What Movies/Shows Should We Watch to Prepare for Our Universal Trip ? :)

[ForMyBoys]

I'd like to build our excitement by watching movies/shows that have characters that will be featured at the park. We always watch Disney movies before a Disney trip so I want to keep up the tradition. I'd really like my 5 and 8 year olds to relate (my 12 year old is such a huge HP fan he'll be in heaven regardless). On my list I have:

1. Harry Potter Movies
2. BeetleJuice
3. Spiderman
4. A Simpsons Show
5. Dispicable Me Movies
6. Transformers show or movie

What else?

 

[HM]

Add in-

Cat in the Hat
Twister
Blues Brothers
The Mummy
The Hulk
Terminator 2
Jurassic Park
Shrek

We've been doing this too. Some of them we can't get hold of, but we've found a few at the library and on Netflix. And a couple we own.

 

[imprint]

ET
Men in Black
Scooby Doo
SpongeBob SquarePants
Marvel superheros (Spider-Man, Captain America, X-Men)

 

[macraven]

i love lucy as she is a character in the studios you can meet.
so are the following:
betty boop
marilyn monroe
Doc from back to the future movies.

you can find the above on you tube.

 

[Dee2013]

To save time, just watch the first Harry Potter movie. I think the 1st Deathly hollows movie has the dragon escape from Gringotts, but it's not really necessary given how young your kids are and depending on height the 5 and 8 yo may not be able to ride Gringotts. You 're 12yo HP nut has probably seen all the movies anyway, but if not let him binge!

 

[Bluer101]

Dudley do right
Popeye

This is something totally different but every time we watch a universal movie in a theater, at our home theater, or even the cinematic spectacular I always get goosebumps and a over whelming good feeling when I hear and see this.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Great ones guys! Thank You!

Add in-
Cat in the Hat
Twister
Blues Brothers
The Mummy
The Hulk
Terminator 2
Jurassic Park
Shrek

We've been doing this too. Some of them we can't get hold of, but we've found a few at the library and on Netflix. And a couple we own.

I wouldn't have thought of a few of these, thanks! I Think we will try to watch twister, that's a fun movie and its been a long time since I've seen it. I've actually never seen the Blues Brothers.

ET
Men in Black
Scooby Doo
SpongeBob SquarePants
Marvel superheros (Spider-Man, Captain America, X-Men)

MIB, good one! I think my kids have the other ones covered

i love lucy as she is a character in the studios you can meet.
so are the following:
betty boop
marilyn monroe
Doc from back to the future movies.

you can find the above on you tube.

Oh, Back to the future... I'll add that to the list. The rest I'll try to find you tube videos, except not sure how interested they will be in betty boop/marilyn monroe.

To save time, just watch the first Harry Potter movie. I think the 1st Deathly hollows movie has the dragon escape from Gringotts, but it's not really necessary given how young your kids are and depending on height the 5 and 8 yo may not be able to ride Gringotts. You 're 12yo HP nut has probably seen all the movies anyway, but if not let him binge!

Yeah, they've seen them all. I agree w/ you, we should just rewatch the first one. I'm not sure if my 5 yo will remember it as we watched them all a while ago (maybe he was 3?)

Dudley do right
Popeye

Oh we have a DVD with some Popeye cartoons, I'll bust it out. And will look for Dudley do right online, I'm actually not sure I've every seen it. I like the universal opening too!

 

[canadiankim]

The Mummy is another good one for the ride but the younger children may not be able to go on it either.

If you are thinking of eating at Bubba Gumps then maybe Forrest Gump would be a good movie to watch too. I hear that the servers love to quiz the guests.

We are doing the same thing before our trip but my kids are older so I don't have as many restrictions with viewing. I think the last time we went in 2012 the hardest movie for me to find was E.T. but I finally found a friend who had a copy on VHS!

 

[disappearingme]

I LOVE this list. We have been renting some movies from the library in anticipation of our Thanksgiving trip. We have done the first two Harry Potter movies, MIB, the Mummy and Transformers. Now I am printing off this list to start reserving at the library. SweeT!

 

[ForMyBoys]

OK Everyone, Here is an updated list sorted in Alpha order. Keep replying if you think of any others and I'll try to add them to this list in case it helps anyone else. Thanks!

