Universal or NASA

Randomsoulshine

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 2, 2018
coming back to Orlando this June staying hopefully at CBR and wanting to add a little something different. We will be hitting Epcot and MK. We did all four parks last summer. Should I add in a day trip to NASA or just do a couple of days at Universal. We did Universal two years ago. My teen son wants Universal and my teen daughter wants NASA. I really can’t afford both. My concern with Universal is I probably won’t ride Hulk or Rip Ride Rocket. Also there are some rides we are told with make you very sick and we get sick on Star Tours. Any advice from someone who has toured NASA? Thank you so much.
 
My first question would be are the kids going to be happy without thrill rides? I love KSC, and have had an annual pass a couple times. But I love history and technology, so the fact that KSC is more laid back and exhibit/bus tour oriented is fine with me. I am not a huge Universal fan because I don’t really like thrill rides, and not a particular fan of the movies represented (except the Minions :love:). I am not saying it’s a bad experience or that there is a problem at Universal. It’s just not my thing.

They are very different experiences, so you will just have to weigh the pros and cons of each.
 
My first question would be are the kids going to be happy without thrill rides? I love KSC, and have had an annual pass a couple times. But I love history and technology, so the fact that KSC is more laid back and exhibit/bus tour oriented is fine with me. I am not a huge Universal fan because I don’t really like thrill rides, and not a particular fan of the movies represented (except the Minions :love:). I am not saying it’s a bad experience or that there is a problem at Universal. It’s just not my thing.

They are very different experiences, so you will just have to weigh the pros and cons of each.
My teen daughter will love NASA. I have no doubt. She loves learning and anything science related. My son will be the harder one to convince. If there are a lot of hands on portions and not just looking at things he might like it. It’s so hard to be mom and try to make everyone happy haha
 
Maybe a day at each? What is your son most interested in at Universal? We rarely ride the coasters, but there are a number of simulator-style rides.
 


My teen daughter will love NASA. I have no doubt. She loves learning and anything science related. My son will be the harder one to convince. If there are a lot of hands on portions and not just looking at things he might like it. It’s so hard to be mom and try to make everyone happy haha
I recommend going to the KSC website. It is very detailed, and will give you more info than I can in a post. There is the shuttle launch experience that your son may enjoy. Some of the tours are included with regular admission and some are extra. The tours take a big bite out of your time though. Just going to the Saturn V building takes a minimum of a couple hours, as you go on a bus tour on the way, and then need time to explore the building. But I feel it is a must see because it really covers the Apollo program and it is part of the regular admission.

If you have the option, try to plan your visit around a rocket launch. I just watched the launch last night from my sister's house near Port Canaveral and I never get tired of watching launches. Night ones are the best!
 
If you have the option, try to plan your visit around a rocket launch. I just watched the launch last night from my sister's house near Port Canaveral and I never get tired of watching launches. Night ones are the best!
Exactly what I was coming to say! A night launch is amazing to see in person if you can swing it.
 
This might sound like heresy on this forum, but have you considered skipping Disney for this trip and just doing Universal and Kennedy Space Center? Since you did all four Disney parks last summer, maybe your kids would get more out of doing something completely different this time around.

I have not been to KSC, so I can't speak to that. I took my two oldest to Universal last year, and we loved it! First, only ODS rode Rip Ride Rocket and Hulk. YDS didn't want to, nor did he want to wait alone, so neither of us went. No big deal; they're only a couple of rides. While Universal does have true thrill rides, they're certainly not a requirement.

If Star Tours makes you sick, you will probably want to stay away from the intense simulator rides like Transformers and Simpsons. But there are still many other fantastic rides. The Minion ride is a simulator, but not that intense, and you have the option of sitting at the front on benches that don't move, so it's really just watching a 4-d movie.

YDS loved, loved, loved Men In Black. It's similar to Buzz in that it's a shooting game where you compete with the others in your car. ODS and I favored the Mummy ride. It's an old-fashioned dark coaster that is not intense in terms of movement, but has amazing special effects. The Jurassic World ride was so much fun; much less jerky than Dinosaur at AK.

Both of the Harry Potter worlds are amazing! We spent so much time in Diagon Alley working the windows with the magic wands, and the attention to detail is outstanding. If either of your kids is a Potter Fan, they're not to be missed. The HP rides are both great - a nice mixture of ride and motion simulator, but much less jerky than Star Tours. There's also a cute HP kiddie coaster near the castle, and we rode it over and over at the end of the night when it was a walk on, and we could see everything lit up. The Hogwarts Express is a different ride in each direction with different effects and storylines, and not at all intense; it just feels like a train ride, but like being in the movie.

While Universal does not have as many stage shows as Disney, I enjoyed the ones we saw. The Sinbad show had super cool special effects, and I spent the whole show trying to figure out how they did the stunts. Back in Diagon Alley, we all loved the stage version of The Three Brothers, and I thought the Celestina Warbeck show was great, but it didn't hold the attention of my kids (ages 7 and 9).
 


Last summer we did Universal for a couple of days and then we went to KSC for a day. To be honest, only my son went (14) to KSC. My two girls (7 and 11) did not go and stayed back at the house we were staying at with dad. I am glad they did not go. KSC was good, but was really hot when the sun was out, and we got really wet when the rain came down. It was interesting, but not that fun IMO. I did not feel we got our money's worth at KSC. I love Universal, and I do not do roller coasters. There are slower rides and fun shows enough to keep my attention.
 
Thanks you everyone. I’m a Disney lover and just can’t go to Orlando and not see my mouse. Haha. So we are gonna switch it up and do evenings at Epcot and MK instead of rope dropping. My kids loved the evening vibe the one night we got to do it last year. We are gonna do two rope drop days at universal. We won’t have express pass so I have explained to them we will have to do some waiting. They are spoiled with my Disney planning and rarely wait more than 20 minutes for any ride. Just booked Carribean Beach resort and getting excited! Hoping to hit NASA with my daughter on a girls trip when she graduates.
 

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