Universal for a 4 year old

[BamaBullets]

So I have a question. My son who is 4 and a half is begging me to take him to Universal Resort. He has been to Disney 4 or so times and will do everything but the roller coasters. So my question is, is there enough to do for a 4 year old who is 44 inches tall? I am thinking about taking him down for a 2 day trip and wanted to make sure there is enough for him to do that we could fill up the two days. Thanks in advance.

 

[canobie#1]

Ehh kind of. It's really more for older families and teens starting around age 6. Suess landing is goo, stormforce, flying unicorns, woodywoodpecker area. That's kind of it though.
Wait a couple years is my advise.

 

[Tbad556]

If he's 44 inches, I'd say it's worth a trip. He can do Men in Black: Alien Attack, Woody Woodpecker, The Simpson Ride, E.T. Adventure, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, and quite a bit more. You can view all of the height restrictions here: https://www.universalorlando.com/Resort-Information/Ride-Height-Requirements.aspx

I'd say that he'd have a good enough time in the area to warrant the trip, especially if he's the one begging to go. At the very least, view the height requirements to determine whether or not there's enough to warrant spending the money in your own opinion. :thumbs:

 

[canobie#1]

Only go if he is going to like those simulator rides. They are pretty intense for little kids.

 

[Teebin]

um... these recommendations are rather short changing. If he is a solid 44" then he can go on Spidy and Jurassic River Adventure. Although the coasters are out, they are equally terrifying to watch and very entertaining. I would take him and then do the child swap for either Mom or Dad to ride on the big boy stuff. I am sure he would get a kick out of seeing his parents sail by on Hulk. I would take him through the Mummy queue just to see the cool stuff. The queues alone will be mesmerizing for him, especially FJ.

 

[natespf]

Yes, I say it is worth a go. There are only a few rides in each park that he would not be allowed on, most of the others you'll need to ride too.

IDK why but not all of the rides are listed at https://www.universalorlando.com/Resort-Information/Ride-Height-Requirements.aspx ? So this is just of what is listed, we will see if another member can fill in the missing attractions.

Bold are aimed at kids, Underline is kiddie coasters, and Italic may be too intense. No special style is fun for the whole family.

USF - Men in Black, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, The Simpsons Ride, ET Adventure, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.

IoA - Jurrassic Park River Adventure, Pterandon Flyers, Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride, Flight of the Hippogriff.

Both parks also have their own large themed play area; Curious George and Jurassic Park.

Edit:
Can I assume those that are not listed have no height restrictions?

USF - Terminator2:3D, Shrek3D, Twister, Disaster Studios.
IoA - Storm Force, 1 Fish 2 Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

 

[YETI PINTRADER]

As far as Islands goes he isn't too bad off. Spider-Man is 40' and river and popey are 42'. He wouldn't be able to do any of the big coasters or doom. Dudley is cutting it close exactly at 44' if he's into drops that are that big. Of course all of Seuss is great especially the high in the sky train ride, make sure to do both sides. So all in all if he isn't into coasters all your missing out on is Forbidden Journey, which in all honesty may be worth waiting until he is 48'. You should really make sure he is over 44' and not exact because exact may not cut it and he won't be able to experience some of the rides that he wants to. As far as studios goes, that's a much easier park to do with a smaller child. The mummy and rockit are out but other than that all the other rides sit around 40' for the height requirement. On top of that the kidzone area is great for him to just run around in. Overall there will be a lot of things that he can do. You should really talk it over with him and let him know that a lot of the rides are very loud and have large amounts of motion, spinning, and explosions. If he's done Dinosaur at Disney he should be able to handle most of the dark rides at Universal, and if not there are many shows to experience as well. Make sure he knows what he is getting into before deciding to make the trip. There is a lot more to do at Universal than roller coasters, so in that regard he is fine to go.

 

[BamaBullets]

I appreciate the advice y'all. I guess we might plan on riding down next Sunday. This won't be a family trip so no ride swap. This is a father-son trip. We do one a year. Just kind of our thing. We normally do Disney but this year he is begging to do UNI. Plus going to Uni would save me about $400 or so over the other. I guess we need to sit down and watch some ride videos on Youtube and see what he thinks.

 

[Teebin]

Yeah, and keep in mind that Terminator might terrify him even though he is sitting still in a cushioned seat while he might find Spiderman thrilling and fun. I would emphasize to him that it is all pretend and hold his hand during the more thrilling parts.

 

[jtsalien]

Yeah, and keep in mind that Terminator might terrify him even though he is sitting still in a cushioned seat while he might find Spiderman thrilling and fun. I would emphasize to him that it is all pretend and hold his hand during the more thrilling parts.

Yeah I'd advise pretty strongly against Terminator. Just for the loud noise and intense fog at the end alone. Better to try Shrek if you need a cool down show.

 

[IzzyB]

I think it depends on the four year old and what kinds of rides they ride now. My daughter and son will ride some loud noises dark rides fine and others not. So it really depends on the child themselves. You know your child the best and showing the POV videos before going might be the best bet to see what they would be interested in and making sure to warn them in advance.

At 44" you can ride a lot. Actually at 40" we were noticing Universal becomes a much better park for kids. Can't wait or my LO to grow those 4 more inches. I do agree with others, if they are right at 44" for any rides at 44" don't expect to get on. My daughter is 36 1/2 at home, but almost didn't get on any 36" rides. We didn't get on flyers, but did manage to get on the two kiddie roller coasters (one in IOA and the other in Studios). But that was not because she was tall enough, the workers were not paying attention. So their measurements must be off by about 3/4 of an inch. I even came home and checked my measurements on the wall that I have hanging up and if anything I have it too high and so it is measuring her shorter, not taller. Plus she is on carpet not tile. So again you would think I would be measuring her shorter than she really is.

