Universal studios tips

[skategirl128]

We’re heading to universal studios in Florida for DS1’s band trip the first week of April. I’m going separately from them with DS2. Any tips for this park with a 2.5 year old? I’m tagging in and out of the teenage portion and we’ve gotten great tips for them but nothing really for universal with a little. My niece (5) and my sister will also be with us. Anything we should make sure to do?

[Cher]

Sooooo…. You’re not going to like this answer. But we did Universal last year with all 3 and it’s not great for little ones. We prob won’t go back until my youngest is around 5. There’s only a handful of rides without height requirements. There’s also a play area in the Dr Suess area. But, all in all, it’s not really a theme park that caters to the younger sect. If you are going to be separate from the older kids, I would consider maybe going to Disney for the day for a little kid theme park.

[AmyG]

I was gonna say what Cher said.
Not really great for Littles

[starrynight]

The Seuss area and Camp Jurassic would be good spots to hang out with younger children. There is a ride by Simpsons that is essentially their version of the Dumbo ride. Another ride in the park is like a version of tea cups. So there are things sprinkled throughout, but the bulk of the rides are for older kids.

I don't know how your trip is structured and if you need to be at Universal, but it is pretty easy to taxi to WDW from there for about $15-20 each way. We did the reverse when MH had a conference at WDW, but my daughter and I wanted to do Harry Potter.

[Wtfshouldmynamebe]

Same answers as above. These parks aren’t great for anyone below the height limit for rides.

If you are doing it, learn about child swap. Stay at a hotel with express pass.

You see very few strollers at universal for a reason.

[Wtfshouldmynamebe]

If you are just going because the band trip is heading there, I would make this a rest/pool day. 2.5 and 5 will not enjoy themselves.

[skategirl128]

Thanks for the advice so far!

So I have one day that has to be a universal day (the day they march I am a chaperone- I’m a part of the board so I’m always there with DS2). I’m not worried about the parade portion- he’s no stranger to that routine. He will watch with my sister and niece while I’m with the band.

We’ve done amusement parks before and I will say that he’s not much of a rider. Does universal have a lot to look at? They both enjoy exploring and looking around. Seuss was on our list and we were thinking of spending time at Harry Potter (my sister and I would love to do the rides there). We do have a park to park pass as a part of the band access.

I’m also not opposed to going for the parade and then leaving when the two of them are over it. That’s the shortest park day for the band- really I only have to cover 12-5 in the park (and might or might not have teens directly with me during that time).

Thankfully the rest of the trip I can either hang at the resort and I do have 1 day where I’m off duty completely. My sister and I are now considering a Disney day for that day and then just enjoying the pools and other things Orlando offers.

[starrynight]

The Harry Potter area has so much to look at. It is between two parks, but the Hogwarts Express goes between the two. The lines for that can be ridiculously long though and out of all the Harry Potter lines, it was the least interesting.

We spent a lot of time exploring that area. There are some performances there that younger kids might sit for? The Universal app was helpful. It had schedules and wait times. There are interactive elements with wands, but I think 2.5 and 5 are on the young side for that. The wands are also like $70. I heard people buy them 2nd hand before going, otherwise, I wouldn't buy one for how short your trip is.
Eta: if you are riding the HP rides, definitely try to find a time when Hagrid's Motorbike isn't crazy. It was really well done!

[coffeecake]

You’ve gotten good advice so far. The Dr. Seuss area would probably be the best for that age. If he’s into dinosaurs at all, the Jurassic Park welcome center building could be fun. There are some interactive activities and sometimes there are baby dinos
“hatching” that you can see. It was actually pretty cute.

[caer]

We were there last year and my youngest (he was 5 at the time) LOVED the Jurassic park area. They have the coolest playground there. Lots to climb and explore. Both of my kids could honestly have stayed there all day. All of the Harry Potter areas are neat. You can also go in the castle and walk through the queue - just let them know you’re not riding and they’ll let you walk around.

They have a really great rider swap program. Each ride has a little waiting area. So if you want to ride something and your kiddo isn’t tall enough, you can make it work.

