No honey, I'm pretty sure they don't have fishsticks here. Sorry.
July 9, 2012 11:20 AM   Subscribe

WeekendExcursionFilter: SeaWorld (San Antonio)/Aquatica, a one- or two-day destination?

Two kiddos (8 & 10). One is ga-ga about animals and swimming, the other will be intellectually interested in the animals and probably won't do water slides--both love roller coasters, etc. I hear that they "close" Aquatica when it hits a critical mass--does that effectively mean that we need to dedicate one day to Seaworld per se and one day to Aquatica, or can we enjoy enough good stuff from both in a single day? (Pretty certain we can't do all of both in one day.) FunCard + Aquatica 4 pack = $300, seems to be the way to go, no...?--which probably no-brainer translates into 2-day experience then, right? More than anything else, this drives hotel plans. Any suggestions there welcome as well...

Bonus questions: Do you walk around in swim trunks all day? Meal plan worth it? Quick Queue? Stingray Encounter @ Aquatica (other Animal Experiences = $$$!), thoughts? Cabana @ Aquatica = stupid expensive, but I hear that you're effectively "homeless" without it or the $50/two loungers--with family of 4 can we rotate using the loungers or am I forced to toss in another hundred bucks for chairs? What am I forgetting (besides lots of walking, drink plenty of water, replenish sunscreen periodically)?
posted by TigerMoth to Travel & Transportation around San Antonio, TX (1 answer total)
 
Disclaimer: I don't have any children, and I've never had the chance to visit Aquatica. I assume you've checked out the TripAdvisor reviews?

My impression of Sea World SA by itself is that it wouldn't normally fill up a whole 8-hour day, but your kids probably couldn't spend 8 hours at a park, anyway. Sea World proper has only two roller coasters and two water rides (ones basically a log ride and the other is one of those big circular boat rides around a river, with 'rapids' and water cannons and such), and then the shows of course. (Note that Quick Queue ONLY works on those 4 rides, not Aquatica). If the kids wanted to see every show, they could probably use up all their energy - the park is pretty large area-wise so it takes awhile to get around. I would look at the schedule/description of shows and figure out in advance which ones the kids would want to go to, then plan in meals and some rides of course, to figure out if a full day was necessary.

There is non-reservable Aquatica seating, I hear it just fills up fast. One option would be to risk getting a couple of lockers and getting there super-early to stake out a spot. Really I think the seating is more for the adults to sit at while their kids are in the pool, so two loungers seems like it would be enough.
posted by muddgirl at 2:49 PM on July 9, 2012


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