Universal Express

How it started

Though you may not even remember it, Universal Express started as a FastPass-style virtual queue system, included with park admission! Yep, kiosks (in this case, with touch screens) would allow guests to select from hour-long return windows, then print return time slips… Though its surprisingly difficult to find much photographic evidence of it, the system seems to have been in effect from about 2001 to 2004. (FastPass, for comparison, began in 1999.) 

Even then, in lieu of the “free” system, guests could purchase Universal Express Plus, which provided immediate, once-per-ride access to each attraction’s secondary Express line without the bother of securing return times. Obviously, the simple, straightforward upcharge version proved immensely popular. By the mid-2000s, only the paid version of the system remained (though interestingly, the “Plus” modifier stuck around for another decade, even without a non-plussed alternative). 

How it works

Guests with Universal Express are admitted to a secondary Express queue, just like FastPass / Lightning Lane. Most Express queues still pass through major queue show scenes and preshows (which is especially important, for example, in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter). That said, in queues where watching a looping video helps set the mood or explain the story (think, Revenge of the Mummy’s faux “Making Of” featurette that introduces the supposed curse and the lost crew member Reggie, or The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man’s newsreel that highlights the Sinister Syndicate, the kidnapped Statue of Liberty, the SCOOP ride vehicle, and the Anti-Gravity Cannon), Express guests might be just a tad confused once boarding.

Like FastPass or Genie+, Express is a "priority boarding" system... with a twist. Unlike FastPass and Genie+ (which methodically and mathematically dispense return times to distribute capacity each hour and adjust the Standby wait time to compensate), reservations or return times aren't required. Express guests can join the Express queue for a given ride... well... whenever they want, which introduces unpredictability into the system. 

For example, Universal Express Unlimited users can marathon Mummy over and over if they want, continuously displacing "Standby" guests. Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure going down can see hundreds of Express guests all move to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at once, overwhelming the ride. (That would mean that Express guests would still face a fairly significant wait, and everyone in the regular line will face a really long wait.) There's a level of chaos inherent in allowing guests to join Express queues whenever they feel like it while promising them that they'll get priority boarding.

That’s part of the reason why Universal usually holds off a few years before adding the hottest and most in-demand rides to the service. As of 2021, neither Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure nor the Jurassic World VelociCoaster accept Express (though both were built with Express queues, so once their popularity dies down and reliability improves, it’s inevitable.) 

The general rule of thumb is that Express will cut your wait by about 75%. So if the posted wait time for Escape from Gringotts is 60 minutes, Express users will probably wait for 15. That said, even the “standard” version of the service is a big boost if you’re hoping to finish the resort’s major rides in a day or two, and having Express is, frankly, a relief. But there’s no denying that this premium service comes with a premium price… 

What it costs

Universal Express has two different tiers. The “standard” version allows guests to access the Express line one time per ride at either one park (beginning at $80) or both parks (starting at $10 more), the latter of which is a natural choice given how guests flow between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure like they do Disneyland and California Adventure. The “Unlimited” option starts at $110 and $120 for one- and two-park variations, respectively. 

Of course, those are the starting prices, meaning Express Passes would only cost that much on days when you don’t really need it. In 2021, for example, a two-park standard Express Pass carried a $90 price tag on weekdays in early December, but cost $310 per person per day for the days between Christmas and New Year’s – one person's single day of Express for the price of a three-day admission ticket! (Consider it a tax on people who want to drop into the resort for one day, ride everything with a focus on Potter, then rush off to Walt Disney World.)

PLEASE NOTE: These prices are correct at the time of writing by prices are subject to change.

Obviously, for let's say a median of $150 per day, a single day of Universal Express is ten times the price of a single day of Genie+. To that end, Express is likely something you’d buy for one day as a treat, not something you’d routinely apply to the length of your trip. It’s priced like a very premium service, and frankly, it is. 

We’re talking about being able to gain priority boarding on nearly every ride whenever you’d like… and even as many times as you’d like. Forbidden Journey. Revenge of the Mummy. Escape from Gringotts. Men in Black: Alien Attack. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. Jurassic Park River Adventure. Poseidon’s Fury. The Incredible Hulk Coaster. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. Hogwarts Express. Transformers. E.T. Adventure… Of course, there's also a big caveat with Express pricing... 

