There’s no shortage of kid-friendly adventures at Universal Orlando Resort’s four theme parks, 11 hotels, and Universal CityWalk. If you’re planning a visit with the whole family, here’s what you need to know:
- Universal Orlando Resort is home to attractions and experiences for kids of all ages, from live stage shows to interactive play areas to family-friendly roller coasters.
- Certain attractions do have height requirements. Click here to view a full list of height requirements to better plan your visit.
- All of the theme parks offer nursing facilities, and all of the dry theme parks offer stroller rentals. Click here to learn more about childcare services at Universal Orlando Resort.
Ready to explore all of the best things to do with kids at Universal Orlando Resort? Here’s a complete list of greatest hits for kids of all sizes, levels of courage, and ability.
Jump to:
WHERE TO STAY | UNIVERSAL EPIC UNIVERSE | UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA | UNIVERSAL ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE | UNIVERSAL VOLCANO BAY | UNIVERSAL CITY WALK
Where to Stay with Kids at Universal Orlando Resort
Staying at a Universal Orlando Resort hotel doesn’t just mean proximity to the theme parks. It means the family fun continues all the way until your kids’ heads hit the pillow. With “Jurassic World,” “Despicable Me” and “How to Train Your Dragon” Kids’ Suites at hotels like Loews Royal Pacific Hotel, Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, and Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel, your kids can literally sleep amongst the stories they love.
After a day of non-stop pool time fun, cozy nighttime treats can be made by the fireside at hotels like Universal Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Universal Aventura Hotel. And treats are best paired with a little game room fun found at resorts like Cabana Bay Beach Resort, Universal Terra Luna Resort and Universal Stella Nova Resort.
PRO TIP: While you and your family are soaking in all the retro vibes at Universal Cabana Bay Beach Resort, check out Galaxy Bowl! Grab a bite and take turns seeing which kiddo can get closest to a strike.
What To Do with Kids at Universal Epic Universe
Astronomica – Celestial Park
When the theme parks are hot, we know the most important thing is making sure the family stays cool. Whether you’re looking for a light misting, a splash, or full-on soak, Astronomica is an interactive water play area for all ages in the heart of Celestial Park.
Constellation Carousel – Celestial Park
Nothing beats a good ol’ fashioned carousel — except, maybe this one. Mount your astrological creature of choice and elevate up to six feet in the air as you take a ride through the stars. One of seven different songs will guide your journey as you rotate 360 degrees within the ride’s circular track.
Viking Training Camp – How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
Children, like Vikings, gravitate toward danger, have exorbitant amounts of energy, and love a good competition. Enter Viking Training Camp. The favorite pastime of the Vikings of Berk is dragon racing, so slap some armor onto your mini Viking, and let them climb, slide and explore at this shaded interactive play area and agility course.
PRO TIP: For a fully immersive experience for your Viking in training, pick up a plush dragon from Hiccup’s Workshop!
The Untrainable Dragon – How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
This is Berk, and we have: live entertainment. You and your junior Vikings will be transported to the middle of your favorite movies as live music, puppetry and special effects blend to bring the fiery world of dragons to life. Pack tissues, because your whole family’s hearts are sure to swell as you marvel at Hiccup and Toothless soaring above your seats.
Check out all the show and entertainment options at Epic Universe in this guide.
Meet and Greets – How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
At select times, you can meet Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly at the Haddock Paddock. While your kids are out running amok, learning to race, and putting out fires like the best of them, they might even encounter a few other notable Vikings wandering around Berk. Keep a keen eye out for Gobber, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and even baby Night Lights as you explore.
Yoshi’s Adventure – SUPER NINTENDO WORLD
A glowing egg hunt with something for the whole family! Yoshi’s Adventure is an interactive indoor-outdoor ride where the taller adventurers can take in the scenic views while the more Mushroom Kingdom-sized adventurers can seek out colored eggs and see familiar faces along the way.
Play Interactive Key Challenges – SUPER NINTENDO WORLD
When equipped with a Power-Up Band at SUPER NINTENDO WORLD your kids can put all of their video game training to the test in life-size interactive Key Challenges. After collecting keys from Key Challenges like Piranha Plant Nap Mishap, Thwomp Panel Panic, and Goomba Crazy Crank, they’ll get the chance to confront Bowser Jr. to recover the stolen Golden Mushroom.
