will my kids enjoy IOA and US

[nj2txmom]

My family (daughters aged 11 and 12 and DH)and I have decided to vacation in Orlando in June, after taking a 6 year break from Central Florida.
We were planning on going to US and IOA. My questions are.. is June 17th-21st going to be super crowded? My DH is terribly inpatient and will not wait on long lines. Also, is IOA geared for smaller kids or bigger kids. My kids like adult roller coaster/scary rides.
TIA for any help!!!

 

[Metro West]

We were planning on going to US and IOA. My questions are.. is June 17th-21st going to be super crowded? My DH is terribly inpatient and will not wait on long lines. Also, is IOA geared for smaller kids or bigger kids. My kids like adult roller coaster/scary rides.
TIA for any help!!!

It sounds like your kids will love IoA if they like the coasters and thrill rides! You will be visiting when the busy summer season is just hitting full swing so the crowds will be heavy and lines long. About the only two choices you'd have to avoid the long lines are purchase the Express Plus pass for once through the line but those are $69.99/per person for the two park EP which will be expensive or stay onsite for one night and get unlimited Express access for two days. You'd have to check the rates to see what's available but that's an option.

You can check the Universal website to see where everything is and YouTube for ride videos so you know what to expect.

 

[glocon]

Out of those two options Metro mentioned, I would reccomend staying onsite. One of the perks of staying onsite is unlimited express passes (unlike the purchased ep's which are only good for one time per ride and quite expensive). Besides the unlimited ep, not having to ever drive anywhere- you can walk to either park or citywalk, or take a boat-is another great perk. Not to mention one hour early entry into IoA for Harry Potter. Universal is just a whole different experience when staying onsite!

 

[schumigirl]

Your kids sound as if they will absolutely love it there.

If you can, stay onsite for the Express Pass Perks....it will make a huge difference, and good for an impatient DH.

The 3 hotels are lovely and it`s lovely to be able to wander back and forth and relax for a while in the pool, then head back later if you feel like it.

 

[TheAviator]

Oh yeah they will definitely love it. Keep in mind its not really a roller coaster park, although there are several, but most of the rides are really well done "theme" rides, similar to pirates of the caribbean or haunted mansion. But yes they will love it. If crowds are an issue with your husband tell you to book your hotel rooms with the onsite hotels and you get automatic free front of the line access with your room keys. Definitely comes in handy on the crowded days.

 

[labfan]

The last time we went my kids were 11 & 13 and they loved both parks. And this was before Harry Potter arrived.

 

[macraven]

ioa and the studios have many things for families to enjoy together.
ioa also has 3 water rides.

characters are in both parks and it's not only the kids that like them.


go to www.universalorlando.com and see what is in both of the parks.
you can also check out www.citywalk.com

 

[reelmom]

We have been doing IOA/US since my kids were 3 and 4. There has always been enough to do. Now that they are almost 10 and 11, they prefer US/IOA over Disney. I agree with staying onsite. We did this for the first time last summer and will never stay offsite at Universal again. Early entry for WWoHP, unlimited express pass, water taxi, and pool hopping at the 3 hotels makes for a relaxing trip.

 

[glocon]

The first couple of times we went to UO we did not stay on site. When we finally did stay on site, it was so different, so much better, that once we did it, we would never not stay onsite when doing UO. It really makes that much of a difference.

 

[tajz90]

I agree with the other posters. We will no longer visit Universal without staying onsite. Our last visit was at Christmas and we booked for one night and visited the park two days with front of the line pass. We stayed late the second day, got in our car and drove to cheaper hotel.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

My kids are 12, 13 and 14 and they love IOA/US more than they love Disney. If your kids aren't afraid of riding big coasters and thrill rides they will be in hog heaven. They have exciting rides like no other parks have except maybe Busch Gardens.

WWOHP is my favorite thing in any of the parks.

I think on our next adults only trip DH and I may try staying onsite for one night so we can get 2 days of front of the line passes.

You can always just BUY the Express pass but if you do you only get to use it once on each ride. If you are staying onsite you can use it as many times on each ride as you want to.

US has a lot of good shows that are good for the whole family to see. My favorite is the Beetlejuice Rock n Roll music show. They have a Terminator 3D show and a Horror Make Up show. (not scary, it is a comedy)

There is also a great show in IOA called Poseidon's Fury that is awesome. It has water elements and fire elements.

Also when you are in IOA tell your kids to find the talking water fountain. It is in the Sinbad area between Seuss land and WWOHP. It will be on your right as you walk through going towards Harry Potter.

He doesn't talk all the time but if you catch him when he is he talks to the kids and jokes around with them and he tries to squirt them and get them wet. It is hilarious. On our October 2011 trip I got about a 4 minute video where he (the water fountain) was interacting with my 3 kids. They were really cutting up with him and joking back. He is very quick witted and can ask you questions and think of things to say right off the top of his head that are seriously funny.

If you all have never been I would try to give yourself one day in each park. We have season passes but when we take the kids we get them park hopper tickets. They call them park to park tickets because we take less time making our way through US. Then when we get done at US we hop over to IOA.

I don't think you will regret going. They are great parks.

 

[atomicgirl]

If your kids enjoy thrill rides, they will love these parks!! It will be busy in June, but there are lots of things to see, and sounds like there are some great perks to staying on site. Can't wait until my kids are older and enjoy thrill rides more!