• Back to the Future movies.
• BeetleJuice
• Blues Brothers
• Cat in the Hat
• Dispicable Me Movies
• Dudley do right
• ET
• Forrest Gump (if you will be eating at Buba Gumps)
• Harry Potter Movies
• Jurassic Park
• Marilyn Monroe Movies
• Marvel Superhero Movies (Spider-Man, Captain America, X-Men)
• Men in Black
• The Mummy
• Popeye
• Scooby Doo
• Shrek
• Simpsons Show
• Spiderman
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Terminator 2
• The Hulk
• The Mummy
• Transformers show or movie
• Twister

 

[johde]

Dudley do right
Popeye

This is something totally different but every time we watch a universal movie in a theater, at our home theater, or even the cinematic spectacular I always get goosebumps and a over whelming good feeling when I hear and see this.

The first recommendation when your video finished was this one. You want to talk about a trip down memory lane.

 

[meeko987]

One obstacle to watching some of these movies is the amount of violence, profanity, and sexual situations. The Universal attraction might be clean fun, but the movies may not be! I wish I had the "airplane" version of all of these movies. (I'd also like the "airplane" version of "Airplane", which I know my kids would love.)

 

[ForMyBoys]

Meeko- I agree. Terminator 2 is def out for us. And I saw the original blues brothers is R, for some reason I thought it was more family friendly as I've never seen it, so unfortunately that is out as well. Last night we settled on the first HP movie. I haven't let them watch the Simpsons yet but I would probably let my 12 year old if he had interest, he doesn't seem to. But we were still able to add a few more movies/shows to our list before we go. Easier if your kids are a bit older.

 

[canadiankim]

Maybe you could You Tube some of the scenes out of the movies that show the characters without having to watch all the movie as I agree, most of the movies are R rated or PG14+. Even with the HP movies, they start off very age appropriate for 'Harry' but as he gets older so does the theme. You could see if you could find the HP where they go through Gringotts (sorry I can't remember which one).

 

[SingLikeC]

Maybe you could You Tube some of the scenes out of the movies that show the characters without having to watch all the movie as I agree, most of the movies are R rated or PG14+. Even with the HP movies, they start off very age appropriate for 'Harry' but as he gets older so does the theme. You could see if you could find the HP where they go through Gringotts (sorry I can't remember which one).

If I'm not mistaken the Gringotts scene takes place in the 8th installment of HP...Deathly Hallows 2. I'm sure that scene alone can be found on YouTube since it's so Epic! Ahem, I think my fandom is showing lol

 

[BagOLaughs]

original blues brothers is R

In that case don't watch the movie but you can watch some great songs on YouTube which are fine for kids, you can all have a lovely dance together:

Everybody needs somebody:

Shake your tail feather: This is my fave

Rawhide: This takes place in side a bar so its your choice weather to watch it (no swearing)

I would definitely watch back to the future 3 - you get to see the Delorean and the train!

 

[BagOLaughs]

If I'm not mistaken the Gringotts scene takes place in the 8th installment of HP...Deathly Hallows 2. I'm sure that scene alone can be found on YouTube since it's so Epic! Ahem, I think my fandom is showing lol

He does also go through Gringotts in the 1st movie, I know its not directly related to the ride but if that scene is too scary for little kids the scene in the 1st movie is still fun!

 

[HM]

I'm really glad we started watching movies in anticipation of this trip. What I've found is that borrowing them from our Public Library has been an awesome choice. I can't tell you how many times I've said, "they don't usually show scene that on TV". I forget that the TV showings are modified for time alloted and they've taken out whole sections. So good to watch the movie as intended.

It was very evident in our viewing of ET last night. (DD said she doesn't think she's even seen the movie before). We also watched MIB last night. Boy, did I laugh a lot.

We've also rewatched, The Mummy, Sinbad (the cartoon one), Spiderman, The Hulk, three Harry Potters, Terminator 2, and Transformers.

Still to go: Twister, The Simpsons, and Cat in the Hat, and maybe more Harry Potter.

 

[mrsabbott]

Woody Woodpecker and An American Tail. Also, several of the Dr Seuss cartoons/movies, including The Lorax.