View Full Version : Express pass ripoff
This year in Florida the schools go back later than usual - I think about the 20th and the parks are absolutely heaving.
We decided to go to Universal for the day during the first week of August and it was really busy, going in as the park opened at 9am we went straight to Spiderman and the queue was 60 minutes already!!!
We decided that for the five of us we'd buy 2 express passes so 3 queued and the other 2 of us got the passes. When it came to pay they were $51 each for use in 2 parks, that's an extra £25.50 at current exchange rates each, for 5 of us that would have been £127.50 on top of entry tickets for one day[msnmad].The lady on the desk said it was $15 more expensive each than the previous day as they'd sold out of them by 12 o'clock on that day so they'd put the price up as it would be even more sought after!
What I thought was the worst thing about the system was that when we got to the front of the queue on Spiderman and most of the other rides, they had one complete car for those with express passes and one car for those without! If they fed you into the main queue like they do at Disney then the main queue would go down at a much more reasonable rate. It is so wrong that families with children who've scrimped and saved to go in the first place cannot enjoy the day as much as those with money.
I agree with this. It is a terrible idea to have to pay for this. Even worse that they change the price depending on the demand. It just makes it more difficult for families.
Just greed.
That's amazing! What a price hike - 30%, that does seem very unfair.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by chris
This year in Florida the schools go back later than usual - I think about the 20th and the parks are absolutely heaving.
We decided to go to Universal for the day during the first week of August and it was really busy, going in as the park opened at 9am we went straight to Spiderman and the queue was 60 minutes already!!!
We decided that for the five of us we'd buy 2 express passes so 3 queued and the other 2 of us got the passes. When it came to pay they were $51 each for use in 2 parks, that's an extra £25.50 at current exchange rates each, for 5 of us that would have been £127.50 on top of entry tickets for one day[msnmad].The lady on the desk said it was $15 more expensive each than the previous day as they'd sold out of them by 12 o'clock on that day so they'd put the price up as it would be even more sought after!
What I thought was the worst thing about the system was that when we got to the front of the queue on Spiderman and most of the other rides, they had one complete car for those with express passes and one car for those without! If they fed you into the main queue like they do at Disney then the main queue would go down at a much more reasonable rate. It is so wrong that families with children who've scrimped and saved to go in the first place cannot enjoy the day as much as those with money.
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You must have been really unlucky, my wifes cousin did both Universal & IOA in under 4 hrs with no fastpasses.
christhear
14-08-2007, 05:30
We went to IOA today and it was pretty busy - came off Spiderman just after 10 and the queue was up to 50 mins. At least on Spoderman the general public gets 1 kart. All the other attractions we went on (except jurassic Park) the express passholders get to go infront of any one in the normal queue so the nromal queus hardly move. We only have 2 days left on our AP's but not sure if I'll bother when we come back in 2009 if they are still running a 2 tier system in the Universal parks.
aldridgeclan
14-08-2007, 14:46
we have only just come back at the end of july, so the american kids were still on their hols, we had no problems with lines, we went a different way around ioa ( turned to the right and went to cat in the hat etc) while everyone went left, by the time we came to hulk etc there was no line and we went on eg hulk twice in less than 1/2 hr. i agree paying for a fast pass is a rip off, you dont need it, just go the opp way round to the crowds.
[msnsmile]
pieman790
14-08-2007, 15:46
We were at Universal and IOA in July and as you say the queues were very big. What we found was that if you arrive at 9am and go to the far side of the park then you can almost walk onto the rides. This lasts for about 2 hours before people catch up with you. The big rides such as Hulk, Spiderman always seem busy what ever time you arrive as they are great rides and at the front of the park.
We did get onto Spiderman at opening after a 10 min wait one day.
We were there last November and you could almost walk straight onto any ride or the queue was max 2-3 mins.
If people pay the $50 plus for the express ticket and they are selling out then they are going to put the prices up, as it goes down to supply and demand.
The day we went it was just really crowded. At 2pm the queue for Hulk was still 120 minutes. Spiderman was a constant 75 to 120 minutes all day long. At 4pm the queue for Men in Black was 70 minutes (which we did queue for) and then when we went just before the park closed we went on the single rider line and went straight on.
freddiehollie
14-08-2007, 23:18
Whats most annoying though is that the tickets are expensive as it is, so why should you pay twice? As stated those on a very tight budget, maybe on a "Holiday of a Lifetime" experience suffer:( We are lucky in going a couple of times a year, if there is a que we walk on by nowing we'll be back. We would never pay the extra for the Fast Pass.
ujpest doza
28-08-2007, 18:21
At IOA we always turn right and go anti clockwise doing Seuss Landing first and have on occasions been around IOA and on everything by 2PM.
