We are going to Universal Orlando the first week in July. Booked a stay at Royal Pacific for the “free” express passes, but are express passes really needed now? Given the virtual lines and limited capacity, I didn’t know how valuable the express passes would be… We could save lots of money staying at Saphire Falls or Cabana Bay. Any words of advice? Keep reservation at Royal Pacific or save some money and stay at one of the other resorts?
I’d still use the Express Passes. Personally, I’d rather not be trying to check my phone all day for the Virtual Queue passes. But, we stay at RPR for Express Passes even in normal slow times because we love the flexibility of just choosing a ride and riding it whenever with little to no wait. Also, I think July may be higher crowds at UOR than we are seeing now although who knows at this point.
4 Likes
and their AP, at higher lvls, include Express Pass
We will be traveling from out of state, so probably not going to invest in an Annual Pass (if that’s what AP stands for)…
How long are you staying? An AP might be cheaper than tickets. Plus the AP discount on rooms is great!
3 Likes
6 nights. We have a 5 day park to park ticket that includes volcano bay. Two adults and 2 teenagers, 17 & 15.
If you just do the Seasonal 3 park AP, it’s cheaper than a 5 day 3 park ticket. Plus you get the room discount. Not sure if there’s a way to change your tickets since you already purchased though. Others here might be able to chime in. Even just changing one of your tickets to an AP would allow the room discount.
3 Likes
You’d have to check blackout dates though.
2 Likes
Hi!! We will be there December 25-29th staying on site with EP. Do we need to use a touring plan?
I’d suggest yes, Universal only promises a reduction of half the stand by queue of waits using Express (even though it might be way more). Express + TP + getting there before open will let you ride a lot of attractions, have a mid-day break, and come back at night.
1 Like
17 days til our trip! I can’t BELIEVE it! I am still crossing my fingers and not holding my breath that something catastrophic won’t happen before then to derail it. But for now, things are looking good!
Anyway, we arrive on a Saturday. Recently, the weekends at UOR have been 10’s and 9’s. Fortunately, we have Express passes from staying at the Royal Pacific.
Has anyone been in the last few weeks with XPs? How have the waits been on Saturdays and Sundays? I would love to hear from anyone with actual experience within the last few weeks if possible 
1 Like
100%. We didn’t have them one day we just did haunted houses and shows plus early entry rides and we were fine but the kids wanted to go ride things in the late afternoon and everything from Shrek on had over 2 hour waits posted. They might not have been 2 hours but I still don’t want to wait 60-90 min for everything either. Because of social distancing and cleaning and Universal letting in more people and more locals it still feels normal crowded.
They were really bad on the weekends starting around 11am on. Mornings are okay with early entry you can get a few good rides in with short waits but for hagrids you’ll need to get there more than 45 min early (we did 50 min early and were 2nd in line for the turnstiles on the far right and we almost walked onto hagrids). The weekend before we were 35 min early I think and didn’t get off hagrids till early entry was officially over so in addition to the 30 min wait at the gates we waited an hour for hagrids.
1 Like
Also you will wait longer than normal still with express pass. We waited 30 min for Dudley Do Right with an EP so I just cannot imagine not having one. And part of the line you may be mixed with regular guests like for The Hulk (which they actually closed the line when we first went to ride it on a Sunday around lunchtime it was so long. Closed to everyone express pass included).
1 Like
Nope. That’s the beauty of EP. Hagrids and Bourne I believe are the only things not offering express so do Hagrids during early entry or with Virtual Pass and expect to wait one or two shows for Bourne.
1 Like
Thanks for all the info! We have at least been to Universal before, and will be taking more of a relaxed trip. If our Sat/Sun is kind of hectic, we’ll still have the rest of our stay to get our fill of the rides.
I am hoping to see Early Admission days soon for December so we can see if IOA will have early entry at all during the week
1 Like
I will say early entry and mornings before 11am still make a difference even with express. Walkways will feel crowded from 11am on. Wand locations will have lines so do these early or late. Olivanders I’d do during early entry or I believe you can sign up. So you don’t need a touring plan per say but there are some things you can do that will still help with lines like mornings/evenings touring with midday breaks or shows in the middle of the day. I just noticed a big difference starting at 11am everyday. And if you’re doing quick service mobile order on your phone while in line and when you sit down show a cast member your order number (or eat at a hotel or citywalk for lunch because that was honesty the longest line we waited in with express pass and there is no express pass for the three broomsticks).
The crowd rating are based on wait times, and The book says that express passes are needed for 8+, 7 if you have low tolerance for lines. When we went in August our expected crowds of 2 shot up to 8. It FELT like an 8.
Also be prepared for long food lines in the park. The Simpson’s area had one line going at least a block outside. I’d recommend eating outside the park and then a table service reservation for lunch.
1 Like
Yeah, I am concerned about long food lines. Do you think eating at off-times might help? We only plan to eat in CityWalk 2-3 times. We really want to eat in park most of the time.
1 Like