Many theme parks have been offering a variety of enhancements to their basic tickets allowing customers to pay additional fees in exchange for priority seating at shows (or standing at parades), access to shorter lines (queues), special behind-the-scenes (backstage) experiences including animal encounters, dining and drinks packages and many other ticket add-ons. In this article I will focus on Disney's Genie+, Universal's ExpressPass and SeaWorld's QuickQueue and provide a few other helpful tips at the end.
Disney
Disney's FastPass+ has been discontinued and replaced with Disney's Genie, Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. The Genie and Genie+ services are accessed through the Disney World Mobile App. Genie is free and provides services that help you plan each day you are in a Disney park. Genie+ costs extra, but provides you with access to Lightning Lanes on most rides in each park. Lightning Lanes usually have much shorter wait times so if you don't like waiting in lines the extra cost of Genie+ might be worth it. However, access to Lightning Lanes for the most popular rides in each park must be purchased individually (i.e. per rider, per ride) and there are typically three to four rides in each park like this.
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| Experiencing Test Track at Disney's EPCOT |
Disney prices vary depending on many factors. However, say you purchased a park ticket for $110.00 and added the Genie+ service for an additional $15.00. You have now spent a total of $125.00 for a 1 day park ticket that gives you access to Lightning Lanes for most of the rides in that park. However, now you want to ride one of the new, really popular rides, but it is not included in the base Genie+ so you pay an extra $10.00 for a one-time access to that Lightning Lane. Now you want to ride another new, really popular ride so you pay an extra $15.00 for a one-time access to that lightning lane. Now your effective ticket price for that day would be $150.00 not including food, drinks and souvenirs. There are a number of limitations to the Genie+ as well but they are beyond the scope of this article.
Universal Orlando's ExpressPass upgrade can be added to one or more days admission to their theme parks and water park and are included if you stay at one of Universal Premier category hotels. Universal offers three ExpressPass options: Universal Express, Universal Express Unlimited and Volcano Bay Express.
The Volcano Bay ExpressPass allows you to skip the Virtual Lines at ALL participating rides ONE time. The Universal ExpressPass also allows you to skip the regular lines at ALL participating rides ONE time, while the Universal ExpressPass Unlimited allows you to skip the regular lines at ALL participating rides as many times as you want.
Universal Orlando's ExpressPass is not inexpensive and opting for the Unlimited option can almost double the cost of your admission ticket, but we have always chose to purchase this option because all of the good rides have an ExpressPass line and we have been able to practically walk on to every ride multiple times with no more than a 5 or 10 minute wait while the regular line wait times were 30, 40 and sometimes 60 minutes or more.
SeaWorld's Reserved Seating and QuickQueue upgrade allows you unlimited front-of-the-line admission to their most popular rides and is also valid for one time reserved seating at their most popular shows. You are asked to arrive 15 minutes prior to show time in order to receive your reserved seating though. SeaWorld's Aquatica also offers two QuickQueue options: a QuickQueue and a QuickQueue Unlimited. The first option allows you to use the QuickQueue ONE time for their most popular rides, while the Unlimited version allows unlimited access.
The QuickQueue upgrade at SeaWorld is the least expensive of the three parks discussed here however, there are a couple considerations to take into account before handing over your hard-earned dollars.
Usually, the only attractions in water parks that have wait times are slides. If you enjoy doing all the slides then purchasing some type of FastPass, ExpressPass or QuickQueue is well worth it, but if you just want to relax in a cabana sipping Pina Coladas and dipping into the lazy river or wave pool occasionally you don't really need to spend the extra money.
If you have some flexibility as to when you go to Florida check the Disney, Universal and SeaWorld crowd calendar before locking in your dates. It will tell you, based on historical data, how crowded the parks will be and which particular parks are most and least busy on any particular day. Try to avoid holidays, weekends and spring break if you can. In the U.S. spring break varies by school so the spring break season lasts from March through April. There are also some lesser known busy dates to watch out for like May 4th and 6th for Disney's Hollywood Studios because of all the Star Wars attractions (May the 4th be with you and May the Sith be with you). Late August, September and early October are fairly slow, but that is also hurricane season in Florida.
