Do I Really Need an Express Pass at Universal?

First of all, remember that Universal is not Disney.

The wait times can easily exceed an hour for the stand by lines without crowds.  Add in the weekend crowds, or holiday crowds, or just the summer crowds and you have a recipe for longer waits than you want to deal with. 

​Also, those headliner rides are going to have long waits as soon as the park opens.

And remember, you are in Florida and the heat is pretty much year round!  While it is true that the majority of the rides have indoor queues, when the crowds get high, most of them end up with outdoor portions of queues.  

So, in my  humble opinion you do need Express Passes.  

There are two ways to get them.  You can purchase them by the day (or with your ticket in advance - the better of these options).  If you purchase them at the gate or inside the park, you get them at the going rate.  Universal only sells so many of them each day.

So, the more that they sell, the higher the price is on those that are left.  (this is what is called dynamic pricing).  During busy seasons, I have literally seen them go up to so close to the $300 mark that I am sure they will exceed that very soon!

Yes, that is per person!

Of course, if you get them at the same time you get your ticket, then the price is usually much less.  (unless you wait until just before your trip to get them…then the dynamic pricing strikes once again!)

But wait!  You have four in your family and you want to go for four days.  You don’t want to spend $4800 on Express passes on top of your tickets and then your rooms!  I don’t blame you!  I wouldn’t pay that much either!

So, what can you do?  Simple.  A big part of my job is to show you the best Value for your vacation dollar.  To me, paying for a separate Express Pass is never a good value!  There are much better ways to get the Express Pass at a great Value.

The best one is to stay at a resort that offers the Express Pass for Free. Yes, the room does cost more per night, but over all, you are paying less for a family of 4 to stay at a Premier resort with Express Pass, than you are at a Value resort and adding the Express Pass on.  And then you get the additional perks of staying at a Premier resort thrown in.  

Don’t believe me?   Give me a call and let’s start the planning process and let me show you in black and white.