We haven’t been to Universal since Diagon Alley/Skull Island opened. We MIGHT be stopping there before our week at WDW.
My question is how much time does having Express save over not having it. How much could you get done having Express and one day compared to NOT having Express and having like a day and maybe a third?
Can you get more done in that day? The same? Less?
just wondering so I know which hotel,etc to choose IF it works out to stop.
Thank you for your help😀
I’ve only been there in late August, so it might feel different at other times of the year, but I felt like it was an amazing perk. It’s literally like a FastPass for everything. There were long standby lines for everything, but we breezed right past the lines. I don’t think we waited longer than 10 minutes for anything. I don’t know how long people without it were waiting but the lines looked long and people seemed grumpy.
One caveat though, there isn’t an express pass line for most of the Harry Potter things. You’ll need to do those at the beginning of the day if you have early entry or at the end of the day. So the express pass plus early entry is even more of a perk than just the express pass alone.
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When will you be there? I think that makes a big difference. If you are going during a high crowd level, I think Express Passes are invaluable and can save you hours. If you are going during the slow season, they can be helpful, but not nearly as necessary.
That is kind of what we were thinking. Thank you.
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We are going late July so we’re expecting it to be busy like Disney.
Then I would strongly recommend Express Passes. We went the week of July 4th in 2015. We had three children with us, so that always slows things down a bit. We had one full day and two partial days. With Express Passes, we were able to go on everything we wanted to, and repeat some of our favorite rides. Our full day, we were able to go back to the room and take a nap and a shower in the middle of the day when the heat was unbearable. We are huge Harry Potter fanatics, so we wanted to spend a good amount of time in those areas. If you don’t want to go on everything, you may be okay without Express Passes, but I believe your sanity would be thankful for them if you can afford it. They will literally save you hours of waiting in line during the summer.
I will also add that it was our experience that the last hour before the park closes is the best time for touring the Harry Potter areas. Since the big rides in those areas do not take Express Pass, the lines during the day can get ridiculously long. We were able to get in line for Gringotts, ride Gringotts, get in line for the Hogwarts Express, ride the Hogwarts Express, get in line for Forbidden Journey and ride Forbidden Journey all in the last hour before the parks closed.
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Great info, thanks so much😀.
You are most welcome!
We were there in April last year. I would say moderate crowds. We have been spoiled - I would not go back without Express Pass. Although some of the rides don’t take it the majority do (including the 2 roller coasters in HP).
We did MIB 3 or 4 times in a row. Line was easily 45 minutes. We passed the same people in line 3 times. Same with the roller coaster in HP. Yes you still do have to wait in some lines even with Express Pass - Minions, Simpsons etc.
However LOVED it - phenomenal perk. Loved our time at US. Were were WDW hardcore - however after being at US - that is our new favorite.
Best thing - Didn’t have to plan a thing!!!