Heading to San Antonio Tuesday.....any tips?

[Judy from Boise]

We will be in San Antonio this coming week Tuesday through Sunday. We will be at the Marriott that is on the river alk, and is connected to the mall. It is my DHs annual convention, so our Dinner/nights are booked with Business stuff.

We plan on going to Sea World on Wed and Thur, I will take DD to see the Alamo IMAX prior to going to the Alamo Thur evening ( a cool private dinner at the Alamo) No other plans besides. Just lounging at poolside.

So any tips would be appreciated (especially about Sea World). We will not have a car, and really don't have time to do anything outside of the area a reasonable taxi ride from the marriott.

TIA!

 

[Pop Daddy]

So any tips would be appreciated (especially about Sea World).

sit in the splash section, you wont get that wet

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

There's a Disney Store there in the mall at the Riverwalk. That's always good! You can also take a riverboat ride there at the Riverwalk.

For SeaWorld, don't forget your bathing suits! Also, if you're going relatively early in the day, jump over early to the sea lions for the morning feeding. People tend to flood the dolphin area at that first feeding because it's close to the entrance.

If you can make a reservation to Dine with Shamu, that's fun as well. The food is not especially fabulous, but the one on one time with the whales is great. Try to make all the shows, because each is different and has something good to see.

It also is very very hot at this time of year, so try to break up your time between the rides and the shows. The large refillable drink is a great deal, but don't throw away the straw, because they won't give you another one!

Our favorite place to eat at Sea World is Mango Joe's. The fajitas are pretty good for fast food. Steer clear of Rio Loco, the barbeque restaurant. It smells good, but UGH!

Also, there is free beer at the Budweiser Hospitality room over near the dolphin habitat. You can't beat that!

Have a great time!

 

[slmjam]

San Antonio also has a nice zoo that's only about a 10 minute drive from the downtown area. You may also want to check out Market Square (also known as El Mercado) which is a large Mexican marketplace just on the outskirts of downtown. There's shopping and a couple of really good restaurants here. You can either take a quick cab, or I think there's also trolly bus service that will take you over.

 

[SleepyMom]

We just got home from there, we loved it!

The Riverwalk was really nice, we really enjoyed that. I would also say to do the boat tour, very relaxing and lots of neat info.

Sea World was fun, we did two different Shamu shows because the last one of the day is pumped up more. We liked the dolphin and sea lion feedings. We skipped the water rides because we had been to Schlitterbahn the day before, but bring a swim suit and towel if you want to go on any of them.

We also went to the Missions, that was really interesting, but might be hard without a car.

Have fun!

 

[paigevz]

That is a NICE location.

Take the cheap discovery tour at Sea World-----it's like 10 bucks a person, and they take you back in the back of the park to see the holding tanks, but the real fun is that you get to feed squid to Rays!

There's an outdoor amphitheater on the Riverwalk that does some nice little open air productions. If you go past the seating of that area, up to street level, back behind there is a little "town" of historic buildings and markers, and the buildings house local artists and their creations........very nice.

Also, many of the Riverwalk restaurants offer Riverboat seating for dinner.........for most restaurants it doesn't cost anymore, and waiting isn't any longer than eating in the restaurant, and it's great dinner ambience to have your own floating restaurant.

 

[krissy2803]

Seaworld will be a good time for yall. Try to get the zoo in. It is a really good one! If you get to the zoo wave to me. (it's in my neighborhood) The park that the zoo is in has a miniture train that runs the entire park. It's always been a lot of fun. The station is right next to the zoo.
I hope you have loads of fun here! Just to let you know it has been unusally HOT lately. We are forecast to be in the 100's by tomorrow and I don't think it will let up anytime soon. So be prepared for it.

 

[Judy from Boise]

thanks everyone! Just to prepare myself.....how long do you think the waits will be for the rollercoasters at SW? How about waits for the attached water park slides?

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Well if you get there right when the park opens you shouldn't have too long a wait for the rides...but as the day goes on, be prepared. I was there a few days ago and by 2 in the afternoon the wait for Great White Shark was 45 mins.-1hour and I'm sure they get longer than that. And unfortunately these parks don't use fastpass which is why I don't usually end up riding them

Have fun, Sea World is a great place and the Riverwalk is very cool. Enjoy your stay here!

 

[RadioNate]

The water park will have longer lines than the rollercoasters. It is supposed to be 100+ degrees while you are here. Hot hot hot.

Sea World isn't really like WDW in that you need to do a ton of planning. Just make sure to look at show times so you can fit them all in. With the temps being so high you may want to be in the splash section (watchout the water is COLD)!

editing after reading HSD's post. There are only 2 coasters at Sea World and they've always been walk on for me BUT I have seen 2+ hour waits on the water rides (like their version of Kali River Rapids).

I haven't been this season yet but we were season passholders the last 2 years.

 

[safetymom]

You will have a great time. Wow a private dinner at the Alamo. That is great. A riverboat ride is fun too. So much to see and do in that area.

 

[AmazingGrace]

I love the river boat rides. The prettiest and best feeling time of day here is about dusk. A nice breeze starts blowing and it's just pleasant. I hope you have fun here. It's hot but it's gorgeous!!

 

[Planogirl]

There is an indoor 3d show at Sea World. See it in the afternoon when it's really hot. Don't let the crowd of people worry you because everyone normally gets a seat. The show could be hokey (I don't know what's playing there now) but it's a wonderful way to cool off. And so is seeing the penguins and the sharks.

I agree, get to the Sea World water park early. The lines to get into the waterpark can be enormous on a hot afternoon. Bring lots of sunscreen!

You can also hop on the little tourist trams and go over to Market Square. Sometimes there's events there and we like to eat at either Mi Tierra or La Margarita. You can check events at the tourist center on Alamo Plaza located close to Ripley's.

If you like hotels, check out the Menger right next to the Alamo. It's old and supposed to be haunted and also has a Haagen Dasz along the outside which is nice on a hot day!

 

[paigevz]

Also, my sons love the little Davy Crockett ride across from the Alamo near Ripley's. You can get a combo ticket for it, Ripley's, this haunted house thing, and whatever else is there. It's all quite appealing to boys! I only went on the Davy Crockett ride, and it's all about the legends assigned to him, on a little roller coaster track........cool, dark and hokey. There are free games at the end. Makes for a nice break.

 

[Judy from Boise]

Thanks everyone.....I am packing with HOT in mind! When would you say temps peak ? Boise is so west we have our hottest time of day around 5 pm!

 

[Jpgirl]

Pack for extremely warm and humid. High close to 100 this week-it'll be very hot in downtown San Antonio b/c of the heat gathering in the buildings. Drink TONS of water. I agree with the poster above about dusk on the Riverwalk-go to the "center" where 2 canals meet and listen for the bag pipers that are at street level playing by the bus stop. You can here them down below on the Riverwalk. Go out early in the day and walk around the Riverwalk-less crowds from 6-10 AM and then go back in the evening to get the flavor of town. Try to hit the Mercado for souvenirs from Mexico. Our covered patio is lined with lots of ceramic parrots from there to give us a Margiritaville feel. Have fun and welcome to Texas hope you enjoy it. BTW my mom was born and raised in Wallace Idaho-would love to visit there some day.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I think a co-worker at my hospital (director of Speech Patholgy) was born in wallace!