Universal with Young/Timid Children

[Golden Rose]

We have never been to Universal Orlando, and have been trying to decide if we should add on a couple of nights to our upcoming WDW vacation. (We are DVC members and we go to WDW regularly, but we usually stay on property and spend all our time at WDW. We know a lot about WDW and nothing about Universal.) We just found out we have two more days of vacation time than we thought we did, and were trying to decide how to spend them.

I have very cautious 9 year old with sensory issues, and an adventurous 3 year old who wants everything higher, faster, and louder, and is just waiting to be tall enough to ride thrill rides.

DS9 has read the first Harry Potter book, but is not a super fan. He liked it, he just hasn't developed a real passion for it. He would enjoy the wizarding world, but isn't at all obsessed with seeing it. DD3 is obsessed with princesses, and obviously doesn't care about the wizarding world at all.

Is there enough to do at Universal for one kid who doesn't like thrill rides, and one who is too short to ride them?

Does Universal have anything like Disney's ride swap for the things the 3 year old is too short to ride?

Does Universal have anything like the GAC for guests with sensory issues? DS gets overwhelmed pretty easily, and we usually have to do short park days of no more than 4 hours before he desperately needs to get away from crowds.

Is it worth trying to go now, or should we wait a few years?

I assume we should stay on property if we go. Which hotel is the most fun for children?

If we do this, do I suddenly need to make a bunch of ADRs/reservations for meals? And, if so, are there any particularly great meals or character meals one shouldn't miss?

Sorry to have so many questions! This has come up as a possibility very suddenly, and I have quickly realized how much I don't know.

 

[macraven]

the darkside has the child swap and disability pass.
many say it is preferred over the motherland ones.

i sometimes make restaurant ressies 2 days out and sometimes the day of i want to go.

i only make them far out for finnegans during the hhn period.

 

[dsdeleon]

My almost 9 year old recently went and sounds like your oldest. He really fell in love with universal, more than disney ever did for him. We stayed onsite at royal pacific and are going back again soon. Guest services and the staff were so much more welcoming and helpful and interested in my kids, what a breathe of fresh air! Also very nice is you can eat what you want when you want and they are so accommodating, we ate at Lombards and they were able to get what my son needed, more accomodating than Be Our Guest was! If you want to make a reservation there is opentable.com or you can just wait a normal amount of time. No need to figure out how your kids will feel 6 months ahead of time. There is a lot of fun for your little one too. Wizarding World is amazing even if you knew nothing like we did. Can't say that's the case anymore!

 

[RMulieri]

On our first trip DD was 9 and was scared of pretty much evrything, and didnt meet the height requirements for alot either.She had alot of fun .We ride everything using child swap ( and we prefer it at Universal)We stayed at Portofino and loved everything about the resort and the people that worked there.We went back a year later and she loved it just as much..Headed back in Jan 2015