SW-San Antonio v SW-Orlando???

[xterratri]

Okay, I just spent the day at SW-San Antonio along with another Army officer and an Air Force officer so we all got in free. We had a great time, enjoyed the shows, and the roller coasters.

What I want to know is how the 2 parks compare from people that have been to both? Shows, rides, the time to do the park?

The shows we saw were: Shamu, Cannery Row(Seamore and Clyde), Viva, and the Haunted Lighthouse 4-D. We also saw part of the water ski show. We did the Steel Eel and Great White roller coasters, went through the animal interaction areas, and went to the Hospitality House. We arrived about 1330 and left about 1830. We did not go in the water park area at all as we were already wet and skipped the flume and family raft rides. We also skipped the kiddie areas.

If I was to return to live in San Antonio I would probably buy an annual pass. I was much more impressed for many intangible reasons today with Sea World than I was with Schlitterbahn last week. (Un)fortunately I have another day's ticket to Schlitterbahn to use, maybe sometime other than 4th of July weekend will be better.

 

[dvc_john]

Well, it's been quite awhile since I've been to SW-San Antonio, but the one big difference that I recall, is that San Antonio had a lot of water rides, while Orlando does not. Orlando basically has 2 rides: a roller coaster, and Atlantis, a boat/coaster ride (that you can get wet on). Other than that, it's mostly shows. Shamu, Blue Horizons (dolphin show - this is really terrific), Sea Lion show (in peak season they have the regular show during the day, and a different show at night that is hilarious), Fusion (a water ski, waverunner, etc show), Oddeysea (sp?) (a Cirque du Soleil type show), and an animal/pet show. Of course, they also have a lot of animal display/interaction areas, and the polar bear display is combined with a film that has a moving or non-moving seating area. The Haunted Lighthouse 4-D is not at SW Orlando, but is at it's sister park Busch Gardens Tampa. I can't recall San Antonio SW that well, but I much prefer Orlando SW to San Diego SW.
Another good thing about SW Orlando is that it's NOT seasonal - it's open every day!

 

[malibuconlee]

I too don't remember specifics about the park, but I prefer San Diego or Orlando to San Antonio.

That being said, I had a good time taking my sister there when she was training at Ft. Sam Houston.

 

[LIFERBABE]

xterratri, how would you compare Schlitterbahn to the WDW waterparks.

We are a short drive, but everytime I price out a weekend to S-bahn (tickets, lodging) I cringe. I figured it would cost us around $800 for the 4 of us for 2 day admission and hotel and gas. I always scrap it and then hit the WDW WP's when we are there.

I've heard it's kind of in a remote area and the lodging is not as nice but they can charge what they want so It is actually on par with WDW prices.

I really liked SW San Antonio! I was impressed and it was very clean. I went to SW Orl. back in 1988 but now we don't go because we have SW SA so close.

 

[xterratri]

Schlitterbahn v. Blizzard Beach/Typhoon Lagoon:
No comparison, Disney wins hands down. But I will explain why that's the case IMHO. We are DVC members with PAPs so we can go to the water parks for just a few hours without worrying about the all day ticket cost. So on the May-June trip we took this year, my sister and I went to TL and did all three new water coasters(crush n'gusher), the speed slide, the shark swim, the tube rides, the lazy river, and caught a wave in an hour. The longest we've waited was at BB for the big speed slide from the top and even that didn't take an hour.
Same hour at Schlitterbahn- 1 ride. 6 hours at Schlitterbahn, 6 rides. Sure it's big with lots of stuff to do but I think 3/4s of the population of TX was there that day. We are going back on Sat so maybe it will be better than is was the Fri of 4th of July weekend. Also the on site residences were not so nice looking. The values at Disney have theming etc but they were just your basic roadside motel boxes.

 

[xterratri]

We returned yesterday and had a much better time. Why? Disney strategy works at Schlitterbahn too. It was 4 pm by the time we got there after sleeping in and then going to the San Marcos Outlets. I got some Stitch PJs for my sister and a T shirt at the Disney Catalog outlet for $9 total with tax. Anyway, we parked at Schlitterbahn East and went to Surfenburg. Did the family water coaster- short ride excessive line and a few other things and then took the shuttle over to West. Did the length of the park tube chute, some other tube chutes, the body slides, and finished the day off with the mat slide by the castle. Enjoyed the rides and stood in either very short or no lines while back at West. We stayed right to closing at 8 pm. I still am less than impressed by the on site lodging though. They also have the SMALLEST wave pool I've ever seen. Most of the resort pools at Disney are bigger than it was, kind of cute and probably enjoyable for younger kids but it was no Typhoon Lagoon.