Is Universal Studios/Islands of Adv. for little kids?

[imfortune8]

Hi! We are planning our two weeks in Florida and I wanted peoples opinion about whether I should take our family to Universal and Islands of Adventure. We have two little kids ages two and five and I know there is one little area designed for kids, but is that enough? Give it to me straight!

Thanks in advance!

 

[SouthFLMommy]

Oh I think so. In fact, we've brought our kids there many, many times. At Universal they have Feivel's play area and Barney interactive area. They have Jimmy Neutron ride, Nick Studios and the Shrek 3-D adventure. They also have the Woody Woodpecker kiddie coaster. At IOA, they have Dr Seuss, which has an interactive water play area, an a ton of kids rides. They also have a kiddie coaster which my kids rode over and over again. HTH

 

[tinaluis]

Our daughters (8, 6 and 4) love US/IOA too. There's always plenty for them to do.

 

[HappyLawyer]

yes, they even have some special areas there for just kids, free gams and stuff kids can get wet, you'll have a blast

 

[phamton]

Here are two great articles on what kids can do:

Universal Orlando for Kids


Islands of Adventure for Kids

 

[the kabuki]

Ok, I'll give it to you straight-if it wasn't for the fact that the older ones wanted to go -ages 11 & 7, I probably wouldn't have bothered to take my youngest age 3. Yes they have an awesome water playground-Curious George- and there's a terrific nerf ball type shooting area behind it with ball drops and all sorts of things. The Dr. Suess area would be great for them.
I doubt with your kids ages that Jimmy Neutron would hold much for them & I think the Woody Woodpecker had a min. height. ET ride was ok, but I was leaning over holding onto my 3 yr old afraid she would fall out of her separate bike type seat.
Shrek is a 4-D movie, I'd think they'd really have to be big Shrek fans for that.
Same with Nick studios, I know only my older ones watch nick.

So basically you have one really great area in each park that they would probably love.

BTW- Not trashing US at all. Absolutely loved it, we all did. The adults in your group will too. Just depends what you're looking for in your vacation. You'll be there long enough to do WDW & US.

 

[alisonbestford]

DD was 3 the first time we visited US and IOA and we struggled to get her out.
Even now she's 6 I think they're still her favourite parks
She loves the SuperHeroes too as DH is a big fan of SpiderMan etc
You'll have a ball
Alison

 

[Mainebound]

Hi! We are planning our two weeks in Florida and I wanted peoples opinion about whether I should take our family to Universal and Islands of Adventure. We have two little kids ages two and five and I know there is one little area designed for kids, but is that enough? Give it to me straight!

Thanks in advance!

Just back from our second trip to these parks with DS5 and DS3 (last year they were 4 and 2) and my answer is a YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!

Ask over on the Universal board for more info and help. Also www.ioacentral.com has a lot of info.

 

[alisonbestford]

These two parks are the ones where I know I can pack a book in my bag and get chance to read it 'cos there is plenty for DD to do whilst I look on Although I love WDW I, personally, find it a lot more tiring!
Alison

 

[ms4getful]

I think it's a great place for both younger and older kids. My 2 y/o sister went and she had a blast! She really liked Shrek 4-D.

 

[hilltopfamily]

Our 1st WDW trip is coming this summer, so I am not able to compare benefits of US over WDW. When we did US we only had 1 day there but with Express Pass we were able to get on to everything so quickly---highly recommend staying on site for this terrific perk. Anyway, our 3 kids were 6, 9, and 12. They (as well as me & DH) really, really loved US. Shrek and Jimmy Neutron were great. MIB was REALLY something as was Back to the Future and the Terminator. We did these attractions each many, many times. (didn't have the Mummy yet when we went). Unfortunately we couldn't do the Jaws ride because it was raining/small lightening concern so they shut down that boatride. DD 6 loved the ET ride/show, older 2 kids thought it was too "childish". (We also did others such as Twister, Earthquake, etc. which were ok but not stellar) Can't remember ages of your kids, but I just have to say we all sure had an enjoyable and memorable day when we were there.