07/13/2026
Thanks to Universal and Boardwalk for making my trip to Universal Kids a possibility! I chose to wait until a couple weeks after official opening to go and take my kids with me! (They are just above the target age range for this park, so I was able to hear and can share their honest perspectives.)
First I just want to say, please do not listen to all the negative reviews until you can go in and see and do for yourself. All three of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves yesterday!! Of course I set the expectation for who the theme park was made for and why before we went, and they totally understood the assignment and why!
As a PreK teacher with a bachelor’s in early childhood education, of course my mind looked for everything Universal did right for younger kids including so much that was developmentally appropriate for that targeted age group.
We got to the park around 11, and stayed til right before it closed. I paid for general parking, and it was close enough! I’m not even sure where the general parking ended and the up close began. It is a cashless park, but they have a couple spots where you can convert cash to card. There is plenty of misters available, lots of splash pads, and water rides! There is lots of shade available too, covering the ride queues, play areas, splash pads, etc. We are from Texas, so we are used to the heat. We took our small handheld fan and wore hats… it was hot but it was still a great day! My son actually said “Best day ever!!” And then said “Welllll actually Disney holds that title, but this was still a really great day!” 😂😂 We rode pretty much everything my two wanted to ride, watched almost all of the shows, and met a few of the characters.
I’ll start with the shows. Very developmentally appropriate, very interactive!! Kids were able to participate, get up and dance, and there is a dance party where that’s all the kids do is dance along with!
There are height restrictions for the rides here, and they do measure every kiddo that looks questionable! The Jurassic World land was my kids’ favorite. The coaster was actually really fun, definitely a great first thrilling coaster for kids! If anyone of you have ridden Barnstormer at Disney World, I would say this is very comparable to that! My son loved all the cool play areas and his favorite was there in Jurassic World. We saw team members even ride with littles when parents chose not to or did not want to as most of the rides are designed to fit children.
We split a pizza there, got a Shrektzel, and had some ice cream in the Trolls land. Princess Fiona saw me taking a pic with my pretzel, called out to me, ran up and made the picture extra special! Definitely made my day. We always get the free cups of water when at Disney (I don’t drink coke anymore, and neither does my daughter.) I asked the first place we stopped if they do free cups of water here too and they sure do!! And it was cold!
Universal really put in some thought for developmentally appropriate practices and went as far as including smaller potty seats in the restrooms and interactive sensory play on the walls in gift shops. They have designated areas set in the gift shops for small toys to play with and to try on if not purchasing.
The park as a whole does not feel overwhelming because that was the whole point, but it is still very themed and detailed!! The lands are close together so small legs and little feet won’t tire out so fast!
I also wanted to add that Universal made this park with kids in mind, but they also made a more budget friendly opportunity (and less overstimulating one!) for single moms to give the Universal experience to their kids. 💕
