I survived Universal Orlando without Universal Express passes! About This Page:

[BarryH]

I decided to visit Universal on a busy summer day to see if I could survive without using Universal Express passes. I visited yesterday, Saturday 7/14, and here are the results of my "great experiment."

There were a bunch of groups visiting that day. I did IOA first and the gates opened at 8:30. Before 9:00, I did the Hulk, Fearfall, and Spider-Man. From 9-11:30, here's what I did:

Spider-Man (less than 5 minute wait)
Hulk (15 minutes)
One Fish, etc. (1 cycle)
Cat in the Hat (2 minutes)
Seuss Sky Trolley (less than 5 minutes)
Dueling Dragons (Fire and Ice) (1 train wait for each)
Flying Unicorn (2 minutes)
JPRA (15 minutes)

At around 11:30, I did Ripsaw Falls and I waited 55 minutes! The queues were pretty up there when I left IOA at noon. Hulk had a 125 (!) minute wait. Spider-Man had a 105 minute wait. The Caro-Seuss-Sel, however, never got above a 5 minute wait.

Then I went to USF and did:
T2:3D (15 minutes)
Earthquake (15 minutes)
Turkey leg lunch (bought from a food stand because the counter service lines were ginormous!) (5 minutes)
Animal Actors (walked right in)
MIB (2 times in the single riders line -- 5 minutes for 1st time, 15 minutes for 2nd)
Mummy (15 minutes in the single riders line)
Twister (5 minutes)
Shrek 4-D (15 minutes)

Jaws seemed to be down all day. I was looking for a black puff of smoke to come up from the Jaws area, but I never saw it. At around 6 pm, I went back to IOA and did Popeye. The wait was about 45 minutes. I went back to USF and did Jimmy Neutron (30 minute wait). I would have done E.T. (30 minute wait) and Universal 360, but my ankle hurt and I went back to the hotel. I parking in Jaws 212 and I shuffled back to the car. I walked like Jason Voorhees! Just give me a hockey mask and a machette!

It rained off and on from around 2 to 4 pm. I hid in Earthquake for the major downpour at around 2 pm.

Trip report coming soon!

[LuvMinnie]

Great summary and good for you! You were really moving and so were those lines. That early jump start really helps too! Thanks for the report...we'll be there in two week and can't wait.

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like a great day!! You certainly got a lot accomplished! WOW!

[RobDVC]

Looks like you found the secret to touring at Universal: Get there early, before the teenagers (the ones who LOVE those thrill rides) are even awake.
Hope your ankle is feeling better.

[Disneybine]

Originally Posted by RobDVC

Looks like you found the secret to touring at Universal: Get there early, before the teenagers (the ones who LOVE those thrill rides) are even awake.

I guess I fit into that category even though technically I'm not a teenager anymore. I'm so glad we're gonna have the FOTL passes when we're at Universal! I'm a huge thrill ride junkie and it's like paradise to be able to pretty much walk onto whatever ride we wanna go on (again and again and again...)

[BarryH]

Originally Posted by Disneybine

I guess I fit into that category even though technically I'm not a teenager anymore. I'm so glad we're gonna have the FOTL passes when we're at Universal! I'm a huge thrill ride junkie and it's like paradise to be able to pretty much walk onto whatever ride we wanna go on (again and again and again...)

Even when I'm staying onsite, I wake up early and hit the parks at opening. That way, I can get front seat Dueling Dragons rides before the front seat queue gets too long. I can usually get 2-3 front serat rides on Frie and Ice before the line gets long.

[Disneybine]

Originally Posted by BarryH

Even when I'm staying onsite, I wake up early and hit the parks at opening.

During our WDW vacation last April (first trip there), I pretty much forced my DH2B to get up early to hit the parks right when they opened and, well, let's just say we're normally NOT morning people so that was really hard on both of us. Now, for our honeymoon next year, we wanna relax and sleep in, so that FOTL pass is the perfect deal for us

But if you can drag yourself out of bed that early, it's indeed pretty neat since the parks are so empty! On our first day at the MK, we did like every ride in Fantasyland within the first hour of park opening. Now that we've already been to WDW before, we're able to go at a much slower pace next year (esp. since it's our honeymoon).
(Sorry this got so long)

[SHEANA1226]

Wow you were able to get a lot done without the express pass!

[BarryH]

Oh, one more thing to add...I wouldn't try to do 2 parks in 1 day, particularly if it's your first time visiting. I can do both parks in 1 day because I'm a professional, but even with me, I got a flat tire in the midst of things and had to abandon ship. My suggested touring plan is 3 days: 1 day for IOA, 1 day for USF, and 1 day to ride your favorites/things you missed. At the minimum, I would suggest 2 days for the first timer. The parks are much more than rides. There are shows and play areas that are worth checking out.

[Disneybine]

Originally Posted by BarryH

Oh, one more thing to add...I wouldn't try to do 2 parks in 1 day, particularly if it's your first time visiting. I can do both parks in 1 day because I'm a professional, but even with me, I got a flat tire in the midst of things and had to abandon ship. My suggested touring plan is 3 days: 1 day for IOA, 1 day for USF, and 1 day to ride your favorites/things you missed. At the minimum, I would suggest 2 days for the first timer. The parks are much more than rides. There are shows and play areas that are worth checking out.

Thanks for your advice, Barry. I have to say, though, that we really only go to US/IOA for the thrill rides. We're both not into the movies, characters etc. that they have all that much. We'll have about two days there and I think that'll be plenty of time for us, especially with the FOTL passes. We're probably gonna get the 7-day discount tickets anyways, though, so if we really feel like we didn't have enough time to check everything out, we've got 5 more days at our disposal (we're at Disney for 14 nights after our stay at US so we've got plenty of time).

But thanks for telling us your experience! It's always nice to hear reports from people who've actually "been there, done that". Who knows, maybe we will end up spending a lot more time there than we thought.

[SWOOPERDO]

We go during Halloween time and like the Halloween Horror Nights. This year we are going to go to US in the day and then go over to IOA for the evening for the Halloween stuff. We have been there 3 other times so we know what we like to do. So many places to eat also. I do have a question though on their fast passes. Do they work the same as WDW? I thought you could only use them once for each ride. I am a little confused on that one.

[Shell_of_the_South]

Originally Posted by Disneybine

Thanks for your advice, Barry. I have to say, though, that we really only go to US/IOA for the thrill rides. We're both not into the movies, characters etc. that they have all that much.

Don't discount the shows that Universal has to offer. Our favorite is the Horror Make Up Show, we laugh our heads off at that show! And we love Terminator 3D - you won't find another 3D show like it! Shrek is another one that everyone should see at least once. My DH's favorite attraction is E.T. - it's the furthest thing from a thrill ride that you will find - but it's a top notch dark ride!

[BarryH]

Here's a good article on Universal Express:

Universal Orlando - Universal Express (FOTL)

[Disneybine]

Thanks so much for the link, Barry! So let me see if I got that right: Even if I'm staying at a US resort, my room key will only allow me to skip the lines at the attractions that have an express line, not ALL attractions there are in the parks?

Is there a list online somewhere with all the attractions that have an express line? I looked on the official US site but can't seem to find anything of the sort...

[BarryH]

It's easier to list the attractions that don't use Express...

IOA:
Front row of Dueling Dragons and the Hulk Coaster

USF:
Slide at Fifel's Playland