My future experiment: surviving Universal without Express passes!

[BarryH]

I know what you're thinking..."Barry's gone insane," but my experiment for a Saturday in July is to survive Universal without Universal Express passes. I'm just tired of reading on different message boards, "Whaa, whaa, I'm not going to Universal anymore because they don't have free Universal Express passes!" I think most people think that if they don't use Universal Express, they will be stuck in line forever and never get to see anything. I've been to Universal many times and I know you can survive the parks without Express and wait in line without too long of a wait.

I'm going to shoot for waiting in line for 30 minutes or less.

Here's my plan...

- Arrive at IOA gates at around 8 am
- As soon as gates open, start doing the major rides at Marvel Super Hero Island and go around the park counter-clockwise, hitting the major rides at each island
- At around 11 am, arrive at MSHI and do the single riders lines for Spider-Man or Hulk (whichever is open)
- Head to USF
- Check on wait times for Jimmy Neutron, Shrek, and Jaws. Ride the one with the shortest wait time.
- Enjoy shows and high capacity rides (Twister, Earthquake, T2, etc.) or single rider lines at MIB or Mummy until around 4 pm
- If there is a thunderstorm, hide in T2 or Earthquake until the storm is over. Then do Jaws if there is a short wait and I haven't done it yet
- After 5 or 6 pm, do the major rides that I missed
- Enjoy Universal 360 at the end of the day

So what do you think of my plan? Am I crazy or reasonable?

My rules will be to not wait in lines that are over 30 minutes.

I'll definitely do a trip report when I finish my experiment!

BTW, I'm shooting for July 14 or 28 for the experiment.

 

[coasterphil]

I really don't think the no Express passes is really a big deal. Sure its an amazing perk if you're a resort guest, but it isn't truly neccesary. You should be able to get on most everything without waiting too long, from my experiences at the park. I don't think I've ever seen an attraction with longer than an hour wait at either park, and I've been there on a June weekend.

 

[kcnole]

I've done the park with both express passes and without and I'm not willing to spend more than 5 bucks for them. Yes the park is busy but I can still do everything I want without the express passes. Personally I wish they were a benefit of resort guests only.

 

[dandaman]

I'm just tired of reading on different message boards, "Whaa, whaa, I'm not going to Universal anymore because they don't have free Universal Express passes!"

Exactly.

That's why you stay at one of the hotels.

...Right, Barry? :lookaroun

 

[sknydave]

You are making the correct choice by visiting IOA first, then moving on to Universal. There will be some hefty lines for the more popular things at Uni, but they won't be near as long as some of the biggies get at IOA.

 

[BarryH]

Exactly.

That's why you stay at one of the hotels.

...Right, Barry? :lookaroun

Definitely, but I want to do something challenging. Staying onsite is nice, but sometimes hotel rates are even beyond my reach. I can also understand people and families on a budget visit Universal and may not be able to afford the onsite hotels or Express passes.

Besides, I'm a little crazy anyway!

 

[dandaman]

Yeah, TPR does that to you. :lol:

Anyway, hope your experiment is a success, whenever it might be.

 

[dannyfromthebx]

Barry, are you on the boards at IOA Central???

 

[dandaman]

I'm pretty sure he is. I remember him having a link somewhere in his signature...

 

[BarryH]

Barry, are you on the boards at IOA Central???

Yep, I've over there too.

 

[Mark_E]

Well, Good Luck!
We managed to get most of the two parks done in one day afew years ago. We had been on a cruise and had one day to kill so decided to do the Universal Parks. Only things we didn't do were the water rides as it was pretty cold that day.

