Universal With a Toddler: Not Recommended

[jrtoastyman]

Just returned from a 3.5 day trip to Universal. The fist day and a half, it was just my wife and I. The second day, we had our 2.5 year old daughter. To make a long story short, we learned the hard way that while there are indeed things that appeal to the younger set, Universal is at its heart a more adult-focused park, and not really ideal for a toddler. Some observations:

At UO, the whole Woody Woodpecker area is awesome. Our daughter thoroughly enjoyed Fievel's playland and the Curious George area. She could have spent all day there.

Unfortunately, with that said, that pretty much WAS her entire day because there's nothing else at UO that she could ride or that we would have wanted her to ride. Even the Shrek movie proved too intense, between the darkness, the loud noises and the moving seats. She did see Dora on her way out, which was a nice capper to the day, but we basically gave up around 1 pm and took her back to the room.

IOA was even worse. The play areas there are more geared towards older kids, and there are only a few rides that are options for the little ones at all.

Another thing I noticed that wasn't as apparent to me when it was just my wife and I was how little shade there was at UO/IOA. Jurassic Park has some nice shade, but most of the other areas are wide open to the sun.

Anyhoo, we loved our time at Universal, but we're definitely going to wait until our daughter is older and taller before we take her back there. As it was, we were basically going from ride she couldn't do to ride she couldn't do, in the sun, which made her fussy and made it tough for any of us to really enjoy the trip as much as we did a few days earlier at Disney.

Just wanted to pass along my thoughts for any parents of small children considering whether Universal would be a good fit. At least for us, it wasn't (yet).

 

[Badge]

I agree. I have always stood by the idea that Disney is for the 1-10 (maybe 12) year olds and Universal is for anybody above that. To me, once your kids can start riding things like Dinosaur, Rockin Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Everest, etc. without any problems, then your kids are old enough for Universal. While Universal does have a few kid rides, most of the rides at Universal (even the ones that seem to be geared towards the smaller crowd like Shrek) can be intense experinces. Universal is more about the thrills and high tech rides, were as Disney is more geared to the younger kids. Sure Disney has some thrill rides, but most of those rides (with the exception of Tower of Terror imo) are not as high tech or intense than the ones at Universal.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I am glad you posted. Very helpful.

We have been wondering about Universal, but we'll wait till the kids are older.

Thanks!

 

[damo]

I agree. I think each park needs more family rides. It would round them out perfectly.

 

[tinydancer09]

I agree. I think each park needs more family rides. It would round them out perfectly.

I agree with this. We took my 3 year old neice several years ago and she had a BLAST! But, we couldn't have a blast with her. One of the adults was constantly missing because we would go and play with her in that ONE area. Yes there are child swap areas but after a while you both get bored. I feel bad that the kid has to stand there and wait the whole time. While I do not feel it is impossible to take a child and commend efforts to provide ways that the other parties in the family can ride without splitting up too much, I feel they do need to add a few more family rides in DIFFERENT AREAS of the park so it's not all in one section.

 

[RMulieri]

We have wanted to go for so ooo long now but we are waiting till December this year.Our daughter will be 8yrs old, is now tall enough for most of the attractions and in the past year has become far less timid and hesitant to try new rides

 

[Mikelly1221]

Just returned from a 3.5 day trip to Universal. The fist day and a half, it was just my wife and I. The second day, we had our 2.5 year old daughter. To make a long story short, we learned the hard way that while there are indeed things that appeal to the younger set, Universal is at its heart a more adult-focused park, and not really ideal for a toddler. Some observations:

At UO, the whole Woody Woodpecker area is awesome. Our daughter thoroughly enjoyed Fievel's playland and the Curious George area. She could have spent all day there.

Unfortunately, with that said, that pretty much WAS her entire day because there's nothing else at UO that she could ride or that we would have wanted her to ride. Even the Shrek movie proved too intense, between the darkness, the loud noises and the moving seats. She did see Dora on her way out, which was a nice capper to the day, but we basically gave up around 1 pm and took her back to the room.

IOA was even worse. The play areas there are more geared towards older kids, and there are only a few rides that are options for the little ones at all.

Another thing I noticed that wasn't as apparent to me when it was just my wife and I was how little shade there was at UO/IOA. Jurassic Park has some nice shade, but most of the other areas are wide open to the sun.

Anyhoo, we loved our time at Universal, but we're definitely going to wait until our daughter is older and taller before we take her back there. As it was, we were basically going from ride she couldn't do to ride she couldn't do, in the sun, which made her fussy and made it tough for any of us to really enjoy the trip as much as we did a few days earlier at Disney.

Just wanted to pass along my thoughts for any parents of small children considering whether Universal would be a good fit. At least for us, it wasn't (yet).

I think this is a very accurate representation of Universal and matches our family's experience. Also, I don't consider this a slam against Universal..it is a very fun place with great rides. For the most part, the rides are geared toward adults and older children...something that is very important to know going in.

 

[Marquibiri]

Also Agree...

My first baby girl will be born in 3 months and she will not step USF or IOA for at least a decade or more ..
I will take her to Disney, though.

After that, she will go with me every year and to HHN too..

Marquibiri

 

[jrtoastyman]

Also, I don't consider this a slam against Universal..it is a very fun place with great rides.

Me either -- I LOVED Universal when it was just my wife and I. HPatFJ is the new benchmark by which all other theme park rides will be measured for me at this point, just incredible, absolutely blows the doors off of anything at Disney. I look forward to going back -- a number of years from now.

 

[bumbershoot]

Also Agree...

My first baby girl will be born in 3 months and she will not step USF or IOA for at least a decade or more ..

A decade, wow!

