negative change with Express Pass lines

[Chi35364]

Hi All,

We've been to USO about 5 times since 2019. Each time staying at deluxe and having Express Passes.

On our recent trip last week we noticed a noticeable difference with the speed of the express pass lines. We noticed that staff is letting much less people in from express for each ride load - making EP line go much slower. We had timed a few of our rides to compare it against posted wait times and was flabbergasted on the results.

Example:
Flight of Hippogriph was 30min wait and our EP wait was 23mins.

Most outrageous one was with 1 Fish 2 fish ride. Where we watched the load agent only allow 1 to 2 families from EP and the rest from the standard queue. This made the wait almost equal to waiting in standard standby. You could see other's in EP line aggravated at this. It was as the agent was trying to purposely punish the EP line.

Most other wait times were better but still worse than we remembered from all our other visits. Has anyone else noticed this recently? We used to confidently say that EP line would be under 10mins std and bigger rides maybe 15. it did not feel to be the case this trip. We didn't' go on a busy week either.

I'm glad the passes were included in my hotel or I would have complained and asked for our money back.

 

[johnnyr]

We too were there last week and noticed the same in both parks. Fortunately every express line we were in still had a minimal wait. It was the first week of Madi Gras so hopefully it gets sorted out.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Generally they aim for half the standby time.

When we were there last May for your example of Flight of the Hippogriff if it was busy they would load 1 train EP 1 train SB, if it was slow in crowds they would do 2 trains EP 1 train SB. If there were crowds I could see that playing out like that. We def. waited some time in EP line at times just for that reason but then other times when it was slower we would get in faster.

Now if it was pretty close to equal on many attractions that may warrant a talk to Guest Services because crowd or not having it too close to SB wait means they are tweaking it too lopsided.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Hi All,

We've been to USO about 5 times since 2019. Each time staying at deluxe and having Express Passes.

On our recent trip last week we noticed a noticeable difference with the speed of the express pass lines. We noticed that staff is letting much less people in from express for each ride load - making EP line go much slower. We had timed a few of our rides to compare it against posted wait times and was flabbergasted on the results.

Example:
Flight of Hippogriph was 30min wait and our EP wait was 23mins.

Most outrageous one was with 1 Fish 2 fish ride. Where we watched the load agent only allow 1 to 2 families from EP and the rest from the standard queue. This made the wait almost equal to waiting in standard standby. You could see other's in EP line aggravated at this. It was as the agent was trying to purposely punish the EP line.

Most other wait times were better but still worse than we remembered from all our other visits. Has anyone else noticed this recently? We used to confidently say that EP line would be under 10mins std and bigger rides maybe 15. it did not feel to be the case this trip. We didn't' go on a busy week either.

I'm glad the passes were included in my hotel or I would have complained and asked for our money back.

That is surprising and unfortunate. I hope that they haven't changed their policy much. I was there last week and the express line wasn't bad at all, but the normal lines were also short because it was a low-crowd day. I do know that they used to always put the express people first and only let 1 or 2 from the regular line in if there were people in the express line waiting which caused the regular lines to be crazy long. I do believe that they rectified that issue and do allow more regular people.

 

[greeneyedchick]

I would also say that the one time I did ride the Hippograff using Express Pass it was also a ridiculously long wait. That ride in particular does not have a fast moving line. I would recommend contacting guest services. Universal is receptive to guest feedback. They need to know if any changes that they have made are negatively affecting the express passes.

 

[HashberryOTG]

I had an employee tell me once the goal is 20 minutes or less in express. 30 happens regularly on larger rides when it's busy.

 

[schumigirl]

I had an employee tell me once the goal is 20 minutes or less in express. 30 happens regularly on larger rides when it's busy.

That is true.

They have always aimed for less than 20 minutes in the EP line, not half.

Certainly there can be exceptions if there’s a tech issue or a very busy holiday. The longest we have ever waited with EP is 35 minutes when Transformers had an issue, we chose to wait. The other time was HE when it had not long opened.

Other than that, it’s been less than 20 minutes for us.

 

[NJlauren]

I was told they

That is true.

They have always aimed for less than 20 minutes in the EP line, not half.

Certainly there can be exceptions if there’s a tech issue or a very busy holiday. The longest we have ever waited with EP is 35 minutes when Transformers had an issue, we chose to wait. The other time was HE when it had not long opened.

Other than that, it’s been less than 20 minutes for us.

So interesting, we were told a few times the goal is half of regular wait for express pass. But on average experienced closer the to the 20 minutes your mentioning, occasionally it was 30 but very very rare.

 

[schumigirl]

I was told they

So interesting, we were told a few times the goal is half of regally wait for express pass. But on average experienced closer the to the 20 minutes your mentioning, occasionally it was 30 but very very rare.

We`ve had the same experiences, usually under 10 minutes for most.

Half the regular line would never work as some lines can get up to over 100 minutes. We joined the Minion EP line once when the regualr line was 135 minutes (crazy) and it was right on the 20 minute mark, they did push more of the EP line through and we notice that more often than not is the way they work the lines.

An inexperienced TM can make mistakes I guess.

I still wouldn`t be without EP for all our visits......it does spoil you for sure......

 

[Robo56]

ill wouldn`t be without EP for all our visits......it does spoil you for sure......

I agree.

 

[sarabguerra]

An inexperienced TM can make mistakes I guess.

