please, need some sincere advice

[daddiojiggy]

i almost feel dirty asking about universal on a disney board but since it looks like i'm not the first,i go ahead-uncomfortably.
we'll be staying at ssr from nov 30-dec11 2004.our boys are getting older and they'd like to try out universal as well as disney.i've heard that universal is better in some respects for rides.the boys are 12,9,and 6.the oldest really wants to go to universal,the others will enjoy it but i don't think they care either way.i really can't find alot of info on what universal is about so i'll tell you what i think it is all about and then please correct me and advise:
there are two parks which are seperate and another place that sounds similar to pleasure island?do you need a pass to get to this p.i. or can you walk through.is it any good.i think there are restaraunts there .does this mean i need to have a pass to eat at those restaraunts? what would be the most cost effective way to do these parks? i've got mre ?'s but this will do for now

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Universal Studios is simular to MGM (I am a big Disney fan) but better. IOA is like and Amusment Park rather than a theme park. It has thrill rides. The 6 yr old may be too small for many of them, however there are some rides there that he will enjoy. As far as the area comp to PI, that is CityWalk. You do not need a ticket to walk around there, in fact, you need to walk thru there to get to the parks. There are clubs, stores, movie theaters & places to eat. Hope this helps a bit...
by the way...this is the board to ask these questions...even though the actual name is DIS, this section is for Universal

 

[thedisneymom]

The most effective way to do either of these parks is to stay onsite at one of the 3 hotels so that you get to go to the front of the line with your room key. You can look for discounts by checking out AAA rate, Entertainment rate(which is a book you can purchase) Fan club rate(which you need a card that a Dis'er can provide) if you are nice to her. You can also use their fast pass type system. They also sell front of the line passes that you pay for in addition to your park tickets. Look online at Universal's site for the 5 days for the price of 2-its a great deal. The park gate also sells a 2 park 1 day ticket which is not sold online.Citwalk is like Pleasure Island in the sense that adults can go for drinks and hear music but you can dine in the restaurants with your kids. Universal Studios has many attraction-type rides with mummy being a real roller coaster type ride. Islands of Adventure has some real hair raising rides like in Great Adventure , as well as some shows and a kiddie Dr Seuss area. Kelly Monaghan has an excellent review book that you can look for in book stores. Trust me it has EVERYTHING you want to know and more. If there are any other questions ask away. Others will join in and add to my info-they are a great group!

 

[gschmerl]

If you go to Universal's website, they give descriptions of all the attractions. There is plenty for everyone at the Universal parks and they also have GREAT restaurants in the parks and at City Walk.

 

[sha_lyn]

IOA is like and Amusment Park rather than a theme park.

It is a theme park and a very well themed one at that. The detail put into the theming of each Island is amazing. My first words when Iwalked into IOA were "wow they out Disney'ed Disney" .


There is plenty for the 6yr old to do.
My 7 DD is very short for her age and there are only 3 things that she can't ride at US/IOA... Dueling Dragons, Hulk and Dr Doom

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Originally posted by sha_lyn
It is a theme park and a very well themed one at that. The detail put into the theming of each Island is amazing. My first words when Iwalked into IOA were "wow they out Disney'ed Disney" .


There is plenty for the 6yr old to do.
My 7 DD is very short for her age and there are only 3 things that she can't ride at US/IOA... Dueling Dragons, Hulk and Dr Doom

Yes, technically it is a themed park...however it has thrill rides like an amusment park.... US has no real thrill rides...that is what I based my comparison on. I did not say it "was" an Amusement Park... I said it was "like" one. As far as your child going on those rides....I did not say "short" I said "small", most younger children do not like IOA, the rides there are too intense for them. And the rides you mentioned that your dd cannot go on (due to height) are some of the "thrill" rides that I am using to compare IOA to an Amusment Park. Your opinion of, "wow they out Disney'ed Disney", is your opinion & I respect you for that.... I don't understand why you had to jump on my comparison? I personally do not think IOA can come close to the MK in theming.... yet on the same token, I also don't think any of the Disney Parks can compare to IOA for thrills. IOA is a different type of park when you compare it as a "theme park" to a "theme park". Yes it has theming...but it has thrill. I do not know of any major park that has no theming???

 

[sha_lyn]

MK has BTMRR
AK has Dinosaur
MGM has ToT and RnR
I guess all of those are amusement parks instead of theme parks.

