So I go to Universal twice a year with friends. I only go if we have express passes & much to my disappointment i found out that they no longer sell unlimited express passes for the park. The only way to get them was to book an onsite hotel at a huge price I Might add.. I paid $525 for 1 night!!!! In any case we only have 3 guests but I told them we have 5. (3 adults & 2 kids). How do the express passes work? I have friends meeting us in orlando who are not actually staying with us- and i am planning to give them our two extra room keys.. Will they have any problems using the extra room keys as express passes? Has anyone done this? Are the express pass room keys somehow tied to your ticket or do I need to give their name at check in? Also - Is there a difference between the kids room keys vs adult keys?

I would think that the Universal hotel employees are used to people trying to get more room key passes than they are entitled to.

I've never tried to do this, but I wouldn't be surprised if the person checking you in looks to see if all of your group is present at the time of check in, just to make sure they aren't handing out extra express passes.

At any rate, what you're thinking of doing is pretty shady. The express passes are a benefit for people actually staying at the hotel. If your friends don't want to pay to stay at a Universal hotel, they shouldn't be able to get the benefits of those that are.

Oh give me a break!!! We're allowed to have up to 5 people in the room- its not shady at all - you say if they dont want to pay to stay there blah blah blah-- I'M PAYING FOR IT!!! $550 for 1 night for up to 5 people.. I'm simply getting what I have paid for...

Then you should have your two friends actually stay in the room with you.

After doing additional research, it appears that all people getting a pass need to be registered to the room. The third adult is subject to a $25 per night extra adult fee. The cards do specify on the card between adult and child.

"it appears that all people getting a pass need to be registered to the room."

That is correct, at least that's how it was done the last time we stayed there. The express pass benefit is based on the number of registered guests in the room, not on the capacity of the room.

This was posted on a board dealing with Universal hotels . The posting was March 14, 2012:
"In a few days the hotel express will be a seperate pass with your picture on it. The pass with your picture will be processed at the hotels with a few kiosks at the parks for those who lost or forgot thiers. The express will remain the same but the look will be different. You will not be able to share your express pass unless you have an identical twin."
You will have to pay the $25 per night per person fee for more than two people and you will all have to have your pictures taken.
By the way....we have gotten MUCH better rates on the on site hotels. Perhaps you should do a bit more searching.

@schmerl you were totally wrong.. We're here right now- no pictures - they dont ask for id- you can put any name you want on them. I added on 2 more express passes (room keys) for free by saying we have 2 kids with us. The keys print out with their names and ages but as a test i used those keys (kids ones) all day to ride in express lanes. No one said a word. The kids working the lines at the ride do not care at all. It was totally fine - worked great. No need to pay for extra "adults" -- if u ever need extra express passes - just say u have 2 or 3 kids in the room with u and make up names.. They'll never know.

People like you abusing the perks is why the on site hotels will be changing to the picture IDs.
I simply copied and pasted what was posted by someone who works at Universal. Don't know when it will go into effect.

What is it I'm abusing? I paid almost $600 for 1 night! So because I took a $50 discount by not paying for 2 extra adults I'M ABUSING THEM?!?!? ?! Boo hoo! What is wrong with you people!? Case in point: I paid $3.75 x 10 for 10 bottles of water today. Those bottles cost them around 10 cents a piece -thats a 2,750% markup! Yes two thousand seven hundred!!! Now I ask you- just who is being abused here??

Correction.. 3,750% mark up!!! Sorry its late lol my brain isn't fully engaged...

"Now I ask you- just who is being abused here??"

Then why are you staying there and buying that water?

Because i want the unlimited express passes & thats the only way to get them anymore (stay on property)- I'm a season pass holder & I spend a lot of money at the parks at least twice a year. I normally stay off the property -- we usually rent a house -- much nicer than a cramped hotel room-- for around $1000 for 4 nights. We buy our own unlimited express passes from the park which I have no problem paying the $80 a piece for them- but universal has forced me to stay at their onsite hotels because they no longer sell unlimited express passes..

And btw -- we hung out by the hotel pool today and drank $14 Margaritas & had food.. Our bill was $260.. So they aren't losing any money on "people like me". "People like you" probably drink water and uptite-aid since you mostly sound like a bunch of squares lol... You probablly pay full sticker price when you buy a car, and buy the undercoating & "paint sealant" too hahahha!!!

Just kidding people- I'm sure you are all very nice-- but why are you so concerned about the resorts gettig every last cent out of us that they can... They get plenty.. If we can save a little -- and its a tiny fraction (what i saved by saying ppl in our group we children) - then great.. Its really not such a big deal...

So you're saying you didn't even have kids in your group - that you lied in order to save on the additional adult fee? Nice.

It just comes down to situational ethics - and you don't seem to have any when it comes to this subject. Universal isn't FORCING you to do anything.

If you were going to do whatever you wanted, why bother even posting the question in the first place?

Glad you feel like you got away with something.

@chepar: i just checked my bill: we paid $568 for one night. I won't shed any tears for them.. They made plenty of money on us... They were better off that we showed up than if we didn't.. Thats $568 they wouldn't have gotten otherwise + all the money we spent on alchohol & food. Hotels like ppl like me moreso than people like you- believe me- i book at the last minute, pay their maximum rates, and spend while im there. People like you book 4 months in advance at the super saver rate (but you pay for your extra adults lol).. So lets see who theyd rather have: Me ($568 -- not to mention an extra $400 or so on food drinks/Gift shop/etc) thats $968 for 1 night----------- or.. You, at the $249 super saver rate +$50 for your extra adults since you have such great "situational morals".... Hahahahahahahahahaha. Get off your high horse...

You don't know anything about me so stop trying to defend yourself and your unethical practices.

You're just digging yourself into a bigger and bigger hole the more you blather on and showing the kind of person you really are.

Why are you so defensive about what "people like me" think about what you do anyway? You posted a question, people responded and you didn't like the responses. Too bad, so move on.

Ok, I finally get it - you're just a troll, right?

Silly me for falling for it.

Hahaha i touched a nerve huh... Seems to me that your the one who cant move on.. Maybe you work at the hotel lol.. I tried to be nice a couple of posts back, I made some sarchastic comments, but then changed my tone and even said I was just kidding and I'm sure your all very nice.. But then after that you still continued to stick your nose up at me...

My advice to you.. Don't bother to reply to this thread anymore-- you need to relax-- just take a deep breath, and have a beer.

No, no nerve touched. Just trying to understand your entitlement issues and why you felt it necessary to label people who didn't agree with you "squares" that drink "uptite-aid" (sic).

I still don't get why you bothered to ask something when you're just going to argue with everyone.

My advice to you . . . don't post questions when you don't want to hear responses that don't agree with you.

But you're right, I'm not going to bother to respond to you anymore because it's useless.