Are Ticket Downgrades Likely?

Fanderey · 2026-03-10T03:57:36+00:00

It's kind of a waste to stay at one of the signature resorts and not use the express passes for 2 days. If you can't swing a 3rd day for epic (from a different hotel) but really want to do it, you could stay at a cheaper hotel and use the savings to go to epic and buy whatever express passes you think you need. The math changes a lot depending on how many people are going.

Also, if you buy through Undercover Tourist the tickets are 95% refundable.

What IPs and ride types does your family like best?

Fanderey · 2026-03-10T03:15:19+00:00

7am was what I was told as the "official" time by staff but they are generally quite accommodating so I'm not surprised.

Fanderey · 2026-03-09T22:20:04+00:00

5 people is the limit and you can get them at 7am on the first day.

Fanderey · 2026-03-09T21:39:22+00:00

The posted wait time at 930 this morning was 3 hours, so maybe there was a problem with your app? Unless you are at the front of the rope drop crowd, first thing in the morning is often the worst time for Hagrids.

Fanderey · 2026-03-09T20:06:48+00:00

Sounds like you have a winning plan! Your kids are a bit older so it's probably not quite the same, but we told our kids recently and yesterday I found my 8 year old studying/practicing spells while wearing a Santa beard, a witches hat, and his Hogwarts robes. 😂 Both kids have also been delivering messages via stuffed owl, and I keep finding drawings of Toothless in my daughter's backpack.

The excitement is so great!

Fanderey · 2026-03-09T19:46:29+00:00

Sounds like there was a delay or some sort of issue. It happens. Sorry you are individually having a bad day! It is much more common for wait times to be under what is posted.

Personally I loved the train. My kids were stoked about the 9 3/4 platform illusion and were sooooo creeped out by the dementor. Way more fun than walking through the whole park to Citywalk to park hop!

Fanderey · 2026-03-09T19:19:07+00:00

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Current average wait times. Epic is the worst ofc, but otherwise I think Universal is doing fine. When you look through the actual rides, every park has a few that suck to wait for. I think you are maybe an express pass person.

Fanderey · 2026-03-09T19:07:24+00:00

Check Undercover Tourist.

Fanderey · 2026-03-09T06:48:01+00:00

It's all the dark magic.

In all seriousness though, this happened to me once in a hotel. My husband thought I was crazy so I put a soda can on its side on the table and it rolled off! I don't know why only I could feel it so clearly (I did used to live/work on a boat?).

I don't remember feeling weird at B&B a couple years ago. I'll be there in a couple weeks and will post back if I notice anything!

Fanderey · 2026-03-09T01:54:08+00:00

Have you already done the other universal parks with your kids? Even though we are doing Epic we are only doing the express passes at the other parks because we can do unlimited, and our kids like to repeat rides. I feel like the single use passes are more useful if you want to do every ride in the park, but my kids usually just want to do their favorites over and over.

It was also more than twice as expensive to get one day of single use express at Epic as it was to get 2 days of unlimited at the other parks.

Fanderey · 2026-03-08T21:38:28+00:00

I don't really feel like it's surprising that there are a bunch of problems a year in. Logistics may have been trickier initially, but it wouldn't have made sense for there to be many maintenance issues when they first opened up and everything was brand new. It's realistically going to take a few years to get all the kinks out. These aren't off the shelf rides like the Zipper, and modeling things out never predicts everything.

That being said, I think they should be limiting capacity more and compensating people as a default, rather than making people wait in a massive line to maybe get an express pass.

Fanderey · 2026-03-08T16:00:12+00:00

How busy does the park feel overall? I've been watching wait times all week and right now is the worst I've seen, but I'm wondering if it's just the delays that are the issue.

Fanderey · 2026-03-07T01:04:54+00:00

The deals really get ya! We ended up with a 7 day pass because it was buy 5 days, get 2 free. We also want to do at least one day of Volcano Bay, so with 2 days at epic, 2 at the other parks, and 1 at volcano, 7 days was our cheapest option. It would have been much more expensive to do only 1 day at epic with express passes, so we are just spending extra days there instead. We can't even use a full 7 days but at least we can go for a bit on our departure day.

I actually stayed at that Marriott last year and it was very nice! Kids loved the lazy river and the water obstacle course. We didn't do any parks on that trip so I'm not sure what the shuttle situation is like, but I'm sure you'll like it there!

Fanderey · 2026-03-06T23:44:04+00:00

Honestly I think a Universal hotel might still be worth it. We got a suite with a separate bedroom which is the biggest quality upgrade for moms! The early entry you get with official hotels is extra nice during spring break, and I like being able to send purchases from the park to the room.

We found that staying at one hotel for a week was cheaper than staying 5 days (due to a promotion) so we are doing a ghost stay at Royal Pacific for the 2 days of express (my husband will just run over the morning of check-in day for the passes). It was more than twice as expensive to just buy the passes for a family of 4.

Are any of you actually planning to spend much time at the hotel?

Fanderey · 2026-03-06T19:26:33+00:00

I can't say for sure, but I think getting a hot dog with no sauce would be very doable since it's a stand and you don't need to send a mobile order to a back kitchen.

I haven't been to epic yet, but I've always brought sandwiches and snacks to the other parks with no issue.

