Universal newbie - need help please

[bridegirl]

Hi all -

We got to WDW once a year in December, we live near DL so we got ALOT, and we just went on the DCL Magic August 13-20. As you can tell, we love Disney!

We tried Universal five years ago when we had just one little one and we haven't been back in five years. Now we have DS 6, DS 3, and DD 7 months - and we want to "add on" a few Universal days to our upcoming WDW trip. Here are my lots of questions:

1. HRH or PBH? Any specific type room? We will be mom, dad, 3 kids, and grandma.
2. How does the FOTL on-site pass work?
3. What kinds of attractions are there for really little kids, like ours?
4. Any food places that kids especially love?
5. Which themed cabana would you rent?
6. Discovery cove? Whats the age limit for the dolphins? We just did the swim on our cruise and LOVED it!
7. Would you do Discovery Cove and Sea world? We have sea world at home so they've seen alot of that - shamu, shows, etc. I think we are more interested in activity and adventure.

Thanks for any and all advice! I've been reading all the Univ/IOA/DC/SW boards and trying to soak it all in!

Susy

 

[UKDEB]

Hi Susy,

1. As far as I know, unless you get a suite, you will need 2 rooms at either for your party. There are kids suites at both - you can check out all the info on Universal's website. Given the make-up of your party, I would go for HRH as it's much closer to the parks and CityWalk. Your boys (and maybe Grandma) might struggle with the walk from PBH. There is a water taxi and a bus, but the water taxis don't run during thunder storms.

2. When you check-in, make sure you get a room key for each member of your party. These then act as Express tickets and you enter the Express Line at each attraction within the parks.

3. There are plenty of attractions for little kids at both parks:

At US - Shrek 4D (not to be missed), Nickelodeon Studios, Jimmy Neutron's Nicktown Blast, Animal Planet Live, Fievel's Playground, A Day in the Park with Barney, ET Adventure, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, Curious George goes to Town.

At IoA - Me Ship The Olive, Pterandodon Flyers, Discovery Center, The Flying Unicorn, The Mystic Fountain, Caro-Seuss-el, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat, If I Ran the Zoo. Your boys will probably also enjoy Spiderman unless they are particularly nervous.

4. I'll have to pass on this one as my girls are now 20 and 17. There are so many places to eat, including some great places at CityWalk and the resorts.

5. We rented a cabana at HRH one year, but it wasn't themed. This must be something new.

6. 6 and older for the Dolphin swim.

7. You get free passes for Sea World with your DC admission. The park is even better now with the addition of the new Waterfront area. I would make the effort as long as it doesn't stop you doing anything else, but you know your kids best. Unless they love wildlife, you might be better off giving it a miss in favour of something with a bigger novelty factor.

 

[etink67]

There are also so many characters that your kids will love to meet. We saw Dora, Jimmy Neutron, Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Spongebob, Curious George, Woody woodpecker, the madagascar cast, scooby doo and shaggy, characters from rugrats and wild thornberries.

DD was 4 and loved spiderman, flying unicorn and Cat in the Hat rides.

 

[bridegirl]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write back, to both of you!

I really appreciate it.

Susy

 

[bjakmom]

Cabanas 7, 8 and 9 are all right next to the kiddie pool - great location. I'm not sure which ones are themed at this point, I think 7 or 8 might be the 'yellow submarine' cabana.
We stayed in a kid's suite last trip to HRH - it had a King bed and sofa (not sure if it was a sofa bed) and chair area - connected to another room which had two twin beds and it's own table/chairs and tv armoire - the bathroom was huge with a separate shower and tub and double sink area. The walk in closet was a plenty big enough for all of our clothes and suitcases, so no stuff around the room. If the sofa is a pullout and you don't mind sleeping in the same room as your mom, that might work well for you. Don't know much about the attractions for little ones - I'll be taking my first little DGrD(2) in 3 weeks - we're going to try PBH this time - first time I've taken a little one in many years - looks to me like there will be plenty for her to enjoy!