Unlimited Express pass - is it that big of a deal

[Amstar]

So being a Disney planner -- having tour plans etc- is that important to have a plan at Universal if we have the unlimited express pass? And one day we will have early entry due to staying at the royal pacific

 

[davidfromtennessee]

I’m just ending a trip with express pass at Royal Pacific tomorrow. I love Disney, but the ability to not have to plan my theme park days like a military campaign make Universal just as awesome to me. There’s very little advanced planning needed with express pass.

 

[Squirlz]

We stay at RPR with EP and no plan. We literally decide which park to go to first on the ride or walk in.

 

[davidfromtennessee]

you can plan around show times when you get there. The only thing I’d keep in mind in advance is if there’s a special event like the Hogwarts night show or the Mardis Gras parade or concerts that you want to see.

 

[macraven]

For a newbie to the darkside, the planning that would help you a lot is knowing key places in the parks

Look online for the uo park map

See where eateries, restrooms, first aide, guest services , etc are located

Map shows layout of everything in the parks
Show times, rides and street entertainment are also listed on the website

After a few days in the parks, you will be a pro
Your decisions then will be which eateries you’ll have dinner at

 

[schumigirl]

I would familiarise yourself with the layout of the parks as mac has suggested.......

Beyond that planning isn’t necessary........

We wake up every day and decide that day what we’re going to do.......with EP you have no worries.

 

[princessebird]

So being a Disney planner -- having tour plans etc- is that important to have a plan at Universal if we have the unlimited express pass? And one day we will have early entry due to staying at the royal pacific

So you WILL be staying at RPR for one night? Then you will have the unlimited express pass for two days (the day you check in and the day you check out).

 

[Captainkidd76]

In a word, yes. Honestly, we do Universal trips more than Disney not because we like their parks better. We love the Universal parks, but Magic Kingdom and Epcot are my 2 favorites. However, the freedom that Express gives you makes for such a relaxing, stress free trip. We can sleep in, go to the parks for a few hours, eat lunch wherever we want (without having to worry about reservations), be back to our hotel room in 7 minutes, relax, go swimming, have dinner at City Walk, then go back to the park for a few more hours. In that day, we'll have done every ride (some multiple times). That type of day is nearly impossible at Disney. It can be done with ridiculous amounts of planning and spending 3x the amount of money for a monorail resort as you would for a Universal Premium Resort (which are every bit as nice, albeit not quite as themed). And as non-Florida residents, Universal allows us to use monthly payments for annual passes. It's just become impossible to justify going to Disney as often anymore.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I think EP changes the game completely. I did a TP itinerary for Uni in Nov just because I like to have a plan and wanted to be sure we hit all the holiday offerings. It organizes my thoughts. I don’t think I pulled up the plans after the first day. Plan if it makes you happy. Wing it if that makes you happy. Either work perfectly well when you have EP.

 

[cdnusagurl]

Express pass will allow us to sleep in for at least 3 of the 4 days we have at Universal after going hard for almost two weeks at Disney prior to that. My sleep is precious, so anything that allows me to get more of it is worth it to me.

 

[Lynne G]

Shorter lines, and going on the same ride several times, with a shorter line. No need to book a certain time for entry to a ride either. Yes please.

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

I guess this is the question you have to ask yourself - would Disney be better if you had unlimited FastPass? Yes, the planning works and mapping out your itinerary, planning your ADRs, downloading the app, watching line times - it all works. And you are used to it, and maybe you enjoy it a little bit.

But, if you didn't have to...If you could pick 50s Prime Time vs. Sci Fi on the day your there. Or if you could have all of the food option of Disney springs only a five minute walk from the front gate of whichever park you were at. I could go on and on.

I will admit this, if my family could go on Toy Story Mania non stop and have the same family competition as we do on Men in Black, we would book at Disney a lot more often. Fact is, it is a better ride. But, to wait for nearly 2 hours for our second ride of the day is a complete bummer.

In fact, it now costs me about $125 per person per day to go to Cedar Point here in Ohio, because my kids NEED the Fast Lane Plus because Universal spoiled them so badly...

 

[nkereina]

Whether or not a plan is required depends on a couple things for me... how many days you're there, and whether you're there during a busy time. We had four days the last week of January and crowds were very low, so we didn't have much of a plan at all and just went where we felt like it. Worked well. But if you have a day and a half during Spring Break, I would say start with your must-do's first and work strategically around the park in a way that makes the most sense to you.

 

[shanew21]

Universal's planning is night and day compared to Disney, especially with the express pass. You hardly need to plan ride order at all with the EP.

 

[Tksolomom]

The only thing I would plan with an Express Pass is trying to get to Kong early. It breaks down quite a bit and the fastpass lunes for that can get long. If you are staying onsite you also get preferred seating at the restaurants ncluding Citywalk, although depending on the day Toothsome doesn’t always do it.

 

[tweak89]

We used to alternate between Disney Parks and Universal Orlando, but our last 4 visits to Florida have been at Universal. We haven't visited WDW since the second year of FP+ (which IMO, kind of ruined the experience). Express Pass was the game changer for us. Nothing like taking your time and riding what you want, when you want. It was such a HUGE fundamental change from how we approached our WDW trips. We get up late, mozy into the park and ride, come and go as we please.

 

[Scifidiner]

As much as we love WDW the EP is MUCH better than the FP. I don't like having to plan my entire day, including dining, around prescheduled times. This makes a much more relaxed and enjoyable day. It's the main reason to stay at a US resort. We stayed at the Royal Pacific and I don't remember standing in line for more than 5 minutes for anything.

 

[123SA]

I usually plan WDW in late Aug into early September, but this year, I had to move my vacation up to the first week of August. It was a no brainer to pick Universal with UExp over WDW. The vacation will be so much less stressful.

 

[lebeau]

I guess this is the question you have to ask yourself - would Disney be better if you had unlimited FastPass? Yes, the planning works and mapping out your itinerary, planning your ADRs, downloading the app, watching line times - it all works. And you are used to it, and maybe you enjoy it a little bit.

But, if you didn't have to...If you could pick 50s Prime Time vs. Sci Fi on the day your there. Or if you could have all of the food option of Disney springs only a five minute walk from the front gate of whichever park you were at. I could go on and on.

I will admit this, if my family could go on Toy Story Mania non stop and have the same family competition as we do on Men in Black, we would book at Disney a lot more often. Fact is, it is a better ride. But, to wait for nearly 2 hours for our second ride of the day is a complete bummer.

In fact, it now costs me about $125 per person per day to go to Cedar Point here in Ohio, because my kids NEED the Fast Lane Plus because Universal spoiled them so badly...

Agreed with 90% of this. However, MIB > TSM all day long

 

[Captainkidd76]

Agreed with 90% of this. However, MIB > TSM all day long

I can never remember what those things mean, but I would take MIB all day over TSMM.