I thought we had more time until the sullen, too cool, attitudes consumed our children. At 10 and 12 years old at the time of this writing, I thought we had time. They won’t wear clothing of my choosing and haven’t for a couple years.They rarely show enthusiasm for anything and any excitement is reserved for a new video game update. We do love to watch movies as a family so they know all the past and current childhood flicks. Little lady leans towards artistic endeavors with a focus on the cute and silly, while little man has always preferred creatures of all types. He started with dinosaurs and animals, and moved into imaginary creatures like dragons and pokemon. In a family of four, we have many varied interests and couldn’t decide on any parks to skip, so we’re doing all of them. We are all excited for Epic Universe, a new theme park opening this Spring in Universal Studios Orlando!

We know that our kids can still attend theme parks at any age, but we also didn’t realize how appealing LegoLand was until watching coverage by a theme park Youtube channel (We watch Youtube like other people may watch the news). Legoland Florida still says kids are kids until age 12 and they have some offerings only for kids under 13, so we plan to visit while little man can still do it all. We also love the Lego movie and collect legos so it really makes sense. Little man says Legoland and Epic Universe are the most important because we’ve never done them before. He says we can skip Disney.

I wish we could skip Disney. I love Disney World, but it’s hard. Hours change, menus change, rides shut down, the rules change. It used to feel easier but now it feels like a puzzle to solve. Even when we throw money at the problems, it doesn’t feel easy. We’ve paid for sites to help get dining reservations, and then felt stressed making it to those dining reservations, or had to skip one altogether when a child became ill. We’ve paid for the skip the line service, genie plus, and struggled with running across parks and getting the rides we want, at the time we want. We know the service has evolved and has a new name so you can throw more money into it if you desire. We’ve paid for a fireworks party only to find you have to get there early, so we could’ve done that without spending $400. We’ve sat for 30 minutes waiting for a parade only to have a couple adults stand in front of us as it started, contributing to the stress of Magic Kingdom, but that’s not the only park that’s hard. We’ve planned and planned, only to fail when the simple dinner you promised your kids was a restaurant that closes early when you didn’t realize it wasn’t open as late as the park. My kids love that Disney puffy pizza, and apparently all the places that have it close early! You need to train to prepare for the walking at Disney World, and save your money, and then once you get back to your resort, you have less amenities than anywhere else. No mini bar in a pinch, no room service, no refrigerator, no merchandise delivery. You are carrying all those toys your kids just had to have, over all those miles, and then if you’re on the second floor of the Caribbean resort, you’re carrying everything up those stairs, even a stroller, because there are no elevators. You are filling bags with ice every morning to keep your leftovers cold enough. I can’t make this up, I’ve been burned. So why are we going back? (Not to the Caribbean, never to the Caribbean resort again, but to Disney) My husband is a staunch defender, and the little lady is in love with it all. They’re loyalists, while I’m ready for a revolution. I’m not saying Disney World isn’t magical, but it’s hard. Bring snacks that don’t need refrigeration, and a stroller until your kids are teenagers. Unless you have a room in the Caribbean, then I’m sorry and bring a muscle massager.

Little man and I are excited for the Universal Epic Universe! I’ve been a fan of Harry Potter since the books weren’t all released and little man has read most of them. He’s been taking an extended break after the Order of the Phoenix, and who can blame him? When I first went to Universal in 2011, it was an all in one park admission. I was disappointed that they split the park up into two with separate tickets, but they’ve definitely added enough to justify the expense. We tried to do both parks in one day during a big Disney trip in the peak of the summer 2023, and it was all too much. I’m glad we’ve given it more time and research, staying at Cabana Bay in 2024. Our kids don’t like big water slides, but Volcano Bay is the coolest water park I’ve ever seen, with a remarkable way to virtually wait in line. I can see it being more appealing when the kids are older, but I’m glad we tried it and got a fantastic view of the volcano from our room. Universal has an option for pizza delivery to the room, provides mini fridges and offers merchandise delivery to your room. They also let resort guests into the parks an hour prior to opening, versus Disney’s 30 minutes. This summer, we’ll be staying at Stella Nova, a new resort closer to Epic Universe. We’re most excited for Nintendo World, How to Train your Dragon and the new Harry Potter addition, Ministry of magic. We play Mario games as a family every weekend. Little lady hasn’t caught the Harry Potter bug yet, but she can appreciate a magic wand and delicious butter beer. My husband wants to do everything, everywhere, and buy all the things and eat at all the places. He was the original theme park enthusiast who brought me into the fandom. He and the little lady will often shop while the little man and I find a bench for some people watching. Then the shoppers will sleep in while little man and I visit the pool and laundry room on our rest days. It’s healthy to divide and thrive to get through a family adventure!

We have nine park days planned in a two week period and I hope we have enough rest built in and we stay healthy and positive. We start with a day at Legoland, then we’ll do the Disney portion followed by the Universal portion. It will hopefully be epic as it will possibly be our last big theme park trip with children. Children who aren’t teenagers and still like to hang out with us on Friday nights anyway. I told them I won’t plan another theme park trip until they ask specifically to go. When they were little, we could strap them into strollers and persuade them to visit anywhere we wanted with a lollipop or an ice cream. They’re too big for strollers and theme parks have so much walking. They also have expensive tastes and want money for online games rather than candy for distraction. My future plans are to research cruises with kid and teenage clubs, as well as international trips. We are all obsessed with Japanese culture and a visit to Japan is definitely on our bucket list. We want to make sure we relax, but also are excited about our adventures and have something for everyone to enjoy. There will be much information to come with kid opinions on the new theme parks, surviving a road trip, and any other family misadventures.