We were visiting Universal Studios primarily to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, however, a visit to the bright and colourful Seuss Landing was a pleasant diversion.
Although the primary reason for our visit to Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios Orlando was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we did spend some time in Seuss Landing which is based on the popular children’s books by Dr. Seuss. Seuss Landing is bright, shiny and colourful – in other words, a complete contrast to Harry’s dark and gloomy world.
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It’s a cartoon world come to life and loads of fun for younger kids and Dr. Seuss fans who will feel like they are walking through the pages of his imaginative books. Fans will appreciate the fact that there are no straight lines in Seuss Landing because Dr. Seuss only drew curved, slanted or “wonky” lines in the illustrations for his books.
Emma entering Seuss Landing
The brightly coloured shops and attractions all decked out for Christmas reminded me of Whoville in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
One of many colourful shops in Seuss Landing
We even found a Who girl and a Who boy that Emma had a chat with. Their make-up is incredible.
Emma meets a “Who” boy and a “Who” girl
The rides in Seuss Landing are: The Cat in the Hat ride; The High in the Sky Trolley Train Ride; Carou-Seuss-el and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. All of these rides are appropriate for younger children although The Cat in the Hat spins and twirls around, sometimes quite suddenly, so anyone prone to motion sickness or who simply doesn’t like a spinning ride should probably avoid it. Once wasn’t enough for Emma.
Outside The Cat in the Hat ride
There are plenty of shopping opportunities for anyone looking for Dr. Seuss souvenirs.
Shopping!!
Emma’s favourite ride in Seuss Landing was One Fish, Two Fish because of the fountains that spray water in time to the music. Some unlucky (or lucky depending on your point of view) riders end up soaking wet after a turn on this ride which is otherwise similar to the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Emma after riding One Fish, Two Fish
As part of the holiday celebrations, there was a very grumpy Grinch posing for photographs. He gave Katie a hard time about being “too cool” to have her picture taken with him but there was no shaming her into posing. Emma had to pose with the mean old guy all by herself.
Emma meets The Grinch
I thought that the Carou-Seuss-el looked absolutely charming, however, I couldn’t talk anyone into riding it – not exciting enough apparently.
The Carou-Seuss-el
The majority of the attractions at Universal Studios – Islands of Adventure are aimed at an older crowd so it’s not a park that I would recommend to parents who are simply looking for a fun spot to take pre-schoolers or young school-age kids. There are other parks in Orlando that they would be happier at and I wouldn’t want to pay the steep admission price for a park that has limited attractions for the little ones. However, if the grown-ups want to see the park or if the family consists of mixed ages of kids then Seuss Landing is a delightful place to keep younger family members entertained while the older ones are enjoying the big rides or hanging out with wizards.
Related Links
A Day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – An 8 Year Old’s View
Becca@R We There Yet Mom?
Looks like so much fun!!!! I want to go!!!
Thanks for linking up! Have a wonderful weekend!
~Becca
Monique
I agree with Becca; it looks like a lot of fun and I want to go.
Sarah V.
Oh my gosh! My daughter adores Seuss books, so she would love this. Thanks so much for sharing your awesome pictures!
Terumi
What a great post- I was curious if it would be worth it to take my duo there. They love cat in the hat! I guess we can wait a few years and they’ll have a little more fun there:)
Susan Crawford
Our kids love Universal Studio, including our 8 year old who was there when he was 7. We went last October and spent Haloween night at Disney and two days at Universal/Island of Adventure. All of our kids, except our then 16 year old, loved Seus Landing. Great blog Lisa – Universal is definitely worth the money.
Camels & Chocolate
I’ve never actually done any of the Seuss Landing attractions, but I love going over there to take photos! Ditto to the comic book land (can’t remember it’s name at the moment!).
Sonja
Seuss Landing was my favorite section of the park when we were there a few years ago – so creative and original! My kids were just young/old enough to really enjoy it too.
Lisa Goodmurphy
@Susan – I think 7 or 8 is just about right as the lower age limit to really get a lot out of Universal. Emma’s 8 and enjoyed the Harry Potter area as well as Seuss Landing. Her favourite ride in the park though was probably the barge ride where she repeatedly got soaking wet!
Disney at Halloween must have been awesome!!
Lisa Goodmurphy
@Camels & Chocolate – Seuss Landing is definitely fun to photograph. In fact, on our drive to Universal and walking to the park, Emma and I were warned repeatedly that we were not to stop or take photos in Seuss Landing on our way to Forbidden Journey. Katie knew how tempting walking through there was going to be for me – and she wanted to make sure that she got her first ride in before the waits got too long.
Mary @ The World Is A Book
Great post Lisa! I’m glad you enjoyed Seuss landing. We all loved it too. That was my fave land. We were there on our Day 2 at Islands of Adventure when the park opened and there were no lines on most of the rides. Rode Cat In the Hat 3 times. =) We didn’t see the Whos or the Grinch but had pictures with the Lorax and Cat In the Hat. Emma is surely enjoying it.
Jessica
What a fun place! We’ve never been to Universal Studios before, so I had never heard of this. May need to add it to our list.
Twokidsandamap
My kids loved Seuss Landing and we spent much of our Universal Studios time there. My daughter, who adores carousels, couldn’t get enough of the one here.
Steve
I thought the Zeus-land was great, but I’m never going near that Cat in the Hat ride again. I was way dizzier coming off that ride than anything else in either of the Universal parks.
Tell Katie we’re disappointed that there’s no picture of her with the Grinch!
Andi of My Beautiful Adventures
You have such an adorable daughter!
Lisa Wood
gosh that looks like so much fun..how did they make all of the equipment look like that? It looks so funky 🙂
I reckon the rides would have been so much fun, and the way they have dressed up is amazing – I would love a photo with The Grinch.
Cheers
Lisa
Lisa Goodmurphy
@Andi – Thank you!!
@Lisa – Funky is a very good word to describe Seuss Landing – it is bright, colourful and fun just as anything related to Dr. Seuss should be!
Danielle @Bubs on the Move
I hear what you are saying about other parks being better for pre-schoolers but my own pre-schoolers would love this Dr Seuss themed collection of rides and shops. I am really impressed by the makeup that the characters are wearing.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Oh, they would definitely love it, Danielle – it’s just that Seuss Landing is a tiny part of Universal Studios and the admission to the park is steep – you might not think you were getting your money’s worth if the kids weren’t interested in anything else in the park. I could have talked to the Who boy and Who girl all day examining their makeup – it was perfect!