Struggling with decision..

[Gaprofitt]

Hey All,

I need some help, I went to Universal's both parks roughly 6-7 years ago. I remember they were just starting the harry potter land. Myself and my son just returned from a week at Disney World, we had the absolute time of our life. I am a single Dad and my son is 5, he is very adventurous and will ride anything at the Magic Kingdom, Expedition Everest, etc. His favorites by far are Seven Dwarfs mining train, Splash Mountain, Pirates and he loves Haunted Mansion..

Here is my dilemma, he knows we are going on a Cruise on Feb 4th. We live in Atlanta and will be driving down the 31st, so we will have the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the 11th to spend in the Parks. The 11th will be on our way back post cruise.

I've thought about doing Universal 2 days and Magic Kingdom 2 days, but i'm hesistant. I know he would love the water rides at Island of Adventure, the Jurassic ride and a few other things, but it seems somewhat limited. I feel the same about Universal. Perhaps just a single day ticket might be best, perhaps I should forego that for another time.. Not sure even riding water rides first web of Feb is gonna be fun..lol.

Thanks for the help.

Greg

 

[matt clark]

your kid is 7 years old.
he is tall enough for all the rides.
where is the limitation???
If you feel limited by water rides in February then just do universal studios. There are practically 0 water rides.
Islands of adventure does have a few water rides, but you can spend a whole day in there doing all the other attractions.
Id stick to 2 days 2 parks at universal.

 

[Gaprofitt]

He's 5 years old, 46 inches tall. The problem is I don't feel there is much for a 5 year old at Islands of Adventure. I am almost thinking we could do both Universal and Island of Adventure in the same day. I've never been to Orlando in Late Jan, Early Feb, not sure it's warm enough for water rides and swimming, if that's the case I'd probably rather devote the time to Disney.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

If I were you, here is the decision making process I'd consider:
What can he ride according to his height?
Of those options, what will he want to ride according to his interests?
What can be ridden or not when considering the weather temperatures or possible rain?
Is the cost of a single park or dual park tickets worth the day, or two, you will have?

Personally, I would hold off until he is taller so more options are available and the ticket cost makes more sense. I'd personally stick with Disney this time around and maybe when you get home, you can start researching Uni together for when he's older and taller.

 

[BubbaQuest]

He is tall enough for Gringotts, so minimally I'd say a one day park hopper sounds good. Without the water rides you should be able to do the following:

Studios:
Gringotts
Men In Black
Simpsons
E.T.
Transformers
Minions

IOA:
Spiderman
Kong
Hippogriff
Hogwarts Express

We went in early December. One day was warm enough for the water rides, but it was too cold the rest of the week.

Sounds like you will have a car while you are down there. Maybe you could stay at one of the Uni hotels (much cheaper than WDW). If the weather looks good before you leave, go ahead and get a 2-day Uni ticket online (save $20). If not, just buy a ticket at the park and drive over to Disney the next day if you get bored at Uni?

I think you'll have a great time at Uni even without the water rides. Will your son get upset if he can't ride Forbidden Journey? That would be my only hesitation to wait until he's 48" tall.

Have a great trip!

 

[BubbaQuest]

P.S. Wanted to mention that the Uni hotels are not owned by Uni so there is no advantage to buying everything at once. You can book a Uni/Loews hotel using your favorite or cheapest travel site and then buy the tickets separately. No need to pre-plan/package everything like MM+. Wanted to pass that along since it makes last minute Uni travel/planning much easier.

 

[DisneyDaver]

P.S. Wanted to mention that the Uni hotels are not owned by Uni so there is no advantage to buying everything at once.

Not only is there no advantage, but sometimes buying all at once is actually more expensive AND the cancellation policy is often worse for the hotel rooms where bought as part of a package.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Not only is there no advantage, but sometimes buying all at once is actually more expensive AND the cancellation policy is often worse for the hotel rooms where bought as part of a package.

There are sometimes advantages....I believe there was a good AMEX offer that included rounds of miniputt and some other things.

 

[danpam1024]

He'll be pretty disappointed if he can't ride RipSaw Falls and Popeye But there's PLENTY for him to do there.

 

[BrerJon]

If he likes Jurassic Park, there's a good couple of hours of fun to be had at Camp Jurassic, which is perfect for that age group.