DS was 6.5 when we went, and he had a blast, just like we did. We didn't even ride anything "big", but still just loved the place.

 

[nytimez]

I think this is a very accurate representation of Universal and matches our family's experience. Also, I don't consider this a slam against Universal..it is a very fun place with great rides. For the most part, the rides are geared toward adults and older children...something that is very important to know going in.

Definitely not a slam -- it's one of the parks' few shortcomings, and it's a pretty big one. I have a hard time recommending the parks to people with very small children. Even the K-early elementary school set can't ride most of the "big" attractions.

 

[Badge]

Universal does need to spend some time and money on adding more kid friendly rides. I think the Madagascar Crate Adventure that opened in Universal Singapore (spelling?) would be a great start. A lot of kids know the characters from those films and it is seems to be just a fun dark ride like Its a Small World without the music that drives me insane .

I think the Studios has more kid friendly rides that IOA does. At Studios, you can take a little one into Shrek (sit in the non-moving seats), Men in Black (if they are tall enough), E.T. and the whole play area around there with the Barney show and all that. They might also do Twister and Disaster but they might be too intense even if they are really more of a show than a ride.

At IOA you really only have the Suess area and the play area in the Toon part of the park. Sure the Suess area has 4 rides, but its still not enough.

Universal needs to create more family friendly rides that even little kids could enjoy. I would enjoy going on the Crate Adventure even without having any thrills becuase I do enjoy the movies. Universal needs more rides like Haunted Mansion. Little ones can ride it, but it is still fun for the older crowd as well.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

I agree. I think each park needs more family rides. It would round them out perfectly.

Agreed. Universal has the capability to make dark rides as good if not better than Disney (Cat in the Hat, ET Adventure), and I wish they would consider a few that the whole family can enjoy.

 

[chrismartinique]

uh oh.... we are going with a large group.....containing 7 kids (20,19,18,15,13,11,7 years old) and a 2 year old (mine).

Now you all have me worried! I thought between all of us we could let the older kids catch the thrills and take turns entertaining the youngest. May be we should skip out of this part of the florida tour That would be upsetting for our other kids tho........ darn it!

 

[damo]

uh oh.... we are going with a large group.....containing 7 kids (20,19,18,15,13,11,7 years old) and a 2 year old (mine).

Now you all have me worried! I thought between all of us we could let the older kids catch the thrills and take turns entertaining the youngest. May be we should skip out of this part of the florida tour That would be upsetting for our other kids tho........ darn it!

I would never skip out on the parks to satisfy a two year old, lol. They really don't care. The other kids are going to have a ball.

 

[chrismartinique]

I would never skip out on the parks to satisfy a two year old, lol. They really don't care. The other kids are going to have a ball.

well you have to admit the rest of this thread paints a bleak picture for those with a tot. Perhaps the OP only had a toddler and no older kids to satisfy. I guess we can trade off or spend time at the resort if its too much for the youngest. She went to WDW earlier this year and we didn't have issues cuz there were always characters, parades, snacks or naps to take her time. Being the youngest of several, she goes a lot of places and is quite flexible... I just figured she would "fall in" on the experience too.

 

[damo]

well you have to admit the rest of this thread paints a bleak picture for those with a tot. Perhaps the OP only had a toddler and no older kids to satisfy. I guess we can trade off or spend time at the resort if its too much for the youngest. She went to WDW earlier this year and we didn't have issues cuz there were always characters, parades, snacks or naps to take her time. Being the youngest of several, she goes a lot of places and is quite flexible... I just figured she would "fall in" on the experience too.

I'm sure she will. There are things that she can do, she just needs someone to be doing them with her. So if you are a small family, it can be a bummer because it seems like the same people are having to miss their stuff to satisfy the youngster.

IOA has a few playgrounds for little ones --- If I ran the zoo and Me Ship the Olive. They also have the Suess rides and The Sinbad Show.

Universal has a larger playground and they can also do some of the rides.

Start getting them familiar with the Universal characters since that will help distract them too. Shrek, Fiona and Donkey have a special meet and greet that is fun...but the kids need to know who they are.

Realistically there are many toddlers who don't find much to do at Disney either. The rides can be very scary and the waits very long.

 

[chrismartinique]

I'm sure she will. There are things that she can do, she just needs someone to be doing them with her. So if you are a small family, it can be a bummer because it seems like the same people are having to miss their stuff to satisfy the youngster.

IOA has a few playgrounds for little ones --- If I ran the zoo and Me Ship the Olive. They also have the Suess rides and The Sinbad Show.

Universal has a larger playground and they can also do some of the rides.

Start getting them familiar with the Universal characters since that will help distract them too. Shrek, Fiona and Donkey have a special meet and greet that is fun...but the kids need to know who they are.

yes, she has seen them and then there is good old Barney who she has just recently bonded with

 

[damo]

yes, she has seen them and then there is good old Barney who she has just recently bonded with

The Barney area is supposed to be wonderful. It has an indoor playground...so that in itself is a bonus. The Madegascar Animals also do a little song and dance and meet and greet in that area too. The Animal Actors show is right there too and ET.

 

[kamik86]

uh oh.... we are going with a large group.....containing 7 kids (20,19,18,15,13,11,7 years old) and a 2 year old (mine).

Now you all have me worried! I thought between all of us we could let the older kids catch the thrills and take turns entertaining the youngest. May be we should skip out of this part of the florida tour That would be upsetting for our other kids tho........ darn it!

I'm guessing with that many kids you have enough adults to rotate being with the little one. But if you were just a couple with a 2 year old then for all the thrill rides the adults have to ride alone while the other is with the 2 year old.