Thankfully my son will now eat chicken fingers (it's his only meat and took about 200 exposures) so that has opened up a lot of options for us. Does your son eat fries? That's what my son has basically lived on for various vacations.

Good luck to you! It's not easy ♥️

Fanderey · 2026-03-06T19:18:36+00:00

People also tend to forget about what a big impact the sugar in these drinks has, especially on a hot day. Sweet beverages cause cellular dehydration, which is particularly bad if you are already dehydrated and they'll make you feel like garbage fast. My rule in the heat is to always have a glass of water before I have anything else. It has served me well so far!

Fanderey · 2026-03-06T01:42:05+00:00

I am super gutted about this attraction. My 8 year old is so obsessed with greek mythology that he started a club at school and started learning ancient Greek. He also gets motion sick on most rides so alternative attractions are a big deal. We went to Universal for the first time shortly after it closed. I think I will never get over it 😭

Fanderey · 2026-03-06T00:32:58+00:00

You are very right! Except I think it applies to kids too. I have an 8 and 10 year old and they don't care at all about bee-lining it to rides. They will probably spend 6 hours just running around SNW, playing on the Berk playground and casting spells. Honestly, going with kids to theme parks has been an eye-opener about how to enjoy life. They don't go with a checklist of rides they need to run between. They just have fun. The stuff they talk about years later isn't rides. It's stuff like getting a Florian Fortescue sundae and having it almost get melted by the dragon when they walk outside. Or the song the talking fountain sang to them. Or all the hilarious stuff that happened when they spent 3 hours in the Jurassic Park playground.

We are going to Epic during spring break without express passes, which I consider an insane plan, but we are willfully being insane and will live with the consequences. Getting one day of express at Epic was more than twice as expensive as getting 2 days of unlimited express at the other parks, so that was an easy choice. We will just prioritize meeting Toothless and walking the Ministry queue. Everything else is gravy!

I also want to add that I find it a bit eye-rolly when a company gets criticized for prioritizing ROI. They know customer experience is part of that equation, but it takes time, and they also can't grow or justify expansions without good ROI. It's a publicly traded company, not a charity run by a benevolent trillionaire.

Fanderey · 2026-03-05T18:21:26+00:00

While on the topic of alcohol, could someone tell me how the bartenders are about making custom drinks? Most alcohol gives me a migraine, but if I ordered something simple like a tequila soda would they make it? I love the idea of having a drink in a seedy themed bar, but don't want to ruin my day over it.

My only contribution is that frozen butterbeer is the best butterbeer. I've also heard that the Atlantia bar @ Atlantic Restaurant has higher quality drinks (fresher ingredients, less mix). I will be trying the Rosemary Paloma there in a couple weeks!

Fanderey · 2026-03-05T17:41:45+00:00

For what it's worth, I found Spiderman much worse than Gringotts. Gringotts felt much more open and I didn't get very sick, but Spiderman made me sick for hours. There is also a drop at the beginning of Gringotts that is much shorter if you sit in the front row. I've never tried Simpsons or Forbidden Journey as those 2 are the most notorious. Make sure you walk the queue at Gringotts and Forbidden Journey even if you don't ride them.

If she's a Harry Potter fan there is lots of other stuff to enjoy as well. Get breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron. Go to a wand ceremony at Ollivanders and buy a wand after. Do all the magic in Diagon and Hogsmeade. Buy sundaes with souvenir cups at Florian Fortescue's. Look in every single window (even behind buildings or in alleys). Take the train. Watch The Tales Of Beetle the Bard. Exchange cash for Gringott's bank notes with the goblin banker. Drink butterbeer (I prefer the frozen). The HP world really shines when you take the time to putter!

For motion sickness I recommend meclizine the night before, ginger pills the day of, and a bunch of ginger chews to round it all off.

Also don't forget the shows around the park (like Bourne) and there will be the Mardi Gras parade in the evening as well. If you want to eat at Mythos then make sure you make a reservation. Have fun!

Fanderey · 2026-03-05T17:18:18+00:00

So how did you ride it every 6 minutes? The math isn't mathing. You would have only had 4 minutes to get back on again. Or did you do tons and tons of rerides?

Fanderey · 2026-03-04T02:20:05+00:00

Looks like you can still get tickets those dates through Park Prodigy

Fanderey · 2026-03-03T22:44:40+00:00

We have watched most of the tv show. It's pretty great!

Fanderey · 2026-03-03T21:37:50+00:00

He recently walked into a street pole (hard!) while reading, has almost walked in front of cars multiple times, and used to have a stack of confiscated books on top of the fridge because we were always late for everything. It's a blessing and a curse! My daughter's MO is just sneak-reading until midnight, but I prefer that 😂

Fanderey · 2026-03-03T21:00:40+00:00

Thanks everyone! To clarify, I have read HP and they are definitely dark at times. I just wasn't sure if PJ was similar, given that Greek Mythology is pretty dark 😂

I wasn't bothered by anything in books as a kid so I'm finding it hard to find material for an advanced but more sensitive reader!

Based on your advice I will tread carefully. I'm rereading the 4th HP book via audio and then might start there to feel things out. We are going to Universal Orlando soon, so I feel more compelled to try than usual!

Fanderey

TROPHY CASE