Hello! I’m a longtime Touring Plans user, but I’ve never tried the forums before. I’m taking my recently-turned-2-year-old to Universal in April and I’m hoping to get some feedback on rides where he meets the height requirement but maybe isn’t “big” enough for yet. He’s 38 inches tall (99th percentile, average height for a 3 year old) and he’s not one to be scared of much, but he’s also never been on a big ride and is only 26 months old, so definitely closer to baby than preschooler.
To clarify, I’m less worried about spookiness factor and more about safety in the restraints, especially for rides that aren’t just both of us side by side where I can hang onto him. I don’t know that he would know how to hang onto a ride if that was part of being safe on it.
A couple rides I’m not sure about:
Pteranadon Flyers—he’s tall and thin, would he be safe in the front seat alone?
ET—are the seats manageable for smaller toddlers? Again, he’s tall but slim.
Dr. Suess rides—we’re banking on these all being in play, but are any of them particularly rough, etc?
I hope I’m being clear; please let me know if I can provide any other info, or if there are any rides I’m not thinking of. Thank you so much for any advice!!
My daughter was 4, slim and about 38" when we were there last summer. She is 3rd percentile so the same size as your 2-year-old.
Personally I would be hesitant to take a 2-year-old on this because I wouldn’t be right by them to comfort them. It’s 100% safe, but my petite 4-year-old (also ~38 inches) was a little scared. You can see a brief video of it at the timestamp:
DD4 was fine on this. Here are a few pics of the ride vehicles:
My niece (23) and I got an opportunity to ride Pteranadon Flyers during an Informer meetup last year. She has done all the coasters, says Hulk is her favorite, rode Velocicoaster 4x that night,…and she declared Flyers the scariest ride of the night! Maybe it was because we were solo, maybe it was because it was night…but that ride flung us around and I kind of agreed with her!
I’m sure it would be safe - they wouldn’t risk it if it wasn’t. My only concern would be the scare factor.
I feel the same! I loved it, but it really does “swing & sway”. I’d ride it every trip if they’d let me!!
I wouldn’t take your two year old on it…
ET is going to be a personal call. I’m more worried about the darkness factor. You are strapped in, so you can’t move. However, it’s dark & at times appears to be “flying” and high in the air… I wouldn’t put my two year old on it as she’d have freaked out in the dark…
Everything at Seuss is perfect for you! I would also recommend “Storm Force Acceleration” at Marvel Island. It’s just a “tea cup” ride. Plus, he might like to meet Spider-Man or Capt. America!
Flight of the Hippogriff might shake you up a bit, but at least it’s outdoors / “open-air”. It’ll be another one you’ll have to decide if your child can handle it. The end of that coaster does get a little bit of speed!
Thank you all SO much for your advice! I think we will likely skip Flyers, as cool as it looks, but we will probably go ahead with E.T. and all the Suess rides. This was incredibly helpful.
I will say you know your kid too and build up. Try Cat in the Hat before E.T. for example as they are both Dark Rides but Cat in the Hat is a bit cheerier and has more lighting.
My DD hated dark rides when she was 20 months old (but she LOVED iasw). But a mere 3 months later she was fine in everything in Universal she could ride. And a year from her first trip I took her to Disneyland about 3 months before her 3rd bday and I will never forget her “wee wee weeeeeeeeeeee” in Roger Rabbit. But this same kid paraglided at 12yo off a mountain and was not scared in the slightest…so she’s not a good example of a person with a whole lot of fear! Ha ha.
And one of my favorite thing about Universal and I think it’s vastly underappreciated and even better than Disney’s in some respects are the play areas. My 2 and 5 year olds adored all the of the play areas in both Universal parks. Plan to spend some time at each of them as they are all really well done and entertaining to adults too.
I was thinking about this on the way in to work today. Once DreamWorks Destination opens USF is going to be a great “family” park… It’s got Minions, DreamWorks, ET, MIB, Diagon Alley (even if you can’t ride Gringott’s) I hate Jimmy Fallon, but its definitely a ride that little kids can do!
Even the food over there is “kid friendly” with lots of options that small kids tend to like
It was my kids’ favorite thing when it was Curious George and Fievel when they were 8 and 5. We spent hours in the foam ball building. I’m glad they are bringing it back with new theming/attractions.
Yeah, I got in there and played for about an hour and can concur but getting your own kids may be even better.
Like take this for that time you threw the fit in the mall and this for all the non-sleep for 6 years…j/k. But seriously! I just sat and observed once I was tired and even that was fun.