Learn more about Power-Up Bands in our guide here.
Meet and Greets – SUPER NINTENDO WORLD
See the iconic caps and mustaches for yourselves! Meet Mario and Luigi and other iconic characters like Princess Peach, Toad, and Donkey Kong around SUPER NINTENDO WORLD
Darkmoor Monster Makeup Experience – Dark Universe
The Darkmoor Monster Makeup Experience welcomes all visitors of Dark Universe into Dr. Pretorius’ lab-turned-parlor to undergo a chilling transformation. Will you have a family of werewolves, vampires, or some other fearsome monster? Warning: Undergoing a werewolf transformation may trigger non-stop howling. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Le Cirque Arcanus – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic
Watch the magic of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic come to life right before your very eyes as you enter the tent of Le Cirque Arcanus. In a show of puppetry, special effects, and magic of course, you’ll watch the story unfold as ringmaster Skender steals Newt Scamander’s suitcase of fantastic beasts from around the globe. Your witches and wizards both small and large will stare in awe of the magical creatures that take the stage.
Cast Spells and Interact with Fantastic Beasts – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic
At Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magique, wandmaker and artisan Cosme Acajor believes that the wizard chooses the wand. Grab a tres chic new wand on your visit to wizarding Paris and visit any of 12 spell-casting locations, where you’ll get to perfect that swish and flick — and even engage with magical creatures.
Learn more about spell-casting in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in this guide.
What To Do with Kids at Universal Studios Florida
DreamWorks Land
It’s not a dream; the stories and characters your kids love have their own dedicated land for play! DreamWorks Land has something for every kid and their family to enjoy, with non-stop interactive play and encounters:
- At Shrek’s Swamp for Little Ogres, your children can climb, slide, and play in Shrek’s swamp and spot familiar faces like Pinocchio.
- DreamWorks Imagination Celebration is a live show with music, dancing and character surprises. Prepare to move it, move it!
- Your little ogres can hop and play with the interactive frogs at King Harold’s Swamp Symphony or interact with the on-screen cats and Puss in Boots at Mama Luna’s Feline Fiesta.
- The little Trolls of your bunch can build some courage to take a colorful ride on the family-friendly Trolls Trollercoaster.
- A visit to Po’s Kung Fu Training Camp will have the obstacles to get your family in tip-top shape — and you can get a couple of pointers from the Dragon Warrior himself at Po Live, an interactive live experience!
Animal Actors on Location – Hollywood
Not in the market for a new family pet? You’re about to be. Once your family sees these wild celebrities take the stage, you too will be wondering, “Why exactly can’t we have a pet porcupine?” Bark, meow, use your supportive cry of choice to cheer on an array of animals as they display the stunts and tricks they’ve used in the movies.
E.T. Adventure – Hollywood
Normal people when they see a bike with a basket: “How cute! A little breadbasket full of things from the farmer’s market.” Universal people: “E.T. is in there.” You want to raise Universal people, so bring the family to hop on for an exhilarating (but gentle) bike ride to help E.T. save his home planet.
Kang and Kodos’ Twirl n’ Hurl – Springfield, U.S.A.
With no minimum height requirement, your little earthlings can spin through space on a flying saucer.
Ollivanders Wand Shop – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley
You never forget the first time you watched Harry Potter step into Ollivanders and witness that iconic moment with his wand. Take your kids to Ollivanders Wand Shop in Diagon Alley to find their very own wand. Together with your wands, your entire wizarding family can cast spells at several spell locations in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter across all three theme parks.
PRO TIP: Ollivanders Wand Shop is also located in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure. In addition to being a merchandise location, Ollivanders also offers an interactive experience where you can witness one lucky wizard being chosen by their wand.
Meet and Greets – Throughout Theme Park
See the stars your kids love! With designated character meet and greets and surprise walk-around characters and performances, it’s sure to be a star-studded visit. Use the Universal Orlando Resort App to help track down some of your favorites like:
- Shrek, Donkey and Fiona
- SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick and Squidward
- Woody Woodpecker
- Scooby-Doo
- Shaggy
- Fred
- Daphne
- Velma and more!
