Did I make a mistake?? (parents of little ones come in)

[mrsnj91]

I have three children of my own and another one coming with us on this family trip. Ages 5, 12, 16 and 17.

We are doing Aquatica/SW/Universal and one day at Magic Kingdom. Two days at Universal (one for each park). I was browsing through pics and posts and the Universal site, etc yesterday and I am worried that my 5 yr old is not going to like it. She wouldn't know Spiderman and ET from a hole in the wall! I see much older things to do and characters she doesn't know and dark castles (yeah Harry is not going to go over well), etc.

I focused on the maps yesterday and found the kid friendly areas but is this going to be enough for her to be busy a full day in each park?? And are they TOO kiddie? Like a ride going 2 MPH with mommies holding 9 month old babies is not going to make her very happy! She is kinda in between that and the coasters. KWIM? She doesn't like scary things. She doesn't know who Harry Potter is. I am worried I made a mistake! This is her vacation too KWIM?

Then to top it off I emailed a friend of mine who lives in FL and asked her about the parks and she says she never took her kids there there because of what I am worried about! Like that was a big help!

Is there enough to keep her happy in the parks? Or should I eat the loss (got the tickets already) and split the troupes and do another Disney park with her and the older kids go with DH and do Universal???

We have the all week tickets for SW and Aquatica. I could drop off DH and the older kids, take Delaney for another dip at Aquatica and then meet the gang for dinner in the evening at Universal. I know they are opposite directions though. Would that be too much back and forth and driving?? How far away are the parks?

Any suggestions or tails to tell from other parents?????????? Would she be ok at both parks all day?

 

[damo]

Just because she doesn't know all the characters doesn't mean she can't have a great time. She should really like all of the Suess area. She will like the Jurassic Park playground and probably all the water rides. If she like spinning, she will like Storm Force. The Shrek ride and the Jimmy Neutron ride are tons of fun. She will probably like the Animal Actors show as well as the entire Curious George play area with its water slide, kiddie coaster and huge water fun area. Universal gets a bad rap for not having enough for kids but really, they have pretty much as much as any of the Disney parks.

Before you go, introduce her to the Suess books since there are 4 rides there for her. Do a little dinosaur stuff, Shrek stuff, Jimmy Neutron/Dora the Explorer stuff. A bit of Madagascar and Curious George. You could even rent the movie ET.

What do you think she will enjoy at Magic Kingdom and maybe we can tell you the comparables at USF.

 

[mjohnson96]

We have been taking our DD now 7 for years and she loves it there. This year we were going to do Disney but she wanted to go back to Universal and with WWOHP that was fine with me

There are great kid coasters that she can ride at IOA in the WWOHP area and at US over at the Curious George. Dr. Suess Island is a blast for all ages and even Toon Island is tons of fun, heck most kids that I know of like Cartoons even if they don't know who they are

Over at US this year DD got to see Sponge Bob, Dora, the Madagascar group, Simpsons, Shrek and a few more that she loved.

Also, over by the WWOHP is the Mystic Fountain with DD loves to argue with everytime we walk by. She will make sure to be in her bathing suit ready to get wet when she heads over there.

I think there will be tons for kids to do without them being bored.

 

[Purseval]

Who plans a vacation around what a 5-year old is going to like? If it makes you feel better, in spite of all the "Magic" hype you read from the Disney ads surveys have shown year after year that when asked about the best part of their vacation 5-year olds consistently choose the hotel swimming pool as their favorite. The Unofficial Guide To WDW even has (had? I haven't read that book in years) a section called Whose Dream Is It? that discusses this phenomenom.

Plan your vacation with what the older kids will enjoy. The 5 year old will find plenty of fun things to do, even if you don't think so.

 

[circelli]

This is our 3 rd year going. We have 2 sons, they will be 6 & 4 this year. Your daughter will LOVE it. Don't concentrate on what she "might" not like. There is tonnes to do you will have a GREAT time.

 

[firsttimer2007]

We took our elementary school aged kids to US in California last year and they loved it. They talk about the play area at US all the time. They are almost to old to get in there. I am not sure if US Orlando has the same kids play area but if they do my kids will want to spend a whole day there. I think you will be surprised how much fun she will have.

 

[dannyb63]

When my youngest was 6 we took her and her 3 older siblings to Disney and last year we returned to disney, my DD now 14. I asked her afterward how they compared and she told me she remembered very little about our 1st trip, Only a couple of things.
So in my opinion I would make this trip for the Teenagers, ( both my daughters are in high school and we have more fun now traveling than ever). As far as your 5 yr old goes besides all thats been stated, there is also a Barney show, and the Me ship the Olive a wet play place ( Id put her suit on under her clothes). You might also want to try Flight of the Hippogrif, Its a kiddie coaster and there are plenty of character meets so that should be fun too.

 

[damo]

There is also Pteranadon's Flyers which you need to get to first thing since it is very slow loading.

 

[Kellydelly]

She will have fun, don't worry!!!! If she doesn't then she's a high maintenance yr old .

 

[zaxmom]

My boys are much older, but I have been taking them there for years. Since they were in diapers. They have always preferred it to Disney.

They could play for hours in the Curious George and Jurassic Park areas. I think she will still like ET even if she has not seen the movie. I dressed my kids in swim shorts since there were so many places to get wet. You might want to bring a change of clothes or put a swimsuit under her clothes.