They have a bunch of shows, too. We didn’t have time to do most of them but I think they have an animal show that would be good for small kids. Also a stunt show that might work?

It’s not the best park for littles but I think it can still be a lot of fun. It’s gigantic and there’s tons of stuff to look at.

[roselab]

They might also get a kick out of interacting with some of the characters (if they don't find them scary). We didn't bother to stop and look at any of the characters because we were all about the rides with teens, but I think some of them are pretty neat (like the transformers) even if their rides are lame lol. Also, there was a show called 'Animal Actors on Location' about how they train the live animals they use in commercials and tv shows/movies that my dd (who granted, is an animal lover) loved, but would probably be appropriate for littles if they like animals at all. They asked for kid volunteers from the audience for a few tricks too.

[skategirl128]

Mar 16, 2024 6:22:10 GMT -6 roselab said:

They might also get a kick out of interacting with some of the characters (if they don't find them scary). We didn't bother to stop and look at any of the characters because we were all about the rides with teens, but I think some of them are pretty neat (like the transformers) even if their rides are lame lol. Also, there was a show called 'Animal Actors on Location' about how they train the live animals they use in commercials and tv shows/movies that my dd (who granted, is an animal lover) loved, but would probably be appropriate for littles if they like animals at all. They asked for kid volunteers from the audience for a few tricks too.

My niece is minion obsessed so we are hoping to possibly meet one of them!

[Wtfshouldmynamebe]

Is the parade at studios or islands of adventure? Are your passes park to park?

Seuss is at Islands. Studios does have some minion stuff they may be able to do.

[starrynight]

Mar 16, 2024 7:30:30 GMT -6 skategirl128 said:

My niece is minion obsessed so we are hoping to possibly meet one of them!

They had a Minion photo stop at the end of the Minion Mayhem ride. I think you could probably get to them from the store at the end of the ride too.

[skategirl128]

Mar 16, 2024 9:04:06 GMT -6 Wtfshouldmynamebe said:

Is the parade at studios or islands of adventure? Are your passes park to park?

Seuss is at Islands. Studios does have some minion stuff they may be able to do.

The parade is at universal studios but we do have park to park tickets.

[skategirl128]

Bumping this to say we had the best day today! We went in with very low expectations and it was hands down the best experience! The parade was awesome and the band did great! My niece and DS2 met so many characters- that alone made their day. We actually rode quite a bit- minions had a stationary seating that allows littles (so no motion but it’s like an imax viewing), ET, all of the Seuss rides, hogwarts train and Simpsons saucers. They had a wand that we borrowed and even though they couldn’t always figure it out they loved the experience. There was so much to look at.

I had teens tapping in and out with me for 5 hours. They all had a blast too! They did all the things- I just had to keep up via text and app and face to face once every other hour. So many smiles today!

My highlight was the butterbeer! So good! That’s on my must have again.

We have one more park day with just DS2 and the band this week.

[adelbert]

That sounds like a fantastic day for everyone!

[skategirl128]

So day 2 was just as good if not better than the first day! I had teens in and out again (and surprisingly wanted to do the Seuss rides with Ds2).

We did those all again, got butterbeer with the teens (left them with the potter rides but we did see inside the castle), zapped some minions and played on all of the play areas. DS2 met so many characters- much more than you would encounter at a Disney park. They were everywhere! We saw Spider-Man, Poppy, Gabby, a couple x-men, Sam I am, grinch, things 1and 2, the Lorax, branch, and the cat in the hat. We saw a Dino “hatch” and he got a huge cookie treat.

We did get the photo pass for 3 days for DS1 and that was awesome. They have a lot of photo pass locations and we have all his ride photos digitally (plus some character encounters but not many of those had photo people). DH got his pic with the DeLorean and the Jurassic park car.

I’m so happy it all went smoothly!

[Wtfshouldmynamebe]

I’m so glad this went well. I forgot about the characters because my kids just didn’t like that (although the youngest thought the transformers were cool). I will say I love universal because it is so much less stress