Sea World/Aquatica Thanksgiving Week

[bullsmom7]

Any ideas of crowd levels the week of Thanksgiving? Is the beginning of the week better than Thanksgiving weekend?
Thanks!

 

[KBF]

The beginning of the week is dead. It gets really crowded the day after Thanksgiving, and that Saturday and Sunday. But the crowd is manageable. However, if you're interested in the Christmas celebration, then go on the weekend. It will be more crowded but very much worth it. The Christmas celebration includes Christmas themed shows, rides and decor and it is all included with park admission. Christmas shows usually start around 5 at night.

 

[RabFlmom]

Actually I think Christmas decorations and shows will be up and running the weekend before Thanksgiving. Web page says the 21st. I would go before Thanksgiving weekend because the crowds will impact you some. Stadiums will fill up sometimes an hour before the shows. Getting a seat for some of the Christmas shows will be harder on the weekend too. Oh, Wondrous Christmas Show usually has people lined up to get in 2 hours before the show-----and it is worth the wait.

 

[HeidiGW]

My sister and I took our children almost two years ago for Thanksgiving week.
If you have been to Disney at the holidays, expect nothing like it at SW. In fact, my sister and I were amazed at how dead it was, especially on Thanksgiving day. The Christmas shows started on that Friday night. That was busy, but not unmanageable. SW really does the holiday shows well...it is not to be missed, especially the puppet nativity show. Barbershop singers are great, ice skating, kids loved the Polar Express (I hated the motion), Sea of Trees and decorations are incredible...and, it takes a lot to impress me. IJS.
We left on Saturday afternoon.
We have also been at SW many times for Christmas, again nothing compared to Disney. And, Thanksgiving was much less crowded compared to SW at Christmas/New Years.
I highly recommended it at any time. Now, last December I thought the food quality had really gone down (was much better at BGT), but we still did the all day dining most days. The water bottles and fresh fruit breaks were worth the price alone.