Shows:
Sadly, there are only 3 big shows left open.
- Animal Actors
- Highly recomend. This is my favorite show of the 3. It's a comedy show with real animals (mostly dogs) up on stage doing some basic stage tricks, like landing a mark or playing dead. They take a couple of kids up to participate as well.
- Horror Make Up Show
- It's campy horror, done in an over the top comical way. It's meant to be overly fake, but there are some grusome scenes up on a screen, some fake blood on stage, and some "jump" parts that would be obvious to an adult but maybe not a 10 year old that scares easily. Check out some threads about this one before deciding. I can see it going either way with a kid.
- Bourne Stuntacular
- Really just a lot of running around the stage climbing on stuff and choreographed fight scenes. It shouldn't be scary at all, and I would think a 10 year old would love the action adventure of it. Think the Indian Jones Stunt show at Disney, similiar stunts and style of acting to that.
Tame Attractions:
Island of Adventure
- Cat in the Hat Ride
- Carassousel
- One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
- This is like Dumbo if he shot water at you while you ride. When the kids were 11, they loved this becuase it's a game of trying to avoid getting sprayed by jets of water or in their case driving the vehicle intentionally into the water and ducking, so I got wet instead of them.
- High in the Sky Trolley Train
- This a very tame slow moving ride, but it is up high if he is afraid of heights.
- Storm Force
- Kong
- The theme might be scary, but it's just riding in a large safari style bus. I'd have him sit in the middle and close his eyes if the action and monster creatures or dinosaurs are too much.
- HP Wand Show
- Flight of the Hippogriff
- This is a kiddy coaster that goes up and down a few hills and curves, nothing upside down or backawards.
- It's only about about 40 seconds long.
- It might be too high, though, if he is scared of heights, so look at that before getting in line.
Universal Studios
- Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
- This is a 4-D show.
- If motion sickness might be an issue, you can ask to sit in the non-moving benches up front.
- E.T. Adventure
- Slow moving ride, but you are in a hanging vehicle similiar to Peter Pan. Your feet do not dangle, but if heights are in issue, it may not work.
- Fast & Furious
- Same ride as Kong, just a ride in a big bus.
- Villian-Con Minion Blast
- This is an arcade style shooting game that I think would appeal to 10 year old boys quite a bit.
- There is an app you can put on your phone that adds challanges and gives you special ammunition and adds other personalized touches to the game. It might be worth looking into that for him. I could see spending quite a bit of time here with a 10 year old.
- Kang and Kudos
- Another Dumbo-like ride, but no water with this one.
- The kids found this one underwhealing without the added fun or the water fountains that the Dr Seus ride had.
- Men in Black
- Another arcade style shooting game, but you sit and shoot at real 3-D targets instead of screens.
- Race Through New York
- Another 4-D movie, but tamer than Minions are far as the special effects and movement.
Non-attraction Based Ideas:
1. Photo opps in Toon Lagoon.
- There are so many great Easter eggs and fun details to take in in this area that most people just walk right past.
- Take time to explore the outsides of the buildings in this area. Lots of fun places to pose for fun pictures.
- Check out the board walk area with all the campy jokes and silly puns.
2. Take a Look at the Playground Areas
- If I Ran the Zoo in Dr Seuss Area - This is a fun area to walk through even if you don't have little kids. There are lots of fun details and hands-on-exhibits to take in here. The area is themed as a game where you are trying to find the hidden animals. Usually finding them involves a hands-on activity that sets off an animated response from the animal you find. This area also features water, so be prepared for a 10 year old to soak themselves. You can walk through and easily never get wet, though. It's intentional if you run into the fountains.
- You may also want to check out the fish pond near this play area. If you manage to toss a coin into the fishes mouth, it does something. I can't remember what exactly, but it's a cute surprise, and all the money from the pond goes to charity, not Universal.
- Go up to the back side of Me Ship the Olive in Toon Lagoon, and there are free water guns you can fire on riders as they float past on the raft ride.
- Camp Jurassic - A lare play ground with bridges, slides, and water fountains. It's a bit of maze. A little-known feature of this area the caves at the back. The caves are pretty cool with water falls and rivers flowing through them all lit different colors. It's a fun place to explore. More opportunities for a 10 year old to get soaking wet as well here.
3. Check out the Discovery Center
If you go downstairs, you’ll find a dino-hatchery complete with baby animatronic dinos who hatch from the eggs there every so many minutes. They pick a different person to name each new baby dinosaur when it hatches. It’s pretty cool to see. There are also a number of hands on activities in this area, for instance you can x-ray dinosaur eggs here.
4. Dino Meet-N-Greet
If JP is a favorite, there’s a dino meet and greet you’ll want to check out. There are actually 2 different dinos you can meet a baby (older than the one at the dino center, more like a toddler) and a grown dinosaur, so might be worth doing it twice or sticking with the baby if the adult might be too scary.
5. Find your family crest at the little store in the Lost Continent.
There is a small gift shop on the left past Mythos that has a sign with all the family crests on it. Most people miss it. The kids enjoyed looking up their last name and finding which crest would be theirs when they were around 10.
6. People watch at the Fountain in the Lost Continent.
- This is such a fun entertaining activity, but don't get too close unless you want to get wet. It's not always on, so sometimes you have to check back a few times before you catch him interacting with people. You can talk to him and ask him questions. Kids enjoy antagonizing the fountain so that it tries to spray them with water.
