First Time - Are the Universal parks worth it?

[mrs.pixiedust]

My family experienced US for the first time in September. Ages ranging from 60 down to 9mo., none of us really enjoyed it. I feel that most of the rides are outdated. Even my 4 yr old dd thought Jaws was cheesy. We did not go to IOA. Hopefully, it's much better. The best part was letting my dd play in the Curious George water park. We do not regret going because now we know that we are not missing out on anything when we don't go back! I highly recommend Sea World as an alternative. They even have a new rollercoaster. We all had a much better time there. I guess US just didn't live up to the standards we had in mind after years of experiencing the magic of Disney.

 

[UrsulaFan]

Another YES for IOA & USF!!! Our 2 DSs, 8yo & 10 yo, loved them!! We had only planned 1 day at each, but they couldn't wait to leave WDW to go back to use up our third day ticket!!

DH & 10 yo are going to Webelo Camp for Cub Scouts this summer for 1 week & 8 yo DS thinks the 2 of us should go back while they are gone!!

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says.................................................................... We are missing the most important information here. How many days are you there? If this is six days in 6 parks, forget about it. My DD who is the best traveling child I have ever seen, managed,as a 7 year old, on a seven day trip, 2 on 1 off 2 on 1 off 1 on. How many off days do you have planned?? If the answer is none then skip USF/IOA. But, if you can make room, their parks are not dirty, they have some great attractions, so you should try them!!

 

[pixiemomma]

I DON'T KNOW WHAT PLANET SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE FROM BUT I HAVE BEEN TO US AND IOA TWICE AND LOVED IT. MY SISTER & FAMILY LIVE IN THE ORLANDO AREA AND MUCH PREFER IT TO DISNEY. (I WOULDN'T GO THAT FAR) THEY ARE DEFINATLY MORE TEEN/ADULT ORIENTED PARKS, THOUGH. THE YOUNGEST PERSON WE WENT WITH WAS MY NEPHEW WHO WAS 7 AT THE TIME AND HE ENJOYED IT. I ACTUALLY FOUND THE PEAK SEASON CROWDS AT US MUCH FRIENDLER AND PLEASANT THEN THOSE AT MK.

 

[ksdave]

As you can see by my sig, I have been doing WDW since it opened. I love it, even at my advanced age
But USF/IOA is really awesome! I think in many respects they have caught and surpassed WDW. When we went in May, we did two days at USF/IOA and five on-site at WDW (AS Sports). If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely do three, maybe four days at USF/IOA. My DS, 9, and his friend Bryce, also 9, and my DD, 11, absolutely loved it. And for me, I saw alot of examples where they have surpassed WDW:

- At WDW, you still have to do the Tram if you stay offsite. USF now has covered parking garages which connect to the parks via moving walkways.
- At WDW, there are a few fans here and there on the lines. At USF, they have a ton of fans with water misters on all of the lines (really important when its 90 degrees).
- Compare similar rides: MIB vs. Buzz Lightyear. MIB is a brand new ride with crazy twists and turns. Buzz uses the same old track and all from If You Had Wings. Splash Mtn is a 75' drop vs. Jurrasic's 85', steeper drop.

For folks with kids 8 or 9 and older, I think USF/IOA is a must see. We loved it!

 

[leebee]

I think DisneyDad is right- how long will you be in Orlando? You said a week...is that seven whole days for touring or do you arrive on Saturday, tour Sun-Fri, and fly home on Sat? If you only have 6 days for touring, I'd get 4day ph at Disney and go to Sea World or get a 5 day ph at WDW. How media savvy is your 6 yo DD? I have an 8yo DD who wouldn't get too much out of IoA because she doesn't watch or know any of those cartoons/movies, with the exception of Seuss, and is still too young for the thrill rides. If your 8yo enjoys the cartoons/movies around which IofA is built, then get a 4 day ph at WDW and go to IofA one day. Personally, if you just have 6 days to tour, I'd say stick to Disney. DD was 5 1/2 the first time we took her, and the 4 day park hopper was not enough! Part of what will slow you down on your first trip is the character interactions at Disney. How do you say "no" to a child who wants to take the time to meet ALL SEVEN of the Dwarfs? My daughter was character hungry the first trip to WDW, not so much on the subsequent trips. And trust me, you will get tired! Along about the third day of Orlando theme parks, I start yearning for that vacation at the beach where polite young gentlemen bring you tall frosty drinks with umbrellas, where you NEVER set the alarm clock and get to stay up past 10pm every night... wherever you go, two things will happen: (1)You won't get to see/do everything, and (2) you'll come to accept the fact that YOU'LL BE BACK!!