It was so quiet the last time in both IOA and US that it was embarrassing and the girl on the desk had advised us against buying Express Tickets as the park was so quiet.
ladypaula
21-10-2007, 01:28
it would be worth staying on site to get FOTL passes if you have to pay for express passes. better value staying in a hotel!
I think it is disgraceful that they charge this on top of the entrance ticket. What a shock if you have bought a 14 day ticket and have to pay $51 per person per day!
Ah, but it depends whether your party would prefer to be cluttered into a hotel room, all wanting to use the one bathroom at the same time etc, or having much more comfort by staying in a lovely villa! I know I would much rather have a lot of space by staying in a villa with plenty of rooms, private pool etc. I still think its a rip off having to pay extra for the fast passes though.
Karen
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ladypaula
it would be worth staying on site to get FOTL passes if you have to pay for express passes. better value staying in a hotel!
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<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Kazzie
Ah, but it depends whether your party would prefer to be cluttered into a hotel room, all wanting to use the one bathroom at the same time etc, or having much more comfort by staying in a lovely villa! I know I would much rather have a lot of space by staying in a villa with plenty of rooms, private pool etc. I still think its a rip off having to pay extra for the fast passes though.
Karen
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ladypaula
it would be worth staying on site to get FOTL passes if you have to pay for express passes. better value staying in a hotel!
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How true, Kazzie. I would never want to go back to sharing a room with 2 children - and they would never want to go back to sharing a double bed (if you are lucky!) or sleeping on a dreadful sleeper sofa! Even Travel City Direct ([msnmad]) recommend that their guests do not book a villa with a sleeper sofa as they are not suitable for prolonged sleeping. Even the luxury hotels rarely provide anything which is actually comfortable for children or teenagers to sleep on!
How much better for everyone to have their own beds and their own bedrooms, their own TVs and their own swimming pool. Lots of privacy, endless freedom and far less squabbling!
The benefits of getting free passes would be miniscule in comparison -after all, you may only go to the parks once or twice, but you have to sleep in one room every night for a fortnight!
No contest really!
steph_goodrum
21-10-2007, 17:36
I'm one of those who will vote with my feet, up till now we haven't had a problem seeing what we want when we go to the Universal parks, BUT I will never pay for fast passes as I see that as a double entrance charge, especially since it is isnt even a fixed price it varies on a daily basis and can be put up on Friday just because Thursday was busy. I certainly also wont be pressured into staying at their overpriced hotels for the benefit of fast passes either. As far as I'm concerned when the day comes that I cant get to go on what I want with relative comfort (not saying I'm not prepared to queue, I will but within reason), I will write to Universal and complain and just wont go back till I'm happy that I can do so. I'm not that desperate and there is nothing that my life will end if I cant get onto a particular ride.
Not only should we vote with our feet but we should let Universal know that they are ripping people off, and the time will come when people will say enough is enough.
Unfortunately too few people write to complain, so get writing if you feel it is wrong!
We love US and IOA but there is no way that I would pay the extra, would rather not go. We are a family of 5 so 5 x $51 = $255 x 2 = $510 for both parks ontop of the entrance price[msnmad]and thats only for 1 day in each park[msnmad][gun][gun][gun]
We found Universal to be the most expensive parks. We could not believe we saw 10 days disney passes for around $25 per day! IOA are nearly $85 on the gate. Best way I think now is to get the park hopper tickets (for Disney) and get multi tickets for Universal, Busch and Sea World.
I do agree that the price to fast pass is expensive.
I have complained and written to customer services over this- never had a reply- please everyone, fight with your wallet! They let too many in, then its 'first or second class' lines -Very unfair. And sometimes the first ride you see shows a massive time, so you buy the fastpass and as you get around the park -the queues aren't so bad!! Hmmm What you have to think is, do I want to pay an extra $? and get on more rides, or do I not, and just do 2 or 3 rides.
I love Universal its my fave, but they are going OTT on Fastpasses. Disney imho are also letting too many people in, for not enough rides. [Have been going for 23 years, so I can tell the diff] D'rather sit by my pool and moan LOL
PS If you stay in a villa, and book one night in a Universal Hotel, just take an overnight bag, you can get the fastpass thing -not worth the hassle to me. I like the comforts of home, hubby and son like the Fox soccer channel and Sky sports news on all the time!!
I've bought the fastpasses in Universal the last couple of times we went. It does sort of take your breath away when he calls out the total for six of you, but I've found it worth it.
They're supposed to mark the ticket at each ride so you can't use them twice, but we found that if the main line wasn't too long, the staff didn't bother to mark them, so we could go back again later for another go.
Exactly the sort of unscrupulous behaviour, I suspect, which gets the people in the main line all upset. Sorry.