Help .. advice for “ lower key” rides universal, Florida

[Bumbelinadance]

In Orlando on holiday ..
.. here with my Ds 11 and my freind with his Ds 8, Ds 7 .
My Ds is on Asd spectrum so we were able to use a “ fast pass” to avoid queues . . This was really helpful

However looking to make second day at park smoother.

Concerned not for asd 11 year old who roared with joy on transformers and simpsons rides or 6 year old who is tall enough for rides and unfazed ( something of a minion himself) but for 8 year old who we found at Kennedy space centre and today was truly anxious on any motion or simulator rides . Genuine distress.

Plan is we all go to islands of adventure in morning , then I shall take 11 year old over to volcano bay in afternoon , just him and I ( he gets socially overwhelmed sometimes and at home it’s just him and I, I paid extra to include the water park for my Ds and I promised him just us for an afternoon )

Added complication is i have to be present to use the fast pass .
Looking for suggestions as to what rides or shows at islands of adventure are “ less stimulating “ for our very sweet, worried little freind to enjoy with his dad whilst I take the other 2 off to defy death .

Really want dad and son to feel relaxed and enjoy .
He doesn’t get to see his boys much sadly

So grateful for any help and suggestions
Thankyou

The Seuss landing one where it's a raised train ride is very nice and not at all scary. (Queue is v long though). Walking round all the Harry Potter bits and turn up for the little mini shows. The thing where the superheroes turn up and interact with kids. The magic fountain. Poseidon's Fury is really fun, not a 'ride' but may be scared by noise/ dark etc.

Thankyou so much x

I second Seusslanding - the queues weren't too bad when we were there. I'm also pretty sure that there's a large play area, including lots of water guns etc which was a less intense experience

There's also fairly tame toddler rides (my 2yo old went on) that might be ok.

Just a warning about Volcano Bay - we had tickets but couldn't get in as it was full by 9am (universal hotel guests were there by 730am). It may be better controlled now, but wanted to let you know.

Gosh
Thankyou what timeislove.. good heads up there

May I ask when you went please .....?
Was hoping as American schools are back in would be calmer
Think we need a rethink here

hope your kids weren’t upset

Came on to say DrSeuss - I loathe rides and even I could cope with this!!

The place will be packed with Brits. August is a hellish time to visit. We went in October half term.

We’re here now and yes it’s packed. I wouldn’t put up with this at home but as we’ve paid thousands of pounds to come we’re going to have to get on with it. We’re kind of tied to school holidays so we don’t have much choice.

The cartoon section and the Dr Seuss section seem to be aimed at smaller ones. There’s a nice carousel at Dr Seuss. I wouldn’t take him on the Poseidon tour, it goes pitch black and there’s lots of loud explosions and fireballs. The Jurassic section has a fab playground that he might like. I don’t think there’s much else suitable though. It’s a lot of expense for a kid that doesn’t like theme park rides. Have you tried Disney?

Oh gosh, yes Epcot!!!! It's worth it just to see the English model village! The ride in the giant golf ball is nice and gentle.

The Pterodon Flyers are gentle. There was a climbing wall there too. A mooch around Hogwarts is good. You can buy an interactive wand to make the spells work at various points. The train from IOA to Universal is a good ride. Do you have the park to park tickets?

We were there last August (but early August). We were fortunate as we had Disney tickets too so just went back to one of the Disney water parks.

I had just opened then so could have been teething problems. Hope you get on better.

Thanks so much everybody
Going to share all this information with his dad
Yes we do have park to park tickets
Is the train undercover or open I wonder
Awfully hot here

The Hogwarts express train? It's enclosed, with videos showing "window views" of the journey to hogwarts - it was good and I think it was air conditioned

Thankyou
Train is looking like a good plan
I like the wands idea

Storm force in marvel island is basically spinning tea cups - is that too much?

Hi hermione

Thankyou
Think it may be
We are going to go for the train and dr suess

I'm just having another look at the map. Universal side theres Woody woodpeckers kids zone, plus shows etc
Islands of adventure - there's Jurassic park as well as Seuss landing

We got back yesterday.

Volcano bay is better first thing, much quieter and no wait times. We went 3 times and so much better in morning. There are lots of family rides with no waits on them.

I’d second getting the interactive wands and the spells. There are several spells to do in both parks and the Wands are slightly more expensive than non inter active ones, but last forever. We bought ours 2 years ago and took them back with us this time and they still worked. The shops in Harry Potter are worth going to to and the train ride. There is the show against the castle in the evenings

Also in universal studios - woody woodpecker and that area, ET, dr Seuss, the ride by Simpson’s which is like dumbo

IOA- the Jurassic flying things,

Also the parades.

Enjoy

Really touched and grateful to everybody who has replied
Mumsnet rocks
Thankyou

Ps I loved the parade yesterday at universal