Just got back from my Universal trip

[nursemelis374]

I am glad that someone else enjoyed USF/IOA as much as we do. I have stayed at the Royal PAcific twice and I really feel like I am in another world when I am there. I love that you can walk or boat to the parks easily. I also love the themeing there!

I wish more people would give these parks a chance.

I also completely agree iwth you about Mummy in Florida. It is my favorite ride anywhere. When we were there in December I believe we rode it more than 10 times!

[Neon Cactus]

I think if you paid for the express passes you could probably do it, but you'd be rushed and wouldn't get to just sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Islands. My biggest complaint with islands is that there just isn't enough for kids. Even some of the stuff in seuss landing is a little intense. The cat in the hat ride has a lot of spinning and while some kids like that, I know many who wouldn't. Almost everything else in the park has big drops that some kids won't like, scary, or a little on the intense side such as the coasters, spiderman, etc... I didn't get to see the sinbad show or poseidon's fury though so I'm not sure how they are.

If your kids can handle those things and you don't want to pop for the express pass in addition to their park hopper extra fee I'd do IOA. To me it is the only Universal park that really measures up to Disney and in some cases surpasses Disney. The theming is beautiful and there were areas that we just sat and looked around because the layout and audio were beautiful.

Just be careful because the little ones may not have enough to do. For the real little ones you'd probably be relegated to Seuss landing, popeye, the pteranadon flyers, and the shows. Everything else may be too intense for them. That park does have a lot better food, scenery to just sit and look at, and shade. The studios has very little shade, IOA has a lot of it which is nice.

By the way, I've started my trip report on the WDW board since it started there. I'll probably just leave the whole report there. You can find it here if you're interested in our pictures of the parks:

http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36235

Thanks for the tips. The first time I went, I think the only things they had for kids was Cat in the Hat, Caro-Seuss-El, One Fish Two Fish, and Pterandon Flyers. I think they should be able to do the teacup type ride and they have the new trolley ride open, as well as the Flying Unicorn. My 3 year old is 37 inches right now, she should be 40 by the time we go. I might be spending some time in Seuss Landing with the younger ones while I let the rest of them go on some of the bigger rides. I definitely have to go on Hulk and Spiderman, other than that, I'd be fine taking the kiddies on the rides and letting the rest of them have fun. Since we can likely only do one park, I'd rather they see IOA than USF. Or maybe just one more day at Disney World...