all kinds of ?s for our upcoming trip

[annabelle004]

We are going to Universal (both parks) for the first time since having children. Both boys are finally old enough to ride everything! I could plan a WDW trip blindfolded with both hands tied behind my back. but am clueless when it comes to Universal.

Both boys love HP (7 and 9 yrs old) - and I do too! But we are really interested in all parts of the parks. We will be there from October 9th-14th. We will not be doing the halloween party. We are staying at Royal Pacific. So, here goes...

Since this is technically a holiday weekend, can we expect high crowds?
do we want to take advantage of early entry?
What can we expect at WWoHP? Do we want to hit that first?
What are the must see's and must do's for both parks?
Where are the must eat's? What do we want to avoid? (I'm kinda picky on food. Hubby and I really can only take so many chicken fingers and fries, and the boys are the same way.)
Oh, and, what kind of ticket should we get and where should be buy it? We can park hop if needed.

I have read through lots of threads, but wanted to get the 411 for a newbie. Thanks in advance for any advice you have.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I'd suggest WWoHP at the end of the day. Everyone flies there first thing in the morning, and it will already have guests there from early entry. Evenings are usually nice and quiet, with short wait times. There are three rides in WWoHP, an intimate wand show (Ollivander's), a restaurant and some shops. The restaurant is great and offers traditional British fare as well as the famous Butterbeer.

Make sure you check the height requirements for everything. If your youngest is too small for some of the rides (like the 54" coasters) you can do a Child Swap- everyone waits in line and at the end you can take turns riding.

It's a slow time of year for the most part.. I would recommend everything! Definitely the big rides- Forbidden Journey, Spider-Man, Transformers, Mummy, and Men in Black are my favorites. Dudley Do-Right, Jurassic Park, and Popeye are great if you want to get wet!

Mythos is restaurant in IOA that gets very good reviews. Haven't personally eaten there in many years but the interior of the building is fabulous, like in a cave. It's a bit more expensive than counter service, but you get a higher-end menu.

 

[kohlby]

I'm not sure about crowds that weekend, since we've never been that weekend. When we went last, we were off-site so we didn't have the express pass nor the extra early hour. We went to the HP section first and it really wasn't too bad for rides, but it was Nov and not near T-giving. We went to Ollivander's first, which was a good move if you want to see the mini-show since that line gets long fast. We did FJ since the line actually wasn't crazy - just 10-15 minutes. One thing we realized to skip were the stores - they were packed! We came back to the stores an hour before close and it was so easy to walk around and much better. FJ was even shorter then! But it was a 6pm close time when we were there. Since your kids are into HP, I would do the early hour the first day you do IOA and hit up HP first.

For eating, my kids loved Three Broomsticks. We had rotisserie chicken and it was pretty good. But the atmosphere alone for HP obsessed kids was worth it. Mythos is supposed to be amazing for food but my wiggly kids weren't quite ready for it so we didn't try it. Definitely get some frozen butterbeer. It was a dollar more than the non-frozen one but definitely worth it!

We've stayed at RPR three times and have our 4th time planned, so we like it there! Don't forget that you can pool hop. We want to try out the Hard Rock's pool on our next visit.

*Note that FJ is rather intense. So if there's any question in your mind and your kids aren't used to theme parks, then I wouldn't start with that one. If they'll roll with it, then no harm in trying it first. My 7 year old will likely be tall enough for FJ on our next trip -it's borderline now - but I don't know if she's able to handle it. She tried Tower of Terror at 3 but freaked out about the dinosaurs on Ellen's Energy Adventure still at 6, so we're a little hesitant to put her on FJ. My oldest did FJ at 8 and though he said he enjoyed it, once was enough for him. I think it was more intense than he was expecting.

As for must-do's, it sounds like you have enough time to do just about everything! The only ride we'll purposely avoid is the Pteredon flyers. It loads too slowly and isn't that exciting. (Plus, there's a height max for kids so one of ours is too tall while the other two can go on with an adult). There's some water rides that will get you soaked too so figure that into your plans. Bluto's Bilge Rats is the wettest non-waterpark ride I have ever been on.

