Is Universal Orlando a good choice for families with small children, particularly those with children 5 and under? We set out to test the theory and here is what we found out!
As a traveling family, a lot of our travels center on kid-friendly destinations and activities. Traveling with our spectrum kiddo means that she has interests that are fixated on all things Disney, and as much as I LOVE Disney, I also like to switch it up from time to time. That was how we ended up planning our Quest to Orlando. I was totally enticed by the Universal Orlando commercials on TV, especially the lure to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. After running the numbers, we made the decision to go!
After spending a week at Disneyland in Anaheim, I started to get a little worried about how Universal Orlando would be for our kids. A lot of the blogs and videos that I came across while researching had families with kiddos who were over 5. Research is vital to trip planning so I really wanted some real-world experience for families with kids under 5.
Table of Contents
So here’s some are some pros/cons for visiting Universal Orlando with small kids:
*Because we have unique challenges when we travel your mileage may vary with your family.
Let’s start off with the meat of the matter, RIDES. Rides offerings and height requirements can make or break a trip so I am going to separate out the rides so you don’t have to wade through information that may not even need.
The starting height requirement for the Universal Orlando Resort (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure) is 34” which is the average height for a 3-year-old. Now before you get excited and start planning a trip and include your 3 or 4-year-old here is something to consider. There are 6 rides for a child who is 34”, starting at 36” there are 5 additional ride options between the two parks. Once your kiddo hits a growth spurt past 40” Universal is pretty much your oyster because they are allowed to ride a total of 19 rides throughout the 2 parks.
But, I am going to hit the brakes for a second. Just because your child CAN ride an attraction doesn’t mean they SHOULD. Depending on the temperament/fears, thrill-seeking nature, and theme park experience your little one has should determine which rides to ride. Roo tends to be semi-adventurous and can ride every ride but Indiana Jones and California Screaming at Disneyland, HOWEVER, the majority of the rides at Universal were too intense for her.
So your kiddo meets the height requirement and loves in-your-face rides, all set right? NOPE. Let’s talk tickets for a moment. Universal Orlando Resort starts charging admission at 3 years old. At the time of writing, single-day park-to-park tickets cost $165.00 per day (think park hopping), $110.00 per day (1 park per day), multi-day 2-park 4-day tickets are $284.99 per adult ($274.99 per child), 1-park per day $229.99 per adult (219.99 per child).
*This is the part where some people are expecting the Universal Orlando versus Disney World comparison, and I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not going to compare the two parks in terms of cost. It is almost impossible to do so. A park-hopper for Disney World covers all 4 parks versus 2 parks at Universal Orlando. Also, the ride offerings and tastes of each family are different so qualitatively you may decide that one park suits your travels over the other.
**Active/Retired Military Families: Be sure to check with your local MWR for Universal Orlando military tickets. If you don’t have an MWR/base close to you, reach out Shades of Green for Universal Orlando tickets.
Now, I should take a moment to let y’all know that my mom typically accompanies us for our theme park “Quests”. She does not ride any thrill rides so we are able to ride the attractions and not worry about what to do with the girls. However, for this trip, we were traveling in the middle of the week and my mom wasn’t going to be able to join us for the entire trip. *insert screaming emoji* Thankfully once we were in the park those fears were put to rest, so let’s jump on into the PROS and a CON of visiting the Universal Orlando theme parks with kiddos 5 and under.
I’m all about positivity so let’s start with the PROS for visiting Universal Orlando:
An Incredible Child Swap!
