Are Front of the Line Tickets Worth Buying?
How much are you willing to pay not to wait in line?
Are front of the line tickets at theme parks (FastLane, Universal Express, etc.) worth buying? Are you limited to one ticket per day or can you buy two or three?
From Jet Nitro
Posted May 24, 2004 at 12:16 PM
Im all for them,esp if they're included in admission But, as an extra charge based system, such as universal express or the Q-Bot system the six flags parks use, is not worth the extra expense. Id rather stand in line and wait.
Being from the left coast, getting to the parks before opening on an Orlando trip requires a pretty brutal demonstration of will on my part. (An 8 a.m. open is 5 a.m. my time!) And sauntering into the parks around noon ET often yields return times deep into the evening. So I'd consider purchasing a front of the line pass that would allow my family to get on rides immediately. But I usually just schedule the trip during less crowded times of the year anyway.
What I would do, however, if I were in the market for a hotel room is stay at a hotel that gave me front of the line access, like at Universal Orlando. (I almost always stay with relatives in Orlando, so I rarely book hotels there.)
I wont pay any money at all for FOTL access like that folund at SF parks!!!! I will visit on expected slow days and get to the park early and stay late to avoid crowds and not pay for such BS. Disney does do this in the right manner!!!
The hotel room/front of line express pass situation at Universal Orlando is the greatest. Sure, you spend a bit more on the rooms, but you more than make up for it, in my opinion, by not having to worry if you'll beable to do all the rides and have to scurry along the park and not be able to kick back and enjoy the sights. Many people don't get a chance to experience the ambiance of the parks because they're too busy with their faces in maps trying to decide on a plan of attack.
Halloween Horror Nights offers an express pass booklet for $25. It includes one ticket for each haunted house, a preferred seating section for the Bill & Ted show, and one ticket for each attraction open during HHN. Considering the amount of people who go to this event, the booklet is well worth it.
I guess you just have to gauge the amount of people that will be in the park on that day and make a judgement call off that. It's only worth it if you save yourself enough time. If you can turn a 45 min. wait into a 10-15 min. wait, it's worth it.
On my last two visits to Universal Hollywood, I bought the FOLT. It was well worth the money. I was there on a holiday weekend(4th of July), and as you can imagine the park was packed. I flew in from NY that Sat. AM, checked in at the Sheraton Universal(very convenient), and ran to the park. By the time I got there it was after 1pm. Crowds beyond belief. With the FOLT, I just walked on every ride. My longest wait was 15 min. if that long. When you're short on time and the park is crowded, it's well worth the money.
I'll probably get chastised for this =), but isn't waiting in line and talking to the patrons in front of you, in back of you, and around you all apart of the amusement park experience?
Isn't waiting in line what going to an amusement park is all about? Waiting to ride and talking about life, sports, the wife, etc...the queue for an amusement park attraction is a social machine. Hmm...The Roller Coaster as a social machine...I like it! =)
Front of the line passes...reminds me a lot of Robert and his camera crew at Magic Mountain for the X media day... ;)
Actually, we had to wait two hours to get on X during media day!
Our lowly website camera didn't rate us a place in line ahead of the TV stations and cable networks, I'm afraid.
I like disneyland's fastpass program, although it could be a reason why tickets at the disneyland resort cost $50. I think all parks should hav it that way
I can live with a little line, and no Jason, I don't mind chatting it up with some fellow guests in line either. I usually plan my theme park visits for early in the week, say on Monday or Tuesday, to get away from the super heavy crowds. When I can get there early in the week, I would say that on average, I wait in line for a half an hour, give or take 15-20 minutes. When it comes to a fastpass or freeway pass, I would buy them as long as I can use them for any seat on the ride. God help me so, but I'm a front seat junkie when it comes to roller coasters. I have to sit in the front, and generally these types of passes only allow for the middle of the train, which is ok, but nowhere near the rush for me. If the park is packed, then I would consider buying one, but the nature of my job allows me to get to the park on lighter crowd days. I'll put it this way. I've never bought one, and I've enjoyed the vast majority of my visits. The few that I didn't enjoy had hardly anything to do with lines.
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