Is it possible in one day?

[hunter1211]

We are planning our kids first trip to Disney this September and my mil lives in Orlando and works for Universal. She got us all free tickets for US/IOA for this year. She has to come with us too, but it's something we can't turn down. (Spending time with her and our kids first trip there too!)

The problem is our older kids are on a fall break from school, so we are limited on time. We checking into Disney Sunday around 3pm. We were thinking of driving down to Orlando Saturday morning and getting there Saturday afternoon relaxing and then Sunday Morning getting to US/IOA when it opens Sunday. Is it possible to see US/IOA in from opening until about 2:30 or 3pm? We have 5 girls ages...9, 7, 6, 4, and 2. So, they are all pretty young. Our 9 year old says she wants to ride all the wild and big rollercoasters, but in reality, she has never been on any rollercoaster! lol

If we can't do both parks in that time frame, which one would you suggest with our kids ages? From what I have been reading it looks like our kids might like IOA better and then if we have extra time, we can hit a few places in US. Oh, and does Universal have any thing like Disney's child swap?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Metro West]

It's not recommended to do both in a single day but given that you'll have a Universal employee with you and you're on a tight time schedule, you could probably do everything you'd want by late afternoon.

Both parks have a lot to offer kids of the ages you'll have with you, I think they would probably love Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure. Yes...Universal has child swap at a lot of the attractions.

I'm sure you're going to have a blast no matter what you end up doing!

 

[hunter1211]

Thanks so much for the quick answer! Dh and I haven't been to Universal in probably about 13 years, so it's changed soooo much!

Are there any resources, besides here the main Univseral/orlando website that are good to look at? If you can't post them, maybe you can pm me?

 

[damo]

Thanks so much for the quick answer! Dh and I haven't been to Universal in probably about 13 years, so it's changed soooo much!

Are there any resources, besides here the main Univseral/orlando website that are good to look at? If you can't post them, maybe you can pm me?

Look at the stickys at the top of this board for good information and links.

 

[phamton]

The employee comp tickets include both parks so there is no reason to just choose one park. It is possible to do both parks but it isn't ideal--- Just as it wouldn't be ideal to do all of Disney in two days. You can hit some of the best rides in both park but you will miss a lot. Yes, Universal does have child swap. You will definitely want to hit the KidZone area in Universal and Seuss Landing in Islands of Adventure.

 

[TIGGERGUY]

If we can't do both parks in that time frame, which one would you suggest with our kids ages? From what I have been reading it looks like our kids might like IOA better and then if we have extra time, we can hit a few places in US.

I just took my four godchildren (ages 5,6,7 &8) to US/IOA last week. They enjoyed the rides, but got much more out of the play areas at Camp Jurassic and the children's areas at US. We focused more on rides at IOA, but it was the kid's area at US that was the big hit. They had the Fiefel play/slide area, the water play area and the foam ball factory. They could have stayed there the entire time and been happy.

If your kids are anything like my godchildren, bring changes of clothes. They got SOAKED at the play areas. This also helps if you do the supersoaker tour at IOA. This is what we call Ripsaw Falls, Bilge Rat Barges, JP River Adventure and the water cannons at Camp Jurassic.




A Tip - If you go to the foam ball factory try to bring a few light tote bags with two handles. They can use them to fill up on foam balls. Getting at a loose one provided on site can be tough.