to not want to spend about £1,000 on a day out? - Florida theme park

[Rhythmisadancer]

This seems a mad amount of money - but entry for 4 to Universal Studio for a day is just over $500. It's not like we'll be popping back if we don't get to do everything.
DS tells me that it's really essential to get the express passes as well or we'll spend all day queuing. These are $229 EACH!!
So if I get two can we take it turns to use them and go on different rides with the kids, or will they be attached to the same two tickets each time? so the same two people (presumably the kids) can get on quickly each time, and the other 2 just wait? Or might I be able to jump on a ride using one of the passes - I'd only want to do this once or twice tbh, and DH is more than happy not to go on any rides at all so it's definitely not worth getting passes for all 4 us. We did not just win the euromillions after all.
Just how bad are the queues for the rides? Should I just tell DS to suck it up and expect to wait like everyone else? Or is it worth it?
AIBU? - it's a once in a lifetime amazing experience and queuing is for losers?
Or AINBU - it's a ridiculous amount of money, the queues aren't that bad?

Young relatives of mine recently visited Universal in Florida. They did not buy the express passes.

They managed to get on 4 rides. Not very happy!

It's not worth the money but the queues are that bad. I would not go at all.

They are attached to specific tickets, and can't be used by other people. However some rides have a 'single rider' queue for lone people and these move quite fast. So maybe buy two and the others queue separately?

Passes are attached to tickets, so you can't pass them between people for obvious reasons.

And yes, if you don't buy passes, you'll spend about 90% of your day in queues. I wouldn't bother going for the day, to be honest, it's not worth it. You need a multi-day ticket so you can come and go, and aren't under as much pressure to do everything.

we didn’t buy express passes but we were there from park opening and not dawdling at all. Single rider is a much better option imo.

The passes are included if you stay at one of the top 3 hotels: Hard Rock, Royal Pacific or Portofino.

For four of you, it's very likely to be cheaper to pay for one night than for separate passes - even if you don't stay overnight it also gives you early access in the morning and a place to retreat to if anyone needs a break in the middle of the day. They are very close to the parks so not a big deal to take a couple of hours out and use the pool over lunch.

Royal Pacific is usually the cheapest and is a lovely hotel.

we find the express passes are worth the money. They are also linked to an individual. You can’t share.

We typically stay at one of the hotels that includes express passes with the stay. It’s incredibly convenient and we worked out that with saving on parking and not having to buy the express passes separately, it can be cost effective. We always go for multiple days though.

I think it depends when you are going - we have never found the queues that bad (apart from new rides they tend to be busy) but we go either May or September - you can get tickets (if you are UK/EU based) that last fourteen days for around 290 per adult (this covers both parks and the water parks) - but they are only good value if you intend to go more than once while you are in Florida - remember there are two different parks so if you only intend to go to one make sure it’s the best one for your family.

queues are horrendous! Only our DD has the nerve to go on rollercoasters and she was old enough (13) to go and queue on her own. The rest of us (me, DH and DS) stood about in the extreme heat waiting! She must have been nearly 2 hours waiting on Harry Potter ride. The queues don’t look too bad at first as you can’t see the giant snaking queue inside until it’s too late! She got on two rides as a single rider and “only” waited half an hour. Hate to rain on your parade OP but if you can manage it, get the fast passes - it really is hell on earth!

i went to Disney /universal in my early 20s with a friend /no children. Loved universal and it was out of season so not too busy. Went back with family some 25 years or so later and was so disappointed with universal - it is soooo commercialised now and I am so utterly relieved I’ll never have to go back!

good luck!!

Often cheaper to get a night at one of the Premier hotels. Then you'll get 2 days express for all of you in the room.

Also 1 day tickets are the most expensive of the bunch.

We went to Florida in 2017 and 2018 it was blistering hot and queues are massive my kids were quite young at time so had little tolerance of waiting around but luckily we went in a massive group so we're able to split into groups that took the little ones to the things they wanted to do whilst the adults did the big rides. Orlando is amazing but I wouldn't be in a rush to go in summer time again until kids are late teens and can appreciate it

It worked out so much cheaper for us to stay at Hard Rock and get the passes free. It also allows you to get in to the park a little bit before it opens, which was so worth it for getting in to the Harry Potter wand experience thing

In 2020 when we had a brief lull during covid I took dgs to Disney land Paris.
It was running at 20% capacity due to covid rules.
We never queued for more than 15 minutes.
I dread taking dgs 2 when he's old enough.
I would definitely pay to avoid queues.

As PP have said, passes are linked to tickets. If you're only going for one day I'd really recommend them otherwise you might not get to go on much - we go for 2 weeks and still get them. Especially if you're going on very popular rides (like Harry Potter ones) the queues can be huge. You won't see much if you don't get them and you're only there for a day imo.

Might be cheaper to book an overnight stay with the park and fast passes included. It was when we were thee. And you got 2 days at the park not one.

It's been done years since I was there but we never got fast passes - just went from park opening to park close and got to go on every ride, the very odd one twice, this was July time..
You need to decide which parks to go to - we went to a different one every second day so maybe 6 in total over the two weeks.
Really, it's the kind of place I think you need to go back to two or three times as to see and afford every park is not realistic in one holiday..

We went in 2016 in August so their schools had gone back. We were jet lagged so got there really early when it opened and raced round the best rides. Long queue for our last thing which was the studio tour but worth it. We had had enough by 3z Then we left. Was amazing ! Kids were late primary

Oh and imho, Universal was better than the Disney parks

We stayed at Portofino Bay to get the unlimited front of line passes. The hotel was a bit dated and not nearly as nice as the Disney hotels.

We're not rollercoaster fans but Universal has some mega ones. The Harry Potter rides were good but, other than that, too many 3D simulator type rides for me that got a little samey. But if you're doing Hulk and the other big ones, you'll probably enjoy it.

We also went in October half term when it wasn't as hot or busy, I'm sure it's pretty manic in the summer holidays.

We went early morning as soon as the parks opened. Much cooler and quieter. No significant queues for any rides, and as we were leaving just after lunch time the queues and the heat were building up rapidly

Sadly you need those passes. And I think you also now have to stay at their hotel to buy them too..?

The only really good thing at Universal are the HP rides we think. The 3D rides quickly get boring. The Disney parks are unbeatable, but very expensive now..

There is a It’s Orlando time fb group you can join. They are experts.

Are you just visiting a theme park for a day? I think we bought Disney and universal combo tickets 14 days for £750 each- which seems much better value! Obviously that doesn't help if you only want to soend a day at a theme park though!
We also stayed at a universal hotel for the express passes. Disney ones were free.

God no. I'd never pay it in a million years.

But to try to help, the son of an acquaintance in NY is a "Disney Agent" or something. He's basically set up a business taking a small cut to arrange the best deals for people. He gets some preferential rates and so on.

Because of these mad, mad prices, it's worth trying. I can't link you to him, as he's not taking new work right now (which I guess indicates that there's a market for it - I thought it was crazy when I first heard about it).

Maybe google for something similar?