Universal for non thrill seekers?

[mrsgthatsme]

Our family has always been a "Disney" family, however, our kids are now 12 and 15 and we are looking to try something new. I was wondering if some of the Universal experts could share their perceptions on the differences between the types of rides at Universal vs. Disney. My kids like somewhat thrilling rides , but not overly extreme options. We all loved 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc. in terms of roller coasters at Disney. However, coasters such as RockNRoller Coaster and Expedition Everest were a little wilder than ideal for us. We also loved the "experience" theme type rides at Disney such as Frozen, Test Track, and Haunted Mansion. We all really liked Soarin, but were not fans of Mission:Space type rides as they made us motion sick.

How would you describe the majority of the rides at Universal? Do they tend to be more extreme type thrill rides and 3D glasses rides? Do you have more issues with motion sickness there than Disney? Does Universal offer "experience" theme typed attractions as well as the thrill rides?

Also curious about the water park. Is it something you could spend a whole day at? Worth the visit?

Thanks so much!

 

[macraven]

The majority of UO rides are safe for a family without tears or screaming…
I don’t do the coaster rides as I would be screaming and wetting my pants at Disney or Universal
But there are a lot of park fans that love thrill rides.

There are a lot of rides and shows that most park goers like that have an edge to them.

You can use the search button to pull up information on the park rides that might fit all in your family

If you like big thunder mountain, splash mountain, you should be able to enjoy the UO type of coasters

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You'll really only skip the 3 major coasters - Velocicoaster, Hulk, and Rip Ride Rocket.

Volcano Bay is a good half day water park.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

3D glasses:
Transformers
Spiderman
Kong
Escape from Gringotts
Jimmy Fallon

 

[DisneyMom93]

We love Disney and Universal but the one thing Universal doesn’t really have are relaxing “family rides” aside from ET. Dr. Seuss rides are good for that I guess, but they are all in the one area and mostly “kid” rides.

I enjoy the rides at Disney, like Small World, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Frozen, etc. I feel like Universal doesn’t have the “family ride” feel as much. Especially for younger kids.

 

[CynBeth]

Did you go on Mission Space Orange where it spins which is more intense or the Green? Can you do Soarin’, Flight of Passage, Star Tours, Millenium Falcon, Rise of the Resistance? We don’t do roller coasters or anything with a drop but love the motion simulators at Disney and when we went to Universal in November after not visiting for years loved the ones there. We heard Simpsons and Forbidden Journey were more intense so we wore the prescription patches and were fine, Minions we noticed had non moving seats. We also liked Jimmy Fallon, Transformers, Fast and Furious, and Men In Black where you shoot at aliens with some spinning. ET is similar to Peter Pan you rise up but it is slow and your seat is a bike. Also get park to park tickets to take Hogwarts Express both ways. We also saw some shows.

 

[martikus]

We love universal. We don’t do any roller coasters except hagrids and mummy when it’s open.

I get questionable on star tours but can do gringotts and spiderman and King Kong. Avoid Simpsons at all costs.

transformers and forbidden journey are a one a day for me. Sometimes I will sit and people watch while my teen and husband go agai and again.

the shows and kids rides in Seuss land are great too.

stay in a premier hotel for express pass. Being able to walk or take boat over and go over and over and over on your favorite rides is what Disney is missing. We go 5 days and enjoy some down time at pools in afternoon. My teen never wants to return to Disney.

volcano bay is fun but we often skip to redo rides in parks.

I would say their one downfall is food but it’s getting better every year.

 

[julie-o]

I enjoy RRC and Everest at Disney. If they are level 5 thrill, I’d put hagrids and velocicoaster at 8/9, and hulk and RRR at 10.

i think universal is awesome for thrill seekers. For non-thrill seekers, I’d go somewhere else.

 

[julie-o]

I enjoy RRC and Everest at Disney. If they are level 5 thrill, I’d put hagrids and velocicoaster at 8/9, and hulk and RRR at 10.

i think universal is awesome for thrill seekers. For non-thrill seekers, I’d go somewhere else.

BUT, if anyone is a Harry Potter fan, it is absolutely worth visiting. Wizarding World is incredible. I could have done 1 day, covered all the HP stuff and been happy.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I would put Hagrids as less "wild" than Rock n Roller Coaster. No upside down. No real heights (granted RRC doesn't have real height either). Speed and acceleration. Much more fun with an actual story.

I stand by my original post, that you will need to skip only the 3 biggest coasters from a sheerly thrill level standpoint, and will add Dr Doom Fearfall as I forgot about it.

I visit with a "no heights" friend & she skips only those 4 & the log flume; she will do Jurassic Park river adventure due to the fun level but does hate that drop. Hagrids is her favorite ride. RRC is do-able but she doesn't necessarily enjoy it. Slinky was good (similar to Hagrids - speed & acceleration but no real heights, less intense than Hagrids & not an "experience"). She had done Splash years ago and says she will never do it again (due to the drop).

All the other rides are not in that same intensity league. And almost all are "experience" rides - it is obvious which are not (Seuss carousel, Kang & Kodos, kiddie coasters, etc).

Of course, motion sickness is a whole different issue. That's why they make anti-nausea patches, drugs, bands, etc.

 

[schumigirl]

I would put Hagrids as less "wild" than Rock n Roller Coaster. No upside down. No real heights (granted RRC doesn't have real height either). Speed and acceleration. Much more fun with an actual story.

I stand by my original post, that you will need to skip only the 3 biggest coasters from a sheerly thrill level standpoint, and will add Dr Doom Fearfall as I forgot about it.

