Universal Studios for toddlers & under 5 year olds, Orlando, Florida.
Watching my son smile the biggest smile as he waved his wand and made real magic happen in Diagon Alley. Or hear him ask us to go and see the Minions ride “just one more time”. Or watching him be completely spell-bound meeting his heroes from the Marvel comics. There can be no doubt that Universal is wonderful for younger children.
We’ve rounded up our top things to do at Universal Orlando Resort for under five-year olds and toddlers too. And you can also read our main review of our 14 day itinerary through Florida.
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Firstly I would definitely recommend buying the combined ‘Park to Park‘ ticket to visit both parks. This really is the best way to enjoy the experience with younger children.
The experiences are set across the two parks and it really felt that the two combined was the perfect way to enjoy it with younger kids. For the purposes of this review I’m going to break these down into the two parks.
Table of Contents
Universal Orlando Resort for under 5 year olds – Universal Studios Florida
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem was my son’s absolute favourite ride. We went on it three times.
The first time we went for the whole experience in incredible moving seats. They make you feel as though you are flying through Gru’s Laboratory and part of the hysterical film action.
We then heard that you could choose to sit in non moving seats at the front which didn’t take away from the action but was definitely less scary. Little ones could close their eyes and not feel they were still being shaken about.
This isn’t an overly scary ride in terms of content though. And although my son can be easily frightened this was one ride he really loved.
Shrek 4D – great Universal Studios for toddlers
Just across from the Despicable Me ride is Shrek 4D which is perfect for all ages.
As with the Minion ride there are non moving seats. But I really wouldn’t worry about these here, except for very small children. This isn’t a scary ride at all.
This is a fun cinema-style experience with a specially produced Shrek film. There are a number of interactive segments with water sprayers and air blasters all making us laugh and squeal in equal measure.
Production Central Area
We loved the Production Central area where these rides are based.
Here there’s often music playing and you can spot characters in this area. Often Hello Kitty can be found here.
The perfect meet and greet character for younger children.
You will also find lots of other fun ‘meet and greets’ around the park. Including Scooby Doo and his gang and there’s plenty of fun in the World Expo zone where you can spot any number of zany Simpsons characters.
Check out our ultimate guide to Florida with kids here.
Woody Woodpecker Kidzone – Universal Studios for toddlers & under 5s
Towards the back of the park is the Woody Woodpecker Kidzone with a host of attractions for younger visitors.
Here there are plenty of activities which children under five will love, including a stage show with the big purple dinosaur Barney and a children’s playzone with a water slide.
But our favourite part was absolutely the Curious George comes to Town play area. A wonderful place for kids to play and cool off. But do watch out as there are moments when they can get completely soaked.
Take swimming costumes if your kids love the water. But watch them to help them avoid the really big bucket drops of water.
As long as you avoid the big splashes this is a great place to escape the heat of the Floridian sunshine. And it’s great to find there’s somewhere for younger ones to play happily.
E.T Adventure
One of the rides we all loved was the E.T Adventure. Here you take a gentle journey away from Earth and head for E.T’s home planet.
This is perfectly thrilling for little ones and wonderfully nostalgic for grown ups who will remember watching the film many decades ago.
The 3pm parade – Universal Studios for toddlers
At 3pm each day there is a fun parade of all the characters which is particularly well geared towards younger children.
It didn’t go on for too long and all my children loved spotting their favourites from the films and programmes they’ve watched.
Diagon Alley
Diagon Alley, part of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter zone, is great even for younger children.
My youngest son hasn’t been read the stories or watched the films but he was spell-bound (ha) by this area.
We picked up wands and just seeing his eyes fill with delight as he created magic around the parks – the wands actually work – was something that will stay with me forever.
The rides in this area were too scary for him but the interactive spell-making areas were fantastic.
Catching the Hogwarts Express
Catching the Hogwarts Express from this area was one of the best things we did. And this is one reason why it’s best to get the two park ticket if you can. You’re only able to catch the train if you have this.
This is so much fun for all ages, not at all scary and just a wonderful experience. Taking a real train with various characters from Hogwarts appearing on the journey.
You will feel as though you’re heading off across the Scottish countryside. The train takes you over to the second park, Islands of Adventure.
Universal Orlando Resort for under 5 year olds – Islands of Adventure:
Hogsmead – Universal Studios for toddlers & under 5 year olds
Once in Hogsmead at Islands of Adventure there is plenty more magic to be done here.
Seuss Landing
Once you’re Harry Pottered out, it’s a short walk over to Seuss Landing.
Everything here is a bit wonky and quirky and just packed full of fun and kids of all ages will adore it.
There are character meet and greets with all of the Dr Seuss favourites if your child likes that sort of thing. One of our favourite rides here was the brilliantly named ‘The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride’.
We rode this three times, and think it is absolutely wonderful.
There are two versions of the ride, both of which are very similar with readings from the Seuss books. It’s super calm, no jolts or scary bumps and although you’re high up it’s just a great, fun experience.
Within Seuss Landing there is an amazing carousel and also one of our favourites, tucked away close to the entrance to the super scary ‘The Incredible Hulk’ roller coaster ride (don’t take your under 5s on this) a spinning teacups ride which had my two youngest children shrieking with delight. It’s quite fast and very good fun.
We all absolutely loved the playground in Seuss Landing which has so many different activities from filling up the bath with water pistols, sliding down twisty slides, making crazy characters appear, and playing tic tac toe.
Watch out though, water squirts out at you and as I was laughing at my nine-year old who got a real soaking all down his back here, suddenly I got a big hit of water all over me.
This caused much hilarity and it’s actually really refreshing and dries off quickly in the heat of the sun.
There’s another fun ride here, based on The Cat in the Hat book which is really good, perfect for little ones to enjoy and follow the story, and watch naughty Thing One and Thing Two getting up to mischief.
Having read the book several times over the years, it was lovely to see how they had brought the story to life.
Jurassic Park – Universal Studios for toddlers
We stopped at Jurassic Park which is home to a number of dinosaur themed attractions. And for younger children there’s lots of fun to be had here.
It’s also a great place to escape the heat of the sun.
Marvel Super Hero Island
Finally take a short walk over to the Marvel Super Hero Island. Here you can track down a host of Meet and Greet characters if your children like them, including Spiderman, Rogue and Cyclops.
My youngest thought meeting Captain America was simply magical.
Universal Orlando Resort for under 5 year olds – Top Tips
Universal Orlando Resort for under five-year olds is a great experience and with a few tips it can be even better.
- The resort offers a brilliant parent swap service. Here families can queue and when you reach the end of the ride one parent stays back with the child in a special room and then they swap. It’s a great way for parents to feel they’re still getting the full experience, without having to queue twice.
- When you enter the park make sure you measure up your child here. You can then work out which rides they can go on so you can plan your day. You don’t want to walk over to attractions only to discover they can’t then ride.
We certainly felt that Universal Orlando Resort for under 5 year olds was a wonderful experience. They really do cater so well for all the age groups and we can’t wait to return.
Find out more and get your skip-the-line tickets here.
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