Right now If you book a Hotel stay.... Not Package …. Just a Hotel stay at one of these On-Site Resorts: Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel® and Loews Portofino Bay Hotel you will get Universal Unlimited Express Pass for free. Notice I mentioned only Hotel Stay and not Package. I will will explain that a little more here in just a bit.
Unlimited Express pass What is it:
- Universal Express Unlimited ride access to skip the regular lines at participating rides and attractions at Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure. That's a value of $129** per person, per day. Valid theme park admission required. Not valid at Universal's Volcano Bay.
*Requires theme park admission. Valid only at participating rides and attractions in Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure. Not valid at Universal's Volcano Bay. Excludes separately ticketed events. Park-to-Park admission required to board the Hogwarts™ Express. Benefit valid only for guests of Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel® and Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, for the number of guests staying in the room for the length of hotel stay. Available during normal theme park operating hours only. Additional restrictions may apply and benefits are subject to change without notice.
**Based on average price of a 2-Park Universal Express Unlimited™ pass ranging between $84.99 and $189.99.
So that is the legal explanation based on official verbiage directly from Universal Orlando's Website.
My Verbiage is this. This unlimited Express pass has tremendous Value depending on the time of year you go to Universal. It is worth its Weight in Gold During peak travel times like spring break and Holiday Rush, but at times during the school year, its basically is a piece of paper that has some value depending on the ride or attraction.
The express will cut down your wait time drastically during peak travel periods allowing you more access to more rides than if you were to be just in the regular standby line. It is not a Cut to the front of the line pass, its pass to get you a reduced wait time in an express line. Say the line was 2 hours long. Express Pass will cut that wait down maybe to 30 minutes. That is a pretty significant reduction of time and well worth it. Downside of the express pass is that in most attractions, you miss the storyline build up for the ride, especially in rides like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Escape from Gringotts, and Transformers to name a few. If you have been on the attractions a few times and wish to skip the experience to build up the ride with the pre-shows, no harm no foul, more rides for you.
Now during Non-peak Travel times, normally when school is in session, the express pass loses value as you can see the price range above in the description. Rule of thumb is this: The less express pass cost, the probability of needing It is much lower. Many Days (especially during the weekdays)in September- early December, January-Late February, and Later April to Mid-May many of the rides will be walk on or have minimal waits. So there may be need for Express pass for Rides like Escape from Gringotts or The Hulk Coaster. See it still has some value.
So how do you get this express pass and is there a "hack"?
It's pretty easy to get the express pass when you book a hotel stay or Universal Orlando Package and stay at one of the Beautiful resorts of Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel® and Loews Portofino Bay Hotel. On your check in day, you will get your picture taken for each member of your party and issued the express pass that expires on the day at Park closing when you check out. So as long as you have a Valid Theme park ticket, you now have unlimited access for you entire length of stay. Pretty awesome!
Now for the hack that can be pretty frustrating to some.... Let me preface this that there are rumors out there that Universal is trying to shut down this hack, so it may not work for you if the do this.
People during peak travel period (Spring Break and holiday rush)will book 1 night stays at Loews Royal Pacific Resort and Hard Rock Hotel® in lowest room categories knowing that they will get 2 days of express passes for free, but they will not actually stay at the resort. They end up saving a TON of money on having to buy express passes. Not only do they get the Unlimited Express passes, the now also get the early park entry.
How much a deal is it? Let's say you have a Family of 5, Buying 2 days of Express passes at the Highest price range$189.99+tax that is going to be roughly $1899.99+ Tax. You have to buy theme park tickets also. A Standard 2 queen bed room, the least expensive room, Non Discounted at Loew's Royal Pacific for Adults on December 26th, 2021 runs roughly $784 for the night plus comes with for 2 days express pass and early entry into the parks for "free". That family of 5 just roughly saved $1115.90. Not a bad hack if you are trying to save money during the peak travel period times.
That family may not even stay in the hotel that night because they are staying at rental house, timeshare or maybe a lower end "cheaper" hotel in the area.
Could Universal close down this hack?
Yes because in the verbiage of their express pass benefit they have this clause. Additional restrictions may apply and benefits are subject to change without notice.
How could they close it down?
Add a length of stay clause during peak travel times in order to get the express pass.
Could Universal Be losing money on the hack, yes and no. With the express pass they are selling "air" to reduce your wait. While this may have value to you, I am going to let you in on a little secret..... The express pass benefits Universal more than it does you.... The more time you spend waiting in line, less time you are are buying food and souvenirs.
Ready to Book that Universal Orlando Vacation?
I am here to help you every step of the way.
You can reach me via Facebook at Matt's Firehouse Family Vacations ,email me at matt@firehousefamilyvacations.com, or call me At 269-491-0161
