I'm going to Orlando in about a week.

Someone suggested Express Passes for this park. We'll only be at Universal Studios/Island of Adventure from 2pm - 10pm One day. I bought 1/2 day tix. I know that's not much time.

The question I have is this.

The Express Passes are $50 per person and you can only go on each ride once using these passes.

I can book a nice Hotel at Universal that offers these passes free for $291 a Night. I'm paying $80 at another budget hotel.

Are the Express Passes really worth the difference?

I'm wondering how long the waits are for the big rides and do they even have enough thrill rides to make this worth it?

I know in Cedar Point, we stood in line for over an hour easily for all of the major rides.. but we were there for a few days.

Do you think this would be worth it to be able to hit all of the rides in this time period or save the money and just do a few major rides?

Keep in mind that we are going to Disney World too ..

I've just never been to Universal Studios and am not sure.

Thanks in advance...

ps, the kids are 10 and 15.. are there enough Thrill rides to justify Express Passes ( because we won't use them for the smaller kiddie rides) we all love the mega coasters, even my 10 year old ..

It doesn't look like it from the webpage but hard to tell. Any help would be appreciated.

well, I guess I answered my own questions.. apparently with the Hotel Pass you can ride the rides over and over and stand in the Express Line... so I booked it. I'll let you know if it's worth it or not. In 90 degree plus weather, I'm thinking it will be well worth it.

wow, i've never heard of an express pass, i bet that really ticks off the regular patrons!

Karried, it is well worth it. The experience you will have with your kids, the amount of rides you can get on, and the frequenty of the rides.

If there is two lines, Express and Regular, how do they work it? Half and half of both?

I say you get the express passes and go crazy on those rides.

Thanks Thunder, yes, I believe there are two separate lines.. one Express and One Regular line.

I've never used them before but I think it will be worth it. Otherwise, after waiting in line all day, we might not even get to see the park at all.

I wish you were my mother. lol

I was the one that mentioned the express passes, Karried and yes they're worth it.

The regular lines for the best rides are very long and there are enough good rides to make it worth it. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much shorter the express lines are.

There are three excellent roller coasters and the 3D Spider-man ride is my favorite amusement park ride I've ever ridden.

It's a great park and a lot more fun with express passes.

Thank you SouthsideSooner.. I'm so glad you mentioned that.. I researched it and you were so right. I've convinced my friends meeting us there to cancel their rooms and rebook at a hotel that offers the Express passes with a room key, plus we get to stay at an awesome hotel too.

Of course, the rates are much higher but you get to get in the Express line mulitple times and ride the rides over and over. Yipee! I can't wait.

I like the rides more than my kids I think..

Yeah, Thunder, I'm a cool mom according to my kid's friends.. they are simply amazed that a 'mom' plays Halo and kicks their butt... ha.ha.. the other day, I got a Killtacular and was yelling for my son to come and see my score and medals.... his friends all came running and my son was cracking up.

I asked him later, 'were you embarassed' and he said, 'are you kidding' my friends all think you are the coolest mom they've ever met' ha,ha... that was one of the best compliments I've gotten in my life.

Your kids are lucky to have you.

My mom was, always, will be there for me, but she doesn't come close to being the coolest mom that does the unexpected things.

For years, she was suppose to take us to Six Flags over Texas. Well, that never happened. We used to go to White Water Bay, but she isn't the coolest mom, because she doesn't get on any of the water slides. I think that I had convinced her to get on only one (brown tunnel - total darkness), but the result was she was sliding down total backward! The most she did with us was relaxing on the rocks slide, you know the slow moving water surrounded by rocks. That, the lazy river, and the waving pool.

We went to Frontier City a lot and she does get on most of the rides and all of the roller coasters.

I'm 23 and I am still very much a kid inside.

There is a lot of things that I want to do with mom, just us two, but it would have to be on my part to encourage her.

I can't remember what year it was at Frontier City, I was playing this game by the Wild Cat and was trying to get a good sized Taz clothed with OU Sooners football uniform. I didn't win it, but mom managed to get the lady to give it to me. lol I still have it, stuffed in my closet. lol

Karried, you should sponsor an OKCTalk event >>> Karried and Children <<< You be the mother to all of us members and go on trip together, such as a cruise or back to Orlando again. lol

Make sure you understand how the express pass works. You don't just walk up to a faster line and get on the ride. You walk up and get a scheduled time later when you can go in the faster line. So if you walk up to the express line at 11:00 and the lines are long it will give you a ticket that says something like "your scheduled time is 1:15". What you do is hit up several express lines early in the morning. You can then hit the rides an hour or two later but get through faster. Our times ranged from 1/2 hours to three hours after we received our express pass.

