Need Advice on Rides for 7 yr old

[Atotty]

Hi,

We're planning on going to Universal for the first time this year. We're Disney veterans so my youngest dd has ridden most of the rides there. I was hoping that someone here who "has been there done that" might be able to give me some advice on rides.

My dd has been riding Splash and Big Thunder since she was 5. She doesn't like Splash but will ride with the rest of us. She does like Big Thunder.

She does not like Space Mtn. and was really mad at her teenage sister who convinced her that Expedition Everest would be easy (even though I kept telling her I didn't think it was a good idea). Now that she rode EE, she's hesitant to do anything with a drop. She's ridden Big Thunder Mtn RR since then, but not Splash........

So......with that background......obviously the coasters are out except for the kiddie coasters.

Is there anything else I should worry about?

She has a good sense of what is real and what is pretend. I let her watch a little bit of Beetlejuice the other day and she thought it was just silly.

We're going to WDW the first 4 days of our trip. She may surprise us and ride everything which will open up more rides at Universal/IOA, but I'd like to be prepared.

Thanks for any advice. Sorry long post.

 

[bubba's mom]

Jurassic Park in IOA is a boat ride like Splash...but, with a big drop at the end....HOWEVER, the boats are bigger than Splash and seat 5 or 6 across....if she's in the middle, she should be okay.

I would tell her to try everything...ya just never know what she'll like or not until she does it

 

[ckay87]

Ok, you'll get a lot more advice from people who are real veterans. But I first took my kids to Univ. when they were 5 and 8. We did Disney also on the same trip. I will say that my kids vastly preferred Universal for the amount of free play they were able to do. That is, IMO, its strong point. At WDW it is full days of wait-ride-wait-ride-wait-ride, which really wore out my kids. Universal has lots of spots to play play play! I underestimated the importance of that.

Curious George land at US....oh my word - dress for wetness and good luck getting them out of there! Then there were a bunch of things at IOA, like a Jurrasic park play area and a boat (geez, can't remember the name) that they loved to run around on.

 

[msr709]

JP is OK if you keep her in the last 2 rows in the middle she might be OK. There are the wet rides, Popeye & Bluto's is a very wet ride (like Kali River Rapids) Dudley Doo Rights has a very very long drop (much more aggressive than Splash Mtn), our 7 yo saw it and wouldn't go on. She'll be fine on Cat in the Hat, Spiderman is a hit with almost all the kids, MIB (no drops), Jimmy Neutron (simulator, kids loved it), Terminator Show (big hit with the kids), Shrek (also a big hit with the kids), Jaws (no drops at all, boat ride with Jaws jumping out of the water at one point), ET, One Fish, Two Fish, Carousel, Disaster, The Animal Show is a big hit with the kids, Beetlejuice's show is a sing and dance show which has nothing to do with the Beetlejuice movie, its all dancers dressed up as the most famous monsters, Werewolf, Frankenstein, his bride, Phantom of the Opera, its a very good show. HTH!

 

[Darcy03231]

We went to US/IOA last summer. My niece, who was 9 at the time but very petite (wears a size 6x) and a bit immature, rode everything except for Hulk, Dr. Doom, and Dueling Dragons.

The only thing in US that she might not like is Revenge of the Mummy. Its an indoor roller coaster, but it really isn't that intense. I'm a big ride chicken and I enjoyed it. I will say its over really fast. Oh, and she might not like Earthquake. My niece did it once and at the end said it was ok but she was a bit scared.

In IOA Dudley Do-Right has a big drop. Much bigger than Splash Mountain. There is a drop on Jurassic Park, but its more in line with Splash Mountain and maybe a bit smaller. I know I didn't have a problem with it. There's a smaller outdoor roller coaster - the Flying Unicorn, that we all did and were ok with. More like Thunder Mountain.

Hope this helps.

 

[sha_lyn]

Spiderman's special effects make you think you are falling at the end. You might want to warn her about that, and if the effects get to her, to look at something in the car or part of the setting off to the side of the screen

 

[the Dark Marauder]

We went to US/IOA last summer. My niece, who was 9 at the time but very petite (wears a size 6x) and a bit immature, rode everything except for Hulk, Dr. Doom, and Dueling Dragons.

The only thing in US that she might not like is Revenge of the Mummy. Its an indoor roller coaster, but it really isn't that intense. I'm a big ride chicken and I enjoyed it. I will say its over really fast. Oh, and she might not like Earthquake. My niece did it once and at the end said it was ok but she was a bit scared.

In IOA Dudley Do-Right has a big drop. Much bigger than Splash Mountain. There is a drop on Jurassic Park, but its more in line with Splash Mountain and maybe a bit smaller. I know I didn't have a problem with it. There's a smaller outdoor roller coaster - the Flying Unicorn, that we all did and were ok with. More like Thunder Mountain.

Hope this helps.

JP's drop is over 80ft. Splash Mtn is around 50 ft. Dudley's is 75 ft.

 

[Hug the Mouse]

Ok, you'll get a lot more advice from people who are real veterans. But I first took my kids to Univ. when they were 5 and 8. We did Disney also on the same trip. I will say that my kids vastly preferred Universal for the amount of free play they were able to do. That is, IMO, its strong point. At WDW it is full days of wait-ride-wait-ride-wait-ride, which really wore out my kids. Universal has lots of spots to play play play! I underestimated the importance of that.

Curious George land at US....oh my word - dress for wetness and good luck getting them out of there! Then there were a bunch of things at IOA, like a Jurrasic park play area and a boat (geez, can't remember the name) that they loved to run around on.

You're so right about the free play. We spent hours watching our kids run around Jurassic, Curious George and the boat(next to Blutos Bilge Barge---can't remember the name either LOL). They are great place to sit, rest and watch your kids have a ton of fun.

In '06 my 5 and 7 year olds rode everything that they were tall enough for and loved them all. They love all the "Mountains" at Disney too.

Only thing that rattled my DS7 was Jaws. The shark frightened him a bit.

 

[sha_lyn]

Only thing that rattled my DS7 was Jaws. The shark frightened him a bit.

My 10DD has been riding Spiderman since she was 3. MIB since she was 4 and ROTM since she was 7. However she will not ride Jaws again. That first trip when she was 3 really left a bad impression.

 

[bubba's mom]

... Curious George ....They are great place to sit, rest and watch your kids have a ton of fun.

We like the fact there's only 1 way IN and one way OUT of CG area

 

[ky07]

You're so right about the free play. We spent hours watching our kids run around Jurassic, Curious George and the boat(next to Blutos Bilge Barge---can't remember the name either LOL). They are great place to sit, rest and watch your kids have a ton of fun.

In '06 my 5 and 7 year olds rode everything that they were tall enough for and loved them all. They love all the "Mountains" at Disney too.

Only thing that rattled my DS7 was Jaws. The shark frightened him a bit.

The boat is called Me ship Olive and can't believe I can remeber that or why I did

 

[Darcy03231]

JP's drop is over 80ft. Splash Mtn is around 50 ft. Dudley's is 75 ft.

WOW! It certainly didn't feel that way. I really hate the drop on Splash Mountain and the JP drop just didn't seem to be as bad.

 

[Atotty]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I *really* appreciate it.