This was our experience more often than not during our trip last year. We were using the EP lines because of our AAP, and it was a hot mess. We had to speak to supervisors almost every day. Unfortunately, like every other industry across the country, they are experiencing so much turnover and difficulty hiring, and TMs landing in positions who are not fully trained or experienced that it's causing issues "occasionally". Their words, not mine. We found it better to speak up and advocate for our needs right away than let it fester until you explode in anger. A TM can't be trained correctly if their mistakes are never brought up. But do it nicely people. These are humans beings with feelings.

 

[schumigirl]

This was our experience more often than not during our trip last year. We were using the EP lines because of our AAP, and it was a hot mess. We had to speak to supervisors almost every day. Unfortunately, like every other industry across the country, they are experiencing so much turnover and difficulty hiring, and TMs landing in positions who are not fully trained or experienced that it's causing issues "occasionally". Their words, not mine. We found it better to speak up and advocate for our needs right away than let it fester until you explode in anger. A TM can't be trained correctly if their mistakes are never brought up. But do it nicely people. These are humans beings with feelings.

I agree, there`s never a reason to be rude to TM`s, I do believe with the vast majority, they do try their best. We have many friends who are TM`s at both the parks and in the hotels, and some of the stories we hear are horrendous. No one should have to put up with that.

We had an experience with a very rude, and I mean obnoxious TM a few trips back, we went straight to the Food and Beverage manager who we knew very well and explained what happened, we weren`t going to shout back at him under any circumstances.

But, that was one experience in over 20+ trips to Universal Orlando. I`m sorry you had to speak to Supervisors so often on your trip, last thing you want to be doing.

 

[saskdw]

I noticed some slower EP lines on our December trip as well.
it seemed to me all the rides were managed differently. FJ had a lightning quick EP line every tim. They were really pumping people through the EP line. Some other rides seemed more one for one.

Had me wondering if each ride had their own manager who did things their way. But I did definitely notice the EP lines being slower than the previous 5 trips.

 

[Keeblerelf928]

We were here the last few days and express pass was frustrating. We had several where the express pass wait was 5 minutes less than the posted wait (grignotts, castle, Hippogryph, spider man were the worst offenders). Express pass used to be awesome in 2019. And don’t even get me started on the constant ride closures.

 

[schumigirl]

I noticed some slower EP lines on our December trip as well.
it seemed to me all the rides were managed differently. FJ had a lightning quick EP line every tim. They were really pumping people through the EP line. Some other rides seemed more one for one.

Had me wondering if each ride had their own manager who did things their way. But I did definitely notice the EP lines being slower than the previous 5 trips.

That`ll be a huge mistake on Universal`s part if they don`t keep up the perk as it should be.

We know folks pay a lot of money for the hotels for that perk, or buy the actual EP, both we all have certain expectations of how they should work. I agree with PP about making Guest services aware of the issue if it happens as it shouldn`t.

I`m interested to see how it`ll work for us in May.

 

[mom2rtk]

I thought the EP wait at Gringott's was unreasonably long on our January trip.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Wow I am so sorry. Especially given you are paying to stay at a place that gives you something that can be very expensive per ticket per day for free. Hopefully it’s just some TM training/winter break/cheerleading competition that is causing these issues

 

[saskdw]

That`ll be a huge mistake on Universal`s part if they don`t keep up the perk as it should be.

We know folks pay a lot of money for the hotels for that perk, or buy the actual EP, both we all have certain expectations of how they should work. I agree with PP about making Guest services aware of the issue if it happens as it shouldn`t.

I`m interested to see how it`ll work for us in May.

The first 2 or 3 days it seemed some lines were taking longer than they needed to. So after that I started paying attention to what was going on.

It seemed to me that on certain rides they weren't favoring the EP line as much as others. It wasn't quite deal breaker slow or formal complaint slow, however for those of us the go frequently it was noticeable. I was wondering if each ride has it's own manager and if those managers were giving different instructions to the TM's?

My wife really likes FJ and the EP line was pretty much walk on our entire trip regardless of whether stand by was 30 mins or 90 mins. Gringotts on the other hand was 20-30 mins every time regardless of the stand by line.

Two similar rides: Spider-Man was normal EP times and Transformers seemed to be longer then needed.

MIB was a disaster. This is a ride we would normally walk on in EP 3 times in a row to compete with each other for scores. However they were really slowing down the EP line compared to previous trips.

We were there for 11 days so these observations were made over a lengthy enough time to be considered valid.

The EP with the Premium resorts is part of what makes UOR such a great experience for us so hopefully they don't screw it up.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

MIB was a disaster. This is a ride we would normally walk on in EP 3 times in a row to compete with each other for scores. However they were really slowing down the EP line compared to previous trips.

Were they still using the one side of tracks for EP?

Or was the slowing down at the top of the stairs? Like we would have times on our trip last May where there was an attendant at the top of the stairs with a chain holding the EP back but it was more just to keep that top part not too crowded since they still keep EP separate from the normal line.

 

[saskdw]

Were they still using the one side of tracks for EP?

Or was the slowing down at the top of the stairs? Like we would have times on our trip last May where there was an attendant at the top of the stairs with a chain holding the EP back but it was more just to keep that top part not too crowded since they still keep EP separate from the normal line.

They were running it through the middle entrance with the standby people. Sometimes you had to sit through the preshow sometimes you didn't. Than the lines split again after the preshow. Even after the split it took way longer than years past.

I've actually never seen the preshow before with the elevator. The whole process made it a no go for EP riders wanting to ride a few times in a row.