Tell me about Universal Hollywood!

[Glynis4]

I am in the early planning stages of a possible Disneyland/Universal trip in early (February) 2023. We have been to DL twice before (2017 & 2019). Never been to Universal. My kids are/will be 8 & 10. They are not overly adventurous, and a quick look at what universal offers has me thinking that we won’t necessarily be interested in the Mummy ride, Transformers, Jurassic World, King Kong. Definitely interested in spending time in Harry Potter world. How scary is the Studio Tour? Would 1 day be enough for us to explore the park? I’m thinking we will tack it onto the start or end of our trip, as we will be flying in/out of LAX, and would get a hotel close to universal for 2 nights so that we can maximize our day there. Thanks!

 

[shosh1530]

Following, as we are also thinking of a Disneyland/Universal combo trip with my not very adventurous 10 year old. Thinking of starting the trip at Universal to save DL for last.

 

[CeCe0906]

I'll be headed to DL with my Granddaughter age 9 in August. We will spend a day at Universal Hollywood at the end of our trip staying 2 nights at the Hilton near Universal, flying home via the Burbank airport. I'll post a trip report when I get back. There are You Tube videos of the tram tour; King Kong is part of that, so you will be seated on the tram for that, mostly screen based.
I've found that watching the videos posted online helps decide whether to ride. We are skipping the mummy ride also. My granddaughter is good with fast; loved Hagrids ride in Universal Orlando last year, but not spooky stuff.

 

[Glynis4]

I'll be headed to DL with my Granddaughter age 9 in August. We will spend a day at Universal Hollywood at the end of our trip staying 2 nights at the Hilton near Universal, flying home via the Burbank airport. I'll post a trip report when I get back. There are You Tube videos of the tram tour; King Kong is part of that, so you will be seated on the tram for that, mostly screen based.
I've found that watching the videos posted online helps decide whether to ride. We are skipping the mummy ride also. My granddaughter is good with fast; loved Hagrids ride in Universal Orlando last year, but not spooky stuff.

Thanks I will check out the videos! And same here, fast is fine, but not scary

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

My kids are the same age as yours.

My 8 year old daughter actually didn't like the Studio Tour., She found it scary, though honestly it's hard for me to predict with my kids, lol. The tour itself is mostly not scary, just looking at sets and sound stages, but there are a couple times where it stops and you watch a 3d movie and the tram moves around, which she didn't like.

My 10 y/o son loved it, he went on it twice.

My daughter liked Minions, Kung Fu Panda, Hippogryph, Secret Life of Pets. She did not like Jurassic Park or Harry Potter Forbidden Journey. We did not go on Transformers, Simpsons, Mummy.

For reference, at Disney she likes Space Mountain, Mine Train , Star Tours, Flight of Passage, Big Thunder. She doesn't like things like Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, Dinosaur.

My son actually tends to be more cautious than her, so again my kids sometimes are just unpredictable, lol.

You could do all of Universal Studios in 1 day, depending on how much you are willing to stand in line and if you are skipping rides. The lines in the first hour or so are extremely light, you can squeeze in a lot during that time. You would be basically skipping the entire lower lot assuming Super Nintendo Land isn't open yet, so that would save walking time also

 

[Glynis4]

My kids are the same age as yours.

My 8 year old daughter actually didn't like the Studio Tour., She found it scary, though honestly it's hard for me to predict with my kids, lol. The tour itself is mostly not scary, just looking at sets and sound stages, but there are a couple times where it stops and you watch a 3d movie and the tram moves around, which she didn't like.

My 10 y/o son loved it, he went on it twice.

My daughter liked Minions, Kung Fu Panda, Hippogryph, Secret Life of Pets. She did not like Jurassic Park or Harry Potter Forbidden Journey. We did not go on Transformers, Simpsons, Mummy.

For reference, at Disney she likes Space Mountain, Mine Train , Star Tours, Flight of Passage, Big Thunder. She doesn't like things like Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, Dinosaur.

My son actually tends to be more cautious than her, so again my kids sometimes are just unpredictable, lol.

