USF/IOA with kids age 4 & 6 - Worthwhile or not?

[owl36]

Having spent most of our attention as a family on WDW in the last 3 years,(mainly because of the characters) we are considering a family trip to Universal and IOA in December (15-18th) I and DW have been before to USF (last time was the year T2 opened!!! ) but never to IOA .

Is it worth visiting with our two young kids? One park or both? They love smaller rides and characters but hate rollercoasters and scary things. We on the other hand love the rides that are a little clever - like T2 and Back to the Future..... in those days. Please recommend your favourites as I really have no 'insider' knowledge.

How long should we plan - is one day per park enough in mid December?

Which rides should the adults go on? - I am guessing we can squeeze 2 or 3 unless the Parks are empty as the kids are not going to let us queue too long for something they do not want to do.

Is there a Character Autograph/ Meet the Character list that we can do?

I do feel a little bad that we probably will only visit WDW once this time - for the Very Merry Christmas Party. I hope that USF/IOA is worthwhile for the kids as I am really keen on the Mummy and Spiderman

Thanks to all for your help.

owl36

 

[Taratink]

Hi Owl36!
We have never been to this park either. Our kids are also 4 and 6. We are planning on spending 2 full days at this park. There seems to be a bunch of fun stuff for kids there. The playgrounds there sound cool. I have also heard that there are street performers and characters that sign autograph books. Everyone tells us that we will love it there. My kids are afraid off rollercoasters so we will have to find other things to do. We are giving it a shot and we are excited to try something new since this is our 3rd trip to Orlando.
Tara

 

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

We took our three last October, they were 4 months, 2.5, and 8 (turned 8 while we were there) and they LOVED it! The baby didn't do much but there was lots to look at! They loved Suess Island (watch them on Cat in the Hat - DD got a black eye and a nasty cut on the cheek on that one), oh heck, they loved most of it! We're planning a trip back in '07 so we can try the things we missed out on last time!

 

[pixiepower1971]

My 7 and 9 year old girls LOVE universal and have for many years. I would do both parks. We do both parks that time of the year in one day BUT we know where we are going and what we want to do. If you do one park each day they will be relaxing days. The parks are not open late that time of the year either.

There are a lot of water rides you may bypass at IOA that time of the year but Suessland is great! You can also meet the Grinch!He was awesome. He threw me out of the sleigh!

Read up on the rides to determine which you think the kids can handle. Mine do all they are tall enough for. 9 year old rides everything! Mummy and Spiderman are great and don't forget to use the kid swap!

 

[phamton]

Is it worth visiting with our two young kids? One park or both?

Definitely both parks!I would suggest you look at these two articles and decide if there are some things there that your kids would like:

Kids at Universal

Kids at Islands of Adventure

Please recommend your favourites as I really have no 'insider' knowledge.

Universal:
Favorite for kids: ET, Fieval's Playgound, Jimmy Neutron, Animal Planet Live, Barney, visiting with Shrek and Donkey
Favorite for adults: Mummy, Horror Makeup show, Back to the Future
Favorites for both: Shrek, Terminator, Men in Black, possibly Earthquake and Twister

Islands of Adventure:
Favorite for Kids: All of Seuss landing, PT Flyers, Storm Force, Me Ship Olive, Discovery, Talking fountain by Poseidon
Favorite for adults: Hulk, Dueling Dragons, Jurassic Park
Favorites for both: Spiderman, Popeye's, Dudley, Poseidon

I am sure I have left off a bunch of rides but I'll leave it to others to add their favorites.

If you notice from the 2 articles I posted above you will see that there is something for the kids to do right in the area of the rides while the adults are doing their rides. Maybe one adult can stay with the kids while one rides the ride and then switch. there will be plenty for the kids to do while the adults ride.

is one day per park enough in mid December?

I'd recommend two-three days.

Is there a Character Autograph/ Meet the Character list that we can do?

There are lots of character meet and greets in both parks.

 

[markh]

Do it! Stay on site if at all possible - fotl cannot be beat, especially with little ones in tow. It's very easy to get back to your hotel for a rest, and the parks are amazing. My five year old probably rode jimmy neutron 20 times last year!