Will 6-year old like Universal??

[NEMouse]

We (me, husband and child) are planning a short trip to Orlando. We have been to Disney several times and honestly want to wait until our 6 year old is older before returning. We are definitely visiting Sea World and a water park but have 2 days without plans. Our son does not like fast rides but loves Seuss, Minions, Jurassic Park (he did ride Splash Mt so I think he'll go on this) and Shrek. I think any mild ride will be okay but roller coasters are definitely out.

So- do we plan Universal? Is 1 day enough with park to park? If we do 2-days, I think we will choose the one park option and skip Hogwarts Express. Is there enough that will interest him or do we find something else to do and visit Universal in a few years?

The trip is a surprise so I can't include him on the plans.

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[Sarahbelle341]

I'm curious as we are planning to take our 6 year old son to visit Universal for the first time this year as well!

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, I can take over your thread with pictures to illustrate if a 6(.5) year old can enjoy Universal...

In Seussland.

Post-butterbeer, pre-pumpkin juice...

Showing us how tall he was!

Erasing our memories.

I should note that he was the ONLY one in our vehicle who listened to everything being said, and therefore got the high score, because he recognized when it was an emergency situation and did what Will Smith said we were supposed to do.


He was only 6.5, so this happened more than once.

Showing us how big he was at IOA.

And this happened (see the shirt he was wearing when facing the camera above?).

He thought he had a butterbeer moustache.

He DID have a butterbeer moustache.

OK I gotta stop, I'm going to start crying. How was he that bitty?


Here he is from last month at Disneyland.

(but that oh so cool chain wallet he's got in that picture? It's TowMater-themed. I adore that kid.)

 

[schumigirl]

Nice pictures Bumber.........he is really growing up!

We (me, husband and child) are planning a short trip to Orlando. We have been to Disney several times and honestly want to wait until our 6 year old is older before returning. We are definitely visiting Sea World and a water park but have 2 days without plans. Our son does not like fast rides but loves Seuss, Minions, Jurassic Park (he did ride Splash Mt so I think he'll go on this) and Shrek. I think any mild ride will be okay but roller coasters are definitely out.

So- do we plan Universal? Is 1 day enough with park to park? If we do 2-days, I think we will choose the one park option and skip Hogwarts Express. Is there enough that will interest him or do we find something else to do and visit Universal in a few years?

The trip is a surprise so I can't include him on the plans.

Thanks for any ideas!

I'm curious as we are planning to take our 6 year old son to visit Universal for the first time this year as well!

There is a fair amount for a 6 year old to do in both parks. One day almost certainly won't be enough........you don't want to be going like a drill sergeant just to fit things in. Take a couple of days and make it a much more fun experience.

Have you both checked out the Universal website?

Read through that as it gives you information on all rides in the parks, all height restrictions and a whole bunch of other info like park layouts and where everything is.

You know what your kids will like to do, and can plan from there what are your kids must do's and what you can miss out if you choose.

www.universalorlando.com

 

[damo]

Our six year old niece says she wants to go back to Universal but not to Disney. She adores Universal.

 

[rsagusti]

we are taking our very small 5.5 year old in may (41/42 inches tall), he just loves walking around and seeing things though and doesn't like a lot of rides so I think he'll be fine while his older brother does them.

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

Add another on the list that says 6 is an awesome age to go to Universal. He may not be ready for the Hulk or Rip Ride Rocket, but Spiderman and Transformers may be a good way to challenge him to begin growing into the bigger rides. Luckily for us, our kids always wanted to ride everything they were tall enough for. We are those parents with pictures of our 3 year old daughter on Tower of Terror! We live very close to Cedar Point, so we have been expanding their horizons of roller coasters since infancy.

Plus, at 6 they are still so sweet and innocent and excited and amazed...and as the parent you get to express your child side a little bit as you experience the magic through their precious eyes.

 

[Thinking]

In my view one day would be tough to do both parks.

I would suggest two days and skip the park to park option. I can't see that worth the money for the potter train ride, especially if he is too young to be a true potter fan at this point.

I would suggest to start early each day at the parks. You can probably finish each park by mid-afternoon, leaving a few hours to relax back at your hotel. The popular rides (minions, Simpsons, Harry Potter) all get very crowded later in day. If you go early you can get one with minimal lines.

Plenty for youngsters to see -- especially in Seuss land, Jurassic park and Simpsons areas.

