Silly Newbie Questions

[kel3420]

Hi everyone, hope you don't mind to answer some pretty simple questions. Dh and I have been doing to Disney for over 10 years. This November we have a week booked at Vero Beach, but are flying into Orlando a day early and staying at the new Animal Kingdom Lodge for one night. DH and two kids, both 13 want to spend some time at Universal that day.

I don't know too much about Universal or Islands of Adventure. Would anyone be so kind to give me an abbreviated version of both and which park would better suit them? Also, where would I be able to get discounted tickets for the park?

We are veteran travelers to Disney, but as you can see, we don't know too much about Universal.

Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

TIA
Kelly

 

[ellieb]

Hi Kelly-
I would say to head on over to Island of Adventure. I was just there on Mothers Day as well as Universals 2 days before and I found that for children especially your aged children IOA is the park to go to. Go to this site it has great info on the rides they have ect. http://www.theotherorlando.com/ Univerals only had movie rides that were not thrilling at all. We actually found them quite boring however we know to appricate them for all the hard work and special effect that are put into them. (My daughter will not agree and I sure your children would not agree either). If you have any other questions please dont hesitate to contact me.

 

[TJA]

If you're a AAA member, you can get Universal tickets at a discount.

IOA: thrill rides, roller coasters.

USF: movie rides, shows.

We personally prefer USF only because we're not much into thrill rides. But, as posted above, I suppose most kids are geared towards IOA.

 

[SRRN]

kel3420,
As a family,we travelled to Disney many,many times.Then we became tired of it and thought we'd give US a try.We haven't been back to Disney since!
US is alot like MGM,only much better,in my opinion.The rides and shows are GREAT and we NEVER get tired of doing them!
IOA is a thrilling park-lots of of THRILL rides but also good stuff for the "non-thrill"seekers,like myself.Now with the On-site hotels and City-Walk,you have everything right there.
I hope you have a great time!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

You must be a DVC member. We are too so I feel guilty sometimes how much we like to go over (incognito) to US and IOA. We have four kids (13, 12, 8 and 6). They love it there. We now try to take two extra days to go over to visit. The best thing is front of line access for those staying at US hotels. It is an amazing deal that Disney is going to have to compete with somehow.

If you have one day with 13 year olds go to IOA. You might want to run over to Men in Black for a quick ride though. You also might want to think about the Hard Rock Hotel. The front of line deal saves all kinds of time.