Family Feel?

[leslie826]

We're considering Universal this summer with some hesitations. My DS is 40 inches, which leaves him not being able to ride many of the rides with my older 2 children. When at Disney, I always have the "feeling" that we do most things together as a family. We do split up a bit, but even the things I do with just the little one are enjoyable to me and I don't ever feel like I'm "missing the good stuff" (because I love everything Disney!). So here's my question for those that have been in this situation. Do you get that "family feeling" at Universal where you feel like you do most things together? Or do you feel like you need to split up most of the time? How is it when you split up? The thought of having to watch Barney makes me want to poke my eyes out!

 

[johde]

Most of the rides have rider swap (which is different from Disney's child swap). Everyone waits in line together as a family there is then a rider swap room where the child and 1 parent waits and watches a video related to the ride, while everyone else rides. Then you swap out. Here's a video from Forbidden Journey's load area and Child swap.

I've read some reports where the kid didn't want to leave the child swap area. They wanted to continue to watch the movie. Assuming you're going when the lines aren't terrible or you're staying onsite and have express passes, I probably wouldn't split up for very long. Just in each area make sure to alternate between the rides the little one can and can't ride.

 

[ladybugx]

I think it's a family-friendly park overall. The areas with the more grown-up rides like the superhero section are still themed in such a way that a family can and likely will want to experience them together. There are many rides families can do together that aren't over-the-top childish: E.T., Spiderman, Pteranodon Flyers, Transformers...it does suck that the cutoff is 42" for so many of the pretty tame rides, leaving your son 2 inches too short. My parents always bought me shoes with a bit of a platform for theme parks when I was around that height, but that was a different time when people didn't get as touchy about stuff like that, so of course I would never suggest it!

 

[HM]

I'd probably wait a year or more before adding US/IOA into your plans, so that all the kids can do things together.

I once got a really good deal on some US/IOA tickets (buy 1 get 1) and held onto them for four years since I felt my kids weren't quite old enough. I only have two kids, but our first trip there was when they were 10 and 12.

 

[bumbershoot]

Our first trip to Uni (and WDW) was when DS was 6.5. He was definitely taller than your little one, but he wasn't able to ride everything (nor did he want to ride some things he could have gone on, like The Mummy). And it was all fine. There's so much to look at. And there's a bunch of stuff the little one would probably love to do if you gave him time to do it. (mainly in the Barney area, LOL)

As the oldest of 5, and the tallest for quite awhile (now the shortest), I really balk at the idea of not letting olders do what they are capable of until the youngers can do them. If the majority of the family want to try Universal, then go. As long as the spooky level of the line (lookin' at you, The Mummy) doesn't freak out a younger kid, the family only splits up at the very end. It's not like at Disney where you say goodbye outside of the line. Everyone can go into the lines at Uni. It's pretty awesome.

Woody's Coaster is superfun though also supershort; if you're staying onsite you'll be able to Express Pass it, which helps a LOT with that 30 second coaster. Fievel's playground, a waterplay area themed to Curious George. Follow the footprints in that area to stay dry if you wish, and go back behind to a pretty incredible soft-ball play area. Vacuum up the balls into hoppers, shoot them at family members, they are so soft you won't get hurt. It's really great fun.

If the family wants to go, go. You'll likely be back later on, and the little one will be able to do more and the 8 year old probably will, too, and more fun will be had.

 

[HM]

Bumbershoot I'm oldest too.
I think you give some good advise. We waited, and I wanted to put that out there as an option, but if the rest of the family is keen on going, OP, then go and have fun.

 

[leslie826]

Thanks for all the advice! Unfortunately the family doesn't know what they want to do, so it's up to me to decide if everyone will like it! We'll either be going here OR Disney so I'm trying to choose wisely. They know they love Disney, and they think Universal looks cool. But they don't know if they want to give up Disney for something unknown. I'm sure we'll have a blast either way.

 

[Cedarmom]

We just did both disney and universal with an 11, 8 and 5 year old. The 5 year old is 46 inches. I felt like she did a lot of sitting in the child swap area at universal, even with the express pass. A lot of the rides are more mature themes and were pretty intense for my crew. The boys are huge coaster lovers but the 4D rides, which seem to be the majority of rides in both parks, did not impress them. If your bigger kids are huge Harry potter fans, that part is absolutely worth the price of admission (so, so cool!). We could take or leave the rest of the parks aside from the 3 big coasters. All three kids loved Curious George's house, but Disney is in general much more 40 inch kid/family friendly. The other thing we noticed about the universal parks was how LOUD they were. My husband called it ear assault. We couldn't talk while walking down the street for all of the noise. It wasn't crowded--it was the intentional background music on the main streets.