Is Universal's Express Pass worth it?

[caryrae]

We haven't been to Universal Studios in a while and was wondering if the Express Pass is worth it? We are going down Sept 25th to Oct 3rd. We are doing Universal Studios and not IOA this time. I see the price of an Express Pass is $20 per person and it will only be my Wife and I.

[disneymaster]

I have no idea what hotel you are staying at, but we always stay onsite. Onsite hotel guests get the express pass for FREE and with unlimited uses for both parks everyday. Last time we went down there, the express pass that you could buy acted like a "Dream Fast Pass" in the sense that, once you skipped the line once, you could not skip the line again if you wanted to ride the same thing. It was a one time deal per ride.

During the times you listed, I would say to skip it because the parks don't tend to be that busy and they don't stay open very late because of Halloween Horror Nights will be just starting. If you do plan on going to the parks the day Halloween Horror Nights starts, then I would say plan on buying the ticket. Opening night of that event can become very busy and a lot of people come down for the whole day making the parks busy.

If you are paying more than $120 a night for your hotel room and you are going to buy the express pass, you may consider staying onsite. An onsite hotel room at Royal costs about $200 a night but with the free unlimited express pass, you would be spending the same amount of money (or maybe just a little more) but you get to stay at an amazing onsite hotel. Also, unless things have changed, you can even use the unlimited express pass on the day you check out. So, you pay for one night of hotel and get TWO days of the express pass!

As far as the pass itself, Universal has done an amazing job with the lines. Unlike Disney were you normally merge before you get to the ride causing you to stil wait in sometimes long line, Universal has almost every ride set up with its own line for the express people. In some cases, they even have an entire load section just for express riders. Spiderman is like this were 2 cars load at once and the 2nd car in the station is for express riders unless there are none waiting. The longest I have ever waited with an express pass was 15 minutes but that was becuase the rides normal line was over 2 hours long.

Enjoy the trip!

[Mfarquar]

I have been gone to Universal during the Fall (late September - opening weekend of Halloween Horror Nights) every year since 2005.

The key is really to get to the parks when they open. Universal does not get crowded until around 11:30 AM. Everyone else is sleeping in. We have never had to wait very long, and have not found the Express Pass to be worth the extra $$$ during this time of year. We have stayed on-site one time (2007) and had the unlimited Express Pass and that was fun because we like to ride Popeye at IoA over and over again (8 or 9 times in a row just to laugh at the people who wear sneakers on the ride). Half the time, we didn't have to use it because it simply wasn't needed - especially at Universal Studios. I think we only used it on Men In Black and maybe the Mummy.

We have found most waits at Universal Studios to be 20 min. or less.

If you DO plan to go to Halloween Horror Nights (and I highly recommend that you do if you like being scared), that's a different story. We never get the Express Pass for that because of careful planning and entrance strategy. The Halloween Horror Nights Express Pass is a totally separate ticket, and a daytime Express Pass will not be valid for the event. But, I could definitely see why people would purchase one for that as that gets VERY crowded - the rides, however are not. The lines for the scare houses get crazy long, but the ride lines are non-existent.

Keep in mind... The Express Pass you purchase only lets you do each ride 1 time. It's not like the on-site Express Pass you get from staying at one of the 3 on-property hotels.

So, IMO if you're going to Universal in the Fall, save some $$$ and just get there when it opens...

[joonyer]

At that time of year, if you get to the parks at opening, you'll be able to ride almost everything with very little waiting, especially on weekdays, so I wouldn't spend the extra $$ for the express pass (can only use it once per ride anyway) It might make more sense in the summer months when the parks are jammed (but it costs more then, too)