Express Pass Hot Take: You don't need them, even when it's busy.

[cfoxga]

Back when deluxe resorts had lots of $250-300 APH rates during busy times (Thanksgiving, President's Day, Spring Break), I would never consider going without EPs for our family of 4. For $150 per day, we got a much nicer room, boat/walking access, and EPs. We've stayed an ESS/CB and while we enjoyed the trips, it really isn't a fair comparison. The trips we had at deluxe resorts were jut more relaxing.

Things have changed a lot since in the last 6 months. APH rates at the deluxe rooms have all but disappeared for peak dates, and the rack rates have gone up a lot. So staying at CB and hitting the parks early every day (or late in the evening) for rides can save a lot of $$$.

 

[dez1978]

I can see not having them if you were on a longer trip at a "slow" time of the year in cooler weather. However we are going the end of May, which I expect will be neither cool nor slow lol. I bargained with my family that if we were going when it was going to be hot and busy I would figure out a way that did not make them get up at the butt crack of dawn and allowed mid day swim breaks. We only have 4 days, including our arrival day. We will not be "rope dropping" so I think EP will be very much needed

Edit to add: In a group of 8 we have 4 kids and 2 of them are 7 & 8. Neither of them will want to do the single rider line and neither wil my 10 year old. They'll want to be with us. My 10 yr old is a pretty anxious kid. Like he won't even go in the garage alone lol. He def would not want to ride without one of us.

 

[mommajen08]

I completely agree with OP. And want to reassure those who feel frustrated because they cannot afford the deluxe resorts or separate EPs.

We stayed at Cabana Bay years ago when it first opened. Our trip was during spring break and crowds were rated 10 out of 10. Our daughters were 8 and 12. We did two days at USF and one day at IOA. And with no EPs, we were able to do everything we wanted and some rides even twice. And still left the park well before close each night with time to relax and enjoy our hotel. I was completely surprised at how easy it was to manage this despite hearing that you "needed" an EP to have a great time.

We are returning this spring break with 14 and 18-year-olds. This time we are staying at Dockside. It would be well over $2000 more for us to stay at a deluxe resort. This time we have 4 days' worth of tickets and I have no worries that we will have an even better time than we did 6 years ago. It may take a little more planning upfront (I swear by Touring Plans for Universal and Disney) but the little bit of extra work is definitely worth saving $2000.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I land on both side LOL Most of our trips we have not had EPs and totally enjoyed ourselves. Were the family usually playing games while waiting in line. So standing in line isn't a game changer. Other times, if I can get a really good price at a premier hotel I will either stay there the entire stay or get a room for 1 night to get 2 days of EP's. This is what we did on our last trip and the one coming up next week. My sister is joining us so we went with ESS with the seperate bedroom, GREAT resort with an even GREATER price tag We will have 4 park days and have EP's for 2 of them. I have never just purchased EPs seperately for a day, I find their price outrageous.

 

[dez1978]

I completely agree with OP. And want to reassure those who feel frustrated because they cannot afford the deluxe resorts or separate EPs.

We stayed at Cabana Bay years ago when it first opened. Our trip was during spring break and crowds were rated 10 out of 10. Our daughters were 8 and 12. We did two days at USF and one day at IOA. And with no EPs, we were able to do everything we wanted and some rides even twice. And still left the park well before close each night with time to relax and enjoy our hotel. I was completely surprised at how easy it was to manage this despite hearing that you "needed" an EP to have a great time.

We are returning this spring break with 14 and 18-year-olds. This time we are staying at Dockside. It would be well over $2000 more for us to stay at a deluxe resort. This time we have 4 days' worth of tickets and I have no worries that we will have an even better time than we did 6 years ago. It may take a little more planning upfront (I swear by Touring Plans for Universal and Disney) but the little bit of extra work is definitely worth saving $2000.

lol, that is usually my Disney strategy but I think I broke my family last time I promised a go with the flow trip instead of insane planning and touring plans and it's killing me a little lol. I did warn them Hargrids would take some time and planning. and I think when we get there my kids will be more likely to get go go go than they think

 

[DizneyFamof4]

lol, that is usually my Disney strategy but I think I broke my family last time I promised a go with the flow trip instead of insane planning and touring plans and it's killing me a little lol. I did warn them Hargrids would take some time and planning. and I think when we get there my kids will be more likely to get go go go than they think

I use to be the tour planner for our family many years ago and then after a last minute trip where I did not plan anything, I never looked back and it has been great ever since. We no longer need to go from point A to point B all the time and we have a handful of "must do's" but that's it. Our trips have slowed down and we come back home actually feeling relaxed and we have a great time. When I did the obsessive touring plans, we would feel like we needed a vacation from our vacation. We do not miss those days. LOL I guess the biggest part is that we do not focus on anything that we may have missed and just focused on what we did do.