Mornings are when the parks are least crowded so you can often ride one or maybe two popular rides without waiting too long if you get there first thing when the park opens. In Disney for example, we will try to get our first FastPass for 10:00am to 11:00am, get to the park as early as possible and go straight to one of the most popular rides before the regular line gets too long.
During prime lunch time, between 11:30am and 1:30pm wait times shorten because most people eat lunch during this time. The same is true for dinner time, between 5:30pm and 7:30pm and during parades or shows. We usually eat an early lunch around 11:00am and either an early dinner around 4:30pm or 5:00pm or snack a lot and eat a late dinner around 8:00pm taking advantage of shorter lines during peak eating times. Once while in Disney's Magic Kingdom Park we skipped the evening parade allowing us to ride Pirates of the Caribbean three times in a row with no wait and snuck in a ride on Jungle Cruise before the parade crowd dispersed. In order to do this you should get to the ride or rides before the parade starts because the parks block off the parade route making it difficult or impossible to get from one section of a park to another until the parade is over.
Each day, guests staying at select Disney Resorts can take advantage of Disney's Extra Magic Hours. Disney allows these guests access to at least one of their four parks either before or after regular park operating hours. However, not all rides and attractions are open during these hours, but I would definitely take this into consideration when planning a trip and staying at a Disney Property. You can find out what parks are have magic hours here or by checking your Disney World Mobile App.
Most amusement parks have single-rider lines and the parks mentioned here are no exception. Single-rider lines often have wait-times similar to FastPass+, ExpressPass and QuickQueue, but be warned, if you think you and your friend can use the single-rider line and push or charm your way into riding together, think again. Park attendants will not allow it. I've seen people try, but I've not seen anyone succeed.
Most amusement parks offer a child swap feature on their rides so if you are a couple with a small child who is too small to ride that really cool thrill ride you don't have to each wait in line separately while the other person stays with the child effectively doubling your wait time. All three of you can wait in line together and when you get to the boarding area tell the attendant you want to do a child swap. They will let one of you board with a single rider and direct the other two to a waiting room. When your partner returns simply exchange places.
This only applies if someone in your party has a disability that would make it difficult or impossible to wait in the normal attraction lines and, as such, is not really a line skipping strategy for everyone, but can be very useful if you require it. All three parks discussed in this article do offer some type of assistance that allows a party traveling with at least one person who has a qualifying disability to bypass the normal lines. This may include accessing boarding from an employee entrance or entering via an exit, but each park has their own policy so I will simply put links to the three park's disability webpages: Disney Accessibility Page, Universal Accessibility Page and SeaWorld Accessibility Page.
Have you had any good or bad experiences with Disney's FastPass+, Universal's ExpressPass or SeaWorld's QuickQueue? How about any additional tips on minimizing wait times? Please leave us a comment below. We look forward to hearing from you.
Universal
Universal Orlando's ExpressPass upgrade can be added to one or more days admission to their theme parks and water park and are included if you stay at one of Universal Premier category hotels. Universal offers three ExpressPass options: Universal Express, Universal Express Unlimited and Volcano Bay Express.
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| Magic Wand Training in Diagon Alley at Universal Studios |
Universal Orlando's ExpressPass is not inexpensive and opting for the Unlimited option can almost double the cost of your admission ticket, but we have always chose to purchase this option because all of the good rides have an ExpressPass line and we have been able to practically walk on to every ride multiple times with no more than a 5 or 10 minute wait while the regular line wait times were 30, 40 and sometimes 60 minutes or more.
SeaWorld
SeaWorld's Reserved Seating and QuickQueue upgrade allows you unlimited front-of-the-line admission to their most popular rides and is also valid for one time reserved seating at their most popular shows. You are asked to arrive 15 minutes prior to show time in order to receive your reserved seating though. SeaWorld's Aquatica also offers two QuickQueue options: a QuickQueue and a QuickQueue Unlimited. The first option allows you to use the QuickQueue ONE time for their most popular rides, while the Unlimited version allows unlimited access.
