Planning first trip for December this year. A week in the Hard Rock followed by two weeks in Disney. With the express passes we get as on-site guests and given the time of year, we'll obviously be skipping the stand by lines most of the time. But, are there stand by lines that are worth going through for the themeing? Maybe we should plan a couple of early mornings outside of Harry Potter to do the stand by lines. Any thoughts? Or should be skip them altogether, not much to see?
An "Inverse" Express Pass Question?
- Thread starter pad406
- Start date
-
Signing up for a Premium Membership is a donation to help Inside Universal maintain costs and offers an ad-free experience on the forum. Learn more about it here.
- Apr 1, 2013
- 1,653
- 875
The express passes do not include Potter, but you do get to enter the park 1 hour early for those attractions.
The elevator and worms is all you miss depending on if you wait and watch the big screen.
- Oct 14, 2012
- 1,466
- 75
To me, the benefits of Express pass far outweigh anything you'll see in the queue lines. The only queue that's truly an attraction in and of itself is Forbidden Journey and that doesn't accept Express anyway. You do miss substantial portions of Spider-Man, Men in Black, The Mummy and Dr Doom using Express, but there's nothing there that's completely groundbreaking IMO. If anything, you miss some exposition and storylines to the rides, but those can be explained here in a few seconds, which seems like a better option than standing in line for an hour :thumbs:
Yeah, gotta agree with Tyler. Some of the queues are great, like Mummy, but I think getting on the ride in a matter of minutes makes up for missing them. Also, sometimes the express queue weaves through the main queue so you can get pieces of the themeing, so you don't end up missing that much.
- Oct 14, 2012
- 1,466
- 75
This may be true on a typical day, BUT, the OP says they'll be visiting for three weeks in December total. Their trip is bound to be affected by heavy holiday crowds at some point. And if they're at Universal for the start of winter break and the week leading up to Christmas, the Mummy express line (and all of them for that matter) will be very, very helpful.
**That being said, the first couple weeks of December are pretty tame. What are your exact dates, pad406?
If you are staying at Hard Rock for a week, do you plan on going to the parks everyday? If so, I would say to use express on everything the first time through. You should easily be able to do everything at least 1-2 times in 2 days using express. Then if the wait is 15-20 minutes for something you like, check out the regular line. Some of my favorites:
Transformers has some cool stuff to look at.
Spider man isn't bad.
I think the details in Doom's Fear Fall are awesome.
Men in Black is good for one time through.
Dragons challenge is an interesting stroll. But not as good as it used to be.
I do the ET regular line just cause of the smell.
When I stay for a few days I use this strategy myself. I am super excited when I get there and want to ride everything. And with express, you get so much done in a short amount of time. Then you can relax for the rest of your trip and take in all the details you missed in the excitement.
Transformers has some cool stuff to look at.
Spider man isn't bad.
I think the details in Doom's Fear Fall are awesome.
Men in Black is good for one time through.
Dragons challenge is an interesting stroll. But not as good as it used to be.
I do the ET regular line just cause of the smell.
When I stay for a few days I use this strategy myself. I am super excited when I get there and want to ride everything. And with express, you get so much done in a short amount of time. Then you can relax for the rest of your trip and take in all the details you missed in the excitement.
Yes, we do this same strategy. Use the cool queues when the lines are short. This list, plus Mummy, basically sums up it up, since Forbidden Challenge doesn't have express.
This is still probably the biggest disappointment from HP 1.0. Dueling Dragons was such an amazing queue, and now its just meh.