Hogwarts Express
As if your middle child’s train obsession wasn’t intense enough, here they can walk through Platform 9 ¾ and board the Hogwarts Express. Pack some treats from Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop, because this train is taking you from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade village!
What To Do with Kids at Islands of Adventure
Flight of the Hippogriff – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade
Step 1: Bow. Step 2: Wait for Hippogriff to return bow. Step 3: Have the most iconic first roller coaster adventure ever as you spiral around the pumpkin patch and swoop past Hagrid’s hut.
Seuss Landing
Enter the wibbly wonky storybook world of Dr. Seuss, where the imaginative creatures and stories your family loves leap off the page into a colorful place of play.
- Pay a visit to a brother, sister, and a familiar friend who loves fun that is funny on The Cat in the Hat dark ride.
- Swoop up, up, up, into the sky — and likely get sprinkled — with a ride on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.
- Mount your kooky creature of choice and take a spin on the Caro-Seuss-el.
- Learn about the Sneetches and get the best view of the theme park on The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride.
Plus, you can meet characters like the Grinch, the Lorax, and the Things at live storybook readings at select show times.
Learn more about Seuss Landing and all of its whimsical offerings in our complete land guide here.
Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges – Toon Lagoon
After spending all day, over multiple days, together as a family, things can get a little heated – literally and metaphorically. Tell the whole fam to cool off and enjoy a super spinach-charged splashy spin with Popeye and the gang on this water rafting ride. For extra fun, play a little seat roulette to see which family member gets the most soaked.
Me Ship, The Olive – Toon Lagoon
This interactive play area is great for the little sailors to run amok, engage in seafaring fun with passageways, slides, climbing nets, horns, an interactive piano, and more on Popeye’s ship, The Olive.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man – Marvel Super Hero Island
Say hello to your friendly neighborhood super hero as he battles against the Sinister Syndicate and faces the most dangerous night of his life, and yours, in this motion simulation 3-D attraction fit for the bolder members of your crime-fighting family.
Storm Force Accelatron – Marvel Super Hero Island
Spin fast, harness thunder and lightning, help Storm stop the evil Magneto on this classic spinning ride. If you get dizzy easily, maybe spare yourself and volunteer the other caregiver.
What To Do with Kids at Volcano Bay
Waturi Beach – Wave Village
A powdery soft sandy beach, a roaring wave pool and, oh yeah, a huge volcano as your stellar view. Bring some beach toys and have some water-front fun on Waturi Beach.
Runamukka Reef – River Village
A colorful coral reef that was once beneath the ocean has surfaced, complete with bubbling geysers, water guns, slides and dump cups to create a whimsical water play place for Waturi children. For the tiniest little guppies, Tot Tiki Reef is a shallow splash and play area complete with a mini volcano.
Check out our complete guide to spending the day at Volcano Bay with a toddler here.
Kopiko Wai Winding River – River Village
Sometimes the whole family needs a nice relaxing float upon a lazy river. This one, however, is full of surprises along the way, so be sure to lean back and keep your eyes open.
Punga Racers – Rainforest Village
Who doesn’t love a good race? Especially when the finish line is a refreshing pool of water. A favorite among the Waturi children is Punga Racers. Single riders can body slide and slip through underwater sea caves as they zip to see which of four racers will splash to the end first.
Ohno & OhYah Drop Slides – Rainforest Village
This green and purple twist of slides will have your kids challenging who can be braver. Riders will venture their way to the slides, brace the unique turns of each course, and be dropped from heights of either four or six feet into the pool.
What To Do with Kids at Universal CityWalk
Universal’s Great Movie Escape
At Universal’s Great Movie Escape, you’ll be thrust into the movies you love and work together through your choice of “Jurassic World” or “Back to the Future” themed escape rooms before you’re OUTATIME.
Hollywood Drive-In Golf
Perfect for day or nighttime fun, Hollywood Drive-In Golf is a ‘50s sci-fi themed putt-putt experience with two interactive 18-hole mini golf courses. It’s a classic family fun offering before you even step into a theme park.
There’s no shortage of fun to indulge in on your vacation to Universal Orlando Resort, but the best part of your trip will be getting to experience it all with your family by your side. With something for your youngest, oldest and everyone in between, you’re a Universal family in the making!
Comment below with what you’re most excited to do or see with your kids!
No Comments