I started a list of things to watch with my kids (or refresh DH & I) before our first trip to UOR.
My kids know virtually nothing about the Simpsons - are there a couple episodes we can watch to get them familiar enough to get more enjoyment out of the rides than just the ride mechanics themselves? With 20+ seasons/years, I don’t even know where to start!
They’re very fluent in Marvel and Harry Potter. They’ve seen Shrek and the Despicable Me - I think all of the movies of both, but its been a while…worth a rewatch? Or do they just need to be somewhat familiar with the characters?
They’ve seen the original Jurassic Park…should we prioritize Jurassic World?
Anything else worth taking some time in the pre-trip-anticipation-build-up to watch?
Kong? Although I think the ride is based off the second Kong movie, I’d only seen the first. But I thought the Kong ride was awesome. You’ll probably enjoy it whether you see the movie(s) or not.
There is Transformers. If you are familiar with the Transformer concepts, the ride is difficult to follow. If you’ve never seen any of the newer Transformers movies, it probably won’t make any sense. I find the rider tolerable at best…a frenetic mess…but, there are those who enjoy it.
Men in Black, due to the Men in Black Attack ride.
Hehe. That’s pretty funny…and sadly accurate. I find the queue more interesting than the ride itself!
I told her that was how drugs work in hopes that she’ll never experiment with them!
I, too, love Kong. Totally forgot about it. A whole Kong movie might be a bit much / slow if the kids are younger. But at least the idea of Skull Island / Dinosaurs / Great Ape is something you’d want to be familiar with.
I almost suggested MIB. IMHO - it’s better if you like the movie, but for kids it can just be a shooting gallery game of alien blasting.
Yes. Well, since Jurassic Park was in the mix of movies already seen, I figured they must be older. But Kong, the movie, kind of freaked me out in a few scenes as an adult!
Kong is a struggle - we watched the trailer for the Peter Jackson 2005 Kong movie and YDS (8) nope’d right out (and I agree, too scary for him). I’m worried the ride might be too scary too? I’ll probably ride it with the older 2 and report back if he and DH should ride, or if DH should just take MDS/ODS for another ride through.
MDS (10) and ODS (13) are totally in, so we’ll cover that movie.
I wonder if the original 1930s (?) movie is worth even attempting with YDS…worst case, we’ll fill him in on the highlights of the story like @darkmite2 said, in case he does want to try the ride.
It probably is… Without too many spoilers, you are attacked by multiple monsters while on a dark tram. You see people get graphically killed and there is tons of gunfire
Well, since Jurassic Park was in the mix of movies already seen, I figured they must be older.
8, 10, and 13.
Jurassic Park was last week for the younger 2. During the movie, the 8yo kept saying he was fine (and we told him “this is a scary part, but the kids/Laura Dern/Jeff Goldblum are going to be fine” and offering him outs when he looked anxious) but then had a couple nights trouble falling asleep…so we’re going to be a bit more cautious with him. This is kind of the trouble with the youngest, they want to do/watch everything the older siblings are, but aren’t necessarily ready for it!
The 10yo is suddenly desperate to watch suspenseful/scary stuff…so things I would have veto’d for him a year ago I’d probably give him a chance. 13yo is too cool to be scared (or at least admit it).
I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s on the left side during the river attack. (That whole scene is a crazy / awesome attack / gun fight on both sides! I love it!)
The Mummy is mostly NOT very scary, but there are some potentially scary moments. My DS8 was disturbed by one particular scene. Later, he decided to face his fear and ride it again after we talked about it, and he was happy it did.
There are also a couple instances of real fire/heat during the ride.
Having said that, The Mummy is one of my favorite rides in all of Universal/IOA.
There is one point along the ride where you come to a stop. I think it is the same room where there is fire. Anyhow, up to the left, you see into what looks like a control booth. There it a lady (I think) sitting there, and the Mummy shows up behind her and, in silhouette, she is disintegrated. This bothered my DS a lot, so we had to discuss with him about how it is fake, and no on really died. The actual “killing” is very animated looking, but it was more the idea than any graphic that bothered him.
The Mummy isn’t only one of my favorite rides at Universal, but in all of Orlando!
OH! While it’s not a “ride” the Horror Make-Up show is hilarious. While it does have “horror” in the title - think more along the lines of Wolf-Man or Frankenstein. It’s a 20 minute “dad joke” show about how practical make-up effects are done.
All 30 yrs of Simpsons are on Disney + now. Any of the early ones are good (well any of them really, but to me the early ones were the best). They are also showing on TV and we’ve done a lot of that lately b/c we don’t have Disney +. I intended to show my kids a lot more of the stuff Universal rides were based on than we accomplished but it really didn’t matter. For example, everyone loved the MIB ride but none of the kids had seen MIB. They still understood you were supposed to aim for the aliens.
I’m going to have to disagree with this. My kids don’t get scared by much, and went through Transformers and Kong with no fear whatsoever. However, both of the older ones got a little freaked out on Mummy. And part of the reason why I personally love this ride so much is because it is kind of creepy and scary.
