One day in Universal with timid 5-yr.old...what can we do???

[fabwallsmom]

We plan on spending one day of our 7 day Disney vacation at Universal Studios/IOA. I know my young teens will find lots to do. But, will my timid 5-year old? He doesn't like loud noises, scary rides, and needs his personal space with the characters in costume. Is it worth going?

Any suggestions will be very welcome!

Robin

 

[SpideyHulk24]

You still can do alot. There are lots of shows at Universal Studios. At IOA, there is Seuss Landing and those are fun rides. There are alot of water play areas too!

 

[Partridge4ever]

At Universal, my 4 year old daughter enjoys the Barney show and play area, Curious George ball thing (you blast foam balls at people), Woody's Roller Coaster, the Animal Planet Show, and Fieval's play area. She's not too keen on ET because it's dark.

At IOA, she likes Storm Force (like the Teacups only faster) and the carousel. She's not too happy w/One Fish Two Fish because you can get wet, and she didn't like the Cat in the Hat but I don't think most kids would have trouble w/it. She also likes the Flying Unicorn roller coaster. There's a play area in the Jurassic Park section and Me Ship the Olive near Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges that occupied her pretty well while my older DD rode the rides in those sections.

We did a lot of buying ice cream and waiting for our older daughter and DH to get off the big rides.

 

[4greatboys]

My 4 yr old likes:

Universal--Jimmy Neutron, Shrek, Earthquake, Jaws, MIB, ET and ther play ground stuff. He has also done Twister but its a little loud for him and same for Terminator.

IOA-Cat in the Hat, 1 Fish-2 Fish, Caro-Suess-el, Flying Unicorn, Spiderman, Storm Force.
He asked to ride the Hulk everytime we go Poor baby is still to short for it. He did ride JP but thought it was a bit scary and same for Spiderman.

 

[26555]

FYI - You can tell the operator to take Cat in the Hat "off spin". It will just ride you though very tamely.

 

[Partridge4ever]

Cool! I didn't know that.

 

[26555]

Learned about it and it came in handy for my neice. My kids love to spin and we are in Seusville right when it opens and all the big kids are hitting the coasters. We ride it until we can't take it anymore without any wait -------- so after a couple times we take it off spin so the PARENTS don't get sick!

 

[BarbaraMB]

My timid, now 8 year old daughter, was afraid of just about everything, so she missed just about everything. She doesn't like loud noises (freaks out at fireworks) and is extremely apprehensive about the attractions that are inside a building that she can't see what it will be. We tried Shrek with her and freaked out during the preshow, too dark and loud. She loved Cat in the Hat. She freaked out at Jimmy Neutron. By 1 pm everyday her and her father would go back to the room, that included Disney World as well. She thought she was too old for Barney. We are trying so hard to tell her that the rides like ET are really nice. I told her I would buy ear plugs but I am trying to find them (not the ones you use for swimming). I am sorry to say that if you have a child that is afraid of loud noises, the dark and the unknown you will have a problem. We spent over an hour trying to tell her that going into Nick studios would be just fine. No go. You can't force them either. Her older brother and sisters lost patience with her. We are hoping that a year might make a difference.