Express Pass for 1 Day Trip

[kiwi0621]

Looking for some advice on the Express Pass - husband and I are doing both Universal and IOA on Sunday 10/29 (I know a weekday is probably more ideal but this is the only day we can do it) I expect because it’s closer to Halloween and with HHN, it’s going to be busy. I’m debating on getting the Express Pass for the day for the both of us to maximize our time and to ride as many rides as we can. Neither of us have been there since 2010 so I’d love some advice on:

A. How busy it will be that day

B. If the Express Pass will be worth it. For those that have used it before, how long do you usually wait in the Express line?

Just some notes, we will not be attending Horror Nights and we will not be staying at a Universal hotel.

Thanks for all the advice and thoughts in advance! Much appreciated!

 

[tony67]

Weekends are busy for obvious reason - IOA will probably be busier than UO since UO closes early for HHN. People who dont have park to park will do IOA since it is open later.
Most people doing HHN wont be at UO for the day they just come for HHN and start waiting at the entrance to get in around 5


Make sure you get the unlimited express pass (IMO) - that lets you ride a ride more than once.

The line itself should be pretty short - probably no more than 10 - 15 minutes if it is really busy - but more often than not it is close to walk on

 

[kiwi0621]

Weekends are busy for obvious reason - IOA will probably be busier than UO since UO closes early for HHN. People who dont have park to park will do IOA since it is open later.
Most people doing HHN wont be at UO for the day they just come for HHN and start waiting at the entrance to get in around 5


Make sure you get the unlimited express pass (IMO) - that lets you ride a ride more than once.

The line itself should be pretty short - probably no more than 10 - 15 minutes if it is really busy - but more often than not it is close to walk on

Perfect!! Thanks for the info and a reminder about the unlimited passes! So helpful!

 

[Metro West]

Just make sure you go to the Studios first...the park will get very crowded as the afternoon wears on.

 

[lark]

We just got back with Express Pass. It is way better than standby, for sure, but definitely not the same as fastpass as WDW, for example. The parks were fairly busy when we were there.

Not all express pass rides are created equal. For some, the express pass is like a separate queue that basically runs parallel to the main line up until the very end at which point you jump right on the line. Others, it's more like a preference that gets you some advantage for sure, but the merger with the regular line happens a bit sooner for it to be optimal. Other rides, like Jimmy Fallon, it allows you to be more spontaneous but doesn't save you a huge amount of time.

The rides that I can remember and how we fared with Express Pass:

Grignotts: Gave us a very good advantage over standby, but still took about 40 minutes to ride entry to exit.

Hogwarts Express: Very slow. We just missed a train, but I would say from the time we entered King's Cross station to the time we exited in IOA was nearly 45 minutes or more. Probably still a big advantage over standby.

Jimmy Fallon: Took an hour or so even with Express Pass.

Kong: 15-20 minutes. Great advantage

Spider Man: Short wait. Great.

Hulk: Took 30 minutes or so while standby was 75 minutes.

Mummy: Short wait. Good advantage.

Forbidden Journey: Sign said 70 minutes. We got through in about 30 minutes once we got a locker (which was a big bottleneck and for which Express Pass obviously gives no advantage).

Rip Ride Rocket: Nearly front of the line; fantastic benefit.

Ripsaw falls: Nearly front of the line; fantastic benefit.

Jurrasic River Adventure: Pretty good benefit; still took a while.

Edit: For comparison, touringplans ranked our visit I believe to be somewhere around a 7 or 8.

 

[schumigirl]

We just got back with Express Pass. It is way better than standby, for sure, but definitely not the same as fastpass as WDW, for example. The parks were fairly busy when we were there.

Not all express pass rides are created equal. For some, the express pass is like a separate queue that basically runs parallel to the main line up until the very end at which point you jump right on the line. Others, it's more like a preference that gets you some advantage for sure, but the merger with the regular line happens a bit sooner for it to be optimal. Other rides, like Jimmy Fallon, it allows you to be more spontaneous but doesn't save you a huge amount of time.

The rides that I can remember and how we fared with Express Pass:

Grignotts: Gave us a very good advantage over standby, but still took about 40 minutes to ride entry to exit.

Hogwarts Express: Very slow. We just missed a train, but I would say from the time we entered King's Cross station to the time we exited in IOA was nearly 45 minutes or more. Probably still a big advantage over standby.

Jimmy Fallon: Took an hour or so even with Express Pass.

Kong: 15-20 minutes. Great advantage

Spider Man: Short wait. Great.

Hulk: Took 30 minutes or so while standby was 75 minutes.

Mummy: Short wait. Good advantage.

Forbidden Journey: Sign said 70 minutes. We got through in about 30 minutes once we got a locker (which was a big bottleneck and for which Express Pass obviously gives no advantage).

Rip Ride Rocket: Nearly front of the line; fantastic benefit.

Ripsaw falls: Nearly front of the line; fantastic benefit.

Jurrasic River Adventure: Pretty good benefit; still took a while.

Edit: For comparison, touringplans ranked our visit I believe to be somewhere around a 7 or 8.

Wow you were really unlucky!

We’re just back after 17 nights and we walked on absolutely everything with no wait at all with Express Pass. Even Fallon, although wished we hadn’t bothered.

Hulk we went in around 3 times in less than 15 minutes ride was showing 60 minutes. Despicable me we waited 3 minutes........FJ was a walk on with EP every time we went in.

I haven’t done Disney for many years so can’t compare to Fastpass but we think EP is fabulous. Parks were really busy some days we were there, some were quieter but queues always build up on certain rides.

Shame you didn’t have a good experience with EP.

 

[tony67]

Wow you were really unlucky!

We’re just back after 17 nights and we walked on absolutely everything with no wait at all with Express Pass. Even Fallon, although wished we hadn’t bothered.

Hulk we went in around 3 times in less than 15 minutes ride was showing 60 minutes. Despicable me we waited 3 minutes........FJ was a walk on with EP every time we went in.

I haven’t done Disney for many years so can’t compare to Fastpass but we think EP is fabulous. Parks were really busy some days we were there, some were quieter but queues always build up on certain rides.

Shame you didn’t have a good experience with EP.

I did a solo trip this year and it is the first time I stayed at Sapphire - have to say a I really missed express pass.
Yes there are single rider lines, but they are not always open and dont always give you the same experience
I wish they offered a length of stay deal for express pass as I would prefer to stay at Sapphire over RPR and next year I plan to stay at Aventurea for HHN
Next year i will just buy it for at least one of the busier weekend days

I cant think of anything that is better about FP+ .
FP+ has to be booked 2 months in advance or you will be waiting 2 hours for the big rides.
Very little chance of just showing up and getting a FP+
FP+ gets you three rides in one park and booking additional ones works out as long as you only pre-book rides in the AM.
If you book a FP in one park at 6PM and spend the day at another park - no FP+ for you
This happened to me on this trip for the new Pandora ride

Express pass required no planning.
Yes in many cases you merge with the regular line - but your skipping wait 30-40 minutes in the regular line before that

FP+ is one of the several reason I pretty much skip Disney now