Lots of questions..sorry

[dgagnon519]

We will be in Orlando from 07/23/11-08/05/11. We will be arriving to late to do anything on the 23rd and leaving to early on the 5th to do anything. We will be staying at a hotel near Universal for the first part of the trip then a dvc for the rest of the trip. My questions are....
How much time would you spend at citywalk with kids?
can you do universal in 1 day if you are going to skip most of the thrill rides?
can you do islands of adventure in one day?
can you do seaworld in 1 day?
is it worth driving from disney to universal if we wanted to do 2 days at universal?
we think we will do aquatica and wetn wild..is one much better than the other?

 

[iwannbindisnee]

We will be in Orlando from 07/23/11-08/05/11. We will be arriving to late to do anything on the 23rd and leaving to early on the 5th to do anything. We will be staying at a hotel near Universal for the first part of the trip then a dvc for the rest of the trip. My questions are....
How much time would you spend at citywalk with kids?
can you do universal in 1 day if you are going to skip most of the thrill rides?
can you do islands of adventure in one day?
can you do seaworld in 1 day?
is it worth driving from disney to universal if we wanted to do 2 days at universal?
we think we will do aquatica and wetn wild..is one much better than the other?

I can try to answer some of these as we JUST returned from WDW/IOA/US visit for a week.

CItyWalk is restaurants/shops & little side carts of things to buy. We didn't spend any time there, so I guess it woudl depend if your kids liek to by things. there are cool restaurants. (SOrry not much help there)

Universal Studio has thrill rides & rides that are alot of fun, but tame. It has the VERY popular Bart SImpson ride. We went on a Monday & that was longest wait in US. YES, we did everything in US in one day. We were 4 adults so, there were some children themed rides we didn't do, but we went on all thrill rides, so I think the time is a trade off. If you go on a holdiay or weekend, it may be very different.

IOA we also did everything we wanted to & that was most things. Even as adults, we went on most htings in Suess Land too. BUT, if you want to do WWoHP, get there when the park opens & head straight back to that & get in line for FJ (if you are doing it) The wait will get worse as the day wears on. And the crowds do get thick. If you are trying to hold on to younger children its jsut a bit more "challenging in the middle of the day.

Haven't been to Sea World in about 6 years, so I will defer to more recent experiences.

We rented a car & drove--didn't want to be at the mercy of the hotels' van schedule. IT does cost $15 per day to park at IoA/US. So add that into teh equation. NOt sure if you can get a 2 day pass. We paid $15 each day.
I dont 'anything about Aquatica or WetnWild. Again I will let someone else handle that one... Hope this info helps! Debbie

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

How much time would you spend at citywalk with kids?
Others may disagree with us, but CityWalk is nightclubs and restaurants with some shops and a cinema. There's really not much for children in CityWalk itself

Can you do universal in 1 day if you are going to skip most of the thrill rides? can you do islands of adventure in one day?
Definitely ... there are lots of non-thrill ride attractions at both the studios and IOA

is it worth driving from disney to universal if we wanted to do 2 days at universal?
That's only something you can determine but we would say yes as we thoroughly enjoy Universal

 

[IdesOmarch]

Yes generally you should be OK by dedicating a day to each park. Now keep in mind there is a huge misconception that universal is mainly thrill rides, its not, its mainly theme rides like disney so there is a lot to do, there is only really one real "thrill ride" in all of Universal and that is rip ride rocket, everything else is either a theme ride or show. IOA has a few more thrill rides but its also mainly theme rides.

Just my opinion of things not to miss. At Universal 1) Mummy, 2) Twister, 3) Jaws, 4) Terminator, 5) MIB, 6) ET at IOA 1) Harry Potter and all the rides there, 2) Jurassic Park River Adventure, 3) Spiderman, 4) The kiddie rides at Suess Landing.

 

[RMulieri]

You should be ok with 1 day per park, but Seaworld is a tough one since the shows are timed so that its hard to hit them all in one visit, but with the longer hours in the summer, it is more doable than at slower times of year when the park closes early

 

[Metro West]

You should be ok with 1 day per park, but Seaworld is a tough one since the shows are timed so that its hard to hit them all in one visit, but with the longer hours in the summer, it is more doable than at slower times of year when the park closes early

Yeah...that's the problem with doing shows...you have to plan around them which makes for tricky planning sometimes.