You'll need far less planning than WDW. There's no fastpasses to worry about - and no time interval that you have to rush back with. The on-site express pass makes it very easy. Also, WDW wouldn't let us do rider swap with our 40" 3 year old if a ride had a 40" limit since he was tall enough! So hubby and I had to take turns skipping some rides as a result. This happened at several rides. US/IOA has never had any issues with rider swap - no matter how tall. It works a little differently - you all wait in line together initially and then there's a waiting area inside the ride.

*We usually buy our tickets through Undercover Tourist. We bought our tickets for our upcoming trip through Universal though, as they were having a great sale - in the winter of 2010. So, it's been a while since I bought tickets. In the past, we've done two day two park, but we had more days this time so we're finally getting to do more.

 

[annabelle004]

Note that FJ is rather intense. So if there's any question in your mind and your kids aren't used to theme parks, then I wouldn't start with that one. If they'll roll with it, then no harm in trying it first. My 7 year old will likely be tall enough for FJ on our next trip -it's borderline now - but I don't know if she's able to handle it. She tried Tower of Terror at 3 but freaked out about the dinosaurs on Ellen's Energy Adventure still at 6, so we're a little hesitant to put her on FJ. My oldest did FJ at 8 and though he said he enjoyed it, once was enough for him. I think it was more intense .

Thanks for the heads up on FJ intensity. We have never ridden tower of terror. Although that is really because I hate falling, not feally because they dont want to. But our 9yr old HATES Dinosaur at Animal kingdom. 7 yr old will ride it by covers his eyes the whole time. And I agree it is very intense. Is FJ along those lines? The scary part for them on dinosaur is the darkness and how loud it is.

On ollivander's, is it a show? Meaning even if we don't wind up buying wands should we still go in? As I understand it, only one person per show gets to do the "wand chooses the wizard" thing. So now I am not sure what to expect.

 

[macraven]

Thanks for the heads up on FJ intensity. We have never ridden tower of terror. Although that is really because I hate falling, not feally because they dont want to. But our 9yr old HATES Dinosaur at Animal kingdom. 7 yr old will ride it by covers his eyes the whole time. And I agree it is very intense. Is FJ along those lines? The scary part for them on dinosaur is the darkness and how loud it is.

On ollivander's, is it a show? Meaning even if we don't wind up buying wands should we still go in? As I understand it, only one person per show gets to do the "wand chooses the wizard" thing. So now I am not sure what to expect.

Huh

 

[RMulieri]

Since you are staying onsite, early entry will be worth it.
Forbidden journey is intense..It is part motion simulator ,part ride and has some scary in-your-face elements.
Ollivanders Wand show is worth it if you have die hard Potter fans and have never done it.
For food we love Mythos at IOA.Great food (table service) but not expensive.For Counter service we like Thunder Falls Terrace in Jurassic Park.

 

[KorbensMomma]

I would do the early entry it is a big perk for the hotels. I would do the wand show first, then FJ. After that you should have plenty of time before the park opens to reride FJ or ride Dragon Challenge or have breakfast at the 3 broomsticks or just shop..

 

[bumbershoot]

My son is 9 now, and was 6.5 on our first Universal/WDW trip.

On that trip he had no interest in riding FJ. He knew that there were "acromantulas" and big Dementors that are right there in your face, and that was NOT what he wanted.

By our next trip when he was 7 he'd gotten braver and did ride. I had figured out the timing of the "acromantulas" so I would squeeze his knee when it was time to close his eyes and when he could open them again. Of course that meant I had to have my eyes open, and he got his phobias from me. Ah, to be a grownup...

to me the intense parts are those two things. Oh and the dragon breathing fire, but for some reason that hasn't bothered DS to a great extent. The actual ride is like flying, which is immensely cool. It's the two elements that make it hard, because you might REALLY want to fly, but also REALLY don't want a gigantic Dementor in your face.

On ollivander's, is it a show? Meaning even if we don't wind up buying wands should we still go in? As I understand it, only one person per show gets to do the "wand chooses the wizard" thing. So now I am not sure what to expect.

Ollivander's is a show where one person is chosen to test a wand. At the end the wand is offered (for purchase) to that person. But everyone leaves the room and goes into the actual shop, where anyone can buy whatever wand they want. DS got chosen for it and even with that I'm not sure it was that thrilling. Even though he's a little ham at home, he was shy in front of everyone and wasn't totally sure what was going on. He did beg for the wand, and DH overruled my "no" (because he'd JUST bought a Harry Potter wand!). Officially that wand is DH's, but I'm pretty sure DS doesn't really consider it to be DH's (the way he got around the "but you just bought a wand" was to offer it to his dad but he didn't really mean it).

