Parents with little ones, can you skip Disney and just do Universal?

[Bren's Mom]

Hi all,

Here's the plan; we have 2 kids, 14 and 3.5. We're planning an April vacation next year. The little one and I went to Disney with my mom last October, so he's been to each park except the animal one. He had a good time but he's not a 'ride' kid; loved the pool at the resort more than anything. The older one is almost out of the 'will travel with parents on vacation' stage and we'd like to Universal, mostly for him.

I was thinking of renting off-site at Windsor Hills or somewhere similar, getting passes for all 4 of us for the week to Universal (via the $99 special right now) and skipping the Disney parks all together. We (or at least I) will take the little one back to Disney a year or two after this trip. I thought that I'd make reservations for breakfast or lunch at Chef Mickey's or another non-park character meal for all of us, maybe do a monorail ride, and/or a boat ride at one of the Disney resorts. And perhaps Downtown Disney. I think that will be plenty of 'Mickey' for ds. He IS excited about Universal, he likes the Simpsons (because big brother does) and thought the MIB ride (the alien shooting one) looked 'so cool'! Is there enough for a 4.5 (over 40 in by that time, he's 39.5" now) to do at Universal and IOA?

Am I just being cheap, because I really don't want to buy Disney park tickets for just one or two days? Is that ok you think? Or am I being a really mean mommy as my dh thinks by depriving my little one of the Disney parks on this trip?

Help!

 

[palmtreelover08]

Is cool, but I wouldn't say there will be "lots" for your littlest one to do. My DD who is 5 has been to Universal several times. Last year we rode Simpson ride, and it made all of us, ranging in ages from 45 to 5 want to be sick..even with me taking my motion sickness medicine. Be wary..the ride, even though "virtual" is very rough/bouncy.

If you are hitting both sides of the park, your child can ride:
E.T., see the Barney show, play in Curious George Land (if it is warm). Your child may be too short for Simpsons ride (which is really rough anyway). Your child may also be too short for M.I.B. ride (which is alittle scary too!). Then, there is the Jaws ride, which also tends to scare the bejezers out of the little ones. You should be OK with the Jimmy Neutron ride, and Shrek show. Mummy and Twister would be things to skip.

At Islands of Adventure, there are the Cat in the hat ride, monorail, fish ride and carousel. Your Child may be too short for Jerassic Park ride, along with the other water and raft rides. The crazy roller coasters would be out. There is a "hang glider" ride geared for little ones..but I think that is about it. There is a spiderman ride, but I am not sure abuot the height restrictions.

If I could only take DD to one park, it would be the Magic Kingdom. I would spend the $$..because there is nothing worse then a cranky kid waiting for their sibling to get off rides that they are too short/young for. I've seen some pretty miserable families at Universal for this reason.

My suggestion-check the height restrictions on the Universal rides. There might not be as much there to do as you think for your little one. If you do decide to go to Universal..I would plan on checking out the shows. They may be more the 3.5 year olds' speed. Good Luck.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

If your kid isn't a "ride" kid, then he's going to love the play areas. Universal probably has better play areas than anywhere in Disney, including Curious George Goes To Town and Fievel's Playland in the Studios, and Camp Jurassic and.. I forgot the name but the one in Toon Lagoon..

Along with the rides that he does want to do and the shows, I don't think you'll worry about having a good time and getting your money's worth.

 

[tlinus]

There are plenty of play areas for a 4.5 year old if he is not into rides. The one Nerdboy forgot the name of is Me Ship the Olive in Toon Lagoon. There is also a playland in Seuss Landing....I want to say Sneech Beach or If I Ran The Zoo......or something like that.

On one of our recent trips, my then 12, 8 and 6 year old played for about an hour in Camp Jurassic.

Then there is the Jurassic Park Discovery Center as well.

