Parks with 18 month old?

[AJ1983]

Hi everyone! We will be taking our newborn son to Disney World when he is 18 months old. We typically do a few days onsite at Universal but I think we should skip it this time around. Mostly because I dont feel there is enough to keep a baby that age entertained, but also because I don't want to ride every ride alone with Child Swap. I dont mind riding a couple rides at Disney alone but not the whole day everyday at US. However my husband really wants to try the new King Kong ride and I now want to go to the new chicolate factory haha. Just wondering who here has taken an 18 month old to US and whether it was worth the cost? FWIW we would be staying onsite at either RPR or possibly Cabana Bay.Thanks!

 

[macraven]

i found suggestions for families that have littles section in the park website.

use the search button to find more links a family might find helpful on the uo site.

a few i copied:



Kid's Shows
Universal's Islands of Adventure®

• 
  
  
  Oh! The Stories You'll Hear...
  
  Dr. Seuss Tales Come to Life
• 
  The Mystic Fountain
  
  Match Wits with the Talking Fountain

Universal Studios Florida®

• 
  Universal's Superstar Parade®
  
  Interactive Parade Experience
• 
  Universal's Cinematic Spectacular®
  
  100 Years of Movie Memories
• 
  Animal Actors on LocationSM!
  
  More Fun Than Humanly Possible
• 
  A Day in the Park with Barney™
  
  Sing and Clap Along with Barney
• 
  Terminator 2®: 3-D
  
  The Future of Humanity's in Your Hands

• See Kids' Rides

• See Kids' Play Areas

• Character Dining

• Universal Dining Plan

Kids Shows
A Day in the Park with Barney™



Shrek 4-D



Animal Actors on Location!SM

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  

There's no age limit to the fun at Universal Orlando's theme parks. Many of the live shows for kids offer excitement, laughter and music that every member of the family will enjoy.

At Universal Studios, A Day in the Park with Barney™ gives the little ones a chance to get up close and personal with their favorite singing purple dinosaur, Barney®– with Baby Bop™ and B.J.® on hand, too. At Animal Actors on Location!SM our internationally famous four-legged stars can't wait to perform, entertain and delight.

Next door at Universal's Islands of Adventure®, The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad® is a pulse-pounding, swashbuckling stunt spectacular for the young and the young-at-heart. In the mood for something a little more mysterious? Oh the Stories You Will Hear… is a show that brings the tales of Dr. Seuss to life. Plus all ages will enjoy exploring Poseidon’s Fury® and journeying to the oceans' depths to witness a watery battle between towering titans.

For Kids 6 and Under

• Universal Studios Florida
  A Day in the Park with Barney™
  Animal Actors on Location!
• Universal's Islands of Adventure
  Oh! The Stories You'll Hear...

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I'd skip it, personally. We did a day at US when my daughter was 14 months old. We basically spent the whole day having someone trade off watching her (we were with my sister and both our moms.)

At US, nearly all the cool and worthwhile stuff has a height requirement. At WDW, a lot of the good rides and attractions do not. Even 2/4 rides at Suess land had height requirements!

We just got back from a trip to WDW with our 3 month old and 2 year old so it's not like we are against taking little ones to the parks. We are planning an anniversary weekend to US this fall for just us, as the idea of trading off all day watching kids while one rides alone does not sound enjoyable.

 

[pa. dad]

Here is one thing I'd add- Universal does have many single rider lines. It may just be easier in some cases to do the single rider lines than switching off.
One negative thing is all the lockers that are needed when you get on many of the Uinversal rides. The mom of a baby needs to have a lot of stuff handy and not checked into a locker.

 

[JOCAmom]

If it's only you and your husband as adults on this trip, I would just do one night at RPR. Check in early and get your express pass for 2 days and make the most of it. We went last year when our grandson was 10 months and we will be going this year when he is 22 months. We did have 4 adults with us but it was definitely a different trip. Baby swap was a breeze. It was nice that we could all go through the line together and I prefer that to Disney's version of baby swap.

