Need your opinions -- which non-WDW park?

[minmate]

Wondering if anyone can give me advice on what non-WDW park would be best to visit with four kids ages: 5, 4, 2, and 1.

My 2yo LOVES, LOVES, LOVES superheroes -- wears his spiderman, batman and superman costumes more than he does regular clothes -- which in turn mostly have a superhero theme to them as well. Possibly worth a day at Islands of Adventure? The other kids all three girls -- might they enjoy Seussland?

On top of this, my mom and sister are joining us for half the trip and my dad for the other half. My mom and dad both think it would be great to take the kids to Sea World but I def. don't want to do two days there, if any at all... my kids are animal lovers though -- and the two older girls were just in WDW where we did all four parks....

If we took two days for IOA and SW, what park should we skip at WDW to compensate for time? I hate skipping anything at WDW as each park has different "must-sees" for me, making it so hard to decide....

we arrive at 2:45 on a Friday and have until the following Wed at 4:30 so really only four full days, and a pretty sizeable day on Wed -- less than half a day on Friday....

Advice from others seriously needed! thanks

 

[jeleebeene]

Not sure how much help I can be, but I will try.


We went to IOA on our last trip, and while we did enjoy it, there really isn't a lot for little one's to do other than Suess Land, a few - and I do mean few - little rides and the characters are around, which may amuse your little ones.

I have only been to Sea World in Ohio - and I loved it, but I was a youngster myself.

If you choose to do both IOA and SW, the big decision on which WDW park to leave out is which one do you spend the least amount of time at???

Since you will be visiting SW (if you decide to) maybe save Animal Kingdom for another trip. BUT - if this is a must do for your family, then maybe Epcot - while Epcot is my favorite, some kids might get bored (as I have seen many times).

I bet you will have a great trip no matter what, and WELCOME to the DIS!!!

 

[carolinagirl]

I'll be honest....I do really love IOA but, in my opinion, for the ages of the children you listed, I wonder if there will be enough for them to do. Seussland is very well done. Just like you walked into a Dr. Seuss book, but there are only a handful of rides. You could easily be done in Seussland in 1-2 hours. I think there are only three "rides".

I can't recall any rides in the Super Hero section that would be appropriate for children the age you mentioned. Your 5 yo might be able to ride Spiderman, depending on the child's height. The only other thing I can think of is possibly meeting some of the Superhero characters. We met Spiderman our last time there and my son was thrilled.

Other than that, there is a small rollercoaster called the Flying Unicorn, I think, that might be appropriate for the 4 & 5 year old in the Lost Continent area. Also the Pteranodon Flyers (but there always seems to be a REALLY long line for this).

I'd personally skip IOA with kids that age. But I think they'd love SeaWorld. The shows are great and kids seem to really be wowed by them.

Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip!!!

 

[NCombs]

I haven't been there yet but we chose Sea World in 2 weeks as a non-Disney park. I have friends who went last year with their 3 kids- ages 6,6, and 4. They loved it.

 

[minmate]

I guess it's more of a sentimental thing -- the "idea" of seeing my son's reaction when he meets Spiderman seems priceless... but is it worth $45-$55 a person for that? Probably not...

I'm glad to hear reassurances that Sea World is good for this age! I heard there was a little water play area there for the kids? Is that true?

 

[Baloo]

We just did IOA last weekend .We had waited for a few years until our boys were old enough and TALL enought to be able to ride the rides.I'm SO GLAD we did wait.This is an absolutely beautiful park but as others have said not alot for kids that young to do.

 

[Hannahan]

I'm wondering the same thing for our trip in September. We have a 2yo, 4yo and 11yo. Would Universal Studios be better than IOA for little ones?

 

[NeedsNEscape]

I agree with the rest of the crew here. IOA is really good for the pre-teen and up crowd and so is Universal. In fact, since there are that many fast, wild rides at WDW (at least all in one spot), my sons really like to go to IOA and the Universal.
So I would skip the whole Universal business and save that for when they are older.

When my sons were little, they LOVED SeaWorld. Now they like it, but it is a lot of shows and they would rather be on-the-go. I wouldn't miss SeaWorld if I had young kids.

With young kids, I would rank the WDW parks as follows: MK, AK, MGM, Epcot. However, I would plan to spend the hot part of the day at the pool at the hotel. Now that my kids are older, they have the stamina to go from 8am-midnight. Although their parents now need a nap!

 

[Puffy2]

I'm not big on IOA either - especially for small children - the younger children won't even be able to do the best ride (spiderman). Other than seeing some characters in costume, I think you might find the day ....dull.

Universal Studios is a better park - the adults in your party will love US - and there is also a section with a lot for the smaller children (Barney is there with a show, an Animal Planet show, a mini coaster, play areas, character meet and greets, etc.... It is just a much better park (I think one of the best in Orlando).

If I was skipping a disney park it would be Animal Kingdom.

 

[DCSingle]

Have been on two trips with toddler niece and nephew over the past few years. If you're considering Universal, I would highly recommend Universal Studios over Islands for kids the ages of yours. Vast majority of rides at IofA are the "thrill" type that would probably be too intense for your kids (and scaredy cat adults like myself), if they even met the height requirements. Although Seussland is beautiful, definitely not enough there to make a day of it. Universal Studios on the other hand has more shows and rides for kids as well as several play areas (wet and dry) where they could spend significant time if you're not trying to see every attraction.

As for Disney, I would consider skipping Epcot given the ages of your group. Most young children find the educational nature fairly boring. Alternatively, you could probably try to hit both Animal Kingdom and MGM in the same day if you're up for a long one. Focusing only on the kid-friendly attractions I'd say you could definitely fit both of these in one day. We did MGM in the morning and AK in the afternoon (trying to do reverse of crowd trend) and were able to see what we wanted.

Sorry to say I haven't been to SW, but I've heard good things for kids. I'd recommend at day at MK, one at SW, one at Universal and a day split between AK and either MGM or to finish up MK.

 

[minmate]

I think I may just put off US an IOA altogether and go on faith that we will make it back to orlando sometime when all the kids are at a more suitable age to do more. I'd tend to skip Epcot altogether but my 5 yo LOVES Mission:Space and Test Track... have been considering just dh or just myself running her up to Epcot for the EE while we there and then all rendezvous later. The girls enjoyed Epcot (4+5) -- well, maybe they more or less tolerated it with no complaining... b/c they saw Sleeping Beauty w/nobody else around -- it felt like a special secret for them that the saw her with noone else there... and we happened to be the only people around when Characters on Holiday showed up too. then, the enjoyed hanging out in the stroller b/c we had them do a LOT of walking on the other days. The seemed to like the rest.

Please keep the suggestions coming as I haven't ruled out anything yet!

 

[BlondeStranger]

We went to US & IOA when my daughters were 5-1/2 and 10 months. My 5-1/2 year old loved US. She was o.k. with IOA, but had much more fun at US. The Men in Black, Back to the Future and ET rides were our favorites. There is also a Barney area and a Woody Woodpecker rollercoaster for smaller children. We had a lot of fun & definatly plan on going back one day - but - I still prefer Disney. My daughters are now 2-1/2 and 7-1/2 and we are going to Disney this December for 6 days. I think there will be a lot more for the 2-1/2 year old to enjoy at Disney than at US/IOA.

Have a wonderful time on your trip!