Is Universal studios worth taking our 4 year old son?

[frankiemom]

If it is which ticket should we buy -I only wanted to go one day not the 2 day pass. Also anywhere good to eat breakfast and dinner there? Thanks

 

[NE4ME]

Bumping this ?. I've got a four year old also. Which park would be better for him. thanks

 

[Humpbacks1962]

My youngest one was freaked out at 3 1/2. Everything scared him: Earthquake was too real, Jaws, don't even mention King Kong...

If you can wait a little longer until he can differentiate fact from fiction, I think he'll appreciate it more

Wanda

 

[deena]

would enjoy as there are many areas in the park as well as shows that cater to this age group and I've seen many smaller kids of various ages enjoying themselves a lot.

In US, such things as the Curious George Goes To Town Play Area, Woody Wood Pecker's Kid Zone, A Day in the Park with Barney, Fievel's Playland, and Animal Actors Stage show. Likewise at IOA, there's the whole Seuss Playland and Toon Lagon areas. So, overall I would say that although what both of these parks offer are definitely not the same they do have interesting activities for people of all ages.

 

[LeahA]

I have a 4-1/2 year old boy, he went to Universal when he was 1-1/2 and 2-1/2 and IOA when he was 3-1/2. He meets most all of the height requirements for Universal and misses a handfull at IOA. I think both parks are fun, I think Universal is a little tamer than IOA, but wouldn't hesitate visiting either. As far as the rides go, my ds is a daredevil, he loves to go on every kind of ride, we never had a problem with him being scared.

I sometimes have more fun at these parks than I do at Disney!!!

Leah

 

[Babblin'Boo]

My kids like USF more than Disney too. But you often don't know how your small child will react until something comes out of the nowhere and freaks him out for the rest of the trip!

You know your kid. Play it by ear.

 

[locoexw]

Hey there...

read my trip report... I just did USF / IOA, stayed at Hard Rock. I was ALONE with my 1 1/2 year old and my 4 year old. We had a GREAT TIME!

Some ideas for making it fun - I brought an envelope with quarters and pennies for the PENNY SMASH machines. There's a list of these somewhere on the net - can get it for you... This makes the shops fun without having to buy a big souvenir. Also, bring extra pennies to throw in the various fountains around ALL the parks (and Citywalk) (and even Disney). Both of these things made the walking around time fun for my guys. Even the 1 1/2 year old gets the throwing pennies in a fountain.

Anyway, here's a little more about the hard part of going with a 4 year old...

The first night we went on ET. Noah (4) freaked out in the line and screamed in the intro movie part. I know everyone thought I was a terrible Mom, but I made him go on even screaming. I knew if I didn't we would have nothing to do for the 3 1/2 days we were there!! I also KNOW MY SON and I know that he would be okay once the ride started.

You know your child better than anyone in the world, so you will have to gauge what rides to do.

FYI, Noah later (3rd day) freaked out in the WAITING AREA for BARNEY. I will be telling his girlfriends about this 15 years from now!!! Once we went in he was fine. Except he kept asking me if it was going to get dark, and I said "no" - couldn't imagine that it would! And then it got dark.

By the last night we went on the KONG ride and Noah LOVED it.

The Seuss area alone (In IOA) could keep a child busy for quite a while. Also, the play area in Jurassic Park. Strangely, my son thought that examining the dinosaur egg in the Jurassic Park Discovery area was the coolest thing. He also really liked watching the big boat take the final dive right across from there. Over at USF, the Curious George area is great (but very WET). The Barney show is right there, too.

Good luck if you decide to try it!

Please email me if you have more questions. I have done this and had a REALLY REALLY GREAT TIME!

Elaine

 

[A1A1]

Elaine,
Was wondering if there were enough things for you to do together with your kids, or did you find yourself standing or sitting watching them play in the play areas, etc. Also were there enough things for you to do in order to justify the cost of park tickets. It sounds like a lot of play areas, and am not sure I want to buy UO park tickets this year for play areas.

dd is already afraid of the dark, so I don't want to torture her with dark scary stuff. Sounds like a lot of that at UO. Also, spending a week at wdw, and just don't know if there is enough for her to do at 4yo to justify buying uo park tickets this year. Thinking I should wait a few years until she likes to be scared out of her mind on coasters and the rest.

 

[sha_lyn]

It really depends on the kid. My DD was 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 for our 2 trips. Last yr she did everything she could and was only scared by JAWS. This yr it was the only thing she refused to do. She was tall enough for Spiderman this yr and loved it. She had a fit when she couldn't ride men in black or the hulk. Her favorites are ET,The flying Unicorn, anything in SeussLanding, and that is all (I am quoting her). Last yr she rode kong and loved it. This yr it scared her a little but in her words "not too much".

2 yrs ago we went to WDW and her favorite things by far were the play areas. I had to jsut relax and realize that it didn't matter if it were a ride or a paly area she enjoyed just as long as she liked it. Last yr. it was the same thing at US/IOA. This yr she really didn't want to bother with the play areas

BTW if you do go to US this yr the barney play area is inside. It was great for last yr during the hottest part of the day.

 

[mirlow]

We are thinking about trying out one of the parks? We are going to stay 3 nights at HRH at the end of our 7 day WDW 4 day Gulf Coast excersion. The hotel looks beautiful and I wanted to stay somewhere to relax and just hang out. I didn't want to drive 7 hrs from the Coast and then fly home. Now I am wondering if we should go to one of the parks? We have 3 kids (7,3.5, and 1). Which park would be better for our family? I only want to go to one park for one day, although the 5 day pass is pretty appealining

 

[mirlow]

We are thinking about trying out one of the parks? We are going to stay 3 nights at HRH at the end of our 7 day WDW 4 day Gulf Coast excersion. The hotel looks beautiful and I wanted to stay somewhere to relax and just hang out. I didn't want to drive 7 hrs from the Coast and then fly home. Now I am wondering if we should go to one of the parks? We have 3 kids (7,3.5, and 1). Which park would be better for our family? I only want to go to one park for one day, although the 5 day pass is pretty appealing