Sea World or Aquatica?

[maggs1035]

We currently have planned.... One day at Sea World and One day at Aquatica. Reading some of the threads Im wondering if we should skip Aquatica and do 2 days at Sea World? Opinions please...... Can I do Sea World in a day and is Aquatica really awesome or just another water park?

Background: We are good at touring and want to do both big coasters at least once, and the kid rides, and see the main shows, and want to feed some animals?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

What time of year is your visit?

If its a very hot time of year, I would definitely say Aquatica is worth a full day. We spent two days there the last week of August and had a blast. See my August trip report link in my signature for tons of pictures of the park. Roa's Rapids is soooo much fun, and very very different from any other waterpark attractions I have ever experienced.

If you are not travelling during the hottest months, what about planning one and a half days at SW, and a half day at Aquatica?

 

[Disney_Princess83]

One Day at Sea World is plenty to do the exhibits. You won't be able to do all the shows, I found some the times overlapped or it was near impossible to get from one side of the park to the other in time.

If you want to do "everything" at Sea World, one day isn't enough. If you want to hit the highlights then yes

 

[maggs1035]

Thanks for the replies! We will be there in Mid May? I think it's pretty hot at that time? We love watermarks!

 

[maggs1035]

What time of year is your visit?

If its a very hot time of year, I would definitely say Aquatica is worth a full day. We spent two days there the last week of August and had a blast. See my August trip report link in my signature for tons of pictures of the park. Roa's Rapids is soooo much fun, and very very different from any other waterpark attractions I have ever experienced.

If you are not travelling during the hottest months, what about planning one and a half days at SW, and a half day at Aquatica?

How were the lines for Aquatica in August? I don't want to spend the majority of the day waiting in lines?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

How were the lines for Aquatica in August? I don't want to spend the majority of the day waiting in lines?

We didn't find the lines bad at all......maybe 10 minutes for the busiest slides, with the exception of Dolphin Plunge (which had a wait time of 20 minutes or so mid-day). The boys rode Dolphin Plunge first thing and last thing in the day to avoid the lines, and utilized the other areas in between.

Now that said......the last week of August is considered a slower season, as the locals have all gone back to school. We did two visits during the weekday (a Tuesday and a Thursday). Tuesday was definitely slower as it was not as hot. Thursday was busier but still very manageable.

 

[maggs1035]

We didn't find the lines bad at all......maybe 10 minutes for the busiest slides, with the exception of Dolphin Plunge (which had a wait time of 20 minutes or so mid-day). The boys rode Dolphin Plunge first thing and last thing in the day to avoid the lines, and utilized the other areas in between.

Now that said......the last week of August is considered a slower season, as the locals have all gone back to school. We did two visits during the weekday (a Tuesday and a Thursday). Tuesday was definitely slower as it was not as hot. Thursday was busier but still very manageable.

I think the first part of May to the middle is the same way, because kids are still in school? We did WDW May 2009 and there were hardly any people there? We have some pics WITHOUT any people in the back ground?

 

[maggs1035]

We didn't find the lines bad at all......maybe 10 minutes for the busiest slides, with the exception of Dolphin Plunge (which had a wait time of 20 minutes or so mid-day). The boys rode Dolphin Plunge first thing and last thing in the day to avoid the lines, and utilized the other areas in between.

Now that said......the last week of August is considered a slower season, as the locals have all gone back to school. We did two visits during the weekday (a Tuesday and a Thursday). Tuesday was definitely slower as it was not as hot. Thursday was busier but still very manageable.

I checked out your trip report! We live in Rochester Ny and we are flying out of Buffalo on JetBlue? This will be our first time on Jetblue, did you like flying with them? We usually fly Southwest! Did you go to the Disney store in the Carousel Mall?

 

[rstout01]

Aquatica is definitely worth going for the day!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I checked out your trip report! We live in Rochester Ny and we are flying out of Buffalo on JetBlue? This will be our first time on Jetblue, did you like flying with them? We usually fly Southwest! Did you go to the Disney store in the Carousel Mall?

Hey, you are just across the pond from us! We always see the Rochester news on TV (I feel like I know as much about your local community as I know about ours!!).

Jetblue is AWESOME!!! Its our airline of choice. TV's on every seat (with a great selection of channels), free snacks, free advance seat selection, spacious seating (even enough to keep my big fella's comfy), friendly staff. I can't say enough good about them.

Both our January and August trips were with Jetblue, round trip. Our Christmas trip we are flying Airtran to Orlando and Jetblue home (with the decision made solely on cost....Jetblue was just way too expensive for our flight there.....but that said, if was anywhere even remotely affordable both directions, I would happily pay even a tad more for Jetblue than for one of their competitors, we love 'em that much).

We saw the Disney store at the Carousel Mall, but didn't go in this trip. Next time, for sure! I like picking up stuff for my 4 year old goddaughter there.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

Background: We are good at touring and want to do both big coasters at least once, and the kid rides, and see the main shows, and want to feed some animals?

We did Seaworld in one day this past September. We did the first morning dolphin feeding, all the available shows (One Ocean, Blue Horizons, A'Lure, Clyde/Seamore, Pets Ahoy), and most of the rides (Kraken, Atlantis, Manta twice, Wild Arctic). It definitely took some planning to fit in all the shows. We also stayed onsite, so we didn't have to wait for any rides, which helped a lot! We would've loved to spend two days at Seaworld, but one day is doable .

 

[MilitaryMouse]

Oh and we did Turtle Trek too. Forgot about that one

 

[maggs1035]

We did Seaworld in one day this past September. We did the first morning dolphin feeding, all the available shows (One Ocean, Blue Horizons, A'Lure, Clyde/Seamore, Pets Ahoy), and most of the rides (Kraken, Atlantis, Manta twice, Wild Arctic). It definitely took some planning to fit in all the shows. We also stayed onsite, so we didn't have to wait for any rides, which helped a lot! We would've loved to spend two days at Seaworld, but one day is doable .

What do you mean when you say We stayed onsite, so you didn't have to wait for any rides? What am I missing here?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

What do you mean when you say We stayed onsite, so you didn't have to wait for any rides? What am I missing here?

Guests of the SeaWorld official onsite hotels (Springhill Suites, Residence Inn, Rennaissance, Fairfield Inn and Suites, Hilton Grand Vacations SeaWorld, Doubletree and Hilton Garden Inn) all receive free Quick Queue passes for SeaWorld for the duration of their vacations. A GREAT perk, because like the PP said, you skip the regular queues and go right to the front of the line.

The onsite hotels are #s 1 through 7 on this map:

http://seaworldparks.com/buschgarde...bak/Vacation Packaging/SWpartnerhotelsNEW.pdf

 

[MilitaryMouse]

^exactly . We stayed at Hilton Garden Inn and stopped by the concierge desk the morning we wanted to go to Seaworld and got our Quick Queues for the day.