FOTL Phasing Out???!!!

[IOAdude]

I read in a past message that the FOTL acess might go away or not be as useful for on-site guests any more due to a person suing US because they said that the FOTL line merged with the express line and that was false advertising! Is this true? Please let it not be.

 

[WebmasterBarry]

I didn't read anything about this. FOTL is like an all-day Universal Express pass. There is no need to reserve a time or get a Universal Express tickets. Onsite hotel guests can flash their keys and go through the Universal Express line all day, regardless if Express tickets have all been given out or not.

 

[Sleepy]

In a way I do feel the advertisement is misleading. They make it sound like if you spend the extra money to stay onsite, you are given this wonderful privilege of FRONT OF THE LINE. What does that mean to the consumer? Exactly what it says....FRONT OF THE LINE! I was shocked during my stay in March to find EXPRESS pass holders in the same line as us. I thought we were in the wrong line. That makes them FOTL too. They should advertise for onsite guests that they do not have to wait in the lines to RECEIVE Express passes....afterall, our room key is like a permenant all day Express pass......NOT FOTL. Wonder how they advertise the VIP passes if we are told we get FOTL? I am not trying to start an argument or even be picky. I just don't think it's right to mislead this way. They should simply advertise that your room key is an all day Express pass and leave it at that.

 

[johare]

FOTL is no longer being advertised for onsite hotel guests. If you go to the universal web page the benefits for hotel guests is listed as follows:

"Express Ride Access", Access All Day Every Day!
Early theme park admission on select days
Complimentary on-site transportation
Can arrange priority seating at select UNIVERSAL OrlandoSM restaurants
Complimentary delivery of purchases to room
And more!

Doesn't sound like false advertising to me.

Now, the Loews website still says "VIP Front of the line access", however the Loews website also still lists the Hard Rock Hotel as coming soon...

 

[Beckles]

Universal has not been calling it Front of the Line for a while, and now they're even getting rid of the "No Line, No Wait* (* less than 15 minutes)" motto with the 15 minute disclaimer.

As I've pointed out here on the board many times, the FOTL misnomer is being not being perpetuated by Universal, because they've gotten rid of that name.

 

[johare]

Exactly...if they is any confusion, just follow this link for an accurate description of Universal Express.

http://www.universalstudios.com/themeparks/html/orlando/parkinfo/express/

There is also an '*additional info' link at the bottom which gives even more details.

 

[msim]

Okay, some one please spell it out in plain English. If you stay at the HRH, do you have to wait for some kind of "fast pass" ticket, or do you get to cut in front of all the non onsite guests. I may be slow, but I find the description on the website a little ambiguous. Thanks!

 

[johare]

You don't have to actually get an Express Pass, you simply join the Universal Express line as if you had a current reservation. Just think of your room key card as a wild card Express Pass good on any attraction at any time.

 

[disneydoc]

I agree with those who feel the FOTL is misleading. The latest plans call for hotel quest to have access to each ride once per day via the Express line. Our hotel keys will not work as a wild card express pass as some suggest. For those of you who feel that it's not please explain to my family (and lots of others) who booked months back when Universal most certainly claimed "Front of the Line All Day Every Day" only now to have the rules changed several months before our arrival date. Oh sure if we don't like it we can change hotels but in order to get discounts and special rooms you must book early. Changing now would cost me extra money. There are lots of people who booked onsite hotels soley because of the FOTL benefit. How do you compensate those who in good faith made reservations thinking they will arrive and be able to enjoy their favorite rides as much as they like only to find out when they check in that things have changed? Not everybody reads the websites weekly to find out about changes. Also my brochure sent to me as confirmation of my reservation states "All Day Everyday". If Universal is worried about getting sued they had better contact all of their upcoming guest and explain the change in policy.

 

[Sleepy]

msim.....you do not get to cut in front of the offsite guests when using your hotel key. If compared to Disney, you are getting in a line similar to Disney fastpass line which has offsite guests waiting as well. There never really was such a thing as Front of the Line (cutting in front of the offsite guests) as advertised....it was simply get in the *fastpass* line without getting a *fastpass* ticket. Hope this helps to clear up any confusion.

 

[johare]

disneydoc,

They are not currently limiting hotel guests to only once per attraction and I'm not really sure that they will anytime soon...perhaps once Royal Pacific is open they will need too.

As far as unlimited FOTL, I'm sure somewhere in the fine print they reserve the right to make changes (probably without notice too). Also, "All Day, Every Day" doesn't necessary imply that a person gets repeated access to the same attraction all day. I think they are trying to differentiate between their previous earlier entry program where guests only got priority access to the attractions for a couple hours in the morning.

One other thought...if they do start limiting onsite hotel guests to one Express entrance per day they will need to use some sort of card reader to read the room 'key'. If this is the case, it would be very easy to encode the key with a special code for people who made reservations prior to a cutoff date so they would indeed have "All day every day" access. If they can't do this, then I thing it would be appropriate for them to send letters to people holding reservations notifying them of the change.

 

[CPM]

Well, if you look at the brochures to both hotels they read "Front-of-the-line acess to choice attractions during select park hours" So to me there sure was or is FOTL. It wasn't something we all made up!

 

[johare]

Nobody is saying that anyone made up FOTL access, just that things change and unfortunately for some, FOTL was one of the things Universal decided needed changing.

 

[lookingforward]

While it is not called FOTL anymore, I went in April and it still worked like a charm. We went in the express line and never waited more than five or ten minutes. This when the posted wait time was 115 minutes! It was great not having to get express passes. There were lines to get the express passes and then they ran out of them by noon during Easter week. We just breezed on to the rides with our hotel cards. It was awesome and we will be back on a regular basis as long as it lasts. Have a great time.

 

[Peterd]

In Feb, at the JP ride, we noticed the expess pass line to the right of the exit. We were instructed by different cast members to go through the store to the exit, and passed the express line numerous times in our five day stay at Hard Rock. They may have changed it, but at spiderman, we walked up the exit, passed the single rider line and right to the front, (didn't notice the express pass line on this one though). On our check out day, before moving over to Disney, the kids rode the coasters 20 something times in a row. This was all before noon during president's week. Kids loved it. In Nov. we're going back to the Hard Rock for the three days before Disney and two days after, all because of the Front of the Line. Definitely a Great Perk. It still says Fotl on our resv sheet we just got, but if it went to express pass line instead, it's still a great thing.

 

[Beckles]

It would be 100% correct to say calling the current system Front of Line is misleading, because Universal does not call it FOTL anymore. Yes its a misleading name for the system, and that's why it's NOT the name of the system.

As for what you saw in February, in February they still did have the original FOTL and Express was completely separate, it was after that time that FOTL was eliminated and hotel guests instead received unrestricted Universal Express access.

 

[Radar]

We went in early June, never more than five minutes, many walk on especially early, I agree its not totally FOTL, but its stil fantastic, you get to do it all day, its the way the parks were meant to be, if you're staying at HR, its like two minutes to Universal, come on it will be a trip you will remember, I've still got the blues, it was a blast from the minute we arrived, its worth staying onsite, you will get about 4 times the value compared to waiting in line all day at Disney, go early it will allow you to be FOTL for many of the rides or two minute wait or so.Would also point out if you take the elevator for MIB and others can reride with key card. We rode this like 20 times in our 3 days...