If you stay at one of Universal's three Premier tier hotels – Loew's Royal Pacific, Loew's Hard Rock Hotel, or Loew's Portofino Bay – your room key doubles as a two-park, Universal Express Unlimited pass, totally included with your stay. As Universal's equivalent to Disney's "Deluxe" hotel tier, nightly rates at these three hotels rarely drop below $350... but a pair of Universal Express passes can cost that much or more, making an on-site Premier hotel stay a very tempting offer... (Pro-tip: Universal Express is included on both your check-in and check-out day, so feel free to swing by your hotel first thing in the morning. Even if your room isn't ready, you can "check-in" to collect your key for Express use then head to the parks. That also means that a one-night stay nets you two days of Express access.) 

More to the point, by staying at a Premier hotel at Universal, you can not only rest easy on premium soft goods, but rest easy knowing you won't have to wait for much the next day. (It should be noted that Disney's Deluxe hotels don't even include the $15 per person Genie+, much less something with as much out-of-pocket value as Universal Express Unlimited.)

Is it worth it?

Whether or not Express is “worth it” (or more appropriately, a Premier hotel's price is "worth it" to get Express) is one of the most fundamental questions guests planning a Universal Orlando vacation face… and so, of course, there’s no one, simple answer.  The double-edged sword of demand-based pricing is that the days when Express is the easiest to buy are the days it’s least needed. In those “off-season” periods, Express will still help you skip moderate waits on major rides, but the line may be so short for “C-Tickets,” you’d feel too embarrassed to use the Express queue anyway.

If you’re going to Universal Orlando during a particularly busy time (think, Spring Break, Christmas Break, 4-day weekends, Independence Day, most of the summer, etc.) and are hoping to actually get on all the major rides in one or two-day visit, then first, you should change your expectations. Then, yeah, you should probably consider Express, though again, a hundreds-of-dollars-per-person price tag would be prohibitive for nearly all of us. (Which is the point. Fewer folks buying in at busy times means fewer guests gaining priority and Standby waits moving faster.)

In any case, the only assurance we can offer is that it does feel good to have Express. Unlike Genie+, which really only further complicates, frustrates, and raises the difficulty of getting a Disney Parks visit “right,” Express makes things very, very easy. No phones. No reservations. No 7:00 AM wakeups. Just VIP treatment. It’s low-tech, low-key, and takes a lot of pressure off your trip to Universal… with a price to match.

The Big Debate

If you haven’t picked it up after two pages of details: Disney Genie+ and Universal Express really have far more that divides them than what they have in common. Sure, both are “line-skipping” systems with “priority boarding” via a secondary queue. And now, both are also upcharges. Both with wildly different price points, perks, drawbacks, and operations, you’d be hard pressed to find much more that they have in common.

Some of Disney’s most defensive fans have been quick to weaponize Genie+ and its (relatively) low price point. It’s true that you can add a week of Genie+ to a seven-day ticket for less than the price of a single day of Express. But obviously, you’re getting something very different – and by design, much more limited in its usefulness – for that price. Genie's nice, but wouldn't it be great if Disney offered a high-cost, VIP service like Express that let once-in-a-lifetime guests enter every Lightning Lane once for a premium price?

Likewise, it’s easy for Universal fans to trumpet Express’s simplicity and straightforwardness – one more component of Universal that reads as a direct rebuttal to Disney's reliance on technology, pre-planning, scheduling, apps, and the "pay-to-play" rat race to avoid the long, slow-moving lines Genie+ creates. Sure, that's true. But wouldn't it be great if Universal offered a low-cost, reservation-based service like Genie+ so frequent visitors could book access to a few Express queues throughout the day? 

Get it? Disney Genie+ and Universal Express really are the apples and oranges of the "priority queue" world. Pitting them against one another is as silly as comparing Disney World and Universal Orlando themselves (which means, people will always do it). Both services serve different purposes and target different clientele. Universal's is a VIP experience for once-in-a-lifetime guests; Disney's is a low-cost virtual queue system that doesn't guarantee you a perfect day, or even a day with less waiting overall. The question is, which do you think is the ideal model? And which would you save up to use?