 

[Thinking]

Also try the Pteranodon Flyers ride -- it's only for small kids and they really love it. Nice thing is one adult can go with each child. It's a pretty cool ride that does get crowded later in the day so also do that early if you can.

 

[damo]

One of our niece's favourite things was doing all the spells with her interactive wand. She loved the Gringotts ride and adored ET and Despicable Me. She also had a ton of fun in the interactive area (Fievel's playland and Curious George Kidzone) beside ET that has a huge ball building where you can shoot plastic balls around. Hard to get her out of there.


https://www.universalorlando.com/Rides/Rides-For-Kids.aspx

Your son may really enjoy the Superhero Cavalcade which is very interactive with autographs.

At Jurassic Park make sure you do the Raptor Encounter and plan on spending some time in the Jurassic Park playground. It is pretty amazing. The Jurassic Park Discovery Centre is also great for kids.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

Years ago bringing my Nephew at around that age it was a nightmare. So I'd say you know your kid best and maybe check out some of the milder rides(Prob videos of all of them on youtube)and you can make a good judgement call. Then again if you don't mind causing kid some slight trauma then years later you may be sitting around remembering and laughing about it.

 

[kohlby]

My youngest was 6 on our last trip and has sensory issues, resulting in him being more timid than the average 6 year old. He still had a lot of fun and we did 6 park days. He loved Woody Woodpecker coaster - doing it 10 times in a row one day! (And 10 times spread out more on two other days). He also loved the fountain and the ball place. There are play areas as well. He was okay going on MIB, but closed his eyes the entire time. My eldest loved MIB when he was only 3.5 years old. My eldest's first theme park ride ever was Spiderman, when he was barely 3. My middle child is a thrill-ride kid so she was doing every single ride she was tall enough for all along. Also, don't forget about the extras that aren't rides, like the fountain, the Animal Actors show, looking around, and yummy treats. Due to his sensory issues, my youngest refused to ride anything when he was 4 - even rides that 2 year olds could do. (This was at both Universal and Disney). But he still liked Universal thanks to Butterbeer, a chocolate frog, and the Simpson's donut.

 

[bumbershoot]

She also had a ton of fun in the interactive area (Fievel's playland and Curious George Kidzone) beside ET that has a huge ball building where you can shoot plastic balls around.

I LOVE that area.

Years ago bringing my Nephew at around that age it was a nightmare.

would you care to share what happened that made it a nightmare?

He loved Woody Woodpecker coaster - doing it 10 times in a row one day!

Ah yes. Woody. One morning (we gave Universal a really good "this'll be our only time here, it's only for Harry Potter" shot with 4 days there, onsite) DH slept in and DS and I set off. It was freakishly cold, that December 2010 day, and DS froze us with 14 times on Hippogriff in a row. On the last time around I noticed the sign saying that if the child was 48" (and tall enough for the ride in question) they could ride alone. Alone, blissfully alone.

I was already done with Hippogriff (that Gryffindor scarf you see was one of 3 scarves purchased immediately after disembarking FofH that 14th time), but DS closed out our day later on with 15 SOLO times on Woody.

And too-short kids can go through the lines at Universal, unlike at Disney. This isn't great for all kids and all rides, so choose wisely; DS was 10 or 11 before he finally would go into the line for Mummy with me (he will now ride it). He was cool seeing the queue for Forbidden Journey on that first trip but refused to ride it.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

would you care to share what happened that made it a nightmare?

Well not bad for me but he didn't enjoy it. He cried on Shrek(I actually would consider it him flipping out once the seats started moving), REFUSED to open his eyes on Terminator, and I spent 20 mins there waiting for him to stop crying to make him go on Jurassic Park. Actually on the JP ride we got stuck right up at the T-Rex which was actually a good thing because he got to see how fake it was. Also when he was a little older he cried in line for Harry Potter apparently(Mom just shared that story with me).'

My guess is that this isn't a common reaction to kids. My Niece who is younger than Nephew by 2 years never had these reactions. But I figure it's worth sharing my story because every kid is different and the OP at least has some experience on what the kid can handle since they've been to Disney.

 

[NEMouse]

Thank you for the shared stories and pictures! I booked Cabana Bay and expect to purchase the 2-day (but good for 3 day) park pass. We are looking forward to including Universal in our vacation!!!

Let the countdown begin

 

[bumbershoot]

Ds at 11 still hasn't gone to terminator. He hasn't seen the movie. Has seen T2 because a misguided adult friend of ours (who had apparently only seen the "for TV" version) said it was ok. Oops. A 6 year old at terminator isn't a choice a lot of us are going to make, I think.