I didn't realize you had a monoply here and only your opinion could be expressed no matter how much of a false impression it could give someone.

 

[sha_lyn]

I did not say "short" I said "small",

Exactly you said small, you did not say too young or too imature. Small could be taken as size.

 

[Disney Dee]

We all have our own opinions on WDW and US/IOA. Different strokes, for different folks..... And there is something for everyone at both places. Enjoy the 3 differently, but you will certainly enjoy them all!

 

[ccrosner]

Hate to jump into a heated discussion here...but it sounds like all of you could help me make some comparisons so here goes:

Trying to figure out if IOA is too intense for my kids. How do the thrill rides compare in intensity to the most intense Disney rides (RNRC, Space, Splash, MS)? And if anyone has been to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, could you compare it to those roller coasters (which were too intense for my 10 year old).

Thanks.

 

[Motherfletcher]

My DD10 loves Hulk & Dueling Dragons. There are more intense but smoother rides than anything WDW has to offer. Both DD10, DS16 & I got sick on MS. RnRC is similar to Mummy. We haven't been to BG Williamsburg but my kids have done BG Tampa and love Montu, Gwazi and Kraken at SW.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

Originally posted by A Mickeyfan
US has no real thrill rides...that is what I based my comparison on.

Then what would you call ROTM?

 

[gschmerl]

"Trying to figure out if IOA is too intense for my kids. How do the thrill rides compare in intensity to the most intense Disney rides (RNRC, Space, Splash, MS)? And if anyone has been to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, could you compare it to those roller coasters (which were too intense for my 10 year old).
"
The only intense coasters at IOA are the Hulk and Dueling Dragons. My six year old nephew rides all the other rides there. I'm sure he'll ride the coasters this year since he's now tall enough. It all depends on the person. I go to UOA with an adult friend who won't ride any coasters, water rides, etc., yet she LOVES IOA. There's plenty to do there. The theming in wonderful.

 

[sha_lyn]

All of Seuss Landing in IOA is geared toward the preschool/early elementary school age. There is nothing there IMHO that is too intense. I have heard that some kids don't like the spinning on Cat in the Hat. However you can ask for the spinning to be turned off (down?) in your car.

Hulk was my then 9 yr niece's first introduction to incerted coasters, or really anything beyond a kiddie coaster. She was (still is) very timid when it come to rides, scary events (halloween is a big issue with her even now at 12). She loves Hulk. IMHO it is a very good first "big" coaster as long as they are warned about the launch.

Dueling Dragons a bit rougher than Hulk but no where near as rough as any of the invertend coaster at Six Flags over GA (excluding Superman it is pretty smooth). The most intense part of it is the near misses, which aren't that aparent if your not up front.

This page on the universal website gives a good idea of what USO has to offer the 9 and under set
http://themeparks.universalstudios.com/orlando/website/what_is_nine_under.html

IOA has been my DD's favorite park since she was 3.

 

[spewey]

ccrosner - my wife and I have been to BGW many times. I would say on the "intensity" scale, both adult coasters are roughly equal to Alpengeist. In other words, if your 10-year-old won't go on Big Bad Wolf (or Apollo's Chariot, probably their least intense coaster), then he/she most likely wouldn't like Hulk or Dragons.

There is plenty of other things to do, however, including two coasters for kids - Pteradon Flyers and the Flying Unicorn - the best collection of water rides in the world (although Dudley is pretty intense), and lots of other less scary rides ...

 

[ccrosner]

Spewey--
Thanks. My son was overwhelmed by Big Bad Wolf so that comparison is helpful. Also, we are going in January so getting soaked isn't a great idea...
I think we'll stick to Universal Studios where we ALL will enjoy ourselves. My daughter and I really don't like roller coasters.

 

[F-L-A]

Originally posted by A Mickeyfan
Yes, technically it is a themed park...however it has thrill rides like an amusment park.... US has no real thrill rides...that is what I based my comparison on. I did not say it "was" an Amusement Park... I said it was "like" one. As far as your child going on those rides....I did not say "short" I said "small", most younger children do not like IOA, the rides there are too intense for them. And the rides you mentioned that your dd cannot go on (due to height) are some of the "thrill" rides that I am using to compare IOA to an Amusment Park. Your opinion of, "wow they out Disney'ed Disney", is your opinion & I respect you for that.... I don't understand why you had to jump on my comparison? I personally do not think IOA can come close to the MK in theming.... yet on the same token, I also don't think any of the Disney Parks can compare to IOA for thrills. IOA is a different type of park when you compare it as a "theme park" to a "theme park". Yes it has theming...but it has thrill. I do not know of any major park that has no theming???

