice is welcome

 

[CAPSLOCK]

We were looking at going on Thursday and Friday February 23 and 24.

My experience in 2018 was that the week leading up to President's Day weekend was much busier than the week including President's Day. Of course, times & trends may well have changed since.

All depends on your line tolerance & expectations. Weekdays should be reasonable I would think.

 

[MarBee]

My experience in 2018 was that the week leading up to President's Day weekend was much busier than the week including President's Day. Of course, times & trends may well have changed since.

All depends on your line tolerance & expectations. Weekdays should be reasonable I would think.

We were there in 2018 around the same time as well. We had EP, but barely used it because there were not long lines. I’m hoping the same is still true

 

[kittylady1972]

I agree with the others...you'll probably be okay. We were there last week, Wed and Thur, and for the most part the crowds and line were reasonable. We did have Express because we had a night booked at RPR, but without it we probably would still have been able to do all we wanted. There was only about a 30 minutes wait for Velocicoaster (regular line, no EP available) and we waited maybe 45 or so for Hagrids in the afternoon on Wednesday. While we skipped the lines, most of the time it wasn't necessary. I think Gringotts probably had the longest line but even then I suspect that was 30 minutes or less based on previous visits/waits.

Have fun!