 

[dez1978]

I use to be the tour planner for our family many years ago and then after a last minute trip where I did not plan anything, I never looked back and it has been great ever since. We no longer need to go from point A to point B all the time and we have a handful of "must do's" but that's it. Our trips have slowed down and we come back home actually feeling relaxed and we have a great time. When I did the obsessive touring plans, we would feel like we needed a vacation from our vacation. We do not miss those days. LOL I guess the biggest part is that we do not focus on anything that we may have missed and just focused on what we did do.

to be fair tho, our 1st trip was going to be a 1 and done thing so I was packing it all into a week. Then the next one (less than a year later lol) we took family with us and so they wanted to do all the things. We ended up buying DVC by the end of that trip lol. Then the 3rd trip was in the "after times" in March of 2021 with no FP and sort of busy, so I obsessively planned to be sure we could get in the things we wanted to do. So this will be our 1st family universal trip and I'm trying to be the very opposite of how I've been the last 3 trips and just make this one more relaxing. I think the EP will allow us to hit all the big things over 3 days, go back to the ones they want to redo and still maintain a slower pace. Not that 7, 8, 10 and 13 yr old boys have a slower pace lol. It's either full speed or asleep but all of us adults are in our 40's so we need to chill a bit

 

[DizneyFamof4]

to be fair tho, our 1st trip was going to be a 1 and done thing so I was packing it all into a week. Then the next one (less than a year later lol) we took family with us and so they wanted to do all the things. We ended up buying DVC by the end of that trip lol. Then the 3rd trip was in the "after times" in March of 2021 with no FP and sort of busy, so I obsessively planned to be sure we could get in the things we wanted to do. So this will be our 1st family universal trip and I'm trying to be the very opposite of how I've been the last 3 trips and just make this one more relaxing. I think the EP will allow us to hit all the big things over 3 days, go back to the ones they want to redo and still maintain a slower pace. Not that 7, 8, 10 and 13 yr old boys have a slower pace lol. It's either full speed or asleep but all of us adults are in our 40's so we need to chill a bit

We started going regularly and realized that if we did not get something in "oh well, next time" and it made a BIG difference in our touring. Plus, we loved FP+ and knowing we already were guaranteed rides at each park, this also made a big difference. We wished we bought DVC way back when we started going, but as they say "hindsight is 20/20" Just have to wait for Hagrid and Velocicoaster.

 

[Westerner]

Velocicoaster & Hagrid. 2 rides I don't mind waiting for

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Velocicoaster & Hagrid. 2 rides I don't mind waiting for

Our favorites as well, we normally ride them 2 times each day that we are there

 

[Gentry2004]

Back when deluxe resorts had lots of $250-300 APH rates during busy times (Thanksgiving, President's Day, Spring Break), I would never consider going without EPs for our family of 4. For $150 per day, we got a much nicer room, boat/walking access, and EPs. We've stayed an ESS/CB and while we enjoyed the trips, it really isn't a fair comparison. The trips we had at deluxe resorts were jut more relaxing.

Things have changed a lot since in the last 6 months. APH rates at the deluxe rooms have all but disappeared for peak dates, and the rack rates have gone up a lot. So staying at CB and hitting the parks early every day (or late in the evening) for rides can save a lot of $$$.

Agree. I really miss the deluxe resort APH rates, or even Saavy Traveler. We did spring break 2021 on an APH rate and Christmas 2021 on a ST rate that was actually lower than our APH rate at spring break. We were looking for a few days this spring break but never saw a good rate of any kind, and decided to do Discovery Cove/SW/Aquatica instead. We still have the annual passes (15 month passes) so we may stop by for an evening or two but not sure.

 

[BostonEd]

Let's ask a quite specific hypothetical question: how valuable are EPs if you are a family of four, going in late August (so somewhat lower crowds) for two park days? If your emphasis is Harry Potter, does that change the answer?

 

[sandam1]

Let's ask a quite specific hypothetical question: how valuable are EPs if you are a family of four, going in late August (so somewhat lower crowds) for two park days? If your emphasis is Harry Potter, does that change the answer?

How old are the kids? Are you willing/able to use single rider? Are you staying onsite (at a non-EP hotel)? Can you get everyone up for rope drop?

 

[BostonEd]

Good points. I should have said they are 10 and 11, and so I don't think we will be doing single rider.

Still up in the air about where we're staying. Obviously if we end up in an EP resort, the question is moot. But we could end up at Cabana Bay (early entry, right?) or even completely off property.

 

[sandam1]

Good points. I should have said they are 10 and 11, and so I don't think we will be doing single rider.

Still up in the air about where we're staying. Obviously if we end up in an EP resort, the question is moot. But we could end up at Cabana Bay (early entry, right?) or even completely off property.

