Rant - Universal Studios Express Plus system

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by 20togo

Bozza

You sum up everything so perfectly.

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Yes, yes I do, don't I?

[bonnies mum]

Originally Posted by mickeypops

We've just retunred from our 3rd trip to Orlando and had a great time.

The only part of the trip that really annoys me is the Univeral / IOA Express Plus ticket system.

We made three trips to these parks, getting there first thing to do some of the most popular rides first thing - this works quite well.

However, by mid morning the queues for all the popular rides was 40 minutes minimum and most went over the 60 minutes mark, up to 120 minutes for some. At this point there's no way you can get value for money for your ticket and you simply are not going to get on the attractions on your list.

So, Universal's solution to this over-crowding is to encourage you at every available opportunity around the park to purchase their Express Plus tikcet. This is going to cost you another $30 - $50 per person on top of your regular ticket price.

So, by this time, you'll see two separate queues for the rides - one for normal punters and one for Express Plus holders. On all the rides I saw, the Express Plus people were taking half the capacity of the ride, making the queueing time for regular ticket holders much, much worse - encouraging more and more people to shell out extra money for the EP passes.

In my opinion, a service that allows you to buy an (expensive) ticket in good faith, but then operates a system that makes it practically impossible for you to get anything like the full benefit of that ticket UNLESS you shell out even more money (making the plight of the regular people even worse in the process) is a very shoddy customer practice indeed. I can't think of any other business model that would allow it. Can you imagine if Tesco permitted you to go to the front of the checkout queue if you pay an extra fiver? Or similar at petrol stations if you paid an extra 20p per litre? There would be riots - but this is exactly what Universal are doing.

In contrast, Disney's Fastpass system is open and fair to all and it works brilliantly. Universal could and should do the same, but instead some genuis decided that they would rake in millions of extra profit by making people pay again for what they've already paid for.

Anyone agree / disagree?

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I agree with you about the charge for the express pass - we have already paid to go on these rides. As we usually holiday in September the parks are usually a lot quieter and its an even worse rip off.

Re other companies charging you to go to the front of the line. We flew Easyjet from Luton in /february and they were offering fast clearance through security for a £5 charge.

[DisneyFamily]

Originally Posted by bonnies mum

I agree with you about the charge for the express pass - we have already paid to go on these rides. As we usually holiday in September the parks are usually a lot quieter and its an even worse rip off.

Re other companies charging you to go to the front of the line. We flew Easyjet from Luton in /february and they were offering fast clearance through security for a £5 charge.

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If the parks are a lot quieter, how is it even more of a rip off? Surely you just don't buy the express pass.

[Gill H]

Originally Posted by BIGDENNIS10UK

this is what puts me off islands of adventure, it looks like its mainly rollercoasters, my girlfriend isn't too bothered about big coasters and i don't wanna make her spend a whole day queueing up for rides she isn't that bothered about anyway.

i think i'll give it a miss, i'll do universal though, i thought this was more shows than rides and the queues wasn't that bad in there?

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I haven't been yet, but I just wanted to say that we might be in a similar situation. I'm a total wimp when it comes to rides, so I'll be concentrating on the shows and other stuff. I suspect there will be enough to keep me happy, particularly when Harry Potter is open. I don't mind splitting up and meeting back, so I don't need to spend time in queues for rides I won't go on.

But ... I understand some rides have 'single rider' queues which can move quickly, so if you go on a ride without your girlfriend you might get on quickly anyway.

We're going early December which I gather is really quiet, so hopefully we won't spend long in queues!

[Ems!]

Originally Posted by Em_Tom_Eva

If the parks are a lot quieter, how is it even more of a rip off? Surely you just don't buy the express pass.

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I guess because you get less benefit as you're only paying to avoid, say a 30 minute queue rather than a 90 minute one!

Although , I did think they charged less for the express pass during non peak times (could be wrong tho!)

[Guest]

Was there in june and got to the park on a saturday for 9am. We rode hulk, spiderman, JP, Popeye, and Ricksaw falls and were bak in the villa for 1.06pm... go early, do the rides and get out!

Longest we waited was Ricksaw which said 15mins, but was more like 40mins. When we came back off the time was at 90mins.

[Orlandobelle]

I felt the same way about the express passes & even now I still wouldn't pay for them, but I guess it's one of those things you accept in the grand scheme of things.
I agree with Bozza () regarding the Universal hotels & can't imagine visiting Universal without FOTL.
When you take into consideration than a week's ticket to Universal costs less than £10 per day and the flexibility the express pass (ride when you want) gives you over the restrictive fastpass system (limited return times, fastpass allocation all gone, only hold one fastpass at a time/every 2 hours) I think there is obviously a market.
Now Universal have introduced their VIP tickets as well - that give you the same privileges as the Hotel FOTL pass

[nytramlean]

When I went in Feb 09 there was no reason to have one. Queue times where about 10mins max. In fact I don't remembering queuing for anything but at peaks times I can imagine the need for such a pass.

[bonnies mum]

Originally Posted by Em_Tom_Eva

If the parks are a lot quieter, how is it even more of a rip off? Surely you just don't buy the express pass.

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Yes I agree you just dont buy the extra ticket but many people dont realise how quiet the parks are going to be so they end up paying for something they dont need!

[Nirvana]

I agree, and if you buy a day ticket to disney or US then they are virtually the same price, its not double the price to get into disney. Universals fast pass system really annoys me :angry::angry::angry:, disney's system is much fairer, IMHO.