 

[beattyfamily]

We did not do it on our first trip in 1998 but IOA wasn't even open then.

Then on our second trip, we went to IOA and Universal. We went the first week of December 2000. Our 4 year old DD LOVED IOA!!! We could not tear her away from Suess Landing or "Whoville" I should say. If you family loves the Grinch, then it's a MUST!!! It was the highlight of our daughter's vacation. Because of this, we're going again in 3 weeks, in hopes of seeing the Grinch again and the Whoville people walking around...

Everyone else already told you all the other great rides etc...for little ones; I just wanted to mention "Grinchmas" at IOA in the Suess Landing section....

 

[Partridge4ever]

I agree you need to plan some "down time." My DH's rule is 2 park days, 1 pool/shop/sleep-in day. You also will probably need more than 1 day at MK. On our first trip, we planned to do Universal (IOA wasn't open yet) on our last day, but decided to spend an extra day at the MK instead.

If you plan to go back to Orlando in the future, get a pass for Universal/IOA that allows you to park hop. We did both parks in one day last year and we didn't even stay til closing. We missed a lot, but we saw the things that were most appropriate for our 5 year old. It was not dirty and no one was rude. We found it no less magical than Disney. I'm looking forward to going back. Your DD may have outgrown Barney, but the look on my kids' faces was priceless.

I don't know the official names for the rides, but I'll briefly outline our day. We started w/IOA and did all the Seuss stuff first, where we were held up in line for the snow ride because they were filming a commercial. We did the Cat in the Hat twice. Then Spider Man. Waited forever for Pteranadon Flyers. This is NOT worth an hour wait. We rode the Jurassic Park water ride and played in the play area. Rode a unicorn roller coaster that for some reason terrified my DD who is usually a daredevil. We ate at the Popeye restaurant and saw the Seuss Christmas show before moving on to Universal. At Universal we saw the Barney show and spent about an hour in the play area, did the Fieval slide a gazillion times, ET, Back to the Future, Hanna Barbera. We did Men in Black, but DD didn't care for it. We intended to see Nick Studios, but I failed to realize that it closed earlier than the rest of the park. In-laws were hungry so we left about 5 pm. If we had stayed til closing (as I'd intended ) we could've done Curious George and Animal Actors. Like I said, there's a lot we had to miss, but we were satisfied. We still have 2 days on our tickets for next time.

 

[candyht]

My 4 year old twin daughters loved Universal & IOA. At Universal, there's a really fun place called Curious George Playground. My whole family, especially DH had a blast here. Put your DD in a bathing suit and let her run through the sprinklers and fountains - she'll love it. There's also a 2 story ball playground here. You shoot foam balls out of canons at other people. My girls really enjoyed vacumming the balls up into the machines. If you daughter loves Barney, as my daughters do, there's an excellent stage show. The theatre is really pretty - looks like a park. At the end of the show, all the kids gather around the stage and Barney gives all them a hug. Next to the theatre, there's an indoor play area that my kids really enjoyed. Universal & IOA have numerous play areas that you will have to drag your kids away from.

My kids loved Seuss Landing at IOA, but otherwise they didn't enjoy the rest of the park. They are under 40", so they didn't meet the height requirement for a lot of rides. They LOVED One Fish, Two Fish and Cat in the Hat Rides. We rode both rides several times, since there were no lines. I love Disney, but I think that Seuss Landing is better themed. Also, Spiderman is the most amazing attraction that I've ever been on. Dudley Do Right Falls is the best water flume ride - but be warned that everyone on this ride gets very wet.

IOA is geared more toward teenagers, but the theming of this park and it's rides are really excellent. I also agree that Mythos is an excellent restaurant. They are only open for a few hours a day - just for lunch when we went last month.

We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and we didn't use Front of the Line Access very much. The park wasn't very crowded. But the Hard Rock Hotel is very nice. The rooms are really nice. The beds were sooooo comfortable. If you have an Entertainment Card, the rate, if available is about $117/night.

Overall I highly recommend visiting Universal & IOA. It's very different from Disney. I will say though, that the employees at Disney were much more helpful and much friendlier. At Universal, they weren't as helpful. They also seem to be understaffed.

 

[LISALISA36]

I HAVE BEEN TO DISNEY WORLD WITH THE FAMILY AND TO IOA WITH GIRLFRIENDS,
I LOVED IOA & CANT WAIT TO TAKE FAMILY THERE.
ACTUALLY WE ARE ONLY GOING TO ONE DISNEY PARK ON OUR NEXT TRIP.
DONT MISS UNIVERSAL PARKS.