NO worries about having a little one - plenty to do, and NO you are not being cheap for not going to Disney. I guess it is just us, but my kids are not upset if we don't travel to Disney each year. More like every 2-3 years we throw a few Disney Days in there. They are addicted to Uni/IOA If you have any other questions, just ask.....we are here for you

 

[taliategan]

Sounds reasonable, not cheap. Disney's strategy with its ticket prices is to make you stay for at least 4 days before there is any discounts on the tickets. Universal and Seaworld have much better ticket deals for 2 or 3 days worth of park time.

 

[Darcy03231]

We took my niece to US/IOA when she was 3.5 and she had a ball. I think there's enough to do to keep a little one busy. She loved Suess' Landing and the water park area in US.

 

[circelli]

We went Universal in October 2008. Our boys were 4 & almost 3. They LOVED it!! There will be more then enough to satisfy both of your children. If it is a possibility I would look into staying onsite. The Royal Pacific is where we stayed and we always went back around 1 pm and had a swim & nap!! The pool there is fantastic for kids too!! Hope this helps!!

 

[damo]

I really wouldn't worry about the 3 year old. They're just happy to do the playgrounds and a few little rides and shows. The parks are great for 14 year old guys.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I really wouldn't worry about the 3 year old. They're just happy to do the playgrounds and a few little rides and shows. The parks are great for 14 year old guys.

He'll be 4.5 when we go. But that was exactly what I was thinking. We'll find things that he loves at the Universal parks and if after 1 or 2 days he's done with them then he and I will enjoy more pool/playground time and daddy and dss can spend quality time together at the parks. Then we'll switch, daddy will keep the little one and I will take the big one to do something fun and 'big kid'. With our kids so far apart in age we're used to splitting up on vacation.

OK, so if I'm reading right the general consensus is that I'm not psychologically harming my child or being an otherwise terrible mom for skipping Disney parks altogether on this trip...right?! LOL

Oh, and I will check prices for on-site but we'd want at least one of their 'kid suites' as dh and I like a little privacy on vacation. Not sure if I want to spend that much, we really don't mind the driving and I suspect that even renting a 2nd small car for the week still wouldn't make up the difference v. offsite.

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

I think your little one will love Universal. When my daughter's were 6 and 7 we took them to Universal and they loved the play areas. I usually waited with them in the play areas when their older brother and father went on coasters, I couldn't get them to leave them to move on to the rides. When we were ready to move on to another place they begged to stay and play.

They also prefer US/IOA over Disney. I don't know if it was because we went at Thanksgiving week and Disney was unbelievably packed so we waited and waited and waited for everything, or if it was that there was more for them to actually do in US/IOA parks. Since going to Disney they haven't asked to return, but I am begged to take them to US/IOA every year.

 

[xPrincessSmilesx]

We just got back, and my little sister who 3 loved US/IOA, but most of all adored Seaworld.

Seuss landing at IOA is great for young un's and you could easily spend all day in there with him, and theres play areas in toon lagoon, and jurrassic park which he may like. He might also enjoy just walking around the rest of the parks seeing the theming.

In Universal, kidzone is good, 2 big playgrounds to run around, one has a little raft ride, the kiddie coaster and ET. She liked the simpsons, but she was a bit overwhelmed by the ride but still enjoyed it.

Even though you hadn't mentioned it if you could afford it and were interested Seaworld is greater for younger kids. They've got a great Kids area of the park with tons of little rides, a little coaster and play areas. I'm speaking from our experience but the little one in our family adored every single animal, all the shows, and exhibits, (especially the sharks) the only thing she didn't do in the whole park is Kraken and she did ask to

She hasn't stopped on about the whole holiday since we got back, nearly always she talks about Seaworld, and 'Famu' as she calls him.

 

[FloraFauna]

I agree with the others who posted about the play areas. We brought our children to Universal/IOA for the first time when they were 5 and 7 years old. They loved the play areas, especially the one in Jurassic Park. We've been to IOA a few times more over the years. We went again two months ago, and for the first time we visited the Jurassic Park Discovery Center. My kids, husband and I really enjoyed it. It is very well done. I don't know why it took us so long to see it, my kids would have really loved it when they were little.
I think your children will find plenty to do there.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Thanks so much for all the input! I have added SeaWorld to the possible to do list if it fits in the budget (we REALLY want to stay onsite Universal if we can in a kids suite, that's going to be a tough pill to swallow!) in order for our older guy to have the FOTL passes which will make this a dream trip for him. And I'm now convinced that dh is wrong, little ds won't be unduly traumatized if we skip Disney parks this trip. I will try to get Chef Mickey ADRs since we missed that last time, and we'll make a trip to Downtown Disney (since none of us have ever been) and I think that will be enough.

