IOA With Toddlers?

[Zamsu]

Hello, I know this question must have been asked a billion times. My family is a disney family. Every year we visit Disney and spend most of our time at MK, however this year we are contemplating giving IOA a shot. My eldest daughter just turned 5, the other is 2, and the youngest is 8 months. They are scared of loud sounds, and sometimes of characters too. Is a trip to IOA worth it? Are there enough rides/attractions to keep them busy for the entire day? My two yr old is the most outgoing and should would want to ride the rides with her older sister. Please advice.

 

[derekburgan]

Hello, I know this question must have been asked a billion times. My family is a disney family. Every year we visit Disney and spend most of our time at MK, however this year we are contemplating giving IOA a shot. My eldest daughter just turned 5, the other is 2, and the youngest is 8 months. They are scared of loud sounds, and sometimes of characters too. Is a trip to IOA worth it? Are there enough rides/attractions to keep them busy for the entire day? My two yr old is the most outgoing and should would want to ride the rides with her older sister. Please advice.

Our two year old could have spent an entire week at Seuss Landing in IOA. Just going from animal to animal on the Caroseussel would have occupied her for at least one full day.

Besides everything at Seuss Landing, the GIGANTIC play area at Camp Jurassic and misc things around the park will give them more than enough to do.

 

[RMulieri]

I am going to be the dissenter here.There is enough to entertain toddlers, but unless you want to spend your day in Seuss Landing and the play area at Jurassic park there is not much that won't scare them if they are that timid.They also won't make the height requirement on alot .In Seussland there is the Carou-seussal ( carousel) , One fish two fish ( kind of like dumbo) The cat in the hat ride ( a dark ride kind of like Pooh or the old Snow white at Disney) and the high in the sky trolley which has a HEIGHT req of 34 inches tall .There is also a play area and story time.Camp Jurassic is a play area with places to hide and climb .Other than that pretty much everything in IOA will have a height requirement or will scare .Personally Iwould wait, it is alot of money to spend for the possibility of not doing much.Take a look a t the Universal site at what is offered, height requirements etc and then look up some youtube videos to giveyou an idea of what to expect before you make a decision.. .I took my DD when she was 8 and even then she was hesitant on alot of stuff ( though she met the heights and eventually rode it)

 

[SmallWorld71]

I am going to be the dissenter here.There is enough to entertain toddlers, but unless you want to spend your day in Seuss Landing and the play area at Jurassic park there is not much that won't scare them if they are that timid.They also won't make the height requirement on alot .In Seussland there is the Carou-seussal ( carousel) , One fish two fish ( kind of like dumbo) The cat in the hat ride ( a dark ride kind of like Pooh or the old Snow white at Disney) and the high in the sky trolley which has a HEIGHT req of 34 inches tall .There is also a play area and story time.Camp Jurassic is a play area with places to hide and climb .Other than that pretty much everything in IOA will have a height requirement or will scare .Personally Iwould wait, it is alot of money to spend for the possibility of not doing much.Take a look a t the Universal site at what is offered, height requirements etc and then look up some youtube videos to giveyou an idea of what to expect before you make a decision.. .I took my DD when she was 8 and even then she was hesitant on alot of stuff ( though she met the heights and eventually rode it)

I'm inclined to agree. My personal opinion is that if adults really want to go to IOA because there are things that THEY really want to see, then you can probably find enough to entertain the kids so that you can enjoy yourself. I would not go FOR the kids until about the age of 7. (and that is with a brave 7 year old)

If you want to venture outside of the Disney bubble, you might want to think about SeaWorld.

 

[kohlby]

We find plenty to do! We had a 2 day 2 park pass with an 11 month old, 3 year old, and 6 year old and spent 1.5 in IOA and 0.5 at US - that was right before Harry Potter opened up. There was a lot more at IOA than US for them. We went again, but just for one day since it was supposed to be a Disney-only trip, with kids 2.5, 5, and 8 - and we easily filled up the whole day. It helps that all three love Harry Potter though. My youngest was probably 36" then. My oldest doesn't like thrill rides, so that made it easier. (Though we did get him on FJ. Once was enough for him though). My 5 year old would go on anything she was tall enough for, but she was under 48". One great thing about the child swap at IOA/US is that the child can go through the line too - so they could see all the theming.
We have 7 day passes for our next trip for IOA/US. We're waiting until next winter since for that many days, we wanted our youngest at least 42" and our middle 48". For just one day at IOA, or even two days, there was plenty for us. But for longer, we wanted them a little older/taller.

**As for what my kids do at IOA when 42" and below: Harry Potter- they love the stores, love the Ollivander's Wand shop and the other shops there. There's also Flight of the Hippogriff. (And Three Broomsticks is a great place to eat). Spiderman is 40" so my older two did do that. There's Me Ship the Olive, which is a playground they enjoyed. (Two have sensory issues so the three main water rides are out). There's Jurassic Park - the Discovery Center, Camp Jurrasic, the dino feet that make noise are fun. (There's also Pteranodon Flyers - I can't remember the height min but it's not worth standing in line for). They enjoyed Poseidon's Fury and loved the Sinbad Stunt Show. Suess Landing has a playground, if I ran the zoo. There's a carosel, One Fish, Two Fish (though the water squirted too much for one of my kids, but that water is mild), The Cat in the Hat, the High in the Sky Trolley Ride. Also, there was character story reading that was awesome. They were up close and had zero lines and tons of character interaction at it. The Mystic Fountain is lots of fun too - it talks to you. I could spend an hour just there easily since it's so much fun! There was also a little shop that has a little magic show they enjoyed - though I can't remember for certain if this was at IOA or US.