Is Universal Express Pass worth it?
Expensive, simple, and free if you stay at the right hotel. When to buy and when to skip.
Universal Express Pass is the queue-skipping product at Universal Orlando and it works differently from Disney's Lightning Lane. It is simpler and it is expensive. This is how to decide.
How it works
Express Pass is a per-person, per-day product that lets you use a separate, much shorter queue on most rides. The standard version allows one use per ride; Express Unlimited allows repeat rides. There are no return times to book: you turn up and use the Express entrance. It is sold for one park, two parks, or as a multi-day pass, and the price varies by date from around £70 to over £200 per person per day.
What it does not cover
At launch Express was not accepted on Epic Universe's headline attractions, and it has never covered Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure or Universal's VelociCoaster on the standard pass. Check the current list before buying, because those exclusions are exactly the rides with the longest queues.
The hotel trick
Guests at Universal's three premier hotels, Portofino Bay, Hard Rock and Royal Pacific, get free Express Unlimited for every night of their stay, for every guest in the room. For a family of four on peak dates the pass would cost more than the room. If you were going to buy Express for several days, price a premier hotel first.
When it is worth buying
- Peak dates: Easter, summer holidays, Christmas week. Standby waits of ninety minutes are normal and Express turns a frustrating day into a good one.
- Short trips where you have one day per park and need to cover everything.
- Halloween Horror Nights, where the event Express Pass is the difference between seeing three houses and seeing all ten.
When it is not
Off-peak dates with a fourteen-day ticket. If you can go back tomorrow, an hour's queue today is not a crisis. Ride the big attractions at opening and in the last hour and you will rarely wait more than thirty minutes.
Our recommendation
Buy it for one or two days at most, on the days you know will be busiest, and use rope drop and late evenings for the rest.
