They switched it from a 3D ride to a 2D. I do not know if they did any refurbing when they made that switch.
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Does anyone know if you buy Express Pass but can’t used it (because plans change) can you still use the value of the pass towards express passes in the future? Or is it use it or lose it?
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While hanging out in the condo I figured out the best park to start at when going on all the EP rides in all three parks. I fiddled with my times and entrances to model all four options; two starting at Epic, two ending at Epic.
Once I was done the answer was obvious. Start at the first park to open. IOA opens at 9am and the others open at 10am. Epic closes at 10pm.
Although the idea of ending at Hagrid’s was nice because then we could get in an end of the night standby ride
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I asked this on chat today. Orlando Informer has express passes that cost a little more, but are 95% refundable (according to chat).
I know my Epic AP tickets can be moved with a call, I am guessing they will do the same for express?
@hartcruise , am I correct?
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Did anyone get the newer cheeseburger tots? Was there a favorite tot dish?
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Yes, Orlando Informer has refundable Express passes (95% back). When I called UO about express passes, they said they were non refundable. When I asked about weather causing us to need to change the day, the rep said they would probably try to work with us on moving it. But she wasn’t really willing to say they would definitely let us make changes. I have seen YouTubers that said if you didn’t use them they would just refund them. But I’m not so sure that is actual policy or still true.
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I went with my favorite, Pizza. DD went with Buffalo Chicken. DH with Who Hash.
I pondered the Cheeseburger but it had pickles on it. I could have ordered without, but I love the pizza one.
We are likely going back there and might try it then. We all thought the buffalo chicken had too much vinegar in it. We often think that though.
If anyone is wondering how the diet went. I lost about 10 pounds and then I found the same over the holidays. But I probably would have gained the 10 regardless, so still a win.
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Absolutely a win!
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Hi! Tell me more! We have 3 days with EP coming up in a week and a half and have wondered about the best method to hit up all 3 parks. Did you do all three today? What were wait like times? Hagrids in 30 minutes sounds like an absolute delight.
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And it can be an expensive gamble 
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Good to know. Attraction Tickets says EPs can be canceled at any time. No refunds are given 
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I will be able to tell you more tomorrow. We have 5 days of EP starting tomorrow. We did need to go to “Will Call” to get the paper cards for the EP’s. Will Call is not the concierge desk or guest services. But the ticket booth right before the park entrance, they can take care of it.
We have hit up all three parks in one day, just not with EP’s yet.
DH is interested in the nighttime shows, so we went back and rode some rides and then saw the show. We entered the park around 7:00. 8 minutes was the longest we waited. I submitted several queue times of seconds. Basically the time it took them to ask how many in our group. I mentioned to the family that the Mummy was closing for a bit during our trip. DD became very interested in riding it many times.
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I used to buy the yellow passes that allowed everying in USF / IOA, except Hagrid’s & VC, for around $15 - $20 per passk
The ruby passes for all rides at IOA / USF generally were about $30 each.
The expiration dates on these often were months in advance. I would get them from eBay.
However, in 2023, a lot of these passes have been phased out with “reciept paper” style passes that expire much sooner - usually a couple days or even 24 hours.
If you have UXP for Epic Universe that are still valid, you could easily sell them for at least $30 - $40
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Thank you. I knee-jerked guessed $20 each and DH thought I should have gotten more. But $30+ makes sense. I bet lots of people would skip buying a day of express passes if they could get a ruby pass or two.
They gave us a case# and we get the paper passes the day we want them. Which means they are good for any day of our trip.
DD was the injured party so we’ll let her pick the Epic ride, which means Mine Cart Madness.
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There seems to have been a lot of downtime and delays each morning this week which has driven up the waits at open attractions
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Thank you @jenlsmith ! That would explain a lot of it.
Just looking at the crowd numbers, I’m wondering if Epic is also pulling some traffic from each of the other parks.
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Have you looked at the downtime stats recently? I don’t know if what we experienced was typical.
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Surprised to see wait times for every ride as though its all open at 9am this morning. Maybe they are trying to make up for the previous days?
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I’ve been watching wait times in prep for upcoming trip a few times per day. It seems back to normal post last weekend’s craziness. However, I’m not seeing the evening drops at SMW and BATM that were previously reported. I could see people going over there in the evening. Especially since IOA has a few early closing dates in Jan.
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Just started the BotM Ep line about a block outside the building. Many breakdowns today.
Also it is closing early todat
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