So my point is...it's not a necessary show to spend time waiting for. You can get the wands by going in the other door to the shop. And robes and sweaters and hats and and and.... Universal *might* possibly be better at the marketing and souvenir thing than Disney...especially in Wizarding World...

 

[kohlby]

And I agree it is very intense. Is FJ along those lines? The scary part for them on dinosaur is the darkness and how loud it is.

On ollivander's, is it a show? Meaning even if we don't wind up buying wands should we still go in? As I understand it, only one person per show gets to do the "wand chooses the wizard" thing. So now I am not sure what to expect.

I'd describe Ollivander's as a mini-show. My kids enjoyed it, but it's fairly quick and I agree not worth waiting long for. But I'm still glad we went. I think we waited 10 minutes for it and it was worth that for my Harry Potter nuts. We didn't buy a wand and my kids didn't get picked - but they still liked it.

I haven't put my middle child on Dinosaur since I know it would scare her too much. FJ is more intense than Dinosaur but it's a much smoother ride. It's extremely visually stimulating. I let my kids decide if they want to try a ride and if they say yes, I let them. FJ is an amazing ride, but it might be a bit much to start out with if a child can't handle the intensity unless they can recover fast. (I have one who was in tears on a ride that she hated, but recovered right away still wanting to try anything she was tall enough for. Then there was another one of mine I let go on Spiderman - as his first ride ever at barely 3. That day didn't go so well after that. Ooops).

Also keep in mind that rider swap is different at US/IOA than Disney. Disney wouldn't let me do rider swap due to a 40" child who didn't want to go on a 40" ride. US/IOA lets you do rider swap for any reason, so you won't miss out if you want to do a ride your kids don't. Rider swap is inside the ride at US/IOA, so you all wait in line together and then wait inside the ride for the swap. This means that they'll enjoy waiting with you in the castle likely since there's so much to see. And that they don't have to make up their minds if they're doing the ride until inside. There's also a non-rider castle tour line but we skipped that as we were doing rider swap.

 

[mrsclark]

I would also agree that FJ is very intense - DH looked at me after we got off and asked "was that you screaming the whole ride?" I ride everything at WDW - I LOVE ToT, EE and Dinosaur and FJ freaked me out.

Also does anyone in your family have problems with motion sickness? I can get mild to moderate motion sickness on some rides - for example, if we ride Star Tours two or three times in a row I start to feel queasy and have to stay away from motion simulator and/or thrill rides for awhile to let my stomach settle. FJ made me extremely motion sick, we thought we might have to leave the park and go back to the room because I felt so bad.

All the detail in Hogsmeade is incredible. I also recommend walking through the Hogwarts castle for the self guided tour (it is a line that runs parallel to the FJ ride queue in the building). After I was feeling better, we went back to walk through the castle and I really enjoyed all of the detail (I liked the castle much more than the ride itself). So if you or parts of your family doesn't want to ride, I would highly suggest walking through and seeing Hogwarts. Just walk up to the ride attendant at the beginning of the ride line and they will direct to the "walking" line.

 

[damo]

They're working on decreasing motion sickness in FJ. They've changed the movement of the ride vehicles and are working on the video.

Personally, I think if they made parts of the ride colder it would help too.

 

[Jess30]

I did FJ last October, and while I thought the ride was awesome, it made me dizzy feeling for awhile after. It was intense, and I had to close my eyes during parts of the flying parts.

We just went on it again this past Friday, and I enjoyed it way more. I don't know if it was because it was at the of my vacation (vs the first ride I went on last time), or because they've changed the ride, or just because I knew what to expect.

My 7 year old was pretty scared though. She has seen the movies before, but being that close to the dementors and spiders really freaked her out. She was fine afterwards, and still went on other rides, so she wasn't traumatized or anything. She went on the mummy and loved it, and it didn't scare her.

 

[kohlby]

I get motion sickness and have to avoid rides like the teacups. I get sick just watching a carosel! (Or even turning my body 360 degrees once). I wear Sea Bands and it makes it so I can do rides like Soarin', FJ, and Star Tours. My kids don't get sick at all no matter how many times they spin. I didn't used to get nearly as motion sick as I do now as when I was a kid.