It has been an exciting day at Universal Studios now the theme parks are open to the general public!
Hogsmeade
And believe it or not, the crowds haven’t been too bad today! We’re not sure what sort of wizardry is at work, but we’ll take all the extra elbow room we can get in Hogsmeade right about now!
The line for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure was noticeably more subdued as we waited for our chance to ride! We had reserved a spot in the virtual line this morning using the Universal app, but there was still a short wait!
Line for Hagrids’ Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
But alas! Just as it was almost time to embark on our adventure, the ride broke down! Since no one knew when the attraction would be up, the crowd dispersed.
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
But just when all hope seemed lost, we received a push notification…and WHAT WAS THIS?! Universal sent us a one-time use Express Pass for our troubles!
Screenshot of Universal App
That’s right — the QR Code for a single-use Express Pass (which is a feature Universal guests usually have to pay for) magically showed up on our device. Similar to Disney’s Multi-Experience Fast Passes (which Cast Members sometimes issue to guests when things don’t work out quite right) this was Universal’s way of saying, “Sorry for the trouble!”
Unfortunately, the Express Pass wasn’t available for every attraction, but it was awesome to be able to walk up to any ride at any time and use it whenever we wanted!
Screenshot of Universal App
We can’t guarantee Univeral is giving out these one-time Express Passes every time a ride breaks down or if we just got lucky today! Either way, we wanted to share this little tip with you so you could be prepared just in case this happens to you!
Check out 6 things we learned from attending Universal’s reopening here!
Have you ever received a multi-experience FastPass from Disney? Tell us what happened on your trip in the comments below!