Always assume that you will get stuck near the scariest part of the ride when deciding to go on it. Happened to us on FJ first or second time ds decided to ride. Right next to the acromantulas. Augh. Since I had ridden before we had already worked out signals for when he could close eyes then open them so I just delayed the "open eyes" leg squeeze.

Shrek is a hard one to gauge. Kids like the movie but the ride is a different story. And if adults don't know what it's like then kids can't be given a heads up. And the experience of those seats is so different for shorter vs taller people. Kids get it worse I think.

Important to know the kids, try to know the rides, and try to respect the kids for where they're at.

Ds finally admitted that he should've gone on Jaws. But we respected his fear of the concept of a gigantic shark and didn't force him. And now he'll never see it in Orlando. Oh well!

 

[kohlby]

As far as Terminator for a 6 year old, it was perfectly fine for my older two kids at 6. Actually, they may have seen it at 3 the first time. My youngest was 6 this last time and Terminator was fine for him as long as he had his noise reducing headphones.

All my kids did okay on Shrek but my thrill rider complained it was a little too jerky this last trip. This is the kid who loves RRR and didn't mind the jerkiness of Space Mountain at Disney.

Scary stuck parts might be different for a child than an adult too. We were stuck on ET this last trip, not too far from the end. One of the aliens has very deep set eyes and my 9 year old though that was very creepy.

 

[Funfire240]

This thread is perfect and I'm glad I found it! We're going to Universal for 2 days this upcoming November. DS will be 6.5 and DD will be 8.5. This answers questions I had

 

[Jonny_Duck]

Ds at 11 still hasn't gone to terminator. He hasn't seen the movie. Has seen T2 because a misguided adult friend of ours (who had apparently only seen the "for TV" version) said it was ok. Oops. A 6 year old at terminator isn't a choice a lot of us are going to make, I think.

Iirc it wasn't the same trip as the Shrek situation and he was older when 9 or 10 or so when I brought him to do that. But either way it's not something I would be afraid to show to a 6 year old. Besides the fire cracker sounds it's not that bad....He just for some reason is scared of 3D which is why he won't open his eyes or he'll watch it without the glasses on.

As far as the movies....Well T1 is a horror movie with nudity so I can see not showing that to a kid, But T2 is an action movie that is a very mild R rating and compared to PG13 movies these days it's probably not even that bad. Granted it probably wouldn't be the first movie I'd show to a 6 year old but if they saw it then I wouldn't worry too much about it.

But the ride is nothing like the movies...It's a PG version and one of my fav things to do at Universal.

Always assume that you will get stuck near the scariest part of the ride when deciding to go on it. Happened to us on FJ first or second time ds decided to ride. Right next to the acromantulas. Augh. Since I had ridden before we had already worked out signals for when he could close eyes then open them so I just delayed the "open eyes" leg squeeze.

I haven't been on FJ so I'm not sure how realistic it is....But I'll say that getting stuck at the scary part is very good because you can tell it's just a fake robot and it eases the fears of the kids a bit imo.

Important to know the kids, try to know the rides, and try to respect the kids for where they're at.

Ds finally admitted that he should've gone on Jaws. But we respected his fear of the concept of a gigantic shark and didn't force him. And now he'll never see it in Orlando. Oh well!

I personally don't believe in this. I believe adults know best. Kids imo are kinda dumb and don't know whats best for them. If it were up to them they'd be sitting at the computer/TV all day playing or watching Minecraft or League of Legends.

I remember when I was about 11 my Mom made me go on an upside down roller coaster....Something I never wanted to do. But I had a great time and now I've enjoyed years of being able to do it. But it's good that I had that experience and had I not enjoyed it she probably wouldn't have pushed me to do it again. But these are entertainment parks and as far as I'm concerned nothing here is "too scary" to experience.

Missing Jaws certainly isn't the end of the world. But just maybe in 20 years your kid might be thinking....Man I wish Mom would have made me do that so I could have experienced it.

But you're absolutely right that parents know their kids best and need to make that educated decision on what that kid can handle.

 

[Seeker615]

My youngest was 4 the first time we went and she loved it. Both parks have so much to do. My nephew was 5 the first time he went and enjoyed everything as well.

If he is into superheros there is a great meet and greet and they come out on ATV's. It's pretty cool. The animal actors show is a lot of fun as well.

There is ET, Minions, Scooby Doo, Men in Black, Seuss and so much more.