Having rides based on movie properties just made it feel dated. ET? Men in Black? (before the latest movie), Twister? Mummy? Jaws? Shrek? Simpsons? Jurassic Park (before Jurassic World was even an idea). I felt like I was visiting the park during the 90s. Due to my age I found the rides interesting and somewhat relevant from a nostalgia standpoint, but I can't imagine anyone younger than me finding it interesting as they probably haven't even seen those movies (and would probably find them 'cheesy' by today's movie standards).
Bringing up my son again, who is now 11.
He *loved* the Twister attraction, though he hasn't seen the movie.
Just the outside of The Mummy is done so well he refused to go on the ride until the last time. It creeped him out just being there! He loves the movie, though it still scares him. Great ride.
Refused to go on Jaws and now regrets that since it's gone. (but if we hit USH this summer, I think it's still there)
LOVES Shrek, tons of kids do. They are still making features involving those characters so it is hardly outdated. And the ride is absolutely positively hilarious.
Simpsons; hasn't seen the shows, though we keep promising him that now that he's Bart's age he can. And he loves the ride. The Simpsons is still on, still being made, so it's not outdated.
Jurassic Park is all new to kids. We saw JP in the theater a couple years ago, and it was so scary to him (and me!) that we had to leave the theater during the "kids and dinos in the kitchen" scene. Terrific movie that is still good. He loves 2 and 3, and JW was pretty good. (lacks the heart that #1 has) (and he agrees)
He's seen (and liked) E.T. Cried and cried towards the end.
The comics section is a chance to show him cultural history. We don't just walk on through; we tell him about the Sunday papers and how important they used to be. I tell him about the comics they show, and he has an appreciation for, really, my mom's era b/c of it.
Basically what I'm telling you is that you might *think* that younger people don't care, they can care and they often DO care.
Even the Marvel Comics area was more 90s comic-book style . .and not updated.
Well they can't update it, b/c of the complicated legal stuff with Disney/Marvel.
But the comic book era stuff is FABULOUS for people like DH and DS! And there are tons of people like them out there. Look how popular comic-cons are now with mainstream people. The people who go to that who read the comics LOVE the old style stuff like Marvel Superhero Island.
In Universal, only the HP properties are that detailed.
OH I would beg you to go back and spend time outside of Wizarding World, and really look around. The Port of Entry area alone, entering Islands of Adventure, could take an hour or more to really see everything. Just as an example. Or go explore Jurassic Park. or really look at all the signs in the comics section.
I adore the theming of Universal. Not sure how people miss it, unless they are rushing to get back to the area they think they will love.
On our first visit we *thought* we were there for Hogsmeade, but gave it a good chance (4 days!) and because we gave it that chance and USED those days, we saw how great it all is.
At Universal, you pay $400/night for hotels with convenient access to the parks.
Oh gosh, you're either going at busy busy times or are getting awful deals. I won't go for that much.
I've regularly gotten $150ish for Royal Pacific. Maybe $200 if I absolutely have to, but I hope that's for Portofino. I'll pay more for Club level if it's all a good deal and we know we'll use it.
