Well I'll start, but I'm not nearly as knowledgeable on Universal as most people here. We went when my son had just turned six (that previous week, actually) and he was VERY small for his age (he was a 2lb preemie at birth!), but we were still able to ride Jurassic Park river ride and spiderman, he was a bit afraid of spiderman, but rode it a second time, that time without the 3 D glasses!

He also loved/hated Jurassic Park river ride, he loved dinorsaurs so he enjoyed that, but the drop scared him, but he still did that ride a second time too. He loved everything in Suessland and had a ball there, he also loved all the water play areas, we just sat on a bench and let him play for 30 minutes, he was so wet, but he loved it!

Oh, he also enjoyed ET a lot, and that would be fine for Mom to ride too.
When we went, the ride was still "back to the future" and he rode that and liked it, so I'm sure that your DS will like The Simpsons (the ride that replaced it) but I would not take your mom on it, it's very jerky. I would think Mom would be fine on Spiderman and if she likes big drops she should be able to do JP.
The animal actor show was fun for everyone too. We did T2, but DS thought it was way too loud.

Oh and I'm sure both DS and Mom will like the Shrek ride. My son really enjoyed Univeral and IOA, that is one reason we are going back this summer (and this time, he is all grown up at age 15!!!) He still remembers our trip back from nine years ago, so I guess it made a big impression on him, and we take trips every year and he has been to Disney a few times too, but he's excited to go back Universal.
I hope you have a wonderful trip with great memories to look back on!
