Universal with a 2 year old

[cinmell]

I have only been to Universal in California and my family hasn't been to Universal FL in approx. 10 years! In May, we will be heading to WDW for 10 days and we are kicking around a day at Universal. However, we will be travelling with our 2 year old daughter. Is there much to do at Universal for a child her age or is it mainly for older kids? Thank you!

 

[Cindy B]

Well, I took my then four year old.

As for USF..
As for two, there are some really interesting things depending on height/fear tolerance.

ET Adventure may work, if they aren't too afraid of the dark... the entrance is set up like a woods. If you go in with him, and say, hey we're going for a walk in the woods.. they will follow your lead..

The Barney show would work for him as well

The Curious George Playland will be great/same with the Fievel Playland. Be prepared to stay for hours!

As for Jimmy Neutron.. if it is set up the same way as Hanna Barbera.. (same general structure/set up) they may enjoy that.

Obviously he would be too small for MIB.. unless you have a 40 inch two year old! (I've seen some huge kids..mine were, but thats a little too BIG!)

Jaws.. well could be a hit or miss... depends on fear tolerance, and other things.. there are gun noises, and of course JAWS pops up.. so you wouldn't want to put him on the end! I've seen little one on JAWS fine, and I've also seen older kids screaming.. its all up to the kid I guess.

As for the shows.. Wild West is funny, but can be loud, and Animal Planet is fun.. and definetely in his age group. Never got to see Beetlejuice so I can't say on that one. Barney show is fun as well, and there was a meet and greet with Barney at the end

Shrek could be fun as well, but I'm not sure if you will be there when it is opening. Again, don't know the height requirements or anythign like that as well..


As for IOA..

You have Suess Landing.. everything and anything is fantastic for a two year old. Carousseel.. Cat in the Hat, and One Fish Two fish are amazing fun rides.

As for the other lands... they could do Storm Force (I think--check the height requirements) in Marvel Super Hero. If it is a boy, they will love to see Spiderman driving along in the little parade in the street.

They might be able to tolerate the Sinbad show, but Posiedons Fury could be iffy.. I've seen small kids in it, some cry, some think its cool.

As for Cartoon Lagoon, they could play on Me Ship the Olive with you.

 

[camdevjor]

We visited USF/IOA with a 2 year old during IOA grand opening.
My other kids were 12, 9 and 48. We had been to USF before the birth of our little present so we pretty much know the lay of the land. We found that we split up quite a bit. IOA with all of the thrill rides really doesn't cater to the toddler crowd with the exception of Seuss Landing and Olive Ship. At USF he loved Barney, Hanna Barbera (soon to be Jimmy Neutron) and ET. We had a great time just taking in the sights and enjoying the great weather. When we all met up again everyone had a great time at Curious George and Seuss Landing when it became my little guy's chance to be the tour director. We didn't do Jaws (my oldest two flip out to this day!!!). In our case too, my little one doesn't like loud noises. he loves coasters so we enjoyed Woody Woodpecker.

We leave next week and now my littlest is a big 4 year old who can't wait to see the Green Goblin and Spiderman! Bet my now 14 year old still will hedge when it's time for Jaws!!! We're just sorry Jimmy Neutron won't be officially open and hope they have a soft opening!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Cam, that was a big age span of your kids--2-48! I got a good laugh and assumed that you made a typo or you included your spouse.

 

[camdevjor]

Tigger&Belle---nope, not a typo! My husband is the biggest kid of all when it comes to our Disney/Universal trips!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Cam, lol! Isn't it fun vacationing with kids of all ages? Mine are boys 3, 9, and 12 and a 15yo daughter. I'm afraid that I'm the adult "kid" in our family. Before I ordered our annual passes (which meant an additional trip down next spring) I told my reluctant husband that he was lucky to have a fun-loving wife. He's not so sure!

I think that we will be splitting up a lot, too, to keep the whole family happy. Thank goodness for cell phones.

My little guy was 20 months old when we went to US the first time and he had a wonderful time. The best thing was that he was too young to realize that we were skipping the Barney show. We won't be that lucky this trip.

 

[4greatboys]

Last Sept on our family trip my boys were 15 yrs, 12 yrs, 2.5 years and 5 months. My 2 yr old like Suess Landing at IOA it was really cool. He did enjoy seeing lots of the sites and characters as long as they stayed back, lol. My mil went with us on the trip so while we did things he 2 little ones couldnt she waited with them.
We only hit a few things at US like MIB and Terminator that he couldnt do. He did ride ET and didnt seem to be scared. He loved the playground right next to it.

 

[BarryHom]

Also go to:

http://www.usoinfo.com/Parkinfo/kids.html

Go to www.ioacentral.com and click on the link for Universal for kids.

 

[zaxmom]

Mine will be almost 5 and 3 when we go in April. I bought annual passes last year and we will be making our 3rd trip this year. They LOVE it. Bring her bathing suit with you. There are so many different water play areas. You might bring yours, too! My boys are not scared of much, so they would do anything that they were tall enough for. They could spend an entire day in the play areas. If she likes Barney, that show is a must see. She could actually Hug him. my kids are kind of into him, but when the lights came on and he was magically there...you shold have seen the smile on their faces. It brought tears to my eyes. They also loved the Animal Planet show, ET, the waterslide at Feivel, the little roller coasters. She may miss a lot of the stuff she is not big enough for, but I am sure she could have a great time.

 

[Perdita101]

I took my then 2 year old last May and she had a great time! My dd was 36" then and she was able to do the Pteranodon Flyers, and Storm Force, both of which were a little too much for her. I think they were both a little too fast for my 2 year old. Cat in the Hat, Carouseussal, and One fish were big hits! They also have that little play area with water in the Seuss Landing. Dont miss the talking fountain in the lost continent. My dd played simon sez with a few other children and the fountain and they got squirted a few times! (almost a year later and she still talks about that fountain) We also did face painting and she played in the fountains in toon lagoon. The me ship the olive was a lot of fun for her and check out the discovery center in Jurassic Park. We also did the Triceratops Encounter ( a little boring for me but she liked it) All in all she really liked IOA. I remember thinking while I was there that there really wasnt a lot for her to do but then I thought about the fact that to a 2 year old playing in just a little fountain can be the best thing in the world to them!