How To Skip Lines At Universal Studios Hollywood

There are a whole host of amazing rides and attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood, many of which can often have long wait times.

Thankfully, there are a number of ways in which you can avoid lines at Universal Studios Hollywood. This includes;

• Get The Universal Express Pass
• Visit During The Off-Season
• Arrive Early
• Stay Late
• Take The VIP Experience
• Hit The Lower Lot First
• Download The Universal Studios Hollywood Mobile Application
• Use Child-Swap
• Buy Your Theme Park Tickets In Advance
• Use Single Rider Lines

We recommend using one, or a number of these methods to save yourself multiple hours of waiting around during your trip to the park.

Get The Universal Express Pass

The Universal Express Pass is an add-on ticket to your regular park admission that allows you to skip-the-line on all eligible rides inside the Universal Studios Hollywood park.

At the time of writing, the only ride excluded from the Universal Express Pass is the new Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge ride located inside Super Nintendo World.

The cost of this pass varies depending on the estimated crowd levels within the park, with the pass costing more on busier days and less on estimated low-crowd level days.

Alongside the ability to skip the line, the Universal Express Pass also provides you with priority seating at all shows within the park and reservation-free entry into Super Nintendo World once per day.

Visit During The Off-Season

We highly recommend visiting UIniversal Studios Hollywood during the off-season as standby wait times for rides will be incredibly short – so short in fact it’s highly unlikely that you’ll need the Universal Express Pass.

Think wait times of less than 20 minutes for the Studio Tour, and under 10 minutes for The Mummy.

Arrive Early

We always recommend arriving at Universal Studios Hollywood in time for the park opening so that you’re able to head to the most popular rides within the park first.

This is especially essential during peak times and for those unable to invest in a Universal Express Pass.

Opening times for the park vary depending on the day and time of year, therefore we highly recommend checking the times in advance.

Furthermore, we’d also recommend arriving at the park at least one hour prior to the scheduled opening time so you’re able to park your car, walk through CityWalk and head through security ready for the park’s opening.

Stay Late

If you’re not an early bird, then you may instead want to stay at the park late to take advantage of lower crowds and subsequently lower wait times.

These crowds often thin out with many guests heading home / back to their hotel or going to CityWalk for dinner.

Again, opening times for the park will vary depending on the day and time of year, therefore we highly recommend checking the times in advance to avoid disappointment.

Take The VIP Experience

The VIP Experience is a guided tour around the Universal Studios Hollywood park that allows you to skip the line on all rides within the park (including the new Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge inside Super Nintendo World).

This is the most expensive way to skip the lines within Universal Studios Hollywood (often 3x the price of general park admission).

Therefore only a method we’d recommend for those looking to benefit from the guided tour around the park in addition to the ability to skip the lines.

Hit The Lower Lot First

The Lower Lot contains a number of the most popular rides inside the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park including;

• Transformers Ride 3D
• The Mummy
• Jurassic Park: The Ride

Typically you’ll find that most guests wander around the park and then head to the lower lot (the entrance of which is at the far end of the park) at around lunchtime.

As such if you’re able to head there first and work backwards you’ll typically benefit from significantly shorter wait times as you’re going ‘against the grain’.

Download The Universal Studios Hollywood Mobile Application

The Universal Studios Hollywood mobile application contains a park map complete with live wait times for all rides within the park.

We’d therefore recommend downloading the application in advance, and using it to navigate around the parks, hitting rides with the lowest reported wait times as and when you can.

Use Child-Swap

If you’re visiting Universal Studios Hollywood with young children then be sure to take advantage of the Child-Swap service to prevent you from having to queue for any ride within the park twice.

The majority of rides within Universal Studios Hollywood offer this service which provides an area where parents and guardians can swap over minding the child, while the other goes on the ride.

Buy Your Theme Park Tickets In Advance

One of the worst lines you can get stuck in is the ticket line.

As such we highly recommend purchasing your park tickets for Universal Studios Hollywood online in advance.

Buying your tickets in this way means you can spend all the valuable time you have inside the park.

Use Single Rider Lines

Universal Studios Hollywood has a number of rides that offer single-rider lines.

These lines are typically well signposted, however, if you’re unsure be sure to ask a staff member at the ride entrance who may be able to direct you.

Single-rider lines are free to use and often cut down standby wait times by as much as 90% (if the standby wait time is 60 minutes then you’d expect to wait just 5 – 15 minutes in the single-rider line).

The single rider lines have been specially designed for those riding solo and will likely see you sitting next to someone you don’t know.