how many days with toddlers

[heathla2]

traveling the first week of February with a 5 year old and 2 year old, it's out 3rd time to Disney but first time to Universal / Islands of adventure. Should we do one day at Universal and 1 day at Island of Adventure?? Or just do Islands of adventure, it does not seem like there is very much for the younger ones at Universal.

 

[mrsabbott]

We went last spring when my son was 2. At no point was my son "bored" at either park!! At Studios he LOVED the parade/characters, the magic show, and the Kid Zone!! I think there are a few other "shows" that he would be into.. one with animals and another one that is Barney themed. We didn't even get the chance to check out the Curious George area! Also, there are non moving seats on Despicable Me which allow the younger kids to experience the ride!

At IofA he loved the Dr. Seuss area and was actually tall enough to ride Hippogriff which he rode about 3 times and loved! There was also lots to do in the Toon Lagoon area.. a boat he climbed on forever while his sisters rode water rides, a few splash/fountain type areas for him to get wet in..

There was a lot to see and experience for a younger kid, so I don't think there was a point where he was bored. The child swap on the bigger rides was great as well and was visually stimulating. Lots of things for little ones to see and explore..

edited to add: There is also some play areas in Jurassic park for all ages, which we also didn't get to do last time! And there are several shows and things at IofA we missed that the kids would enjoy!

I would spend 2 days. That is what we did and we were able to hit most of the highlights. We plan to spend 4 days our next trip!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Or just do Islands of adventure, it does not seem like there is very much for the younger ones at Universal.

There is a huge area for younger kids there. It's near ET. A water and slide play area themed to American Tail with Fievel (bring changes of clothing!), the Barney show (express pass works for that if you'll have it), the Curious George water play area further in, and then beyond that a wonderful soft (soft soft) ball play zone. My son is 10 and I know he's going to want to hang out in there next time we go, because he always does. He only plays in the Fievel area if there aren't little bitties there (b/c they are erratic and he is big and he doesn't want to knock anyone down), but he has always adored the ball area (it's not a pit, but you can suck up balls in vacuum things, and shoot them out (but they are SOFT) on a couple different levels, it's just tons of fun). Someday he knows we'll let him get soaked in the Curious George area, LOL.

Because the child swap allows everyone to enter the lines, there's a lot less leaving the family behind than at Disney. Some lines might spook a kid, though, so it's great to know of the fun places you can take the littler members of the family during those times. Or just take a nice break and let the littles run a bit in those areas.

I don't recommend letting the littles "free" in the Jurassic play area; it has lots of nooks and crannies. Stick with them in there.

 

[damo]

We just came back from 5 days at WDW and 5 days at Universal. The almost 2 year old's favourite place in both parks was the Curious George play centre in Kid Zone. He absolutely LOVED it there!!!