December Trip, Never Been To USF or IOA

[CarltonFamily5]

Hey guys,

We're planning a trip to Orlando December 1st - 8th with 3 kids (2,4 & 7) and have been thinking about taking a day away from Disney to experience both parks. I had a couple of questions for those of you who know and love Universal and I am hoping you can help.

First off, is there enough fun stuff for us to do with our small children? I understand that there are a lot of thrills to be had at these two parks but I'm wondering if there is enough stuff for our little ones to enjoy. We were sorta tentatively planning on hopping parks in one day since I wasnt sure how much kid friendly stuff there is or how quickly you can see it but I thought I would ask the experts what your opinion was of the plan? Do-able or too much in too little time?

Also, how are the crowds in early Dec? Are the parks decorated for Christmas? Do they do anything special? I'd love any tips you guys might have on making the most of our vacation!

Thanks!
Robin

 

[bubba's mom]

Robin,

the crowds should be light, and decorated for holidays.

If you go early, you can see the hilites of both parks...and there is plenty for little ones. There are play areas in the Studios and Suess Landing in IOA.

If you haven't read the FAQ's sticky, do so...it addresses the common question of "enough for little ones?"

 

[Portugal1000]

We were there last year for 3 weeks in December. I could not believe how empty US and IOA were. We literally stayed on the Popeye ride for 3 goes without getting off and could have gone longer. No queues atall, even Spiderman and Mummy were walk ons in the early afternoon. With regards to younger one, there are lots for them to do in both park but you could probably get through both if you were only going on rides they could go on. There is a great little water place in US that my 6 year old son stayed in for 2 hours. We are going back again the same time this year and can't wait. Hope this helps.

 

[Metro West]

Are the parks decorated for Christmas? Do they do anything special? I'd love any tips you guys might have on making the most of our vacation!

Robin...here are some pix of the parks at Christmas time over the past two years I thought you'd like. I guess I should take more this year. Hope you like:

 

[CarltonFamily5]

Thank you SOOOOO much for sharing those with me Metro! Now we're even MORE excited about going for our first time! Looks super fun and I know our girls will enjoy it!

I really appreciate all of your replies!

 

[stwyatt]

we took our 5 yr. old for his first trip to disney--went to us/ioa first to save the "best" for last. long story short, the 5 yr old was blown away by universal. we enjoyed wdw as well, but ioa was his favorite. we were able to do most of the rides except the big coasters. he got very scared on spiderman the first time--we figured out it was the bad guys he was afraid of, so we told him to yell for spiderman to save us. that did the trick as it made the ride an almost real adventure for him. he loved spiderman, flying unicorn coaster, pterantadon flyers, all seuss landing rides(when we went they had a mountain of ice to slide down) as seuss landing takes on the whoville of the grinch look. at usf he loved shrek, men in black, woody coaster, back to future, and was a little scared on the mummy. he also liked the special effects show. i'm probably missing some others but you get the point. also to second,the parks were never busy at that time. the only downside to december was the water rides were a little cold after we got off. finally, we also did a character bfast at confisco grille at ioa. spidey was there and our boy loved it