Express Pass President's Day Weekend

First time travelers to Universal and IOA over President’s Day weekend. Crowds rated at 9 or 10 those days. Only our son (11) likes the really stomach churning roller coasters and other rides. Rest of us (mother, father, daughter (8)) only like milder rides (think no more intense than Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story Mania, or Soarin’ at WDW). We are ok with son riding single on the big rides Right now, we have reservations at Cabana Bay to get early admission to Harry Potter. Is it worth us moving to premium hotel to get Universal Express for this type of tour (even if just for one night)?

Those are some pretty stout crowds and if you he is anything like I was at that age he’ll want to ride them multiple times. Depending on your budget it would certainly be worth having for your entire group and by moving into a deluxe resort you’ll get them on both your check in and out day. Here are the rides that the express pass works on.

If that is a bit of a stretch you might consider purchasing an express pass just for him. I would compare the cost between the two and select which one is better for your budget. Keeping in mind that not only will you all get an express pass for staying in the deluxe resort you also get to stay in a nicer resort.

If neither of those are feasible you can also have him take advantage of single rider lines because he’ll be riding them alone. here are the rides that have those.

https://touringplans.com/universal-orlando/single-rider

But of course that is a much more limited selection.

1 Like

I was there last President’s Day. The crowds were the largest I have ever seen at Universal… much larger than Labor Day this year. It was packed!! Lines were huge! I would definitely move to a deluxe if you can. I have a 10 year old DS. We really enjoy the Hard Rock. It is also a very short walk to the parks from there. Also, the Express pass can be used at many shows as well as rides, so you could get some use out of them that way too.

1 Like

We were there in Aug two summers ago and didn’t do any of the big thrill rides, but still found the express pass extremely beneficial!! The lines for most everything were huge!! We got to do so many different rides while we were there because of the passes. We stayed at the Royal Pacific to try to keep costs down. It actually turned out cheaper for us to stay there than at Cabana buying passes. Good luck!! And have a great trip!!