7. Google some Easter Eggs before you go and look for them around the park. I've created scavenger hunts for the kids before, and we've spent fun afternoons with them running all around from one fun location to another that they would normally never pay any attention to.
- The love birds at port of entry in Island of Adventure. (You can hear them tweeting.)
- The Mythos troll. (He roars under the bridge)
- References to old movies and attractions like Jaws.
- The phone booths. (You can interact with all of them by dialing specific numbers. Most people only know about the red HP booth.)
- Listen at doors, try handles, look in windows, look up at ceilings, etc.
- The Berlin Wall behind Hard Rock.
- Really look around the Seuss area. Find Horton's eggs. Look around inside the circus tent. Take a stroll through the Truffula trees and listen at the yellow "pipes" to hear the story of the Lorax. Lot's of great opportunities in this land to really just stroll around and take in little details. Try green eggs and ham.
- There are tons and tons more than the above. Have fun exploring.
8. Meet and greets with characters
There are a lot of different characters you can meet and take pictures with and unlike Disney there isn't typically a long line to do so. Some meet on the street and some in gift shops or special meet-n-greet locations.
- Betty Boop, Popeye, and Olive
- Spider-Man, Captain America, and X-Men, Marvil Villains
- Dr. Seuss characters
- Scooby Doo, Hello Kitty, Doc Brown
- Simpsons
- Minion characters
- Marilyn
- Sponge Bob
- Transformers
9. Watch the different street performers at Universal Studios
Highly recommend catching The Beat Builders show.
The Vamos! - Bailalo show seemed very lively and quite popular as well when were there with lots of kids joiing in and dancing.
10. Secret Attraction Tours
There are around 10 different free backtage tours that Universal offers for different rides around the park. There's no gaurantee that they will be offering an attraction tour on any given day, but it never hurts to ask. Since he likes JP, you might ask about the VelociCoaster Tour which would let him see some of the ride queue and backstage areas of that ride. If he likes cars, I have heard people say that the Fast & Furious: Supercharge Tour is actually better than the ride. The Men in Black Immigration Tour is also great. You get to go down on the floor area and register yourself as an arriving alien. You get to list your name and what planet you are imigrating from.
https://touringplans.com/blog/universal-orlando-behind-scenes-attraction-tours/
11. Check out Fun Themed Snacks
The bakeries in different areas have some really fun themed desserts, and there are a number of unique snacks to be found around the parks as well like Minion banana flavored popcorn, speciality HP ice cream, pumkin pasties, and giant pink donuts. You can even get official Dole Whip in each park.
12. Explore Harry Potter
If you are into HP, make sure to take time to explore. Listen at doors, go down alleyways, look around, especially up. Lots of fun things happening up top of buildings and around the ceilings of stores. There are tons of Easter Eggs hidden all over.
See below for list of interesting things to do / look for. In no certain order:
HP - Universal Studios
- Make a "magical" phone call in the phone booth before you enter
- Photo opportunity at the double decker bus
- Watch the windows outside the entrance of Diagon Alley
- Make sure to look up when you are in all the stores. There are some cool things on the ceilings and up high.
- Look for the extra hidden wand spots, not marked on the map. There's 3 I know of.
- Listen at the fake door fronts to hear what's happening inside.
- Watch the windows for magic.
- Check out the mirror in the robe shop.
- Eat in the Leaky Cauldron and check out the sign closely.
- Check out the animals for sell in the windows of the pet shop, especially the snake.
- Visit the goblins to setup an account and exchange muggle money for wizard money
- Eat ice cream at Florean Fortescue's
- Keep an eye out for the dragon, good photo opp if you time it right
- Explore the cases in Borgin and Burkes carefully, but watch out for dark artifacts, especially the vanishing cabinet
- Check out the tattoo parlor in knockturn alley
- Check out the Tales of Beadle the Bard show.
- Do the castle only tour.
HP - Hogwarts Express
- Hang back and you can take a video of your son going through the brick wall at platform 9 3/4
- Ride both ways. There's a different story each time.
- Watch both the door and window.
- Photo opportunities with train, luggage, and Hedwig depending on crowd levels
HP - Island of Adventure
- Find Moaning Myrtle
- Photo opportunity with the train and conductor
- Send a letter or postcard by owl post. Make sure to bring stamps with you or you will pay a fortune.
- Eat in the 3 Broomsticks
- Look up outside the restaurant near the owl post to see all your couriers
- Check out all the windows here as well
- Do the tour only option at least once for FJ to give you time to hear the story and take in the details
- Ride Flight of the Hippogriff if for no other reason than to walk through the queue
- Visit Honeydukes - candy quills that write, chocolate frogs, cauldron cakes, pumpkin pasties, and much more
- Get a Butterbeer ( 3 kinds, regular, frozen, and hot)
- Good photo ops in the ally behind the shop, low traffic area, nice candy window display
- Good photo ops with snowmen.
- Good photo opps on the bridge that goes behind the 3 broomsticks. Bridge not accessible from inside the HP area. It is a bypass bridge that lets you skip over HP and cut across the park.
- Check out the choir performance on stage and the photo opp afterwards
He was terrified the entire time he was going to fall out. You listed some great suggestions for other options, thank you! We’ve been before and he is pumped to go back, even though he knows there are a lot of rides he doesn’t want to do. He loves the Minion ride and is excited for the new Minion attraction. And he also loves souvenir shopping, so I’m sure we’ll spend plenty of time in the shops.
