Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[Jay20016I'm a know-it-all about donkeys!]

I read other blogs and you almost fear to say that you like them.

Short answer: The haters are just jelly.

Long Answer: Find any of Robb's excellent posts about why they work, and how people are bitter simply because they're not willing to pony up the extra cash for them.

I can't believe people are still trying to demonize queue skipping measures nearly twelve years after they were introduced. Don't people know how to get over it?

By the way, I'm *thrilled* that Universal is moving to Q-Bots. I love the system and look forward to using it on a future trip.

I'm not against an up-charge queue measure, but I do think that it should be fair for those in the stand by entrance as well.

Disney's Fast Pass has had some problems (mostly minor) here and there but generally seems to work for what it is intended. Bush Gardens and SeaWorld seem to work pretty well with their Quick Queue with little headache, though that could be do to their being a little "less busy" than the other parks. Yet, there have been a lot of times when I was at either the Studios park or IOA that the express line just raped the stand-by entrance due to their employees mismanagement of it.

On multiple occasions, I've waited behind a chain in the boarding room of Ripsaw Falls, while the employee slowly scanned everyone's card before passing them through. Standby was posted at about 30 minutes, but really was only a few minutes (5 to 10 max) up until that chain... The Express queue was empty, save for whatever family was at the scanning "post" before boarding. Once the employee was done with them, another would come down the hall and the process would repeat. Every time they got the express line to no one for at least 30 seconds, they would then chain it, come over to the Stand-By and proceed to let us through only as long as no one stood in the express line. The second anyone came to the Express chain, the Stand-By entrance was blocked, and the situation repeated. It was probably 15 minutes plus with only about 10 people in front of us at that gate. I understand that people are paying extra (or choosing to stay at your resort) for the perk of limited waiting, but this doesn't seem to be a great way to do the queue...

I've had something very similar with Men In Black. In the dispatch room, while they usually keep one side for stand-by and the other for express pass, or so it seems; I've seen the greeter take all 4 (2? been a bit, and going off memory) load zones from the express pass line if it was getting up the stairs at all. Effectively cutting off the stand by entrance for minutes at a time. I've even seen people try to leave the queue thinking it broke...

To counter this, I usually do Universal through single rider lines with my party, but it is not always possible when you have your young cousins and nephews with you.

I get why companies are doing them. I don't hate them for the up-charge; more revenue = more profits = bigger, better expansion opportunities. But, at a certain point, you have to agree that you cannot forget those who paid for the entrance ticket, but not the queue jumping one; especially as ticket prices soar higher and higher. With that said, if I was at a park that I will not have the opportunity to visit regularly, you better believe I will be investing in a Q-Bot if it is offered. From what I've read about them, and seen on these forums, it seems like a great, fair way for the park to implement these kind of privileges....


As for the talk about having to place them in the fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo after they've been "activated"... could the problem not be solved by a plastic card or lanyard similar to what you see at the Disney queue lines for measuring waits? They're a RFID card... Activate the card when you bring in your Q-Bot, it will stamp the time issued. Have the guests take care of their loose articles, return with the lanyard/card and scan it again to give the "end time." It shouldn't take too long to stow your gear, and checking the issue/receive times would help dampen the misuse or "illegal" use... Thoughts?

[OCJ48Does Jeff Johnson count this donkey as a credit?]

^I've never been "raped" by express users. The worst I've ever seen was a roughly minute long additional delay on the Hulk. It was less than one train. The existing system limits you to one ride on each ride per day, which keeps it reasonable.

[Jay20016I'm a know-it-all about donkeys!]

^I've never been "raped" by express users. The worst I've ever seen was a roughly minute long additional delay on the Hulk. It was less than one train. The existing system limits you to one ride on each ride per day, which keeps it reasonable.

Are you sure? They've had the Express Pass and the Express Plus the last time I was there and I thought that while you could only do the 1 visit per attraction with the "regular" pass, the Plus version offered an Unlimited number on any attraction that accepted it...


/Scurries off to Universal's site to double check....

[OCJ48Does Jeff Johnson count this donkey as a credit?]

^Express Plus for hotel users is unlimited. Express Plus is the term for all of the current Express passes, to differentiate them from the original Universal Express, which was like Disney's Fastpass, and free. Normal Express Plus parkgoers who aren't staying in a hotel are limited to one use per ride per day. I'm willing to wait for hotel users, since they're paying upwards of $150/night in the offseason for the privilege.

[XYZA village is missing its IDIOT!]

I read other blogs and you almost fear to say that you like them.

Short answer: The haters are just jelly.

Long Answer: Find any of Robb's excellent posts about why they work, and how people are bitter simply because they're not willing to pony up the extra cash for them.

I can't believe people are still trying to demonize queue skipping measures nearly twelve years after they were introduced. Don't people know how to get over it?

By the way, I'm *thrilled* that Universal is moving to Q-Bots. I love the system and look forward to using it on a future trip.

I'm not against an up-charge queue measure, but I do think that it should be fair for those in the stand by entrance as well.

Disney's Fast Pass has had some problems (mostly minor) here and there but generally seems to work for what it is intended. Bush Gardens and SeaWorld seem to work pretty well with their Quick Queue with little headache, though that could be do to their being a little "less busy" than the other parks. Yet, there have been a lot of times when I was at either the Studios park or IOA that the express line just raped the stand-by entrance due to their employees mismanagement of it.