 

[Brervixen]

Personally I wouldn't take a 4.5 yr old to Uni, unless it was part of a larger trip! However, you know your son best!!

 

[Miketheboss]

I wouldn't take a four year old either. A four year old would have more fun at Magic Kimgdom.

 

[quickfire609]

Yeah I'd advise pretty strongly against Terminator. Just for the loud noise and intense fog at the end alone. Better to try Shrek if you need a cool down show.

My friend and I, both 22 at the time, went to see T2 about a week after the theater shooting in Colorado. It was unnerving, even though we knew better.

Just letting you know, your mileage might vary with this though.

 

[neoshinok]

My friend and I, both 22 at the time, went to see T2 about a week after the theater shooting in Colorado. It was unnerving, even though we knew better.

Just letting you know, your mileage might vary with this though.

I never thought about that. Did they close the show for any period of time after that occurrence? Having Sarah Connor running down the aisle with a gun is a little awkward after such an incident. Sorry for the thread derail.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

I think it depends on the four year old and what kinds of rides they ride now. My daughter and son will ride some loud noises dark rides fine and others not. So it really depends on the child themselves. You know your child the best and showing the POV videos before going might be the best bet to see what they would be interested in and making sure to warn them in advance.

Hehe, it's funny that you can tell the parents from the non-parents in this thread, as Izzy pointed out, there's far more to a ride and theme park being child-appropriate than whether they're physically tall enough to ride. My 8 year-old is a man-child (wearing adult S clothes and adult size 7 shoes) and is physically tall enough to ride everything at Universal and Disney, but there's no way I'm getting him on Hulk or HRRR. Every kid is different in terms of their maturity and what they can handle. To use my son as an example once more, he's a very happy, kind and intelligent kid, but just doesn't do well with thrill or dark rides. He's loved Trasnformers since he was 3, but is in no way interested in the ride when I told him it was like Spiderman.

I'm w/ Brervixen and Miketheboss, without knowing your son's temperament is, I'd probably say Universal isn't the best choice for a 2 day visit. We got AP's when Harry Potter opened, but ended up non-renewing after the one year because there wasn't much there he'd want to do. We'd pretty much be in and out by mid-afternoon.

Izzy's recommendation of watching the POV videos on youube is a great idea, that way you can use that as a barometer when comparing to the rides he does well on at Disney. Universal is all-around edgier in content and ride systems (even their kid-oriented rides like Cat in the Hat whip you around pretty good), and attractions that you would think would be ok for younger audiences (Simpson's) have a surprising amount of malice in them. For all of the criticism Disney gets for ging "all-in" on the little-one crowd, the fact is there's far more for kids to do and enjoy (and enjoy together with the rest of the family) at Disney than Universal.

 

[Brervixen]

tribbleorlfl Which am I then... Parent or Non Parent?!

 

[IzzyB]

Hehe, it's funny that you can tell the parents from the non-parents in this thread, as Izzy pointed out, there's far more to a ride and theme park being child-appropriate than whether they're physically tall enough to ride. My 8 year-old is a man-child (wearing adult S clothes and adult size 7 shoes) and is physically tall enough to ride everything at Universal and Disney, but there's no way I'm getting him on Hulk or HRRR. Every kid is different in terms of their maturity and what they can handle. To use my son as an example once more, he's a very happy, kind and intelligent kid, but just doesn't do well with thrill or dark rides. He's loved Trasnformers since he was 3, but is in no way interested in the ride when I told him it was like Spiderman.

This made me laugh, because my daughter who is only two and just now 36" would love to go on Hulk and HRRR. Every time she sees them she wants on them. She will be the kid as soon as she is tall enough she will be on them, no matter what her age is. Which is why I say it is up to the kid. My friend's daughter was 5 and hated HM, but her younger daughter is now 5 and loves HM (The 8 year old is now OK with it). The 5 year old wants on coasters and the 8 year old wants nothing to do with even a coaster like Barnstormer. So to make a blanket statement that a 4 year old who is 44" won't be able to ride anything, just may not hold true, because some kids may actually enjoy a lot and may not be frightened by things you think they would be frightened by.

 

[BamaBullets]

Well, we have been watching a few ride videos and the jury is still out. Some of them, he thinks he would enjoy, but I know better. I forgot I can't get him on Splash Mountain, and the drops in Jurassic Park and Ripsaw Falls look comparable. He loves the dinosaurs and all the other stuff with the two rides, I am just worried about the drops. That being said, if I could get him on them I am sure he would love them but I am going to let him go at his own pace. I know he would like them because he loves the little drops in POTC, the ride in Norway (the name escapes me while I am typing) and when an airplane hits a air pocket and drops 50 ft. So who know. As much as I want to take him to UOR, I am just thinking he isn't ready yet. Now as far as the Spiderman, TF, Simpsons, Despicable Me I know he would be good on. He loves star tours. Disaster and Twister would be fine. He loves to stand in one of those little air booths that hit you with the 100 mph wind or whatever it is. Depending on crowds, I just don't think we could fill up more than a day for what he would go on.

We already have plans to hit up WDW for a week in October and then over spring break next year, so I may just break down and get a couple of annual passes and hit it up.

Once again, thanks to all of you that have given me advice so far.

 

[canobie#1]

I would wait, personally.
The rides in general are just bigger and faster paced than disney's. Especially those drops.