Best park for a potentially crowded day....Seaworld or Universal?

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We will be in Orlando from December 31st to January 7th. We have booked Discovery Cove for New Years Day to ensure we can avoid the crowds on the holiday.

According to some of the crowd calendars we've seen so far, January 2nd sounds like it may also be a fairly populated day at the parks, so I'm wondering......on a day where crowd levels are forecasted to be potentially higher, what would be the better choice: Seaworld or Universal? (and if Universal, which park.....Universal Studios or IOA?)

We will not have FOTL passes for Universal, as we are staying at the Hawthorn Suites on Canada Avenue and not at an onsite hotel.

Also....anyone know which day the local children head back to school? Is it January 2nd or 3rd? Hard to plan this year when Christmas breaks are all over the board. Yet I am not complaining, as our strange Christmas vacation dates (kids going to school up to and including all day on December 23rd, then not returning to class until January 9th) allows us to take our highschooler to Florida for a much-needed week during our cold Canadian winter without missing any family holiday events or any classes less than a month before his semester 1 exams.

 

[KBF]

According to the local school websites in Florida, it looks as if the majority of schools will resume classes on Tuesday, January 3rd. I would be willing to bet it would be the same for most of the country as well. With that said, Seaworld is the least popular of "The Big 3" parks. Disney/Universal-IOA/Seaworld. Universal and Islands of Adventure will be much more crowded because of Harry Potter world. Attendance at Universal/Islands of Adventure has been up like 30 something percent or more throughout the past year. Seaworld will definitely be much less crowded than a Universal/Islands of Adventure or Disney.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thanks KBF! Your input is fabulous!

Would you know how busy Seaworld would be on NYE? That's our arrival day, so assuming we're not asleep on our feet by dinnertime (we have a 7 a.m. flight out of Syracuse NY) I thought it might be fun to head over to the park for a few hours. Do you think they would be at capacity by early in the day, as is often reported at the Disney Parks on a national holiday? Even as the least visited of the Universal/IOA/Seaworld trio, I wonder if a later entry time to the park (since we will have to check in to our hotel, etc. upon arrival) might put us out of luck. I guess if it does, we'll just have to go shopping until the stores close. Ah, the sacrifices I am willing to make .

 

[KBF]

Thanks KBF! Your input is fabulous!

Would you know how busy Seaworld would be on NYE? That's our arrival day, so assuming we're not asleep on our feet by dinnertime (we have a 7 a.m. flight out of Syracuse NY) I thought it might be fun to head over to the park for a few hours. Do you think they would be at capacity by early in the day, as is often reported at the Disney Parks on a national holiday? Even as the least visited of the Universal/IOA/Seaworld trio, I wonder if a later entry time to the park (since we will have to check in to our hotel, etc. upon arrival) might put us out of luck. I guess if it does, we'll just have to go shopping until the stores close. Ah, the sacrifices I am willing to make .

New Years eve is one of the bussiest days of the year. The park will more than likely reach capacity, but I wouldn't expect it to do so until closer to midnight (The Park is open until 1:00am on New Years Eve) Going for a few hours could be a nice experience, though it will be very crowded before the park reaches capacity. One thing that you would be able to see on New Years eve that you won't be able to see a few days later would be the Night time Shamu show "Shamu Rocks," Shamu Rocks is different than the day time show. It's only performed during peak seasons such as, Spring Break, The Summer season, and New Years eve. Its a great show IMO and it's cool because not everyone gets to see it. It's rock and roll themed and looks really awesome under the lights.

Another event taking place on New Years eve, will be the end of Seaworld's Christmas celebration. I believe the Christmas celebration goes from November 25th until January 1st. There are night time Christmas shows as well as Christmas themed rides and decor. The Shamu show, "Shamu Christmas Miracles" is different than the day show and different than the other night show, Shamu Rocks. Last year on New Years eve, they did 5 of the Shamu Day shows. Followed by a Shamu Christmas Miracles, and then 2 Shamu Rocks shows. Which was really cool because people who went that day got to see all 3 Shamu shows performed on the same day. And New Years Eve is the only day all year that happens. Not 100% sure if they will do that again this year, since last year was the first year to my knowledge that had been done. But it is definitely a great opportunity to see 3 different unique Shamu shows.

Other Christmas shows include "Clyde And Seamore countdown to Christmas. Which is a nighttime sealion show. This is also different from the Sealion day show. There will be a show on the lake where 60+ lit Christmas trees on a giant lake illuminate to different Christmas songs. There is also a sesame street Christmas show. The Christmas themed ride is "Polar Express Experience" This is a motion simulator ride that shows scenes from the popular movie "Polar Express." And ofcourse you have Christmas decor. There should also be a concert at Bayside stadium leading up to midnight and then ofcourse midnight fireworks.

If you're up for it, I would look into going to the park that night. Though it will be crowded, I think it would be worth it. Especially to see shows that not everyone gets to see. Especially when you go a few days later, Shamu Rocks, and the Christmas shows will probably be gone. If you can do Like 5:00pm until later that night, you could see all the night shows. Then when you come back a few days later, see all the exhibits and the day time shows. If you go for just night shows and avoid the exhibits and rides on New Years Eve, it will make dealing with the crowds alot easier. When you come back on a slower day later in the week, visiting rides and exhibits will be alot more enjoyable.

If your looking into dining options for New Years eve, I would suggest the Makahiki Christmas Luau. I saw this show last year and it was amazing. Great entertainment and great food! Here is more info on that if you're interested....
http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/Dine-and-Shop/Dining/Makahiki-Christmas-Luau

Any other questions feel free to ask!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Again, KBF, you are awesome!

That's exactly what I was thinking.....a few hours to see the shows, the lights, the decorations, and the other special Christmas highlights that will be gone when we're there again (if all goes as planned) on January 2nd. Good to know that if we decided to head over around 6 p.m. or so that there's still a good chance we'd get in.

We may just decide to book tickets to the Luau. Dining on NYE has me a bit worried on the whole......I know that DH and DS would love to hit one of the US chains that we don't have here at home (Olive Garden, Chili's, etc. ... these can be very ho-hum for Americans but very exciting for us Canucks who only get to visit them on our trips south!) but I don't know if getting tables for that night would be a nightmare . Perhaps a ticketed dinner experience like the Luau would be worth looking into.

I can't thank you enough for sharing your insight. This is our first visit to the "other side of Orlando" (our previous trip in January 2009 was a Disney-only vacation) and we are so grateful for the wonderful tips from the "pros".

 

[KBF]

Again, KBF, you are awesome!

That's exactly what I was thinking.....a few hours to see the shows, the lights, the decorations, and the other special Christmas highlights that will be gone when we're there again (if all goes as planned) on January 2nd. Good to know that if we decided to head over around 6 p.m. or so that there's still a good chance we'd get in.

We may just decide to book tickets to the Luau. Dining on NYE has me a bit worried on the whole......I know that DH and DS would love to hit one of the US chains that we don't have here at home (Olive Garden, Chili's, etc. ... these can be very ho-hum for Americans but very exciting for us Canucks who only get to visit them on our trips south!) but I don't know if getting tables for that night would be a nightmare . Perhaps a ticketed dinner experience like the Luau would be worth looking into.

I can't thank you enough for sharing your insight. This is our first visit to the "other side of Orlando" (our previous trip in January 2009 was a Disney-only vacation) and we are so grateful for the wonderful tips from the "pros".

Glad I could help! Hope your vacation is awesome!