Remember above when I said the rides were too intense for Roo? Well after entering the park and heading for Transformers, Roo decided everything was too much and started to her ride strike. Even in August the Florida heat was nearly unbearable so the idea of standing outside with a child on the spectrum and an infant while one parent rode the ride and then switched sounded like pure torture. That was until the ride attendant told us we could use the ride swap option. Now if you are familiar with the Disneyland system you get a ticket and the other person waits outside, then they can return immediately after or at a later time typically with another person so they don’t have to ride alone. But Universal steps that up a notch or 3. They have INDOOR Child Swap rooms that are fully air-conditioned and most have some type of ride-related movie playing. This was a mind-blowing concept for us! The day that my mom joined us in the parks she was able to wait in an air-conditioned room with the girls while we got to ride together. This allowed all of us to have a respite from the heat, but even better we could swap out with my mom if she wanted to ride something and we didn’t have to queue up from the end of the line. The Child Swap also gave me a relatively quiet and sometimes private place to be able to breastfeed Lightning Bug so that is a win-win in my book.
The park is a manageable size!
After the fiasco at the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, I realized what a blessing it is to have a park that is smaller. We were able to manage all of the Universal Orlando & Islands of Adventure park without a stroller for Roo which is HUGE for us!
Kid shows and character greet opportunities!
Between Universal Orlando & Islands of Adventure, we were able to see the Despicable Me, Secret Life of Pets, Dora the Explorer, and the Harry Potter themed Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees and Frog choir shows. But there is no shortage of shows at Universal to escape the heat, the afternoon Florida thunderstorm, or a place to rest your feet. In addition to these quick and engaging shows, they also offer interactive character meet-n-greet opportunities for most of the shows.
They have a STELLAR Disability Access Pass!
My only gripe about this process was that the line to access guest services was incredibly long which almost resulted in a meltdown. We were later informed that there is another Guest Service office inside of the park, so head to that one instead and save yourself some grief! that you can read more about here. Once we had the pass, the Universal staff were amazing at accommodating us in any way that Roo needed to feel comfortable, and even though she went on a ride strike we are grateful to know how well they handle kids like Roo.
*If you want more info about planning a theme park trip with a child on the Autism Spectrum, be sure to click here for some tips!
Our family could only think of a few minor CONS of Universal Orlando, but they make the difference for your family:
Park Hours!
This is a gripe of mine for all of the theme parks in Orlando. We have gotten pretty accustomed to Disneyland park hours which are from 8:00 am – 12:00 am but may vary depending on Extra Magic Hours. California Adventure closes at 10:00 pm, which I grumble about, so when we realized both Islands of Adventure and Universal Orlando parks close at 8:00 pm & 9:00 pm during the time of our visit, we were flabbergasted! I guess that’s what we get for thinking the theme park capital of the world was synonymous with the city that never sleeps!
This is only a CON if you have children or if you get crabby after a day in the heat and a nap can reset that. For our Disney adventures, we like to hit the parks early ride as much as we can until lunch, and then head back to the room for a nap, some pool time, or just a break from the noise of the parks. Because of the shorter amount of time we had in the parks and adding in the fact that we were on West Coast time (3 hours behind) meant that by the end of the day the adults were pretty snippy and Roo was close to a meltdown. If we were on the East Coast time zone I am sure we would have taken advantage of the Early Park Admission benefit for staying at Universal Cabana Bay, but that would mean getting to the park at 5:00 am Seattle time, so we took a hard pass on that option.
Admission Pricing!
Now, this may not be a con for most people, especially if you read the above information on rides, but because Roo went on a ride strike we essentially paid a lot of money with no return on our “investment.” Over the 2 days that we were at the Universal Orlando resort she rode 5 of the 23 rides available in her height category. Now to be fair to her she did ride those 5 rides multiple times because of the awesome disability access pass, but for some families that feels a lot like they are throwing money out of the window. For our family, it was a con that we just took in stride with who Roo is.
The adults had a spectacular time at Universal Orlando & Islands of Adventure! We dedicated a half day to just exploring The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and could have easily spent the entire day there, it is done that well!
If we had to do things over we would have saved Universal for an adult-only trip or waited for Roo to be a little more comfortable with sensory differences from her experiences at Disney.
Have you visited Universal Orlando Resort with kiddos 5 and under? What are some of your favorite features or the cons for your family? We’d love to discuss it with you in the comments below!
