How Autism Friendly is Universal Studios Hollywood?

Summer is over and it’s back to school and time for our end of summer theme park review. If you’re like us, you’re already thinking about where you’re going to do on winter break or even next summer. So, what to do? That’s always the question when it comes to family vacation for typical families and for ones with kids on the spectrum. You have to figure out where to go, what you can afford and most importantly, something you and the kids will actually both have a good time doing. And since our three kids are on the autism spectrum, that goes triple.   One of the nice things about California is the weather generally stays warm over the holidays. In 2013, it was 80 degrees on Christmas Day and on New Year’s we went paddle boarding at the beach.

This year’s pick was Universal Studios Hollywood. Kennedy got to pick it because it was her birthday. This review will be extra special for us because for the first time Kennedy, Alex and Bella have given us their own reviews to include.

Universal Studios Hollywood is actually located just north of the city of Hollywood, near where the 101 Freeway meets 134 Freeway. Traffic can be a bit tough on the 101 (read more about this in our 10 tips article). Because we live in nearby Toluca Lake, the commute was about 10 minutes; for those of you a bit further out of town, there are plenty of hotels around the area that can accommodate almost anyone’s budget. The two closest are the Hilton Universal City  and the Sheraton Universal hotels, a short walk from the Universal City Walk and the theme park. For other listings check the Universal Studios Hollywood’s Hotels page.

The draw of this theme park is, as the saying goes, location, location, location. The theme park is perched on a hill immediately behind the real Universal Studios backlot where we have both worked on and off for most of our careers in Hollywood. Even with the additions over the years, the backbone of this amazing place remains the Studio Tour where they drive you around the lot and see a real studio in action.

Where Disneyland is ride centric, Universal Studios has built up a nice balance between shows and movie themed attractions. Despite minor complaints from the kids, all of us had a great time on each ride and at each show. The newest ride to hit Universal Studios Hollywood is the Minion Mayhem Ride based on the loveable and funny Minions from the animated hit films, Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. Adjacent to the ride is Super Silly Fun Land from the first movie, complete with the old style arcade games and a water park. Two things to know: first, bring swim suits or a change of clothes for the kids or face the wrath of disgruntled children for the rest of the day, or the high prices of the gift shop conveniently located next to the exit. The second thing to know is you don’t get to incinerate the arcade space ship like Gru did in the movie, sorry ☹; be sure to drop that one in the suggestion box on your way out.

The Jurassic Park Ride experience was amazing and puts the Disneyland dinosaurs to shame. A word of warning: everyone gets soaked on this one and when we say soaked, we mean really soaked. Like you just took a shower in your clothes. Ladies (or gentlemen, not judging), if you wear mascara, you will look like a raccoon, so if it’s a cold or late in the day you may want to avoid this ride. They don’t offer free locker rentals just because they’re being nice. Put your cell phones, ipods, camera and anything else that doesn’t like water in one, or you will be visiting Best Buy the next day.

Some of the other shows we visited were the Universal Animal Actors Show where real professional animal actors show off their skills and you learn just how they got all the animal actors from the movies to do all that stuff.  Bella really enjoyed this one even though she was determined not to. The last part of our day was the Water World Show, based on the movie starting Kevin Costner. Kennedy especially enjoyed this one but all of us had a great time. They have a cute pre-show where some of the actors come out and interact with the audience.

The Studio Tour was a real treat and is the biggest draw of the park because just to watch the kids’ reaction to everything around. Living in California, earthquakes are a real concern for us. However, we haven’t had one that was big enough for them to feel since they were old enough to understand what they are – so the Earthquake experience was both fun and educational.

And now, without further ado, here here’s what they thought of Universal Studios Hollywood.

Kennedy 

I really liked going to Universal Studios because it was my birthday. They gave me a button and everyone told me “Happy Birthday!” all day long. My favorite ride was the Minion Mayhem ride, because it’s so awesome and the minions are really silly.

My second favorite ride wasn’t a ride, it was the Water World Show. It takes place after the polar ice caps have melted. People live in floating villages. They all search for the legend of Dryland. The villain Decon attacks a small village because they know the way to Dryland. Helen and a mysterious hero called the Mariner fight off Decon and his evil henchmen. The audience gets really wet during the show but it’s lots of fun.

 

My first least favorite ride is part of the studio tour – it was the Jaws part. It was so scary when Jaws killed Fred the diver in the water – yuck! The other part of the tour I didn’t like was the King Kong part. King Kong fights dinosaurs and I got dinosaur spit all over me. It was gross and nasty. I didn’t like the flash flood part either. I was scared and I screamed. I also screamed a lot on the earthquake part. I saw a truck fall down into the train station. Then a train came and hit the truck. Water was coming down the stairs into the train station and I was very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very scared and I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really didn’t like it at all.

 

Alex

My favorite ride at Universal Studios Hollywood was the Minion Mayhem Ride. It had lots of minions. My other favorite ride was Jurassic Park because it had lots of dinosaurs. We got really wet at the end. My least favorite part was the dinosaur spit in King Kong. I didn’t like the earthquake part because I thought the truck was going to crush us. I liked spending time with my parents at Universal Studios Hollywood.

 

Bella

My favorite part of my day at Universal Studio Hollywood was the Animal Show. Well, I liked most of it. The part that I didn’t like was the pig. I also liked the Jurassic Park ride because I got really wet and I like getting wet. I really liked the Water World show because a girl got a big bucket of water dumped on her head before the show started.   My least favorite part was on the tour when there was an earthquake. All of us went side to side. I screamed so, so, so loud. I was very, very frustrated because we couldn’t go to the water park. It really took a long time to eat because the lines were really long.

As we told you, we went to Universal Studios Hollywood mostly because it was Kennedy’s birthday and it’s what she wanted. Well what she wanted was to go with some friends, but she doesn’t really have any. However, we have to give one final shout out to the Theme Characters, show actors, ride operators and even the janitorial staff who all said happy birthday to Kennedy and made her feel like she spent the entire day with all of her friends.

Check out our Universal Studios Hollywood and autism – 10 tips for success.

Kennedy, Alex and Bella are three kids on the autism spectrum. Their parents Andrew Areffi and Melissa Martinez-Areffi are the authors of “Navigating Autism – The Essential Guide For Parents By Parents.”