On multiple occasions, I've waited behind a chain in the boarding room of Ripsaw Falls, while the employee slowly scanned everyone's card before passing them through. Standby was posted at about 30 minutes, but really was only a few minutes (5 to 10 max) up until that chain... The Express queue was empty, save for whatever family was at the scanning "post" before boarding. Once the employee was done with them, another would come down the hall and the process would repeat. Every time they got the express line to no one for at least 30 seconds, they would then chain it, come over to the Stand-By and proceed to let us through only as long as no one stood in the express line. The second anyone came to the Express chain, the Stand-By entrance was blocked, and the situation repeated. It was probably 15 minutes plus with only about 10 people in front of us at that gate. I understand that people are paying extra (or choosing to stay at your resort) for the perk of limited waiting, but this doesn't seem to be a great way to do the queue...

I've had something very similar with Men In Black. In the dispatch room, while they usually keep one side for stand-by and the other for express pass, or so it seems; I've seen the greeter take all 4 (2? been a bit, and going off memory) load zones from the express pass line if it was getting up the stairs at all. Effectively cutting off the stand by entrance for minutes at a time. I've even seen people try to leave the queue thinking it broke...

To counter this, I usually do Universal through single rider lines with my party, but it is not always possible when you have your young cousins and nephews with you.

I get why companies are doing them. I don't hate them for the up-charge; more revenue = more profits = bigger, better expansion opportunities. But, at a certain point, you have to agree that you cannot forget those who paid for the entrance ticket, but not the queue jumping one; especially as ticket prices soar higher and higher. With that said, if I was at a park that I will not have the opportunity to visit regularly, you better believe I will be investing in a Q-Bot if it is offered. From what I've read about them, and seen on these forums, it seems like a great, fair way for the park to implement these kind of privileges....


As for the talk about having to place them in the fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo after they've been "activated"... could the problem not be solved by a plastic card or lanyard similar to what you see at the Disney queue lines for measuring waits? They're a RFID card... Activate the card when you bring in your Q-Bot, it will stamp the time issued. Have the guests take care of their loose articles, return with the lanyard/card and scan it again to give the "end time." It shouldn't take too long to stow your gear, and checking the issue/receive times would help dampen the misuse or "illegal" use... Thoughts?

This is exactly why I don't like the Q-bot system is how it is sometimes implemented. I get bothered frequently in Six Flags parks as they don't manage the Flash Pass that well. I don't like a Q-bot system to be an Exit Pass. I never use "not wanting to pay for it" as an excuse for not liking a Q-bot system.

[DarkStitch626Over obsessive disney disorder]

I just made a trip to IOA/Uni today to get my Annual preferred 2 park pass and the staff seemed to just generally not give a flippin crap about anyone today. I am NOT going to go into details what so ever about the three major things that made my day complete and utter CRAP. Suffice to day the ONLY redeeming factors of the day were my nearly 30 rides on Rockit, and walking around IOA with re-rides on Harry potter (because they kept sending my ride vehicle into the handicapped bay).


About the Que-bots. For all the nay sayer's and people against them. You pay extra for them. You DO wait in a "virtual que" Its a time given. So yes you DO wait in a "line" like other people. So next time you see the guy as you may feel is "skipping " the line. He's not he waited and he paid more than you to do so. He has the privilege of doing it.

[OCJ48Does Jeff Johnson count this donkey as a credit?]

^But what if, like me, you're a naysayer in the other direction? I can only see this as worse for the people who buy Express when compared to the current system. I could see this making it impossible to, for example, do all of the houses at HHN on a single night (something I have done for the last 3 years and which makes HHN infinitely better than waiting in lines).

[ernierockerWhy do I still have a donkey title???]

^The Q-bots can be set up like the Gold or Platinum Passes at Six Flags. For HHN, you would just reserve the house you want to do next (from anywhere in the park) and say the line is 1 hour, you wait 15 minutes and then you can enter the Express Line.

With this system, as opposed to the ticket system, the park can easily keep track with who is using the Q-bots and what houses they are reserving. They can then adjust the wait times accordingly. If one of the soundstage houses gets an influx of Express Users, the wait times on your Q-bot will increase for that house. With the ticket system, you wouldn't know this ahead of time, and might end of waiting 30 minutes because everyone is trying to use the Express Line at once.

In addition, once they scan your Q-bot at a particular house, you can now reserve your place in line at another house and by the time you finish the first one, you will have a shorter wait for the next one.

The same concept applies to the rides at the studio park and Islands of Adventure. With the ticket system, you have to physically go to the ride entrance to reserve your spot in the Express Line. With the Q-bots, you can do this from anywhere in the park while also getting a generally idea of what the wait will be for all of the attractions across the park.

This is why I prefer the Q-bot over the ticket system. I don't know how crowded the Express Lines get at Universal, having never used it, but at Six Flags, even the Flash Pass lines can get long depending on how crowded the park is that day. I can view all of the rides on the Q-bot at once and see how long I will have to wait and can choose accordingly. And then when my Qbot is scanned at the ride, I can reserve my place on another ride before I even get on the first ride!

[Skycoastin SteveFive babies drowned in a fire]

I just made a trip to IOA/Uni today to get my Annual preferred 2 park pass and the staff seemed to just generally not give a flippin crap about anyone today. I am NOT going to go into details what so ever about the three major things that made my day complete and utter CRAP.

That's like when someone posts on facebook that they had a crappy day, and then when everyone asks why, they say they don't want to talk about it. No use posting that your day sucked if you don't elaborate, this is Theme Park Review. Spit it out, for crying out loud.

[BeemerBoyWDW Monorail Fanatic]

^ *reserving this spot for an opinion* Maybe.