 

[slappy magoo]

First time I ever went to IOA - which was during Easter week 05, no less - we were there at park opening, did the circular route starting at Marvel Island, did every ride except Dr. Doom's Freefall and the kids' Jurassic Park ride (Pteranodon Flyers? Something like that?), and including Fire AND Ice, and we were done in less than 3.5 hours. Granted, by the time we were back at the park's entrance, lines had grown significantly, as everyone else was kinda following our wake. They still had free Express Passes at the time, but we opted to see what crowds were like at Uni instead. They were sizable. We wound up looking around while waiting for our Express Pass for T2. A few days later, we went back to Uni and hit all the major stuff within 5 hours, then farted around a little, checking out the little details, but we did utilize their Express Pass once or twice (at the time, there were still kiosks for them throughout the parks). We returned the following August and did one day in each park, only this time we bought the Express Passes, mainly because the temperature was so hot those days, we wanted to be able to hide from the sun if necessary without worrying about lines, AND we wanted to be able to get stuff done and split (and maybe return later at night) if the heat proved to be TOO oppressive. Still got everything done pretty fast.

If you're there when the park opens, you can probably, easily, get most stuff done without buying one of their Express Passes.

 

[BarryH]

The experiment will occur this weekend! We'll see what happens.

 

[sliceservace]

I was in US today, and if it would not have been for going to Curious George's ball pit, we could've flown through that park and rode everything twice. BTW, loved the pit! I'll be headed to IOA tomorrow before going wherever this weekend. Also Barry, let me know if you would want to meet a fellow WDWMagician, lol.

 

[BarryH]

I was in US today, and if it would not have been for going to Curious George's ball pit, we could've flown through that park and rode everything twice. BTW, loved the pit! I'll be headed to IOA tomorrow before going wherever this weekend. Also Barry, let me know if you would want to meet a fellow WDWMagician, lol.

Sorry I missed you! I didn't check the boards on Friday.

Anyway, here are the results of the experiment from yesterday (in a nutshell)!

Even with a bunch of groups at the park, I still managed to get a lot in.

I did IOA first and the gates opened at 8:30. Before 9:00, I did the Hulk, Fearfall, and Spider-Man. From 9-11:30, here's what I did:

Spider-Man (less than 5 minute wait)
Hulk (15 minutes)
One Fish, etc. (1 cycle)
Cat in the Hat (2 minutes)
Seuss Sky Trolley (less than 5 minutes)
Dueling Dragons (Fire and Ice) (1 train wait for each)
Flying Unicorn (2 minutes)
JPRA (15 minutes)

At around 11:30, I did Ripsaw Falls and I waited 55 minutes! The queues were pretty up there when I left IOA at noon. Hulk had a 125 (!) minute wait. Spider-Man had a 105 minute wait. The Caro-Seuss-Sel, however, never got above a 5 minute wait.

Then I went to USF and did:
T2:3D (15 minutes)
Earthquake (15 minutes)
Turkey leg lunch (bought from a food stand because the counter service lines were ginormous!) (5 minutes)
Animal Actors (walked right in)
MIB (2 times in the single riders line -- 5 minutes for 1st time, 15 minutes for 2nd)
Mummy (15 minutes in the single riders line)
Twister (5 minutes)
Shrek 4-D (15 minutes)

Jaws seemed to be down all day. I was looking for a black puff of smoke to come up from the Jaws area, but I never saw it. At around 6 pm, I went back to IOA and did Popeye. The wait was about 45 minutes. I went back to USF and did Jimmy Neutron (30 minute wait). I would have done E.T. (30 minute wait) and Universal 360, but my ankle hurt and I went back to the hotel. I parking in Jaws 212 and I shuffled back to the car. I walked like Jason Voorhees! Just give me a hockey mask and a machette!

It rained off and on from around 2 to 4 pm. I hid in Earthquake for the major downpour at around 2 pm.

The experiment was a success, despite the bad ankle!

 

[sliceservace]

No big deal Barry, but I will agree that the longest lines were for the food and for Hulk. My family, girlfriend and I all talked about your plan to spped through all the rides and I have no doubt that you could go through both parks if you put your mind to it. We end our five day pass tomorrow, and therefore, never have had a reason to rush.

PS The most dissapointed thing on this visit, the fact that HP is not being advertised, saying "come back in 2010". Guess they figure that guests might not come in 09 if they all knew.