Youngin' at Universal - Is It Worth It?

ExtinctJenn

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We are a Disney family. That statement by itself says it all. I've never had an interest in visiting Universal outside of the one time I did it when I was younger (2 months after opening). This was especially true after my son was born. We make a trip to Disney at least once a year (this year being the exception) and put all our funds and time into being on property. It's our "world", no pun intended.

DS6 has just recently started to understand that there is another theme park in Orlando. He loves SpongeBob and I made the mistake (lol) of showing him a video of the SB shop on property. Since then he's also seen a few other random videos and has started asking about going to Universal the next time we go to Disney.

Here's my question... I know that Universal proper has a lot of attractions that he could probably ride but may be a bit too intense. I know IOA has tons of attractions he's probably not even tall enough to ride (even if he wouldn't be terrified). Is it worth building a day into our next trip to hit Universal and/or IOA or should we give him a few more years to move into that "thrill seeker" mode?
 

Blueskyze

Well-Known Member
I was asking myself this same question earlier this year. I have always enjoyed the rides at IoA and US (especially now that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is there!), and we spent a couple of days there earlier this year on an adults-only Disney trip. My son is 6, and he saw something we got in the mail that had the Despicable Me ride on it. We LOVE that movie, and he kept talking about riding it. I looked over the website to determine how much he'd be able to ride (he's pretty small for his age but has absolutely no fear when it comes to rides), and I realized that there were also a lot of characters there that he would get a kick out of meeting - especially the superheroes. Maybe I just wanted another delicious Butterbeer, but we decided to spend one day of our upcoming trip there, splitting the day between the two parks.
 

Captain Chaos

Well-Known Member
Well IOA does have Seuss Landing, which is great for kids... The Cat in the Hat ride is adorable.. The High In The Sky Trolly is cute... And they have a merry go round and a spinner ride as well...There is the kid coaster in Wizarding World, Flight of the Hyppogriff or how ever you spell it, so he does have something to go on there... He may be tall enough to go on the other rides as well, but only you can judge if you think he is old enough to handle a bit of the thrill factor in them... Rip Saw Falls, if he can handle Splash, he can handle this... And there are characters out and about in Marvel... I'm sure he'd get a kick out of that...

Don't forget, SpongeBob is also in the new afternoon parade in Universal...
 

Matpez

Well-Known Member
48" tall is a key height, so at 4ft tall the only rides someone can not ride between both parks are Rockit, Dr. Doom, Hulk & Dragons.
Mummy & Journey are 48" and everything else is shorter.
 

Sketch105

Well-Known Member
The Studios park has upped it's game. Not sure of your son's height, but they have a various range of attractions as well as Kidzone. Also the characters and floats from the Superstar Parade come out during the day to do meet-n-greets at various times, and then join up for the parade at the end of the day. The little shows are a lot of fun, and definitely are a hit with the kids, and the parade stops are entirely different from the mini-shows.
 

ExtinctJenn

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you SO much for all of the responses! I so should've mentioned his height in my original post (duh)... that would've helped! He just hit the 48" mark very recently. On our last WDW trip he did Space Mountain for the first time (and probably last lol) as a result. I don't think I realized there was so much that fit within the 48" rule at either Universal park so I truly appreciate all the info guys! Maybe, funds depending, we'll consider building a day in next trip (early 2013 with any luck)!
 

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