US/IOA for kids

[JaneSparrow]

Hello! My eldest son is going to be 5 by our trip early December.

We would like to take him and his 1yo brother this time but it will be mostly for him. He doesn't know Harry Potter but he absolutely love the Minions, SpongeBob, Madagascar. So aside from hunting these characters for a photo, what else would you recommend for us/him in terms of rides or shows? Also good place to eat in US since we already planned to have lunch at 3 Broomsticks (that's for me!).

We are staying off property (DVC member - sorry) and just have 1 day park to park. My eldest is 41.5 inches tall.

TIA!!!

 

[Metro West]

We would like to take him and his 1yo brother this time but it will be mostly for him. He doesn't know Harry Potter but he absolutely love the Minions, SpongeBob, Madagascar. So aside from hunting these characters for a photo, what else would you recommend for us/him in terms of rides or shows? Also good place to eat in US since we already planned to have lunch at 3 Broomsticks (that's for me!).

I would recommend the Despicable Me, Animal Actors show, Shrek 4-D, Woody's Nuthouse coaster and the rest of the Woody Woodpecker Kidzone and of course...ET.

I really enjoy Louie's when I go to the Studios.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

There is Seuss land in IOA the kiddos might really like. There is the Sinbad show and Poseidon's Fury show in IOA.

They have several great shows in US that the whole family can go to and there is a whole kiddie playland area in US.

 

[damo]

If he likes dinosaurs, make sure you do the Jurassic Discovery Centre at IOA.

Do all of the Seuss rides at IOA and Storm Force Acceletron. Do the small coaster, FLight of the Hippogriff in Wizarding World and if the line isn't too long, do Pteranadon Flyers. That might be the first thing to head for since the ride has very low capacity and is only for adults accompanied by a small child. It is a cute ride though!

 

[nugov2]

We took our 6 and 8 yr olds, but it was a whole family trip so my mom took my 2yr old to AK with my brother and his 2 yr old twins. Anyway, things to do:

If your ds likes superheros...wait for the show(parade) of superheros. They come in on their motorcycles it was great! The whole Marvel area was great.

The water rides were a blast. We got there right when it opened and IOA was smooth sailing until 1 so we did a lot of rides multiple times(Dudley Doo right...3 times in a row)...word of advice at IOA you get drenched not wet on the rides...we had no idea. I actually paid $5 for the human dryer at the Popeye ride

Jurrasic park and Spiderman a little too intense for my kids(there were some tears shed on both by my 6yr old..bad mommy), so because of that we skipped Transformers, the Mummy and Twister. We thought it might be too much. They did like the rest of that area.

Simpsons was another one they liked a lot.

We did Shrek and Et multiple times...the kids loved them.

Overall, the kids really enjoyed both parks. We got on a ton of rides. We look forward to going back again. It is a totally different experience then WDW, but just as good. Enjoy

 

[pookadoo77]

we went with a 1 year old he had a blast. other sons were 6 and 7. they enjoyed harry potter even though at the time never saw the movies, too scary. going back in a few days 2 yrs. later my 9 year old has now read the first book and half through the second. they enjoyed the magic idea of it.
thi trip one still not very into harry potter got a library book full of harry potter info and pics to get them familiar with the tamer side of harry potter, you can flip through it and skip what u want. we dont let ours watch anything over pg except superhero movies and harry potter. they will be 9 and 10 in sept. hope yall have a blast!

 

[glocon]

If your son can watch Jurassic Park, he can probably do Harry Potter (the first movie- Sorcerers Stone). My son first watched HP (SS) when he was 5 and was okay with it. Very magical.... he (and you) would appreciate the WWoHP in a whole different way if you were familiar with the characters. And the Ollivanders wand show is from that movie also. The new FJ ride would most likely be too scary with the Dementors and acromantulas though.

When we went the first time my son was also 5. He did just about everything but the big coasters. Anything he was tall enough for, he did and was okay with it. But it just depends on his fear levels. Every kid is different. But there is plenty for all of you to do, even with a 5 year old.

Of course, there was no RotM back then..... mwahahahahaha....

 

[JaneSparrow]

If your son can watch Jurassic Park, he can probably do Harry Potter (the first movie- Sorcerers Stone). My son first watched HP (SS) when he was 5 and was okay with it. Very magical.... he (and you) would appreciate the WWoHP in a whole different way if you were familiar with the characters. And the Ollivanders wand show is from that movie also. The new FJ ride would most likely be too scary with the Dementors and acromantulas though.

When we went the first time my son was also 5. He did just about everything but the big coasters. Anything he was tall enough for, he did and was okay with it. But it just depends on his fear levels. Every kid is different. But there is plenty for all of you to do, even with a 5 year old.

Of course, there was no RotM back then..... mwahahahahaha....

He has not watched both films yet so will get to it at some point and see how he fares. Thanks for the idea.

What is RotM?

 

[macraven]

return of the mummy

 

[Batesl49]

The Frog Choir in Harry Potter land is great for kids and adults. The train and it's conductor, great for photos, the Owlery, look up in the rafters for the owls, and all of the stores.

Sinbad is a great show, sit more to the back so you won't have the the noises and flashes right in your face.

The talking fountain is a must, kids talk to it and the responses from the fountain are great.

My little grandnephews went crazy of my pictures of me with the super heros in Marvel Land. I had a Photo Connect card and the park photographers took all of my pics.

That is just some ideas.

Laurie

December 4-14, 2013

 

[HeddyRuth]

Hello! My eldest son is going to be 5 by our trip early December.

We would like to take him and his 1yo brother this time but it will be mostly for him. He doesn't know Harry Potter but he absolutely love the Minions, SpongeBob, Madagascar. So aside from hunting these characters for a photo, what else would you recommend for us/him in terms of rides or shows? Also good place to eat in US since we already planned to have lunch at 3 Broomsticks (that's for me!).

We are staying off property (DVC member - sorry) and just have 1 day park to park. My eldest is 41.5 inches tall.

TIA!!!

The rides your older one is tall enough for should be appropriate and fun as he needs to be 48" for forbidden journey and my husband and friend both opted not to ride it more than once as it was too intense. My sensitive 7 year old girl who love HP kept her eyes closed (thankfully) and came out fine so I usually recommend parents to ride it first unless they feel very confident their child will be fine. My younger one who was two still had fun in the Suess area and seeing everything else. There seemed to be a constant flow of character greets in Suess land. She was a bit bored overall though. We only spent one day so I could not comment on the other park only IOA. My older daughter loved Jurassic park, flight of the hippogrif and Spider-Man. BTW three broomsticks was great!