Is Universal right for us?

[fchoppa]

Hi everyone,

I am planning a trip for the end of Feb. It will be my family ages 42,40,14,12, and 9. I know my 14 year old will have a blast without question. My concern is for my 12, and 9 year old. My 9 yo will have justs turned 9 by under a month. He loves roller coasters but is a real scaredy cat about other things. I know the mummy ride would be out not sure about the new harry potter ride. The same applies to the 12 year old. To put it bluntly they are still scared of the haunted mansion at disney I am not sure if we would be better putting of universal a couple of more year (like 2) and go back to Disney for our last farewell, or we should make the jump over to US/IOA. Are there enough rides for my other 2 to do? Any advice or thoughts would be great.

Thanks,
Felicia

 

[mesaboy2]

Hi everyone,

I am planning a trip for the end of Feb. It will be my family ages 42,40,14,12, and 9. I know my 14 year old will have a blast without question. My concern is for my 12, and 9 year old. My 9 yo will have justs turned 9 by under a month. He loves roller coasters but is a real scaredy cat about other things. I know the mummy ride would be out not sure about the new harry potter ride. The same applies to the 12 year old. To put it bluntly they are still scared of the haunted mansion at disney I am not sure if we would be better putting of universal a couple of more year (like 2) and go back to Disney for our last farewell, or we should make the jump over to US/IOA. Are there enough rides for my other 2 to do? Any advice or thoughts would be great.

Thanks,
Felicia

Based on being scared of HM, then I agree Revenge of the Mummy would not be a good idea, and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is also probably out. There are a number of scary creatures, real and fictional, in FJ that would not make them happy. I would also be wary of Jurassic Park River Adventure, as the indoor part during the second half can be intense. Jaws will be gone by then, so no issues there. I would think everything else would probably be okay.

 

[GinaBean]

I don't like thrill rides, but I still enjoy US/IOA. My son (10) loves the Dragon Challenge, but won't ride the Mummy or The Forbidden Journey. My dd (15) loves The Mummy and most of the other rides other than Forbidden Journey. I don't see why they would not have fun even if they skipped some of the thrill rides.

 

[nytimez]

You should be fine. Everyone has a ride or two they won't do (Mine is Dudley Do-Right -- I simply don't want to get THAT wet)... but there's still plenty to do. The real concerns are more for families with smaller children, because Universal has many rides with height requirements.

 

[stepheb]

my children were 9 and 7 last year when we went for the first time.

Harry Potter was scary the first time for both of them -but after that, we did it again and they were fine (just closed their eyes during certain parts. - dementors!!!!) - but they loved the ride. (we rode it 7 times!)

The mummy ride did freak them out - don't think we would do that again! Also, most of the big coasters were out - mainly b/c of height req...
but other than that.. I can't think of any ride that they disliked due to being scared...

We are going again in January - we had such a great time at Universal and found it to be a much more relaxing vacation than Disney - esp. when you stay on site and have the express pass.

 

[ky07]

My youngest DS is the same way but got better and we have took him since he was 9 but he still refuses to do posidioens fury cause of the dark parts and he is now 15 and though he loves UO he doesn't want to go if we are doing posidioens and he would rather stay home and have no vacation but all kids are different and there is plenty to do other than dark rides

 

[bumbershoot]

None of us have done the BIG rides, none of us has gone on Mummy (DH doesn't fit and DS has NO interest), until last trip only I had done FJ...and yet we all LOVE Universal!

You don't have to do *everything* to love a place or have a great time.

 

[SharonK0527]

I agree with other posters - there are plenty of other fun rides and attractions for your family to enjoy without the intense rides. If they don't like scary rides, it sounds like they would have a blast doing some of the "tamer" rides like Flight of the Hippogriff, any of the rides in Seuss Land, etc. If they like water rides, they would probably love Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges.

My DD is age 11 but she is a thrill-ride junkie. The only ride she didn't do this trip was The Hulk (that one was still a little too intense for her) but she'll go on all other coasters and thrill rides. She LOVED The Mummy, Forbidden Journey, and Dragon Challenge - they were her favorite rides this trip. She also really enjoyed Spiderman and Dudley Do-Right.

 

[fchoppa]

Thanks everyone. Universal it is! YAY!!!

 

[donaldduck352]

Thanks everyone. Universal it is! YAY!!!

Congrats,ya'll are gonna have a great time..