The QuickQueue upgrade at SeaWorld is the least expensive of the three parks discussed here however, there are a couple considerations to take into account before handing over your hard-earned dollars.
- First, Seaworld is really a classic amusement park with thrill rides that also have a number of animal shows. Therefore, many of the most popular rides do have minimum height requirements ranging from 42 inches to 54 inches so if no-one in your party enjoys extreme coasters or are too young and short to ride these this might not be worth it.
- Second, in my experience, SeaWorld does not get as crowded as Universal or Disney Parks and you may find that you really didn't need to pay the extra money because the regular lines were not very long anyway.
VIP Tours
If you have more money than time all three parks mentioned above offer various types of VIP tours. The best and most expensive VIP tours for Disney and Universal will whisk you between parks and to the front of the line for every attraction you wish to ride. If you would like to learn more about VIP tours check out our article: Be a VIP in Orlando and Kissimmee, Florida!
Other Helpful Tips
Water Park Wait Times
Usually, the only attractions in water parks that have wait times are slides. If you enjoy doing all the slides then purchasing some type of FastPass, ExpressPass or QuickQueue is well worth it, but if you just want to relax in a cabana sipping Pina Coladas and dipping into the lazy river or wave pool occasionally you don't really need to spend the extra money.
Check Crowd Sizes Before Picking Dates
If you have some flexibility as to when you go to Florida check the Disney, Universal and SeaWorld crowd calendar before locking in your dates. It will tell you, based on historical data, how crowded the parks will be and which particular parks are most and least busy on any particular day. Try to avoid holidays, weekends and spring break if you can. In the U.S. spring break varies by school so the spring break season lasts from March through April. There are also some lesser known busy dates to watch out for like May 4th and 6th for Disney's Hollywood Studios because of all the Star Wars attractions (May the 4th be with you and May the Sith be with you). Late August, September and early October are fairly slow, but that is also hurricane season in Florida.
Arrive Early
Mornings are when the parks are least crowded so you can often ride one or maybe two popular rides without waiting too long if you get there first thing when the park opens. In Disney for example, we will try to get our first FastPass for 10:00am to 11:00am, get to the park as early as possible and go straight to one of the most popular rides before the regular line gets too long.
Take Advantage of Lunch, Dinner, Parade and Show Times
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| One of Many Parades at The Magic Kingdom |
Take Advantage of Disney Extra Magic Hours
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| View from Our Balcony at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge |
Ride Single
Most amusement parks have single-rider lines and the parks mentioned here are no exception. Single-rider lines often have wait-times similar to FastPass+, ExpressPass and QuickQueue, but be warned, if you think you and your friend can use the single-rider line and push or charm your way into riding together, think again. Park attendants will not allow it. I've seen people try, but I've not seen anyone succeed.
Utilize Child Swaps
Most amusement parks offer a child swap feature on their rides so if you are a couple with a small child who is too small to ride that really cool thrill ride you don't have to each wait in line separately while the other person stays with the child effectively doubling your wait time. All three of you can wait in line together and when you get to the boarding area tell the attendant you want to do a child swap. They will let one of you board with a single rider and direct the other two to a waiting room. When your partner returns simply exchange places.
Disability Accessibility
This only applies if someone in your party has a disability that would make it difficult or impossible to wait in the normal attraction lines and, as such, is not really a line skipping strategy for everyone, but can be very useful if you require it. All three parks discussed in this article do offer some type of assistance that allows a party traveling with at least one person who has a qualifying disability to bypass the normal lines. This may include accessing boarding from an employee entrance or entering via an exit, but each park has their own policy so I will simply put links to the three park's disability webpages: Disney Accessibility Page, Universal Accessibility Page and SeaWorld Accessibility Page.
Have you had any good or bad experiences with Disney's FastPass+, Universal's ExpressPass or SeaWorld's QuickQueue? How about any additional tips on minimizing wait times? Please leave us a comment below. We look forward to hearing from you.
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