EP in September - needed?

[Ladyderks]

Trying to decide if it’s worth it to get an express pass for a Thursday in September (September 23rd, to be exact). Thinking of adding a one day Universal visit to our Disney trip. Based on pricing, it’s worth it for my family if 5 to book a room at LRP and get the unlimited pass and early park entry - but this would basically be a throw away room, as we’re already booked at Disney for the week, and I can’t add the day on to the beginning or end of the trip. We will have a car, so getting there and back is not an issue.

So, I guess my question is - are crowds terrible in September? We did a Sept 2020 Disney trip. Lines were not bad at all and we survived without fast passes just fine. We’ve never done Universal, so I’m not sure what to expect. I’d prefer to stick to just park tickets and not spend the additional $353 just to get a room (well, really just the free express passes) - but if it’s worth it, I’ll do it. Should I book the room now, wait and see how crowds are for the 1st half of September, and cancel if they aren’t bad? Idk! Someone help, please

 

[Weather_Lady]

Trying to decide if it’s worth it to get an express pass for a Thursday in September (September 23rd, to be exact). Thinking of adding a one day Universal visit to our Disney trip. Based on pricing, it’s worth it for my family if 5 to book a room at LRP and get the unlimited pass and early park entry - but this would basically be a throw away room, as we’re already booked at Disney for the week, and I can’t add the day on to the beginning or end of the trip. We will have a car, so getting there and back is not an issue.

So, I guess my question is - are crowds terrible in September? We did a Sept 2020 Disney trip. Lines were not bad at all and we survived without fast passes just fine. We’ve never done Universal, so I’m not sure what to expect. I’d prefer to stick to just park tickets and not spend the additional $353 just to get a room (well, really just the free express passes) - but if it’s worth it, I’ll do it. Should I book the room now, wait and see how crowds are for the 1st half of September, and cancel if they aren’t bad? Idk! Someone help, please

I took a look at the historical crowd levels for Universal in previous Septembers (as recorded by touringplans.com). I skipped 2020 since it was an anomalous year. Prior to 2020, typical crowd levels for September on weekdays ranged from 1-3 out of 10.

Given the lower crowds, I'd look around online for some good touring plans and not bother with a throwaway hotel room. Get there early, be familiar with the process for joining a virtual line for Hagrid's if needed, and know what your must-dos are, since you won't be able to cover everything in both parks in one day (although you should be able to hit all the highlights with no problem).

 

[jeanericuser001]

There is another factor to consider. Halloween horror nights is literally around that time and HHN wildly changes how universal does their hours. Since its a thursday you are going the odds are fairly good they will likely start closing the park around 4:30 to 5 range for HHN. You could still do IOA but Im not certain if they will have it open that late. The express pass would certainly speed things up though the volume of crowds may come later in the day as HHN gets into full swing.

 

[Frankenstein79]

I don't think an Express Pass is necessary for IOA. It is usually pretty good in September, especially if you go early.

 

[Rob562]

There is another factor to consider. Halloween horror nights is literally around that time and HHN wildly changes how universal does their hours. Since its a thursday you are going the odds are fairly good they will likely start closing the park around 4:30 to 5 range for HHN. You could still do IOA but Im not certain if they will have it open that late. The express pass would certainly speed things up though the volume of crowds may come later in the day as HHN gets into full swing.

The HHN schedule has come out, and Sept 23rd is indeed an HHN night at the Studios. In general for a September weekday I wouldn't expect Express Passes to be necessary, unless you really want to ensure that you ride *everything*...

I want to say that IOA was open to 8pm when we were there in 2019.

If you're still in Studios close to that park closing, don't plan on using the Hogwarts Express. When we went to HHN for the first time in 2019 we found that everyone who wasn't staying for HHN had the same idea to stay in Studios as late as possible and then get in line to park-hop right before closing. The wait time ballooned to an hour. It would've been much faster to leave the park and walk over to IOA.

-Rob

 

[OG Runner]

It all depends on how long you want to stand in line. A wait of 20-25 minutes is usually considered a short wait, but with EP it would
probably be a walk on. When I went, it was in May, a low crowds time, but it was still great to have the EP.

 

[Jon81uk]

I’ve visited in September and never felt the wait is so bad we wished we had EP. Waited maybe 20-30 minutes for some attractions. Others almost walk on. Got unlucky and had one hour waits, but that was Kong which was the newest attraction last time I visited

 

[GuyFawkes]

I don't think the express pass is worth it for that time of the year.

If you are trying to do every ride in both parks you need a EP but if that's not your goal I think you will be fine.

You trying to do all the Potter stuff or something like that? One day really isn't enough for both parks. One park yes.