Money saving secret for Universal Studios Express pass, Orlando, Florida

This tip was recommended by a family member and it worked out so well that it’s too good not to share. Based on if you have already purchased your universal studio park hopper passes and was looking at spending two days at Universal Studio resort.

One of the peak times to visit Orlando is during spring break or around the Easter holiday period when the parks can get very busy.

Because of the long lines, its best to pick up fast track tickets to save time on waiting for the rides.

Disney offers this for free, Universal charge you for their service.

For a two days at both parks, universal express passes during peak time can cost around $139.99 per a person.

With an express pass, can directly cut the lines and head on the ride, it’s a fantastic service and will save you a lot of time.

However, it costs a fortune as well as the cost of the park tickets on top, that you have already purchased!

So Dave, what’s your secret?

If you stay at any hotel, located at Universal Studios you automatically get a free complementary Express Pass to use at Universal studios.

The cheapest hotel to stay at is Hard Rock Hotel, Orlando, Universal Studios, which is priced at around $244 per a night depending on what time of the year and how far in advance you book.

When phoning up the front desk, they informed me that a total of 5 guests can sleep in one room.

Also, if you apply to the Hard Rock all access membership (around £16 a year) they can upgrade your room to a bigger one free of charge.

But surely one night only activates a one day express pass?

Nope! Stay one night at the Hard Rock hotel and you have access to a two day Express pass. Which covers all checked in guests staying in your room (up to 5 people)

Simple maths:

5 express passes = $699.99 – hotel cost: $244 = saving of $455.95

(The line at the entrance of Universal studio an hour before opening, we simply walked straight in past the line)

Also staying at one of the hotel resorts allows you an hour early access to the park.

How is this useful?

The express pass does not cover two rides at the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Both the wand show and the forbidden journey which are two of the most popular attractions at the park.

This is because they are new rides they are very popular and it’s impossible to offer this at this moment in time. So use both early days for each ride to avoid disappointment. Because of the early access I waited 30 minutes for both rides.

We heard from the guy working there that the lines can for these rides can easily go up to 4 hours. At 4 hours we would have not enjoyed each of the rides as much, especially the wand show, which even 30 minutes waiting was pushing it.

Not only this, but every ride after those two we waited no longer than 10 minutes, one by one whizzing straight to the front.

We saved a lot of time on our holiday using this trick and saved a lot of money as well, not only this but I forget to mention the Hotel itself!

Not only do you save close to $450 you get a night at a hotel in the deal, which is easily forgotten, Hard Rock hotel Orlando was amazing!

Nice room with lots of facilities such as a massive pool with underwater music and a slip and slide as well as a cosy hot tub.

Getting up early for the park meant we didn’t get much use out of the room, but that was the point, we were only a 5 minute walk away to the entrance an we got in early.

Even though we had checked out we were able to come back to the hotel and use the pool in the evening time, which was a nice way to end the day as well.

If you are looking for more ways to save money on your next trip to Orlando, Florida, you can check out my blog post about how to visit on a backpackers budget.

I hope this little tip helps to save you and your family a lot of money and allows you to enjoy both the parks a lot better. Thank you for reading and have a great time!