Huh?

IOA is not only a theme park, but it has (arguably... to Disney fans) the best theming in the world. I think there's a clear line that separates a theme park and an amusement park. IOA is as far from that line as possible. There's certainly no law that states a theme park can't have thrill rides. On the other hand, there's no law that states an amusement park has to have thrill rides. Disney has thrill rides. I don't see the difference? It's not a different type of park at all. I can even go down a list of rides from both Disney and IOA that are the exact same types of rides. It's also wrong to assume most children don't like IOA. You can't make such a broad assumption like that. And as far as major parks with no theming, look no further than Six Flags.... or as I like to call them, Parking Lot World.

Trying to figure out if IOA is too intense for my kids. How do the thrill rides compare in intensity to the most intense Disney rides (RNRC, Space, Splash, MS)?

Mummy at Universal is like RNRC but with dark ride scenes and without inversions. The flume rides at IOA are more intense than Splash due to having taller drops and Dudley's drop is just plain scary. It's the only one that gets steeper as you go down and there's no restraints. It's a rush if you are brave enough to ride it though. The roller coasters at IOA, excluding Flying Unicorn which is a kiddie coaster, are all "real" coasters and are much bigger and more intense than Space or any of Disney's other coasters. You have to be a coaster person to ride them. But contrary to popular belief, the park offers plenty of things to do outside of those 2 attractions.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Originally posted by ccrosner
Trying to figure out if IOA is too intense for my kids. How do the thrill rides compare in intensity to the most intense Disney rides (RNRC, Space, Splash, MS)? And if anyone has been to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, could you compare it to those roller coasters (which were too intense for my 10 year old).

Thanks.

My 4yo loves anything that he is tall enough for at IoA and Universal Studios. At IoA he isn't tall enought for the big coasters, Dr Doom, and wasn't for Dudley Dooright, but he sure wanted to go on DD and kept measuring himself.

At US he's tall enough for everything except for Mummy coaster (which is kind of like Space Mt, but much better and smoother). He likes everything at US.

BTW, he was 42" when he was there in April and is now 44". He may be little, but he is mighty!

As far as whay he'll do at WDW, for comparison sake, he will do anything he is tall enough for, but did not want to repeat Dinosaur. He wasn't tall enough for Mission:Space and Space Mt, but will go on those next month when we're there. He loved Splash Mt, Big Thunder Railroad, Test Track, and he liked my favorite, Tower of Terror enough to ride it 5 times (I kept telling him we needed a better picture).

There are a lot of things for little ones to do at the Universal parks.

As far as theme park vs amusement park, I think the problem is with the definitions of those two terms. I call 6 Flags an amusement park since it's all rides and no atmosphere. I call WDW and the Universal parks theme parks not because of what rides they have, but because of the queues, atmosphere, themes, etc. They can have rides or not, but it's the work that has gone into making it more than just rides and shows.

T&B

 

[F-L-A]

As far as theme park vs amusement park, I think the problem is with the definitions of those two terms. I call 6 Flags an amusement park since it's all rides and no atmosphere. I call WDW and the Universal parks theme parks not because of what rides they have, but because of the queues, atmosphere, themes, etc. They can have rides or not, but it's the work that has gone into making it more than just rides and shows.

Exactly. The difference isn't defined by type of rides, it's whether those rides and everything else is themed or not. Universal provides just as much of a full atmospheric themed experience as Disney.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Originally posted by F-L-A
Exactly. The difference isn't defined by type of rides, it's whether those rides and everything else is themed or not. Universal provides just as much of a full atmospheric themed experience as Disney.

I'm amazed at how well the Universal parks do this. Just walk into the different areas of IoA, listen to the change of music (I love the music and have the CD), and absorb the atmosphere. Stop and look at either of these two parks and really enjoy it. There are some rides they could have done better on (Dr Doom comes to mind), but in general the parks are very well done.

I also like MGM a lot for this, especially the Chinese theater and the walk to ToT. I like Epcot a lot, but the atmosphere in Future World just doesn't do it for me (I think they need to do some work here). Again, I like the park a lot, it's just missing atmosphere, but yes, it's still a theme park.

T&B