Without my crystal ball, it's hard to predict crowd levels, but I would guess that you would be okay without EP. For the Harry Potter rides, you are going to want to do the full line for both Gringotts and Forbidden Journey at some point (preferably for your first ride) anyways. And there is no EP for Hagrids. So if your emphasis truly is Harry Potter, EP probably isn't as important. But if your kids are all about the rides (which I could totally see at that age), EP might be worth it.

Personally, I would HIGHLY recommend staying onsite as early entry is the best time to explore the HP lands without a crush of people. It's impossible to know which park will have early entry, but if I have to guess, I would say Islands and Hogsmeade gets crowded quicker than Diagon Alley.

IMHO, two days is tight to do "everything" at Universal even at a very low crowd time. Even just focusing on the HP areas, if you want to get wands and do all of the wand stops, eat at the restaurants, explore every inch of the shops, ride the rides multiple times and explore the ride queues, it can easily take up one whole day (been there, done that on my first trip).

Clear as mud, right?

 

[BostonEd]

Clear as mud, right?

No, that's helpful, thanks.

Regarding crowd levels, I think late August is quite low, relatively. Maybe not quite September crowds, but better even than early August. Whether or not we can handle the humidity is another thing!

The focus will be Harry Potter. My daughter is actually more into thrill rides than my son, but even there it is not like we'll have to do every thrill ride. And we like dInosaurs, so Jurassic stuff would probably be second. (Speaking of single rider lines, is there one for the Velocicoaster? I do want to do that one, personally. I think even my daughter won't be interested in it...yet.) Hulk coaster no, Spider-man ride yes. "The Simpsons" is probably my favorite show of all time.

 

[sandam1]

My daughter is actually more into thrill rides than my son, but even there it is not like we'll have to do every thrill ride. And we like dInosaurs, so Jurassic stuff would probably be second.

There are only two rides for JP River Adventure Ride which usually doesn't have much of a wait and Velocicoaster. There is also the Pteranodon Flyers, but one of your kids would have to be under 56" to ride that. That ride can be a time suck and also doesn't accept Express Pass. But there is a lot of neat things to explore in the Discover Center.

(Speaking of single rider lines, is there one for the Velocicoaster? I do want to do that one, personally. I think even my daughter won't be interested in it...yet.)

Yes, VC does have a single rider line. How much quicker it goes depends on a lot of factors, but VC usually has a shorter line than, say, Hagrid's, just because there are fewer people interested in riding it. But the JP Discovery Center is right next to it so if you split up, your wife and kids could explore the Center while you are riding.

Spider-man ride yes. "The Simpsons" is probably my favorite show of all time.

For some reason, Spiderman always has a longer line than Transformers, which doesn't make sense since they are the same ride. We usually keep an eye on that ride on that app and try to catch it when the wait time is lower. But it's not a "must do" for me (I like the Transformer story line better) so I'm not willing to give up prime HP time to ride either. It is sometimes open during early entry so it's a "must do" for your family, keep an eye out for that.

I don't do Simpsons, but it never seems to get crazy wait times unless the parks are just crazy crowded to begin with.

To get a feel for the pattern of wait times, I would recommend downloading the Universal app and randomly taking a look on "slow days" and then on busier days, near park open, midday and closer to park close. You can learn a lot from that. For instance, if we don't have early entry at Studios, I've found that the best time to get on Minions is at the very end of the night.

 

[zillayen]

Let's ask a quite specific hypothetical question: how valuable are EPs if you are a family of four, going in late August (so somewhat lower crowds) for two park days? If your emphasis is Harry Potter, does that change the answer?

We have 11 year old twins. We went for Spring Break with EPs (staying at PB) and rode almost everything in both parks in 2 days, then had a third day to redo their favorites. The only ride we wanted to do but skipped was Hagrids bc it was down when we had the 1.5 hrs to ride it. The best part of the EP to me wasn’t just the short wait times, it was that we had plenty of extra time to hang out at the pool and explore. If you want to really explore the HP areas that aren’t ride queues it might be worth it.

Also, I know you said your kids wouldn’t do single rider, but once my son had ridden Hulk once with me he was fine to redo it on his own (my back needed a break). The unlimited EP was great for that bc I would send him up and he’d be back in 10 min.

 

[Westerner]

For some reason, Spiderman always has a longer line than Transformers, which doesn't make sense since they are the same ride. We usually keep an eye on that ride on that app and try to catch it when the wait time is lower. But it's not a "must do" for me (I like the Transformer story line better) so I'm not willing to give up prime HP time to ride either. It is sometimes open during early entry so it's a "must do" for your family, keep an eye out for that.

I think Transformers is just an old ride at this point. Hardly any wait for it when I went in early March.

 

[sandam1]

I think Transformers is just an old ride at this point. Hardly any wait for it when I went in early March.

Actually Spiderman opened in 1999 and Transformers in 2013.