your universal/ioa opinions please...

[natalielongstaff]

We did it last year and it was great! Food was lovely and lots of character interaction with Spiderman, Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and 2. I'd highly recommend it. Here are some photos (not great quality but you'll get the gist!)...

Going to hug Cat in the Hat....

Thing 'stole' her drink....

The boys with Thing 1 and 2 but Aisling is still sulking because of 'stolen' drink.

Trying desperately hard to pretend she doesn't know Spiderman's behind her.

great photos !! thanks so much ...ds will love this

 

[Cochise]

We spent more time at IOA & US last time than we did at WDW - the parks have so much to offer. I couldn't consider going to Orlando and not going to US or IOA whereas I could easily drop AK and Epcot off the schedule. US & IOA have more to do, the rides are good and while IOA does have some of the "bigger" rides, it's still a great place for kids.

Absolute spot on with us apart from dropping EPCOT

 

[mandymouse]

We all love US & IOA

When the girls were small they loved the Barney Show at US. Nowadays it's all the big rides

IOA - We prefer The Hulk, Duelling Dragons, Jurassic Park and Spiderman

US - We prefer The Mummy, Men In Black, ET, Twister and Jaws

We've never had a character breakfast at Universal, but if I had any lads I'm sure they'd love brekkie with Spiderman

Have fun with your planning Nat

Mandy

 

[wicket2005]

I agree with all the points about Universal and Islands, you must go there. I find it unbelievable that people have not gone there, they are our favourite parks.

You will get wet if you try any of the water rides at Islands or I should say soaked but they are such good fun. No matter where you are from, watching someone get soaked always makes everyone laugh.

My lads are now 18 and 16, they say Universal is their favourite park. The eldest next prefers Islands but the younger one still likes Magic Kingdom which has a particular soft spot in my heart too.

It will be lovely for you to try somewhere different next year too.

Wayneg - I am glad someone else enjoys Curious George too as much as us.

 

[Ware Bears]

We've got tickets for Universal for this trip ~ didn't have enough time last time and I can't wait to go there. I am especially looking forward to The Mummy.

 

[Soprano]

It is surprising how many people have been to Florida many times but have never been to Universal - both parks are well worth a visit and there is plenty for kid's too.

Agreed. I can almost understand why an American family who may only have 7 days "vacation", just spend the time at Disney, but when I hear of Brit's travelling thousands of miles, spending 2 weeks in Orlando and not going to Universal, I find that bizarre!

Ths Spider-man ride is the smartest theme park attraction there is. Right up there with ToT.

You'll all have a great time, Nat

 

[Miffy2003]

Hi Nat

We absolutely loved our first visit to US/IOA for many years this August. It was a most definite highlight of our trip!

I'm only going to echo most of the advice already given, but here goes:

IOA
The Hulk & Duelling Dragons - unmissable for coaster fans
The Flying Unicorn - very short but good fun for "littler" riders
Spiderman - fabulous!
All of Suess Landings just for the themeing, but we LOVED Red Fish Blue Fish (sppealed to our silly sense of humour; we sang the song for days afterwards) and Cat in the Hat!
DDs loved the Jurassic Park Centre which had loads of interactive stuff to see, buttons to press (oh and the hatching baby dino was so cute)
Dudley Do Right and Popeye's Bilge Barges - absolutely fantastic. We got SOAKED!

US
Men In Black - maybe our favourite ride for the entire holiday! It was just so much fun!
Curious George play area & Fievel's Playland - your kids will get DRENCHED. Bring spare clothes or swimming gear! DDs would have spent hours here if we'd let them, while DH & I soaked up the rays
Jaws - good fun if a little dated
SHREK 4D - the best 3D show in Orlando. Well, actually I'm not sure I prefer it to Philarmagic but it's not far off. Very funny!
Jimmy Neutron - again this may have been our silly sense of humour but we loved this!


Overall we found the quick service food offerings on a par with Disney and we felt the CMs were excellent; there is a different vibe / atmosphere to Disney but it was absolutely brilliant fun. I'm so glad we went.

 

[wayneg]

Curious George play area & Fievel's Playland - your kids will get DRENCHED. Bring spare clothes or swimming gear! DDs would have spent hours here if we'd let them, while DH & I soaked up the rays

Never mind the kids getting drenched. I get drenched, especially if the Man in the Yellow Hat is about with his water gun. We had a battle in Aug, he soaked me, DW sits there reading her book shaking her head at me to start but she joins in eventually.
I will never ever grow up.

 

[Lisash]

You must go Nat the kids will love it! It's hard to pick which we like best as we love both for different reasons. Would recommend Spiderman & Shrek they are great fun. My only word of warning would be to remove as much clothing as possible before the water rides at IOA (Dudley Do-rights Ripsaw Falls & Popeyes Bilge Barges) they are absolutely lethal! we wouldn't have been much wetter if we had just jumped out of the boat into the water! and the people with handfulls of quarters on the water cannons don't help much either!
We haven't done the character breakfast but if DS loves Spiderman you can meet him at the back of the shop directly opposite the ride. DS & I went in on our first visit just after opening to kill some time while DH & DD rode Hulk and found Spiderman by accident. He spent a good 10 minutes chatting to DS about crime fighting etc and as it was early and there was nobody else around we had him all to ourselves. It's one of the most magical memories I have. I'm always sorry DH & DD missed it.

 

[natalielongstaff]

thanks for the tip lisa

 

[JohnnySharp2]

If you are riding Popeye's Barges or Ripsaw then definitely take a towel, also it's a good idea to have a change of clothing for the kids.
We always take a spare t-shirt/shorts for Josh.

 

[wicket2005]

if DS loves Spiderman you can meet him at the back of the shop directly opposite the ride.

The characters regularly are out for photos and autographs. We saw a poor little lad really fall over when we were at Islands, about 10 metres away Popeye was getting photos taken, he rushed over to see if the lad was okay which I thought was a really nice thing of him to do.