View Full Version : Express Pass - Worth It ??
Pegasus928
26-04-2008, 11:49
I have just been looking at the price for the express pass for the period that we are there, and it is $20 each per day.
This doesn't seem that bad to me, if it guarantees that we will get to go on the rides we want without having to spend half the day queueing.
What has been the experience of people so far with regards to the Express Pass queues? Do they move faster or are they just as long as the regular queue?
Kenny
CERICROWLEY
26-04-2008, 12:21
Never used the bought express pass, so cannot comment on how the queues are, but have never really had a problem with getting on the rides we want, as we tend to go early enough in the day.
$20 sounds a reasonable fugure compared to some that have had to pay $50 upwards for them, I think it is wrong that Universal can charge whatever price they feel they can get for it though.
It will be upto personal choice I suppose, but one thing to bear in mind is if the cost of the express pass is reasonably low, then they do not expect a lot of people to buy them, so does this mean that the queues in general will be shorter. hmmm.
christhear
26-04-2008, 14:23
If they are only charging $20 when you are going this means they are not expecting the queues to be too big. The higher the price the more people they are expecting that day.
For $20 I would get them. I would pay more too as I hate the long lines in the heat. [msnsmile2]
canarypam
27-04-2008, 12:45
I would definately pay it! We bought express passes when we went to Universal a couple of years ago for about $34 I think and they were well worth it!!! Got everything done in 1 day!
pieman790
27-04-2008, 13:34
Just to let you know with the express pass you can only ride once on each ride.
Personally i would not pay it. We tend to go either first thing in the morning and make our to the far side of park first or if the park is open late at night go later in the day. We never had to queue more than 20 mins,the last time we were over at Easter and on some rides we walked straight on.
Pegasus928
27-04-2008, 13:43
I guess the best thing we can do is turn up and 'suss' the park out before we decide what to do. I will have no qualms about paying it if I think we can get things done quicker - even if it is for just one go per pass. If we like the ride enough then we will queue for the second time around.
Thanks for the input guys
Kenny
glasgowmary
27-04-2008, 16:44
i have a mixed view on this one. I have never bought the fast passes 9( ALTHOUGH WHEN THEY WHERE FREE SOMETIMES WE TOOK THEM ) and have always managed to do all the rides we wanted ,except one boxing day when it was a little busy and we were going back the next day so left.We like all the ' BIG ' rides so they seem to have have bigger queues .But last trip we stayed in the hard rock hotel and your room key is a fast pass, this was great and we would probably turn up and see if it was worth buying a pass as i feel the parks are getting busier.However as we have annual passes we might just come another day where if you are only going once or twice you want to see it all.I still think it is a bit of a rip-off though ...
It's like the ones you buy at Alton Towers I suppose - you won't know if you need them until too late! I'm going to combine all the Busy Day Guides I can find and try to be clever enough to avoid too much queueing at all!
Pls note that you can also buy them everywhere in the parks. So you can decide on the day should you think they are worth it. We made sure that we would be in the park at opening and did the rides where big lines are expected first, we didn't think they were worth it then.
$20 sounds really cheap - last time we went it was $59 each (or thereabouts) for the express pass. It was definitely worth it at that price so if they're $20 then go for it.
neild292
21-05-2008, 16:21
For $20 I would definately go for the express - We have been there when they wanted over $60 for an express pass. Even though you can only go on the rides once it makes the whole day much more enjoyable when you now youdon't have to queue
Neil and Sharon
Pegasus928
21-05-2008, 21:41
A quick update now that we have done both Universal and Islands.
Both parks were quiet on the days that we went and because of that we decided not to buy the express pass. It would seem that everyone else had the same idea as the queues for rides like Revenge of the Mummy, Simpsons and Spiderman were in excess of 30 minutes - despite the low volume of guests. So we went back to customer services, got the express passes for us all and went on every ride we wanted to with next to no waiting at all.
In my mind it was good value for money and saved us almost an hour of our time on the first 2 rides that we went on. The only time it didn't pay dividends was when we went on the Simpsons for the second time. We got to the head of the queue only to be told that the ride had had some mechanical problem and would be shut for 10 minutes while they repaired it. This turned into half an hour and the people next to us told us the same thing had happened that morning as well. Hopefully they will have sorted it by tomorrow because we are off back, and will be gettng the express passes again in the hope of doing both parks and all the rides our group want to do.
Kenny
supersneak
24-07-2008, 15:10
We bought fastpasses for the first time on our recent holiday, and it was definitely worth it. We had time to enjoy the parks, without spending hours queuing for rides. We purchased the fastpasses online the night before the park visit and did an electronic pickup at the park. Busch Gardens now do a Quickpass for £24.99 + tax, but this has to be purchased on the day.
markpemberton
13-08-2008, 00:56
Hi
Have just returned from usa 10th Aug 2008 you now have to buy a fast pass which cost me £100 for 4 people a bit of a rip off as they forget to tell you that you can only ride each attraction once a bit of a dissapointment
Mark
chrizzy100
13-08-2008, 02:05
I go to often to need a pass...I can always catch something I've missed on another trip...
Not sure if I would buy one...even on a busy day we have done most of the rides worth doing..
CCollins
14-08-2008, 13:42
I think that if you are only going to the park once, then it would probably be worth it.
If you know you are going to be returning at some time, then I would not pay it - its too much to charge!!!
Just clocked this thread and so glad now we decided not to do IOA or Universal Studios when we go next year.
Seems as already said very unfair particularly on large family/groups, there will be only two of us and I wouldn't pay it on principal and it has made me feel very doubtful about whether I would go to either again.
You can just see already hard pressed mums and dads/grandparents who've saved a fortune to get there in the first place being put under pressure from kids so that they avoid too much queuing - very very unfair indeed.
Rant over......
I just hope Disney don't go down the same route