Been there ! :)

Make sure you understand how the express pass works. You don't just walk up to a faster line and get on the ride. You walk up and get a scheduled time later when you can go in the faster line. So if you walk up to the express line at 11:00 and the lines are long it will give you a ticket that says something like "your scheduled time is 1:15". What you do is hit up several express lines early in the morning. You can then hit the rides an hour or two later but get through faster. Our times ranged from 1/2 hours to three hours after we received our express pass.

Been there ! :)

That's not how it worked when we were there last summer.

The express passes were for a seperate, much shorter line.

Actionman, thanks.. it's all so confusing!

I believe you are talking about the FREE Express Passes you can pick up at the park stations. (Similar to DisneyWorld Fast Passes - Free)

I've read that they run out quickly if you don't get them early and since we're not getting there until early afternoon, we wouldn't probably get them..

The ones I'm talking about can be purchased and you do get in a separate Express Line.

http://www.universalorlando.com/images/universal_express/express_logo.gif
This from the Hotel website:

" On-site Loews Hotel guests receive FREE Universal Express ride access to SKIP THE REGULAR LINES at most rides and attractions in both theme parks. It's the ultimate perk of staying on-site at Loews Royal Pacific Resort, (http://www.universalorlando.com/hotels/loews-royal-pacific-resort.html) Hard Rock Hotel® (http://www.universalorlando.com/hotels/hard-rock-hotel-orlando.html) or Loews Portofino Bay Hotel.
(http://www.universalorlando.com/hotels/loews-portofino-bay-hotel.html)
Just present your hotel room key card at each participating ride and attraction's (http://javascript<b></b>:genericpopwin('tic_details_express_popup.html', '520', '550', 'yes');) Express entrance, and bypass the regular line! There's no additional charge!

Enjoy unlimited entries to your favorite attractions and shows at both Universal Studios® and Universal's Islands of Adventure®, completely at your convenience.

The only other way to bypass the lines is to purchase Universal Express PLUS Passes, (http://www.universalorlando.com/tickets/express-pass-plus.html) ranging in price from $19.99 to $55.99 + tax per person, per day. For a family of four, this benefit could cost over $200 for one day. On-site hotel guests enjoy this benefit for FREE - a great value and allows you and your family to make the most out of your day! "

Back from vacation....ahhhhh... what a long trip. I'm so tired, I need a vacation.

The Express Passes at Universal were AWESOME! Thanks again for the recommendation SouthsideSooner.

Yes, through our hotel, the Hotel room key let us walk past all of people in lines and go straight on the ride.. over and over if we wanted...we loved it. Since we were there only one day, it was worth it.

It was a whirlwind trip and frankly, I'd rather not be gone this long and try to do so much on vacation ... it was exhausting planning everything and trying to cram so much into a few weeks.

Universal Studios was cool.. had some good rides. I did find Disney World crowded and hot like I expected ...they don't have very many fast roller coasters but still, we tried to fit in all the popular rides. We utilized every fast pass we could get at all the parks, but Epcot ran out of those quickly.. had to get there bright and early.

I loved Animal Kingdom, that was my favorite.

In the other parks, all the parades, fireworks, electrical light shows etc etc were really cool .. but mostly everything was similar to Disneyland. The water parks gave us all a nice break from the long walks around and through the parks.

The cruise was great ... got to do a dolphin encounter and saw the Atlantis resort in Nassau and then I actually went parasailing ( which was a huge accomplishment for me since I don't like heights). We saw sea turtles snorkeling and then from the air ... very cool.

So, overall it was a good vacation but it was exhausting for everyone towards the end... a lot of endless walking, taking shuttles, waiting in lines at Disney.

Next year, I'm laying an all inclusive on a beach with my umbrella drink in hand with no hassle! lol

Sounds fun! I have been to Orlando MANY times as I grew up in Atlanta and it was a close trip (and used to be much cheaper). For your next trip (the all inclusive beach resort), may I suggest Maui or Aruba. Both are incredible (Aruba is cheaper that Hawaii).