 

[pink elephants]

Speaking as a Disney vet (not a Universal vet), there's not that much that kids get out of Disney at age 3 1/2, other than character time. If you can fit in a Disney character meal or two, your DS will think that he has gone to Disney, and you can satisfy your older child's lust for rollercoasters by going to US (as the parent of a 13 yo, I know that lust well. It's why we're going to US next trip.).

Just be prepared to split up so that the little one isn't spending all his time waiting for the big one to get off the rides. Our last trip to WDW involved too much time at AK where two of the three kids couldn't ride the major rides (EE, Kali and Dinosaur) and had to sit around waiting for DD to get off them. Crankiness occurred all around - DD because she wanted to ride more times (it was a brilliantly empty day and we could have ridden EE 5 times in a row with no waiting) and DS and DD because they were sitting around too much of the time waiting for DD. You only need to experience that once to learn to avoid it in the future.

Have fun!

eta: just thought of one concern you might want to think about: CM is right by MK and it's impossible to miss the castle if you're there. If you think your DS will be fine with just riding the monorail and waving at the castle, then you'll be fine. If seeing the castle will make him want to go to the castle, then you might want to think about a different character meal, someplace not in eyesight of the turrets. The Yacht and Beach Club has breakfast with Minnie Mouse and I believe the Swan or Dolphin has a character meal with Timon and Pumba. Also, because of the layout of the Grand Floridian, it's easier to visit it and not see the castle. They have a great character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (Pooh, Mary Poppins and Alice) and a character dinner there, too (Cinderella and friends).

 

[Bren's Mom]

Thanks...and that's a great point! Having kids 10 years apart we are getting used to doing the splitting up thing. Easier all around on everyone. We'll take turns being with each kid and then be together for meals, etc. That's another reason I'd really like to be able to get a kids suite on-site...we will rent a car but definitely don't want to rent 2. If little ds gets tired we can retreat to the hotel, swim, whatever...and if after a few days he tires of US/IOA altogether one of us and he can take the car and do other things.

Another thing I just thought of; we might consider taking my single, much younger SIL with us since she loves the rides and dss loves her company. Can 3 adults and 2 kids stay in the kids suites???

 

[Gingernut]

We've been to WDW a couple of times now with DS - aged 5 and this year are giving it a miss and only doing US/IOA and seaworld. I'm not bothered about him missing WDW as he loves S Doo and Spiderman and is looking forward to seeing them. I'm sure he'll have a great first time there and there will be plenty for him to do.
I would say you will be fine

 

[Metro West]

I forgot the name but the one in Toon Lagoon..

You're thinking of If I Ran The Zoo...

 

[xPrincessSmilesx]

You're thinking of If I Ran The Zoo...

Theres Me Ship Olive in Toon Lagoon

 

[Metro West]

Theres Me Ship Olive in Toon Lagoon

Yes of course...I was thinking about Seuss Landing.

 

[jpeppers]

After my very crowded trip to Disney this year I plan to take my 7 yr old daughter to Universal next year and bite the bullet and pay the extra to stay on site. Just being thatr close to the parks and having the pools you have probably makes it worth it for kids.......and definitely for me if i don't have to stand in line. When my daughter was 5 she loved the flying unicorn rollercoaster plus the hangglider ride, the rides in Suess landing and Blutos rafts. Hopefully this time I can get her on Dudley and maybe Jurassic Park. At Universal she loved the small coaster, everything in Fievels playground and Jimmy Nuetron. This year we'll shoot for the Simpson's, Men in Black and whatever else I can talk her into.......and a whole lot of swimming. I will just love having front of the line access again.