Only 1 day - US or IOA for little kids?

[Zzzz]

I get so many great tips from this board! I haven't been to the parks in at least a decade and that was pre-kids so I have a dilemma. We have free 1 day 1 park passes to use so I need to choose the best park for us. We have 5 and 2 year old daughters. I know that both parks have areas that will appeal to them but is one park clearly more young child friendly than the other?

Thanks for your input!

 

[toocooltobeMom]

IOA is better for little kids. Besides the thrill rides at IOA, there are rides at Suess Land gear mostly toward their age group. Lot of fun for the adults too.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

I vote for US. We are going to Florida in March, and only had 1 day to do US or IOA. We chose US. Your daughters are the same age as my two youngest. US has all of the characters that they will love like Dora, spongebob, curious George, rugrats, shrek, Donkey.....oh and Barney which is my dd2's favorite. There is also a Barney live show,playground and a meet and greet with him. There are alot of playareas and rides/shows for little ones.

 

[Keacc]

When you get to the park you can get your 1 day 1 park passes upgraded to a 1 day 2 park passes for not much money. This would allow you to get to the attractions in both parks that would be on interest to your kids. Both parks are really geared to kids 10 and up, but there are things for the younger kids to.

 

[Amity 3]

This is one of the most common questions asked about Universal. we have friends and family that visit with small kids and we have to sort out the options for them. I wish Universal would put together some kind of family ticket package where the 1 Day/2 Park Adult pass got a discount on the same children's pass.

when we take the little ones, we opt for US. the older and taller ones usually want IOA. Suess Landing is incredible, but the lines for Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish, and the Trolley can get to 45 minutes and some kids just won't wait that long.

 

[shoney]

We went last summer with a 4 and 6 year old (boys) and spent substantial amount of time at both parks. It was very hot so that definately effected what we did. This is what stands out in my mind from a year ago....

IOA- kids liked spiderman, pirate ship climbing thing, suess land, jurassic park area playgound and flying dinosaur ride, small roller coaster.

US - jimmy neutron ride (I think 2 year olds can ride in the front where it doesn't move), fire hydrient that opens near the irish pub - we were there for over an hour!, shrek, barney, curious george water sprinkers, another play area where eveything was larger than life, jaws (although they both hated that one!), small roller coasters that they enjoyed as well, and ET (rode it about 10 times!)

If mom and dad like thrill rides, I would go to IOA only because then there are rides for you as well (and some really good ones!!). If your intention is to only keep the kids entertained than I believe there is more at US.

The tickets are free so ENJOY!

 

[aztecgoods]

IOA is personally by far my favorite so I would recommend this park. But both have things for kids, I think 2 is pushing it for any park, not sure if a 2 year old will be able to comprehend much of it, but I am wrong a lot so don't know for sure. I think you as an adult would like IOA better and the architecture is so awesome and unique it would probably make a bigger impression on them, plus the Dr. Suess stuff is unlike anything you will ever see, I think they would love that.