Universal without express in late July

[Jedi Princess]

Staying onsite at RPR for one night, was one of the best tips I picked up from The DIBB.

I’d highly recommend it.👍

[BONDY LAD]

Originally Posted by Northerndave

Yes, my post related directly for the last 2 weeks in August into start September.

It was supposedly quiet. Trust me, the queues were awful, but we had fastpass so meant we could do all the rides.

I saw people literally spending hours of their holidays queuing in the savage muggy heat. You don't want to do that, trust me.

And to the original OP, if you're still torn after virtually every one on here has advised that you need to stay over or fastpass it then get your fella to read this. If he still doesn't get it, you need to book him in for a head examination !

See more...

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You could have presumed I wrote this post,exactly right,nothing more needs to be said,perfect in accuracy, bondy.

[DebsMK]

We were there last year - mid July. We booked RPR for one night with AVIOS plus money and I remember us all saying thank goodness we had FOLP. We only had one day tickets so it was important to get everything in on that one day. For some of the rides the normal queues were astronomic, with the passes we were able to do most rides twice before leaving early evening. Wouldn't go in July without FOLP for sure.

[RobertWestwood]

would never do universal now without the hotel stay even when its just the two of us. Its not just about the FOTL passes although those make it much easier to enjoy everything, its about being able to take a break when it gets too busy or hot and go back to the pool, not having to drive, having a drink with my dinner for a change, or even a beer during the day, and generally just chilling out a little bit more than usual

IF you can afford, then I say go for it... if you can't there are other ways of coping eg single rider queues, avoiding weekends and going later in the day or first thing in the morning (don't forget that the hotel guests will all be there an hour before you though)

[tracey1302]

We have been in early July and have never had Express. We’ve always managed. The only thing we haven’t managed was Minions.

[yehacantwait]

Have been in August a few times and never have used FOLP, and managed to ride everything without waiting more than 30 mins. But then again I had 14 day passes so wasn't in a rush to do everything all at once. If I was limited to a few days I probably would stay one night at the premium hotels to get the passes. This year were staying in Cabana Bay so will be able to come and go as we please.

[DisneyFoodie]

So here's a third (and controversial!) option. The one-day express ultimate park to park is quite a lot cheaper than either the 14 day ticket or the 2 day ticket & hotel stay (this is the maths for 2 adults... more to a room means more express pass value).

DH and I are not huge universal fans and find we can get round everything in both parks in one day with express. Last time we did Gringotts- breakfast at leaky cauldron - hogwarts express - forbidden journey - Jurassic river run (twice... we love it!) - Dudley do right ripsaw falls - Spider-Man - toothsome lunch - hulk- Seuss trolley ride- cat in hat ride- hogwarts express - ET- rip ride rocket - shrek - terminator show - transformers - despicable me - Mummy (twice).

We finished around 5 and this included lots of Harry potter shopping and some other shopping.

However! This was a Monday in September. But just a thought of a 3rd option if there are only a few things you want to see.