V-Flyer

I read somewhere recently that Universal is no longer making the free Express Pass system available at either of its theme parks[:(!] Apparently, all of the Express Pass booths have been covered over, and you now have to purchase Express Plus to beat the queues[n] Does anybody have any info. on this? Has anyone travelled recently to Universal and experienced the new system, if indeed it is true[?]

Have a look at this from the Universal Studios web page

It would appear your information is correct.

Let's hope that Disney does not go the same way with its Fastpass!!

On a side note, Universal offer VIP passes for $100 plus the usual park entry.

You get to enter most rides by a secret entrance (absolutely NO Q), and you're guided for the day. Your guide will let you ride as many times on a particular ride as you want, and if you want the front/back/middle row not a problem (we rode the Hulk 5 times and Spiderman 6 times). You pick up your passes from the VIP lounge and get free water/soda. The guide also gives you lots of secrets (Such as where to look at 'Back to the Future' for the error) or tells you which part of the ride gives the best G-Forces.

I thought it was only available to true VIPs but apparently anyone can get it by calling universal direct (they don't advertise this) and paying the $100.

As far as I'm concerned TOTALLY worth the payment, especially if you're Rollercoaster freaks. We got to do 23 rides in one day (from 9am to 6pm) and after that our VIP Passes were still valid for the Express Q where we were often still pushed to the front by staff... much to the annoyance of the Qg folks!

They told me Busch Gardens also offer this.

Oh, and to answer the above question, yes its $35 for an express pass... but last week, compared to the 'Free' Disney Fast Pass (which only allowed us to ride 3 times in one day (9am to 6pm)) the Universal system seemed MUCH better.

With the Disney Fast pass you could only request another 'Fast Pass' just as your first one was about to happen. So at 9.30am we requested Fast Pass for Space Mountain and it gave us a time of 3pm. We couldn't get another fast pass till 2.30pm.

Though to be fair when I whinged a magical Disney person appeared and gave us a 9 person anytime fast pass (for the group I was hosting) to be used at any time.

We still only managed three rides in one day though!!!!! [V]

Many thanks. The VIP pass sounds interesting. I may just try it;)

How can you only manage three rides in a day with an anytime fast pass? Sounds like some serious planning mistakes there. Trips to theme parks require preparation and tactics to get the most out of them.

It might not be that they only did 3 rides, it may mean they only did 3 rides using the fast pass system.

I like the sound of the VIP pass, might look into that for my trip in the new year.

The best deal is to stay in a Universal resort, ie Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portifino and you get a fastpass(your roomkey) for virtually every ride throughout your stay so you can jump the queues

[y]

Originally posted by Nevil30
The best deal is to stay in a Universal resort, ie Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portifino and you get a fastpass(your roomkey) for virtually every ride throughout your stay so you can jump the queues

[y]

That's fine if you're happy to pay over-inflated room prices. Don't get me wrong the rooms at the Royal Pacific and HR are nice but they're not that nice. For $100 dollars/NIGHT less you can stay at somewhere like the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.

I guess we've always been very lucky at Disney and Universal.
We first went in early September when the queues were at most 30-45 minutes a ride, and last year went end September early October and the parks were even quieter.
Hardly used express pass or fastpass that time, although I wish we had bought express passes for Halloween Horror nights as the queues to get in the Horror Houses were horrendous!
If we were going in high season $35 for a pass at universal sounds like a good investment!

cheers!

Dean

Originally posted by paddyc

Originally posted by Nevil30
The best deal is to stay in a Universal resort, ie Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portifino and you get a fastpass(your roomkey) for virtually every ride throughout your stay so you can jump the queues

[y]

That's fine if you're happy to pay over-inflated room prices. Don't get me wrong the rooms at the Royal Pacific and HR are nice but they're not that nice. For $100 dollars/NIGHT less you can stay at somewhere like the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.

How much is too much?

I have stayed at Hard Rock for rates of $139 - $179 + tax. Well worth the money IMO for a spot on location.
Those rates were either Annual Passholder rates or AAA (Our AA card) rates.
Shop around and you can get some great prices. If you make a two week break and register with Loews you'll easily attain platinum status. Platinum status guarantees you a free room upgrade to a suite at time of booking. I've just booked a suite for 9 nights in May @ $269+ tax. That rate is rack rate for a standard room at this time but I know I will get it down to 179-199 with a AAA rate when they are released nearer the time of my stay. I won't go for an annual pass rate as I won't accrue points towards retaining my platinum status with Loews.

Still sound expensive/overpriced to you?

Although getting raped for $12 a night to park in the hotel is out of orde rbut there are ways around that

Originally posted by daywalker

Originally posted by paddyc

Originally posted by Nevil30
The best deal is to stay in a Universal resort, ie Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portifino and you get a fastpass(your roomkey) for virtually every ride throughout your stay so you can jump the queues

[y]

That's fine if you're happy to pay over-inflated room prices. Don't get me wrong the rooms at the Royal Pacific and HR are nice but they're not that nice. For $100 dollars/NIGHT less you can stay at somewhere like the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.

How much is too much?

I have stayed at Hard Rock for rates of $139 - $179 + tax. Well worth the money IMO for a spot on location.
Those rates were either Annual Passholder rates or AAA (Our AA card) rates.
Shop around and you can get some great prices. If you make a two week break and register with Loews you'll easily attain platinum status. Platinum status guarantees you a free room upgrade to a suite at time of booking. I've just booked a suite for 9 nights in May @ $269+ tax. That rate is rack rate for a standard room at this time but I know I will get it down to 179-199 with a AAA rate when they are released nearer the time of my stay. I won't go for an annual pass rate as I won't accrue points towards retaining my platinum status with Loews.

Still sound expensive/overpriced to you?

Although getting raped for $12 a night to park in the hotel is out of orde rbut there are ways around that

I've booked the Royal Pacific for 4 nights at $199+tax pn in August which includes 7 day admission passes for 2 adults and 2 kids and the room key 'fastpass' for 5 days.

As admission tickets alone for 2A2K are $400+tax (plus $30 Each ($120 for the 4 of us) per day for a fastpass), the hotel deal seems superb value.

DD

Daywalker, any advice on parking would be much appreciated[:w]

thanks

Nice deal on the tickets DylanDog, I've PM'd you.