When planning a vacation at Universal Orlando Resort, there are lots of things to consider to make your vacation the best that it can be. Of course, which resort hotel you choose to stay at or which parks you decide to visit during your stay is important, but today I want to focus on another key aspect of your planning: to get or not to get Express Passes, that is the question.
Universal Express Passes are an optional add-on feature that is designed to help you enjoy shorter wait times at some of their most popular rides and attractions. They offer multiple choices for these passes so that you will be able to find the one that best fits your family’s vacation needs. The two main options are the Universal Express Pass and the Universal Express Unlimited Pass. The regular Express Pass allows you to skip the line at each participating attraction one time per day of your pass. The upgraded Express Unlimited Pass allows you to skip the line at participating attractions an unlimited number of times per day of your pass.
Recently, my family and I visited Universal Orlando Resort to celebrate my daughter’s eighth birthday. I decided that I wanted us to have Express Passes for Universal’s two main theme parks, Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. The reason I chose the passes for these parks is that between the two of them, there are 40 attractions, with 31 of those being rides. As you can imagine, that is a lot for someone to try to accomplish in one day, especially when there are also shows and performances to attend, character meet-and-greets, and you have to make time to eat and go to the bathroom in there as well. So I took note of the main attractions that we rode, which had less-than-ideal wait times, and timed how long it took us from the minute we stepped in line to actually riding the ride, and then getting off and exiting the ride. Here are the top 5 rides we rode that day:
- Jurassic World VelociCoaster
- Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure™
- Flight of the Hippogriff™
- Skull Island: Reign of Kong™
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™
Jurassic World VelociCoaster is one of Islands of Adventure’s most popular rides. It’s a thrilling roller coaster with two intense launches, four inversions, and top speeds of 70 mph. It is so intense that, for safety measures, you are required to pass through a metal detector for the team members to confirm that you have secured all loose articles and stowed them inside the provided lockers before enjoying the ride. This is the ultimate ride for thrill-seekers, so if that’s you, this ride needs to be at the top of your must-do list. Since this coaster is so popular, expect wait times to be generally high throughout the year. When we got in line to ride, the original standby wait time was at 210 minutes, or 3.5 hours. With our Express Pass, we were able to save 170 minutes from the start of the line to getting off the ride. That is almost 3 hours saved!
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure™ is in a close race with VelociCoaster for Universal Islands of Adventure’s most popular ride. This ride takes you on an adventure deep into the Forbidden Forest to spot some of Hagrid’s magical creatures. Your adventure will come with lots of twists and turns and surprises around every corner. This is another outstanding, thrill-seeking coaster for park guests who enjoy the Harry Potter™ film franchise and great storytelling. The original wait time for this attraction was 180 minutes, or 3 hours. We got in line and completed the ride in only 25 minutes.
Another fun rollercoaster inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ is the Flight of the Hippogriff™. Take flight on the back of a Hippogriff with this fun ride that takes you all around the pumpkin patch and past Hagrid’s hut. Even though this attraction only reaches speeds of up to 29 mph, this kid-friendly adrenaline rush is still fun for the whole family. The standby line had a wait time of a whopping 95 minutes when we entered, but we were done and off the ride within 32 minutes with our passes.
Switching gears to a different style of ride, Skull Island: Reign of Kong™ is a trackless, motion simulation vehicle-style experience that takes you on an expedition through the jungle, caves, and temple ruins. There will be several creatures throughout your journey who battle with each other on Skull Island, so keep an eye out because some of those fight scenes may just be enhanced with 4-D special effects. We entered the queue for this ride when it had a posted wait time of 70 minutes, and despite it being one of the experiences with a longer duration, we finished it in just 28 minutes.
Last but not least, we have Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™, which gives you an experience before you even step onto the ride’s platform. It takes you inside of the infamous Hogwarts™ castle to see all kinds of magical wonders and hidden gems from the films. This attraction normally has lower wait times because its design offers faster loading and unloading of the ride vehicles than some of the others throughout Universal’s theme parks. Even though you may generally see lower wait times here, it’s always beneficial to have a helping hand from your Express Pass to add more time for extra fun to your day. Our journey through the castle queue and the time it took to complete and exit the ride was a mere 13 minutes, while the posted wait time was 45 minutes.
We had an amazing time during our trip to Universal Orlando Resort. The thrills, the fun, the excitement, and the magic were all there. We were able to take our time and really enjoy the moments with each other. I believe that much of this was due to our decision to purchase the Universal Express Passes for our park day. It saved us a lot of time, allowing us to see more performances, do a few character meet-and-greets, and have a sit-down dinner that night. So yes, my answer to “Is having Universal Express Passes worth the price?” is that it was most definitely worth the price for our family. Lots of people state that time is money, and I completely agree with them. Your time is valuable, and if you want to make the most of your Universal Orlando Resort vacation, I highly recommend considering one of the Universal Express Pass options for your trip. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which option is best for you and your family, but I want to leave you with this one question: Is it important to you that your family gets to experience all the magic that Universal has to offer? If your answer is yes, then Express Passes may just be the add-on that takes your family’s vacation to the next level.
