Universal Express Pass/ Early admission

[Beach Bunny]

Hi guys,

We arrive in Orlando on 20th August for 2 weeks and we are planning on doing 2/3 days at Universal Studios and IOA. Will buy an unlimited WDW/Universal 14 day pass from Attraction tickets direct her before we go.

I have read that it can be worth booking a hotel at Universal for 1 night in addition to our normal tickets in order to get early admission to the parks on both days and an express pass for the rides at both parks on both days too.

I did a bit of research and for the 4 of us it was looking like £250ish for the 4 of us.

My question is - is it worth us getting the pass for the time in which we are visiting - 20th Aug to 3rd Sept? Ive heard that its not super busy at this time of the year due to Florida schools starting back so thinking maybe its not worth the extra £?

Any advice would be great thanks x

[panicdiva]

My advice is ... book the hotel. Honestly it’s well worth it IMO. Our family do it every time we go. Remember if you book one night the express pass is for 2 days as well as the early morning entry. Enjoy.

[swiper]

We Wouldn’t do universal now without a stay. Life is a lot more relaxed.
RP HR or PB. All good choices.

[Nimbus]

We visited Universal at the end of August back in 2014 and, based on that experience, I would say that Express Passes probably wouldn't be worth it. For most rides the queues were reasonably short at that time of year.

Having said that, a stay onsite would make returning to your room at lot easier and mean you could take a break in the middle of the day. And the Express Passes are handy - as long as you don't mind spending £250.

[LadyFromage]

We are planning a night at the hard rock hotel for the express passes.

Were staying in a villa for the rest of the trip so the kids will love the hotel for a night. Alot cheaper than buying 4 x express passes

[Jack&LucysMumy]

We did this last year and are trying to work it into our budget for this year because we loved it.

We checked in at 7am on our first day and got our passes and headed to universal. We spent the day there and headed back late afternoon to have a mooch around the hotel and let the kids swim in the pool. They had a fab time and then we headed back to the park in the evening. We then had a fab sleep at the hr.

The following morning we checked out but left our bags with the hotel reception and then used our early entry to vb and then headed to ioa in the afternoon. Picked up our bags that evening and went back to our condo.

The skip the line passes are good but nothing like Disney fastpass. We skipped most lines but on the kong ride we still ended up queuing for 50 mins which was not fun.

All in all though it works for us to have one night there.
Louise

[Floridarules]

I have been at the end of August and it was still busy. There are after all, all us Brits holidaying at this time of year. Honestly would not go to Universal without them at all. I know US Kids go back to school mid August but the FOLP means that you don’t have to worry so much too.

[parkgirl]

Are they quite used to people checking in at 7am?

[Animagus]

Been twice at the end of August, the last time the same dates as you and we were glad of the FOLP. the big hitters , things like Spiderman, Hulk, HP rides, Despicable Me and the water rides had sizeable queues even in our last couple of days. The parks close earlier at end of Aug too so the passes will help you get more done

[rafjen]

We’ve done this and it was brilliant. So much so we’re doing 4 nights on site next trip. We checked in about 7.30 am got set up with passes and headed for early opening. No issues at all, they texted when room was ready at about 1pm.

Less need for they early opening now as previously Harry Potter rides were’t included in the express. We like loved how relaxed touring was with FOLPs. Looking back we probably missed some of the smaller stuff- meet and greats, shows etc - mainly because we could just repeat the headliners. Fab.

Don’t underestimate the ease of walking back to your hotel at the end of a night.