I visit with a "no heights" friend & she skips only those 4 & the log flume; she will do Jurassic Park river adventure due to the fun level but does hate that drop. Hagrids is her favorite ride. RRC is do-able but she doesn't necessarily enjoy it. Slinky was good (similar to Hagrids - speed & acceleration but no real heights, less intense than Hagrids & not an "experience"). She had done Splash years ago and says she will never do it again (due to the drop).

All the other rides are not in that same intensity league. And almost all are "experience" rides - it is obvious which are not (Seuss carousel, Kang & Kodos, kiddie coasters, etc).

Of course, motion sickness is a whole different issue. That's why they make anti-nausea patches, drugs, bands, etc.

Completely agree, there are more than enough things for non thrill ride folks to do at Universal in both parks.

We see many on here who don`t do thrill rides and still have a fabulous time.

And yes, Hagrid`s is certainly much less intense than RRC.

 

[Pooh's World]

Our family has always been a "Disney" family, however, our kids are now 12 and 15 and we are looking to try something new. I was wondering if some of the Universal experts could share their perceptions on the differences between the types of rides at Universal vs. Disney. My kids like somewhat thrilling rides , but not overly extreme options. We all loved 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc. in terms of roller coasters at Disney. However, coasters such as RockNRoller Coaster and Expedition Everest were a little wilder than ideal for us. We also loved the "experience" theme type rides at Disney such as Frozen, Test Track, and Haunted Mansion. We all really liked Soarin, but were not fans of Mission:Space type rides as they made us motion sick.

How would you describe the majority of the rides at Universal? Do they tend to be more extreme type thrill rides and 3D glasses rides? Do you have more issues with motion sickness there than Disney? Does Universal offer "experience" theme typed attractions as well as the thrill rides?

Also curious about the water park. Is it something you could spend a whole day at? Worth the visit?

Thanks so much!

Hagrid's motorbike is what 7 Dwarves should have been.

Just enough thrill without being scary.

 

[mrsgthatsme]

3D glasses:
Transformers
Spiderman
Kong
Escape from Gringotts
Jimmy Fallon

Would you say all of those are likely to induce motion sickness or some more than others?

 

[mrsgthatsme]

Hagrid's motorbike is what 7 Dwarves should have been.

Just enough thrill without being scary.

Oh good! Sounds perfect!

 

[mrsgthatsme]

We love universal. We don’t do any roller coasters except hagrids and mummy when it’s open.

I get questionable on star tours but can do gringotts and spiderman and King Kong. Avoid Simpsons at all costs.

transformers and forbidden journey are a one a day for me. Sometimes I will sit and people watch while my teen and husband go agai and again.

the shows and kids rides in Seuss land are great too.

stay in a premier hotel for express pass. Being able to walk or take boat over and go over and over and over on your favorite rides is what Disney is missing. We go 5 days and enjoy some down time at pools in afternoon. My teen never wants to return to Disney.

volcano bay is fun but we often skip to redo rides in parks.

I would say their one downfall is food but it’s getting better every year.

Great advice, thanks!

 

[mrsgthatsme]

Did you go on Mission Space Orange where it spins which is more intense or the Green? Can you do Soarin’, Flight of Passage, Star Tours, Millenium Falcon, Rise of the Resistance? We don’t do roller coasters or anything with a drop but love the motion simulators at Disney and when we went to Universal in November after not visiting for years loved the ones there. We heard Simpsons and Forbidden Journey were more intense so we wore the prescription patches and were fine, Minions we noticed had non moving seats. We also liked Jimmy Fallon, Transformers, Fast and Furious, and Men In Black where you shoot at aliens with some spinning. ET is similar to Peter Pan you rise up but it is slow and your seat is a bike. Also get park to park tickets to take Hogwarts Express both ways. We also saw some shows.

Thanks for the specific advice. The only of the WDW rides you mentioned that we have done is Soarin and we were mostly ok on that. Many of those other VR type rides at WDW are new since we have been there.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

3D glasses:
Transformers
Spiderman
Kong
Escape from Gringotts
Jimmy Fallon

Would you say all of those are likely to induce motion sickness or some more than others?

These are lower on the motion sickness list than various non-glasses rides.

Simpsons & Forbidden Journey top the motion sickness list for most. If spinning is your downfall, beware Men in Black - that is the worst in the park for my friend. We skip the teacups.

Of the 3D glasses rides, Spiderman is probably the worst for motion sickness. I don't think I've heard many people report problems with any of the others.

 

[schumigirl]

3D glasses:
Transformers
Spiderman
Kong
Escape from Gringotts
Jimmy Fallon

These are lower on the motion sickness list than various non-glasses rides.

Simpsons & Forbidden Journey top the motion sickness list for most. If spinning is your downfall, beware Men in Black - that is the worst in the park for my friend. We skip the teacups.

Of the 3D glasses rides, Spiderman is probably the worst for motion sickness. I don't think I've heard many people report problems with any of the others.

I`m the opposite with Spiderman.

I`m completely fine on it, but Transformers I cannot do now, it`s not as bad as Simpsons for me which I will never, ever go on again, but the way the screen is pixelated on Transformers (according to TM`s) just makes me feels so wonky. But, I`m ok with SM.

One of the reasons I know we always tell folks they have to try for themselves as what makes one ill, might not make everyone else bad.

lol....yep I avoid all teacup spinny type rides.......

 

[DoryGirl1963]

I'm similar - A-OK with Spiderman so thought Transformers would be no big, but it ended up bothering me a bit - I felt like it was a rougher ride for lack of a better term, think that's why.

I have not the slightest issue on MIB - one of my favs !

& yeah, Simpson's is never again for me, too

 

[Pooh's World]

No matter what you do, do not ride Fast and the Furious