Universal in May - do we need Express Pass?

[micksandals]

Hi guys.

We're doing Disney in early May next year, outside of school holidays. We'll be in the walls of Disney for most of our trip, but because there are quite a few new Universal attractions since we last went (Kong, Jimmy Fallon, Fast & the Furious) I'd like to hit those parks too.

We would only be there for 1 day, so my concern is that we'll struggle to get everything done. As well as the new stuff, we'd want to do both Harry Potter rides, Men in Black and hopefully a few others.

Do you think that's achievable in 1 day without Express Pass, or should we bite the bullet and pay the extra money to make sure we make the most of our time there?

[Pinchy]

Originally Posted by micksandals

Hi guys.

We're doing Disney in early May next year, outside of school holidays. We'll be in the walls of Disney for most of our trip, but because there are quite a few new Universal attractions since we last went (Kong, Jimmy Fallon, Fast & the Furious) I'd like to hit those parks too.

We would only be there for 1 day, so my concern is that we'll struggle to get everything done. As well as the new stuff, we'd want to do both Harry Potter rides, Men in Black and hopefully a few others.

Do you think that's achievable in 1 day without Express Pass, or should we bite the bullet and pay the extra money to make sure we make the most of our time there?

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I think if you are doing a full day and would be willing to take a slight risk perhaps not doing any of the older rides at all then I think you would be okay without an Express pass at that time of year.

[sweetchunks]

We are here now and went to the studios yesterday. We arrived about 8.30 and the park was supposed to open at 9am but by 8.45 we were already on Transformers and then walked straight onto fast and furious, actually everything was a walk on, even Gringotts. We didn’t go over to IOA so not sure what that was like. Not sure if we were just lucky (I did follow the busy day guide) but we definitely wouldn’t have need express passes.
Not sure if early May would be any busier than June though.

[JohnD]

We've been there twice in the second week in May. I would recommend the Express pass as there were quite a number of school parties celebrating the end of term. The parties were generally well behaved but the sheer volume reminded me of Jurassic Park - 'Look! They move in herds'.