Sea world newbie...lots of questions

[PAdislover]

I am in the very early stages of planning a SW trip for my family. It's me, DH, DD7 and DS10. We are thinking 3 or 4 nights at one if the sea world partner hotels to do SW, DC and aquatica. Are we crazy to consider Easter time? Will the quick queue help much? Are we at risk for the hotel running out of them and not getting one?
Easter is later in 2017 (April 16) so maybe that will lessen crowds but not sure.
If we stay at one of the hotels that say they are "across the street" from SW would we need a car or are they truly walking distance?
Thx for any help!!

 

[macraven]

are you planning for this easter or next/17?

 

[PAdislover]

are you planning for this easter or next/17?

For next year, 2017

 

[mshanson3121]

Following. We'll be going 2017, with exact same gender/age children, so interested to see what people say.

 

[JaxDad]

The Marriott Renaissance is walking distance to Sea World but not Aquatia and DC. I don't think any hotel will be walking distance to all three for your family, but I think there are shuttles.

Keep in mind that the free QuickQueues are one time use per attraction. It is possible but not likely the hotel will run out. If you want to ride more you may need to buy a regular QQ. We thought they were worth it. The nice thing is you can wait until you're in the park to decide and buy them at any shop.

I've never been at Easter, but I've been around Christmas (which I highly recommend). I'm pretty sure it will be manageable with just a little planning to catch the shows you want.

 

[PAdislover]

The Marriott Renaissance is walking distance to Sea World but not Aquatia and DC. I don't think any hotel will be walking distance to all three for your family, but I think there are shuttles.

Keep in mind that the free QuickQueues are one time use per attraction. It is possible but not likely the hotel will run out. If you want to ride more you may need to buy a regular QQ. We thought they were worth it. The nice thing is you can wait until you're in the park to decide and buy them at any shop.

I've never been at Easter, but I've been around Christmas (which I highly recommend). I'm pretty sure it will be manageable with just a little planning to catch the shows you want.

Thank you for the info! When you got the quick Q passes around Christmas time were you staying at one of the partner hotels or did you just buy them?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thank you for the info! When you got the quick Q passes around Christmas time were you staying at one of the partner hotels or did you just buy them?

I am not the poster you were quoting, but we have stayed at a SW official hotel over Christmas week in the past. We were able to get the QQ passes as long as we were there when the Expedia desk in the lobby opened first thing in the morning. They didn't seem to run out until later in the day.

When staying at an official hotel, you can get your QQ passes for the current day PLUS those for the following day. So when you check in, you can pick up your vouchers for your QQ passes for that day, plus the day after as well. Then the following day, you can pick them up in the morning for the NEXT day (assuming you are staying onsite again that night).

 

[JaxDad]

Thank you for the info! When you got the quick Q passes around Christmas time were you staying at one of the partner hotels or did you just buy them?

For me, it was Christmas 2014. We were not staying at a partner hotel; we were at Marriott Harbour Lake. I actually bought the QQs ahead of time. I think they were BOGO or otherwise on sale for Blue Friday.

Gina went for Christmas 2015 and has her usual, outstanding trip report linked in her signature.

 

[PAdislover]

For me, it was Christmas 2014. We were not staying at a partner hotel; we were at Marriott Harbour Lake. I actually bought the QQs ahead of time. I think they were BOGO or otherwise on sale for Blue Friday.

Gina went for Christmas 2015 and has her usual, outstanding trip report linked in her signature.

How did you like Marriott Harbor Lake? That is one of the resorts I am looking at. I am torn between that one, the Marriott Cypress across the street or the Hilton grand vacations. My concern with the Harbor Lake and the cypress is that they both look huge when I look on the resort maps. I don't want to be walking all over the place just to get to the pool, LOL. My kids will be ages 7 and 10 at the time of travel.

 

[PAdislover]

I am not the poster you were quoting, but we have stayed at a SW official hotel over Christmas week in the past. We were able to get the QQ passes as long as we were there when the Expedia desk in the lobby opened first thing in the morning. They didn't seem to run out until later in the day.

When staying at an official hotel, you can get your QQ passes for the current day PLUS those for the following day. So when you check in, you can pick up your vouchers for your QQ passes for that day, plus the day after as well. Then the following day, you can pick them up in the morning for the NEXT day (assuming you are staying onsite again that night).

Thx for the info!! How do I find your trip report?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thx for the info!! How do I find your trip report?

Here ya go:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/it’s-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year-–-an-offsite-non-disney-christmas-tr.3472126/

If you check out the links in my signature, you can also find our SW adventures featured in the reports from Christmas 2012 (which is when we stayed onsite at the Residence Inn SeaWorld) and August 2014.

 

[JaxDad]

How did you like Marriott Harbor Lake? That is one of the resorts I am looking at. I am torn between that one, the Marriott Cypress across the street or the Hilton grand vacations. My concern with the Harbor Lake and the cypress is that they both look huge when I look on the resort maps. I don't want to be walking all over the place just to get to the pool, LOL. My kids will be ages 7 and 10 at the time of travel.

We love Harbour Lake. We're going back in a couple weeks for our fourth trip in two years, usually just 2-3 nights at a time. My kids are about the same age as yours. They love the pools and splash area (the pools are nicely heated if you catch a cold spell), miniature golf course, basketball courts, pool tables, foosball, ping pong, arcade, and activities scheduled throughout the day. There are always lots of other kids for them to play with. I just buy the big beer cup with the reasonable refills and hang out all day. The food is good. The service has always been great. The resort actually feels small. I've never been to the other hotels you mentioned, so I'm sorry I can't offer a comparison. I generally stay at Marriotts, so I'm a little biased too.

 

[PAdislover]

We love Harbour Lake. We're going back in a couple weeks for our fourth trip in two years, usually just 2-3 nights at a time. My kids are about the same age as yours. They love the pools and splash area (the pools are nicely heated if you catch a cold spell), miniature golf course, basketball courts, pool tables, foosball, ping pong, arcade, and activities scheduled throughout the day. There are always lots of other kids for them to play with. I just buy the big beer cup with the reasonable refills and hang out all day. The food is good. The service has always been great. The resort actually feels small. I've never been to the other hotels you mentioned, so I'm sorry I can't offer a comparison. I generally stay at Marriotts, so I'm a little biased too.

Great info, thx again!

 

[mdb07]

Agree on Harbour Lake - we stayed there in early November a couple of years back though and while the pools may have been heated, the water tower/splash area was not heated and it was miserably cold. We pretty much didn't use it at all. The resort does not feel big at all - we found it easy to get around to everything. If they are bringing gators from gatorland as one of the resort activities while you are there, don't miss it. Our kids loved that and you basically get a small-audience session with real animals.

We are headed down to Orlando next week (4 of us, and kids are 7 and 10) and will be doing a day at Seaworld and a day at Busch Gardens Tampa. I'll let you know if I come across any tips for your trip or how the post-Easter crowds are. We went ahead and bought the Quick Queue unlimited for Seaworld (they don't sell a one-time-use QQ in advance) in anticipation of the crowds and because at $19.99 we thought it was a steal. We are staying at the Gaylord Palms, though (I have a ton of Marriott points to burn from work travel as I tend to stick with Marriotts too), so I won't be able to help much on your questions around SW partner hotels.