You could do all of Universal Studios in 1 day, depending on how much you are willing to stand in line and if you are skipping rides. The lines in the first hour or so are extremely light, you can squeeze in a lot during that time. You would be basically skipping the entire lower lot assuming Super Nintendo Land isn't open yet, so that would save walking time also

This is SO helpful, thanks so much! Yeah I wish Super Nintendo Land was open for our trip, but I’m not counting on it! My kids sound very similar to your daughter and it’s kinda what I was expecting as far as what rides we would do.

 

[oakleycat]

My younger son is my cautious one and wouldn't ride anything at Universal, especially the Studio Tour, until he was about 12 (we had passes for years). He doesn't like dark rides that are at all scary (or potentially scary to him) and the Studio Tour was in that category for him due to the King Kong fight scene. So for years he would only do Minions, the Despicable Me dumbo ride, Hippogriff and the shows. He still, at 13, won't ride the Mummy or any of the coasters at USO, but I think that's more about roller coasters than dark rides at this point. Simpsons makes us all sick, even my ride anything kid, so we avoid that one too. I agree that one day is enough.

 

[minnie1012]

We went in 2019 when my kids were 15 & 10. We aren't roller coaster people so we were fine with just one day. We walked around, went to some shows and went on a few things. My kids liked the studio tour except for this one part where you are inside and the tram shakes and there is a lot of flashing lights etc. It made us all motion sick. We closed our eyes which did help make it better. I don't remember them being scared but we knew about the rides ahead of time. My youngest is very shy and hesitant to do things so we had watched stuff on Youtube so she knew what most things were going in. We stood at the Hilton right there and were able to walk to the park as well as tour other areas in LA.

 

[DLgal]

This is SO helpful, thanks so much! Yeah I wish Super Nintendo Land was open for our trip, but I’m not counting on it! My kids sound very similar to your daughter and it’s kinda what I was expecting as far as what rides we would do.

You may be surprised. There are rumors of a soft opening before the end of the year.

 

[lorimt]

We only went for one day and none of us really liked it. Kids were 6, 11 and 21 then. The younger two weren’t very adventurous at the time so they skipped several rides and the adults are all prone to motion sickness so we could only tolerate a few of the simulator rides which so many of them seem to be. It was super hot that day which also put a damper on the day.

 

[Glynis4]

We went in 2019 when my kids were 15 & 10. We aren't roller coaster people so we were fine with just one day. We walked around, went to some shows and went on a few things. My kids liked the studio tour except for this one part where you are inside and the tram shakes and there is a lot of flashing lights etc. It made us all motion sick. We closed our eyes which did help make it better. I don't remember them being scared but we knew about the rides ahead of time. My youngest is very shy and hesitant to do things so we had watched stuff on Youtube so she knew what most things were going in. We stood at the Hilton right there and were able to walk to the park as well as tour other areas in LA.

The Hilton seems to be a popular choice, I’ll have to look into it!

 

[Steven G]

We love universal studios, but the majority of rides are simulator rides, which some people can't tolerate, and it is definitely "scarier" than what disneyland offers.
The only ride that affects my family is Forbidden Journey, I get slightly queasy from it. Simpsons has never bothered me.

The scary rides I believe are:
Harry Potter Forbidden Journey (spiders, evil trees, dementors, etc.)
Mummy
Tram Tour (King Kong, Earthquake sequence, jurassic park)
Jurassic World (T-Rex and other dinosaurs)

The simulator rides that can make you sick are:
Simpsons (worst for most)
Transformers
Minions
Panda movie (more of a 4D movie than a ride, but the seats do move)

Family attractions:
Secret Life of PEts
Hippogriff (unless you hate coasters this is tame and short)
Ollivander wand show
Silly Swirly Fun Ride (dumbo ride)


Best thing in park:
Waterworld Show

Other stuff:
Animal Actors Show
Stunt Show (I think this one is no longer listed)

 

[Reymagsnlevismom]

Universal is a must for us every trip more so now my 4 year old grandson loves dinosaurs and the movies all of them it’s a good thing I enjoy them as well he is always wanting to watch one the movies