Advice for first trip to HP with two children - kind of overwhelmed!

[dakota5176]

Hi,

I want to take my children (girl 11 and boy 7) to Universal. They really love Harry Potter so that would be my focus but I might try some of the other attractions. My kids don't really like roller coasters or scary experiences. They'd enjoy a pool with a small water slide but again nothing really scary.

How many days should I allow?

What attractions are not to be missed with kids?

Best kid tips?

TIA

 

[damo]

They would enjoy all of Seuss Landing, Spiderman, Popeye, Kong (not really scary), Minions, Shrek, ET, Men in Black, Simpsons, Fallon, perhaps Transformers and the HP areas.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I took my 10 and 5 year old daughters last September and, in addition to the attractions Damo mentioned, they really loved Jurassic Park River Adventure and Ripsaw Falls (rode it several times in a row). We also had a surprisingly good time in the Curious George play area (there is a place to shoot balls at each other). We are big fans of Camp Jurassic and like to spend time exploring the area. Pteranodon Flyers is one of our favorite rides, but your twelve year old is probably too tall. Your seven year old can probably ride and you can ride with him (you have to be under 54" or with a child under that height to ride).

We had fun eating in the Simpsons area, too.


My kids LOVED the pool at PBR and at RP. They both have sand play areas, but if I recall correctly, there is no slide at RP. You can pool hop, so if you have a lot of down time, you could pick a resort pool and try it out- even if you are not staying there. I would schedule down time at the pool if I were you. The pools are awesome. We had so much fun going to the pool first thing in the morning because there was practically no one there. Most guests head to the parks in the morning. We had no need since we had the free express passes and could go any time of the day and not wait in long lines.

My advice:

Stay as long as you can. We stayed seven nights and it was not too much because we enjoyed lots of relaxing down time and a few hours every day in the parks.
If you have to have a shorter trip, plan at least three park days. There is a lot to see and do.
Stay in a deluxe on site, if you can afford it. The express passes are great- especially with impatient kids.
Plan some pool time. The pools are fun and beautiful.
Study maps before you go and get the Universal app on your phone. It's great to have a plan and know where you are going.
Read about the restaurants and find a few you would like to try when you are there. We have eaten at several and the only one I would say stay away from is the Comic Book Cafe. It was not good. At all.
The water rides like Popeye, Ripsaw, and Jurassic Park get you soaked. Plan a few hours to just ride them, or ride them at the end of the day, or wear shoes you don't mind walking around in wet. They are conveniently close to each other. One evening we dressed specifically for water rides and just rode them.
Bring a waterproof lanyard. It was great for storing my phone, license, credit card, tickets, and hotel key cards.

Have a great time!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

While the Kong ride itself isn't that scary, the queue is dark and creepy and has intentional scares.

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

What perfect ages for them to experience HP come to life! There is always a fine line between challenging your kids to try new experiences and traumatizing them...we have a great pic of our 3 year old daughter on Tower of Terror, so you know which end of the spectrum we fall on...

With that being said, if you are able to stay multiple days, maybe trying "challenge by choice" and having them try 1 ride per day that they may be skeptical of, just to see if they end up liking it. That same 3 year old daughter that we put on Tower of Terror, now absolutely LOVES Mummy but is still weary of ET, go figure.

If big drops are not for them, no big deal, but start on Woody or the Flight of the Hippogriff, then move up to something a bit more daring. And despite the name, the Horror Make Up Show is a great day one show, it is so funny and does show them how the monsters are created and that they are not real, that might be a fun way to make a breakthrough on the "scary" stuff.

Although different types of experiences, I think the Castle is as intense as any coaster I've been on.

Enjoy the memories!!!

 

[klo1335]

I was worried about this as well when we went the first time and my youngest was 5. She loved it! She wouldn't go on any of the coasters. She loved Ptrantadon Flyers which you have to be under a certain height to ride. ET was also a favorite. She rode Kong and Transformers without any issues. She also just loved looking at everything. We are going back in November for our 3rd visit and she will be 8. I keep asking her if she wants to ride Escape from Gringotts cause I think she would love it but she keeps saying no. I won't force it but I keep hoping. Have so much fun! We always go for no less then 3 full days in the parks.

 

[pattyw]

I think that the HP rides are a little intense. I thought the Forbidden Journey was very intense for me- the one part that rocks you almost upside down is a little much! Gringotts is my favorite though! They are a bit dark and scary but if the kids love HP they should be fine. Gringotts is part coaster and has a small drop at the beginning- but the rest is like Spiderman- a moving, spinning car going through 3D scenes.

 

[shanew21]

2.5 or 3 days is generally my recommendation for first-timers. It's enough to do everything you want to, but not too much that you'd feel like you're wasting time/money if you or your kids don't enjoy it. Subsequent trips are another story.

If you can afford it, stay at one of the hotels with Express Passes as they let you skip all the lines.

The castle ride is slightly intense with various "scary" things jumping out at you, but in terms of the actual ride aspect, it's quite tame.

 

[macraven]

So start with reading some of the trip reports

Some posters are very detailed about what they do and ride in the parks

Many have pictures and list ages of the kids

Also, all the above posters have covered what else I would have said

They are pros in guiding others that need help for the parks

 

[dakota5176]

Thank you all for your replies. It was very helpful!

 

[Kivara]

On the Studios side, the Feivel and Curious George play areas are the best, my kids have spent hours there. There's a kiddie water slide and a lot of fun things to do. Near by are Woody Woodpecker's kiddie coaster and E.T.

 

[GoldmanTrust]

I have an 8 year old girl. We have done 3 Septembers in a row and also gone to Universal Studios Hollywood once. We fly in from Scandinavia, so it is quite a trip for us.

Anyways. We stay at around 14 days and go to the parks every day. We never stay to long, we just cherry pick the rides we want to do and then maybe take a few days exploring what we like to see.

Her first ride in the parks was The Mummy.
And she cried after wards. We didn’t know how scary it would be. She wanted to leave the park and never return.

We went straight to the Simpsons and she LOVED IT. We rode it 8-9 times in a row. And we took it from there. Just last year she wanted to try The Hulk and RRR. And loved it. And we rode those many many many times over our stay.

My point is. Sometimes its about incremental steps. My girl grows up a loton our vacations. She has to speak a new language and differen culture. And a part of that is trying new things. Pushing her self. We also did Magic Kingdom last year and she felt there weren’t enough thrill rides. So i guess it is REALLY personal. She is not the daring type in real life, but she just decided to try all coasters and loved it.