How much time does Express Pass Save?

[Alpha Jeanie]

We are staying at Portfino Bay the last 2 days of May this year. We are looking forward to going to the parks and using the Express Pass to save time on the lines. How much time does the Express Pass Line usually save you compared to standing in the regular lines? I don't think that it will be extremely crowded on May 30th & May 31st.....will it?

[tinksmom02]

We stayed at Royal Pacific at the end of August last year and absolutely LOVED having the Express Pass--I won't do Universal without it. I can't really say how much time we saved, but we were able to ride, and ride, and ride again, with very little wait. Plus, staying onsite gives you the early morning advantage in the Harry Potter section--definitely take advantage of that! We were able to ride FJ 4 times, used Express Pass to ride the Hippogriff, stopped for a butter beer and were making our way out of the area just as the park officially opened. Going against the current like that is a great feeling!

I feel that this Express Pass is something Universal really does well, and to me it was worth the extra money to stay onsite.

[wickedgin]

We were there for a couple of days right after Christmas and we walked on pretty much everything. HP had a long line in the AM but was walk-on by evening, E.T. had a long line, and we waited a bit for The Simpsons, but everything else was either a very minimal wait or walk-on. (We didn't do Rip Ride Rockit.) I was amazed.

[Pirate Granny]

We thought it was good value and reason to stay on site.

[MizMissy]

Express Pass is unbelievable. It's really almost obnoxious the way it is handled. When we were there last year the few days prior to Memorial Day, the park were fairly crowded -- part of the crowds before the weekend were big school groups on the Friday.

In some of the rides, it is dark so you do not see the regular lines (like Mummy) or the lines snake around so you do not see the same groups, but Jurassic Park is open. It was an hour wait in regular line, we walked straight up to the front - they asked how many in the party - we had 12 at the time ... "Group of 12? This way, please" and we walked onto the boat. Then, when we walked off the ride and right into line again and had to see the same people still waiting in line, it sort of made you feel bad (sort of).

When my kids were riding rides 5/6 times in a row (like Mummy), the longest part is walking through the lines. Other than Rip Ride Rock It and FJ that do not take Express Pass, our longest waits were 10-15 minutes for Dudley Do Right Falls and Hulk, then 20 minutes for Shrek. Dudley Do Right seemed to take a while to load, but it was also a long, winding que. Hulk had some break down is why it took a little while. For Shrek, we made it to the line right as they were closing the door on the show. I only remember they were "longer" simply because everything else was almost walk on.

Our first trips to Disney were in September and my kids were used to hitting most rides as walk ons and riding rides over and over. When we went to WDW in May 2010, they were more frustrated with the lines (even with fast passes) because of the wait times and not being able to ride over and over. Yes, they were spoiled. Well, after Universal last year, it will be difficult for me to get my kids to return to Disney because they are thrill junkies and love riding over and over. Personally, I used to be a thrill junkie, but I cannot handle simulator rides and as I've aged, I can't handle big rides any longer -- except for Rip Ride Rock It.

Have a great time!

[DVC2004]

It does save alot of time. We did not purchase it last June (and were off property at Disney) and boy were we sorry. It was early June and I figured crowds would be low. It was busy. Wait times of at least 45 minutes for most attractions. Also, several rides broke down several times. We waited, no kidding, 3 separate times to ride the Hulk on standby and each time it broke down while we waited. We wasted alot of time because of the breakdowns. After this happened on a another ride later that day, my husband complained to guest services that we wasted hours waiting for broken rides. They gave us a sort of "fast pass" for our troubles, good for 3 rides I would not go without an Express Pass or staying on site again. Not worth the aggrevation of wasting the day in line.

[NJGIRL]

It will save you alot of time. Enjoy having it.