Should we go to Universal?

[MJ6987]

Hi,
Help us decide if we should go to the Universal parks. Me, my wife and 2 girls (11 and 8) are going to Orlando in late October staying at Port Orleans Riverside for 2 weeks. We are mainly doing Disney stuff as we have UK Ultimate (unlimited) tickets and are also planning to spend a day at SeaWorld on Halloween.

We are thinking whether to spend a day at Universal as well. The problem is that for the four of us one-day two-park tickets (with transfers) come to $450 (including taxes) and then Express passes (whic I assume we'll need to do the best of the two parks in one day are another $100, giving a total of $550 (not far off £400) for one day's entertainment!

For background: I like fast rides but the other won't go on them. My eldest has read and liked the Harry Potter books but is not a massive "fan" or anything.
We went to Orlando once before and I went to Universal Studios (not IoA) but my wife and kids didn't fancy it as my wife felt the kids were too young.

So, what do people think? What would you do?

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[rie'smom]

As much as we love Universal, if the rest of your family didn't like it, then maybe wait until your girls are older. My daughter was 10 the first time we brought her and LOVED it but she does love roller coasters.

 

[KellyNY]

I think your kids may be still too young for Universal. I suggest go on Universal site and check rides, show them to your kids to see what exactly you can do there. IA is mostly about roller coasters and Harry Poter. I would suggest a 2 parks/ 1 day ticket as you will probably find more interesting and appropriet rides at US for your kids. If you plan to return in future, just skip it all together. It is a lot of money. I am facing same problem, 3 of us and 1 day would cost a small fortune. Not sure if we will do it this time.

 

[saraheeyore]

we are kinda trying to make the same decission exept my kids are younger they will be 4 and 20 months when we go so not loads there for them but I am quite a big Harry Potter fan read all the books and love them. tickets seems so expensive for one day so maybe we will decided closer to trip and just plan a spare day incase and see if we can afford them or if its worth it

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

No way, thats alot of money for 2 days at Universal. Espically if everyone isn't looking for big thrill rides.

Also check height requirements, it would be a shame to go over there and the 8 year old not be able to ride some of the coasters.

 

[bitohoney]

I love Universal, but when I go to Disney, it's strictly Disney and that's it.

 

[MJ6987]

No way, thats alot of money for 2 days at Universal. .

That's for a ONE DAY (two parks) ticket!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Universal Studios board.

 

[Metro West]

I responded on the other thread.

 

[minniejack]

you might be ahead to see about a room onsite that would include the FOTL, which would cover the day you check in and the day you check out (still need actual park tickets) (2 days for all in your party, unlimited on most rides, unlike just once with one that you would buy yourself)

 

[laluna]

We have just returned from our 5th Florida trip. We have two children aged 8 and 3 and are Disney fans through and through. However, this trip we felt we needed a bit of a change. (We did two Disney days at our favourite parks though). We got the 14 day unlimited two park ticket and paid about £300 ish before we went. Going at Easter we were worried about crowd levels and felt that the flexibility would be beneficial.

We spent two long mornings (from opening to 1pm ish) at Uni and one at IOA. The crowds after lunch were too much for us. Wait times before this were managable.

The verdict? DD (8) loved uni but was so so about IOA ( but that could have something to do with the fact she got drenched on the water rides). She was tall enough for everything except Hulk and the Dragons and loved Spiderman, Dr Doom, The Rockit etc. She also loved meeting the characters (Shrek, Homer Simpson, Woody Woodpecker, Scooby Doo etc). DS (3) was content just to have met Spiderman and to have been on the ET ride about 10 times! Dh and I enjoyed the days just didn't get the vibe. We love thrill rides but nothing except Spiderman and Hulk at the front wowed me. Dh loved the Rockit, though. We are pleased that we went but wouldn't rush back I am afraid. Really hard to say yay or nay to you - best prob to research the attractions fully and see if they are your kind of thing. From my experience though I dont think your children are too young - I think it will appeal to them quite a lot.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

It depends on the child(ren). As a whole, the US/IOA rides are more intense than at WDW. The water rides at WDW can get you wet, but the water rides at IOA will get you drenched, for instance. That also means that there will be roller coasters that you really have to think twice before riding. Hulk can be a bit much for people. And the story portion of ROTM can be something scary.

Here's a good indicator: If your child can ride the Yeti AND Rocking Rollercoaster, they can ride almost any ride that US/IOA can dish out. Except maybe, the Hulk. If they look at Yeti as fun but getting kinda boring, then they can do Hulk.

 

[FayeW]

Your girls are the perfect ages for Universal parks. Our kid were younger than yours on our first trip and now Universal and Islands of Adventure are the main reason we go to Orlando! We like the Disney parks, but we LOVE the Universal parks!

That said, it is an awful lot of money for only 1 day. If I were you, I would split the trip and spend a few days at the front or back end of your trip staying directly onsite at Universal. The reason I suggest that is because for very little more money you can have 3 or 4 day, 2 park tickets. If you stay onsite you will not need to buy the Express pass because you will have Front of the Line access. From what I hear, the accomodations are much nicer that Disney's deluxe hotels, and much less expensive as well, so if you are staying onsite at Disney you might save a few bucks moving over to Universal.

If you are staying offsite, however, your accomodations are likely inexpensive anyway so moving to onsite would cost you money!

It's hard to give somebody else advice. Our next trip will be mostly US/IOA with one disney park day, and a couple of "plus" features...Disney Quest and a waterpark probably, since we have 1 day and several plus features left on some old tickets. Maybe the girls could go Universal's website and check out the attractions. Maybe they will be more interested in the faster paced rides when you get there.