world of harry potter for a first grader

[manqvu]

Our daughter will be accompanying her aunt, uncle and older cousin who is a HP fan to universal studios this month. Our daughter has not read any HP and is 46 inches tall. She likes all rides at DLR and DCA (we re Californians) including all the mountains and dark rides. The exception is tower of terror, she is afraid during the TV scene but otw loves the ride.

Our questions are:

1. Is she to short for the rides in world of HP?

2. Have you gone to this with children who have not read HP, and if so, do these children enjoy the rides?

3. Are the rides scary for a 6 year old? How do they compare to haunted mansion or tower of terror?

4. Aside from HP, is there much to do for a 6 year old at US?

5. How many days is needed to enjoy the park?

TIA

 

[bumbershoot]

*Dragon Challenge™ - Must be at least 54"

*Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™ - Must be 48"

Flight of the Hippogriff™ - Children between 36"-48" must be accompanied by a Supervising Companion.

Hippogriff is a really cute coaster that's fairly basic. Watching it from below feels like it's super-high, but it doesn't feel that way when you're on it. It's probably like a really short-lasting Big Thunder. Longer than Gadget's Go Go Coaster but not by much, LOL.


There's also Ollivander's wand shop, which is a boring line followed by a show where one (sometimes two) person is picked to let a wand pick them. A few little tricks and the wand is figured out. The person doesn't get to keep the wand unless they pay for it. And they don't have to get it.

Some people really like this. If you want to see it, do it first thing in the morning. Again, the line is boring.

Universal allows everyone into the lines (unlike Disneyland and DisneyWorld). There will be a place for her and an adult to wait while the others ride, and then you switch.

The line through the castle is really neat, but it's dark in places and could be a bit spooky. My son loves TOT as a ride, but HATES the spooky stuff, so he has to really be brave (even now at 9) to go through Hogwarts.


Wizarding World is really cool and neat and interesting. And when she does start to read the books (or be read the books, like we did with DS because he was on the later side of reading) and looks at your pictures, it will be cool for her to know she's already been there.


Height info for rides here.


The one nice thing about having a younger child is that you guys will be able to ride Pteranodon Flyers. It's a weird ride with a minimum and maximum height; now that my son is so tall, we can't ride it anymore. Which isn't sad for me (it was too scary for me because it felt high and dangerous) but DH did enjoy riding it. DS did, too, so he's sad. On the other hand, he can now ride everything else in the parks, so that works for him.


Here is the page for rides for kids.


Since you guys are in CA, eventually you'll be able to visit Wizarding World at "your" Universal, so if she can't ride a whole lot on your trip, in a couple years she'll be able to have a re-do without having to fly across the country.

 

[prudence64]

There wouldn't be much for my second grade daughter to do in Harry potter world. She might make the 48" height requirement, but she hates thrill rides so I guess it depends on you child's height and tolerance for roller coasters.

 

[RMulieri]

My DD was in 2nd grade and super short( and timid) when we took her the first time.She had a great time ...HOWEVER ...the only ride she rode at Harry Potter was Flight of the Hippogriff coaster ( small coaster similar to goofys barnstormer at WDW).She also walked thru the castle, the shop and did the wand show..That was it for the Wizarding world.She enjoyed the rest of the parks more, but even then wouldnt ride much..A year later we went back and she went on almost everything except the major coasters ( hulk, Dragon Challenge and Rip ride rocket)

 

[NatMomto2]

We just got back from IOA and I have a 7 yr old son in Grade 1. He's 49 inches tall and loves rides. He was able to do the castle ride and he adored it. We all did. It was fantastic. But if your child doesn't like coasters, motion simulator rides or 3D images then this isn't for them. We did Star Tours at DHS earlier in our trip as a <test> and both kids were fine. Then we moved onto to Transformers and Spiderman (also fantastic). But the Harry Potter ride is like those rides on steroids. It really swings you around but its fantastic!

He also rode the Hippograph ride all by himself! His big sister didn't want to be alone so I rode with her while he sat ahead all by himself and he LOVED it. Its a super mild coaster. Both kids were like <that's it> when we got off!

Hope that helps.

 

[bumbershoot]

He also rode the Hippograph ride all by himself! His big sister didn't want to be alone so I rode with her while he sat ahead all by himself and he LOVED it. Its a super mild coaster. Both kids were like <that's it> when we got off!

Hope that helps.

That's why my son loves having the express pass with the hotel, so he can say "that's it?" and do it another 10 times in a row. By the end of those rides, it's not a "that's it?" ride anymore!