There wasn't much for my grandson to do on our last trip but he did love the Caro-Seuss-al. And just taking in the sites. We did stay at Cabana Bay and he loved the little kids water section and watching the fire at the fire pits. But if there are rides that are important for you, I would skip Cabana Bay for RPR. Do the most important rides for you and your husband and then find all the things that macraven listed. Don't look at it as what you will missing out on but what new adventures you can discover with your son.

 

[AJ1983]

Thanks everyone for your input. My husband and I discussed it further and decided we will skip USO this time around. Might be a few years before we are back because it will be a while before we have kids tall enough to do any great amount of rides...and I would feel too bad bringing a kid who WANTED to ride but was too short

 

[Berlioz70]

I started taking my daughter to UO when she was about 18 months old, and we found it much more entertaining for her over Disney. True, she can't ride most of the attractions, but the barney playground keeps her interest for over an hour and the ball pit zone is also a blast. Kang & Kudos Twirl n Hurl ride is her favorite ride, and typically the line is pretty short so we ride it back to back. If we're looking for a casual day where we just want to explore a park and not do a lot of rides, UO gets my vote for a toddler over Disney.

 

[Stigsmom]

My daughter loved it just shy of 2 even though we were disappointed she wasn't tall enough for anything in Seuss landing except the carousel, since we all love Seuss. We took her for 3 days and she napped in the stroller or in the rider swap rooms. Single rider doing rider swap was not a problem and we actually got through way more than we expected. I would do it again in a heartbeat. She loved Hogwarts even not being able to ride it and loved wearing her HP hair bows and learning spells. She also got to go up in the booth at Margaritaville to meet jd spradlin. A tip: do the stationary seating for Minions for kids this height, for no wait time to get in despite what standby says. You just have to ask someone. We all enjoyed it even without the motion.

 

[kohlby]

Our first with-kids trip was with a 2 month old and barely 3 year old. We went back 6 months later. We found plenty to do! As for an 18 month old, we haven't had a trip with that specific age. The closest was a trip when the youngest was 11 months old.

 

[atricks]

Hi everyone! We will be taking our newborn son to Disney World when he is 18 months old. We typically do a few days onsite at Universal but I think we should skip it this time around. Mostly because I dont feel there is enough to keep a baby that age entertained, but also because I don't want to ride every ride alone with Child Swap. I dont mind riding a couple rides at Disney alone but not the whole day everyday at US. However my husband really wants to try the new King Kong ride and I now want to go to the new chicolate factory haha. Just wondering who here has taken an 18 month old to US and whether it was worth the cost? FWIW we would be staying onsite at either RPR or possibly Cabana Bay.Thanks!

Spinner rides, like one fish and kodos and kang , and the Hogwarts Express train can be ridden by literally anyone. ET (if they are at the height requirement) And the shows (Barney in particular, but also Animal Actors). Baby/Child swap works really well too. When are you going? The Chocolate Factory probably won't be open until the fall.

 

[mkwj]

Here is one thing I'd add- Universal does have many single rider lines. It may just be easier in some cases to do the single rider lines than switching off.
One negative thing is all the lockers that are needed when you get on many of the Uinversal rides. The mom of a baby needs to have a lot of stuff handy and not checked into a locker.

But with child swap you can take all your stuff with you.

 

[AJ1983]

Spinner rides, like one fish and kodos and kang , and the Hogwarts Express train can be ridden by literally anyone. ET (if they are at the height requirement) And the shows (Barney in particular, but also Animal Actors). Baby/Child swap works really well too. When are you going? The Chocolate Factory probably won't be open until the fall.

The baby is only a month old, so we are looking at September 2017

 

[Kivara]

But with child swap you can take all your stuff with you.

Except RRR, Hulk, and Dragon Challenge. Even doing child swap at all these, we had to use lockers for safety reasons (So non-riders don't hand off things to riders after scanned....it happens )

 

[mkwj]

Except RRR, Hulk, and Dragon Challenge. Even doing child swap at all these, we had to use lockers for safety reasons (So non-riders don't hand off things to riders after scanned....it happens )

I guess it depends on the tm. We took bags on everything. Except
Hulk of course since it is closed right now. At RRR they parked our stroller at the bottom of the elevator and told us to take everything we wanted. Dragon challenge they even let us take the stroller.