If you are riding rides she can not or does not want to ride than child swap is great. They will even let your big kids ride twice so that each parent can experience the ride with them. The older ones will probably love that.

 

[blithespirits5]

I can't comment on the parks because I haven't been to Universal for a long long time....but wanted to say that I would not recommend showing ET to your 5 year old.

I saw that movie when I was 5 (when it first came out) and parts of it really scared me (particularily the part where ET is all wrinkled and white laying on the riverbed). I still can't watch parts of that movie. I am not an over sensitive person AT ALL...things don't bug me and I was not scared of things as a kid (no problem on dark rides like Haunted Mansion,etc.). Might have just been me but thought I'd share anyway!

You know your kid though - so of course use your judgement. You could show the fun parts of the movie and skip the sad parts maybe.

Wow....I went off on that...as you can see it had an impact on me as a kid!

 

[*LittleMermaid*]

I hope you are talking about just the movie because the ride is not scary at all!

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Who plans a vacation around what a 5-year old is going to like? If it makes you feel better, in spite of all the "Magic" hype you read from the Disney ads surveys have shown year after year that when asked about the best part of their vacation 5-year olds consistently choose the hotel swimming pool as their favorite. The Unofficial Guide To WDW even has (had? I haven't read that book in years) a section called Whose Dream Is It? that discusses this phenomenom.

Plan your vacation with what the older kids will enjoy. The 5 year old will find plenty of fun things to do, even if you don't think so.

For my kid it's the monorail, bus or hotel room. I'm like seriously kid? The hotel is the best because you can jump on the bed and watch tv at the same time!

I have reservations about my 6 year old but she's going. If she doesn't like it I won't make her go again but she can try it once for the sake of trying it. You never know until you go there.

Can you look at the rides on youtube or google images to see if that would help gauge her reactions?

 

[Mom2PrincessK]

I think there is enough - you may have to split up while in the park and let the olders to the thrill rides and you do the tamer rides, but there is plenty to do and see.

Before I took my DD two years ago, (she was 6) - we rented ET and she really like it...then she loved the ride. I guess it depends on the child but I've never thought of that movie as scary, I guess it depends on the person. She should enjoy all of the kids area, except maybe Barney if she's outgrown that yet. There are a lot of characters to meet. She'll enjoy Shrek and Jimmy Neutron - Simpsons is one of my DD's favorite.

She'll probably enjoy Seuss Land - Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park as previousy stated. The water rides are great fun, and they have several places with the fountains that come out of the sidewalk - I know my 5 year olds loved those. I do agree to dress in swim wear on your IOA day and/or bring a change of clothes. You can get drenched but it's well worth it.

Not sure what she is tall enough for, but the FH coaster in WWOHP is fun without being a thrill ride.

Your older kids will really love US/IOA - or at least my 15yo does. He likes Disney, but would much rather do US/IOA.

I would definitely take her and if you happen to run out of things (which I doubt) you could always jump to SW and come back - it's not that far.

 

[Angie2]

We took our now 15 year old son to Universal 10 years ago when he was 5. I basically only did it because we were doing Sea World and we had done Disney a couple of times and my husband said no more Disney! I was sad about it but at least I was going to a theme park so it couldn't be too bad right?! Well, my son loved, loved, loved, LOVED Universal more than he ever loved Disney. He never wanted to go to Disney again. There was tons for him to do and we stayed for a week!! We have been back a few times since and it is now my daughter's favorite as well. One thing I would recommend is show your daughter some of the movies before you go... Simpsons, ET (my kids loved it and weren't scared), Shrek, Jimmy Neutron, .... They make great family viewing and you will not believe how funny MIB is the second time. Jurassic Park is still a great movie! Obviously you need to know your child but my kids had no problem with these rides or movies when they were quite young. I would think twice about Jaws and The Mummy for most young kids but my fearless duo loved them. Don't worry... relax and have fun. I think my kids enjoy Universal most of all because it does not come with all of that pressure to be 'magic' that Disney does.

 

[nhrenee]

When my dd were that age we spent hours in the Woody woodpecker kidzone at Universal. FYI-in back of the wet zone there is a GREAT place where the teens will have fun too.

At IOA it was Seuss landing, Jurassic park (everything but the JP River ride), Toon lagoon has Me ship the olive (as well a bright cartoon atmosphere and various wet areas through out the park, and in WWOHP, the small coaster (flight of the hippogriff) is great for that age. My 9yr old (at the time)ds, who hates coasters, loved that little coaster.

If she scares easily I probably wouldn't take her on Twister (the actual tornado footage is the only scary part), Jaws or Earthquake - The Big One.

Here's a link you might like to look at: half way down the page there is a link for each park For Ages 10 and Under

http://www.universalorlando.com/OverviewPages/TP/themeparks.aspx#

 

[ZYanksRule]

For my kid it's the monorail, bus or hotel room. I'm like seriously kid? The hotel is the best because you can jump on the bed and watch tv at the same time!

I have reservations about my 6 year old but she's going. If she doesn't like it I won't make her go again but she can try it once for the sake of trying it. You never know until you go there.

Can you look at the rides on youtube or google images to see if that would help gauge her reactions?

Haha, that's funny. In the airport, going between terminals on my way home, we get off the monorail and a kid next to me goes: "Can we do that again, daddy?"