Universal and Islands of Adventure - for a 4 year old? About This Page:

[Martinvols]

I was wondering - what is the appropriate age to take children to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. Is there enough to keep both a 4 and a 10 year old busy? I have two sons - age 4 and 10 and was wondering how many days to plan to attend the parks. I have also read that if you are staying offsite - avoid Friday and Saturday's. Any other suggestions for a first time visit? Thanks!

[DopeyGirl]

Lots of stuff in Seuss Landing at IOA that would be appropriate for a 4 year old, but not too much else, IMHO. There is mostly coasters and "stuff" for bigger kids there. We took my DD (who was then 2 1/2) last December to US and she had an OK time . . . she liked playing in the Fievel Playland and she liked the Barney show and playground as well. We didn't play at the Curious George playground because she wasn't dressed the part (it's all water!!!) but there was a small playground nearby that she had a blast on. The Woody Woodpecker coaster is for kids as short as 36 inches, and didn't look too rough for little ones (it is much like the Goofy coaster in Toontown at MK). She really liked E.T. and (surprisingly) did well through Terminator. The waits were way too long for Jimmy Neutron and Shrek, so we missed out on those, but hope to get back to try them sometime. She got a little scared on Jaws and on Earthquake but at the end was laughing about the "silly shark" and "the big truck that almost hit us". We only spent one day at US, and we've only gone a half day at IOA becasue we are not big coaster people. One day per Universal park is enough for us.

[Aimee W]

We were there last November and my little guy was 4 1/2 and loved certain parts in both parks...JImmy Neutron huge hit...Shrek but the part before the line was a huge wait!!
Men in Black was fun for him...
IOA Spiderman was great and Suess Landing...and it took him awhile to work up the courage for Jurassic Park and he was glad he did!!!

let me know if I can answer any specific questions!

[Martinvols]

Aimee - We are kind of stuck on staying at POR for 10 days. We don't like the idea of changing resorts midstream. What if we go to the IOA and US during the week and avoid the weekend crowds -- what are our chances of a good experience given that we are staying off-site from US?

[Aimee W]

I oved POR...the boat ride to Downtown Disney is great...

what are the hours and when are you going again!

[Martinvols]

Aimee -

We are going in June or July of 2005 to Universal and Islands of Adventure. We will be staying off-site at Port Orleans Riverside. We will be visiting US and IOA during the week - Sunday through Thursday; we will definitely avoid the weekend crowds. Our plans right now are for June 23 through July 3rd at Port Orleans Riverside with visits to US and IOA during June 26th through June 30th. What do you think our chances are to avoid the crowds at US and IOA?

[Shell_of_the_South]

What you might want to do is check the height restrictions for the rides and see how many rides your 4 yr. old is tall enough to ride:

http://themeparks.universalstudios.c..._services.html

I have been to Universal twice in July, in 2002 it was not very crowded, in 2003 I thought it was more crowded. I personally would not want to visit in the summer months without staying in one of their resorts to get front of the line access. But if you get there early you could catch some of the more popular attractions first. Last year Shrek had just opened. We arrived when the park opened at 9:00. There was already a 90 minute wait for Shrek. However, with our Universal room keys, we walked right into Shrek with no wait.

The crowds at Universal seem to slim down in the evening hours too. The parking is free after 6:00, I think this is to attract visitors to CityWalk's restaurants.

At IOA, the rides are more "thrill" related, but the Dr. Suess land is so cute and has 3 or 4 kiddie rides. I love the Cat in the Hat dark ride there. The Flying Unicorn is a kiddie coaster in the Lost Continent. And in Jurassic Park there is the Pteranodon Flyers for smaller folk. And in Superhero Island, I bet your 4 year old will love the Superhero parade with Spiderman! It runs through that section of the park a good many times a day. You can have your picture taken with the super heros there too.

At USF, there is probably more that your 4 yr. old can do, as some other people have already posted. Our favorite attractions there are E.T., Men in Black, Terminator, and Shrek, and I think your 4 yr. old could probably do them all. There are some cute shows there too. Don't miss the Animal Planet show, it was our favorite.

My preference would be to stay onsite, but if that's not an option for you, I think with the Universal Express Pass (Universal's version of FastPass), you can probably do most of the things you want to do. It was crowded, but not so crowded that you couldn't manage it. Probably no worse than Disney would be during that time of year, in fact, it may be a little less crowded than Disney parks. If you do a little planning and know which attractions you need to hit first, you will probably be fine.

Universal is offering a 5 day pass for the price of a 2 day right now online. That might help you from having to cram it all in 2 days.