Would this be a stupid idea (re:Seaworld)?

[twinspluscade]

We'll be in Anaheim from Sept 7-11. The current plan is to arrive Sunday, the 7th hopefully by late afternoon (we're driving), check in at DLH, and then spend a few hours at Disneyland. We'll then have 3 more full days (Mon, Tues,Weds), for DLR/DCA; plus on Thursday we plan on being at the parks from opening until 2 pm or so. We'll then start the long drive towards home.

BUT....today on a whim I checked out the Sea World website, and thought it looked pretty cool. Dh and the kids have never been to a Sea World, and I've only been to the Orlando one, years ago. So now I'm considering taking one of the full days---either Tuesday or Wednesday--and driving to San Diego. We would then be at Sea World for opening, stay until 3 or 4, then back to DLR for hopefully a few hours before closing (I've already bought the 5 day park hoppers, so want to make sure we at least use them each day we're there.)

HOWEVER....if you guys think we'll end up missing a bunch of stuff at DLR, I'd rather skip Sea World, and stick with just Disney. I may ask the kids if they'd rather do two character meals, OR go to Sea World (cost is probably about the same ). I figure by at least cutting out the two character meals, it would give us a bit more freedom and time (we won't be doing any other sit down meals).

Thoughts? Too much for such a short trip? Is it worth giving up most of a day at Disney for Sea World?

 

[Monkey Monkey]

I love SeaWorld, and highly recommend it, but unless your family is really into marine mammals or would like a sidetrip, they might have a better time staying put at DLR.

If you do go to SeaWorld, you probably would want to spend the whole day there, because otherwise you'll miss out on some great shows and attractions. It's hard to even see all of SeaWorld in one day.

 

[bumbershoot]

On one hand, I really like Seaworld, so much so that we are going for the second time inside a year, on our May trip (they had a "pay one day's price get more than a year's admission free" deal in December). It's a nice big place, the Pets Rule show is *wonderful*, there's a play space for little kids (if it has opened up again yet), and the Shamu show is fun (if a bit cheesy).

On the other hand, it's a bit of a drive to and from SD, about 3 hours total if you avoid traffic. Someone else is going to have to comment on leaving SD at 3 or 4 and hitting the freeway...I know that going north in the morning is a nightmare, but afternoon might be OK, might not be...let's hope some SD people show up for that question.

Also Seaworld is really expensive, food-wise.

On the other hand, if you like drinking beer at theme parks, they sell vastly overpriced Bud in plastic bottles.

I'm obviously of several minds on this subject.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

Oh yeah, re: leaving SD at 3 or 4 - that's kind of a recipe for disaster. I would wait until after 6.

The play area is opening back up on May 24th (I think) and it's going to be like a mini-Sesame Place. I can't wait for that! There will actually be rides for little ones in that area.

There is also a Sesame Street 4D movie and a live show. The new Sesame Street features are really adding a fun new dimension to SeaWorld.

 

[bumbershoot]

May 24, gah, we're likely going there on the 23rd. Hmm.....

 

[ballarinamom]

If you went, go on Wednesday as Tues and Thursday are MM days and you would want to take advantage of that. I think that you could do it all in that time frame AND do SeaWorld. But keep this in mind. We have season passes to Seaworld San Antonio. There is a schedule that you really have to follow. Other wise, you will be cutting back and forth across the park to catch all of the shows. It is a FULL day to do it all and you need to be there before opening. With the ages of your kids, it could be a tough day.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

May 24, gah, we're likely going there on the 23rd. Hmm.....

Noooooo!!!

Methinks you need to reschedule.

 

[bumbershoot]

Was going for travel day, seaworld day, relax day, travel to disney see F! and DEP day, etc.

But maybe the first day it opens would be baaaaaad in terms of crowds, so going the day before would be better. Yeah, that's it...

 

[Gemfyre]

I did this last june.. Went from Anaheim to Sea World.. and let me just say.... Between traffic, which is immense and the walking in Sea World.. we were just exhausted.

The drive down took 2+ hours each way. Personally, I would just stick with Disneyland..

 

[tink2dw]

Sea World is ok. It is a good show. But It is not Disney. We went in Jan 08. We were at opening 10:00am and we were done by 4:00pm but our friends had told us not get on the Freeway before 7:00pm to head to Anaheim. So we went back to our friends house to sit out the wait out till we could leave. We arrived in Anaheim 10:30pm.

I'm glad we went, Dd swam with Dolphins and that was a blast!! Plus I bought the Best coat I have ever had there.

If you Have a 5 day ticket I would stay the whole time at Disney.

However if you do decide you're going to Sea World, Southwest Air has a 20% off gate price. You have to sign up for their Rapid Rewards program (free) and show the person at the SW gate your printed card.

Here's a link to the coupon (it's the second from the last one on the page.)
Rapid Rewards Promotions

Click here to sign up for the Rapid Rewards Program.

 

[noryglory]

Your profile doesn't show where you are from. Are you on the West Coast? I assume because you are driving. While I know lots of people do both on the same trip, we always do our Anaheim and San Diego trips separately. You can spend three or four days in San Diego and do Seaworld, Legoland (in Carlsbad about 40 minutes north), the zoo, the beach, maybe a Padres game, a bay cruise, Old Town or Tijuana, Coranado Island, etc etc etc. whatever interests your family... It's totally worth a separate trip.

However if you are coming from far away and don't plan on being back in a long time, then you MIGHT want to consider it. IMO, I wouldn't want to "waste" my time on all that driving and traffic just to cram something else into the trip that wasn't there in the first place. I'd stick with the plan. Seaworld is great, but Disneyland is better.

 

[twinspluscade]

Your profile doesn't show where you are from. Are you on the West Coast? I assume because you are driving. While I know lots of people do both on the same trip, we always do our Anaheim and San Diego trips separately. You can spend three or four days in San Diego and do Seaworld, Legoland (in Carlsbad about 40 minutes north), the zoo, the beach, maybe a Padres game, a bay cruise, Old Town or Tijuana, Coranado Island, etc etc etc. whatever interests your family... It's totally worth a separate trip.

However if you are coming from far away and don't plan on being back in a long time, then you MIGHT want to consider it. IMO, I wouldn't want to "waste" my time on all that driving and traffic just to cram something else into the trip that wasn't there in the first place. I'd stick with the plan. Seaworld is great, but Disneyland is better.

We're from Iowa...so one very long drive!

Thanks to everyone who replied! I think we will stick with just Disneyland this trip, since we only have a few days. Also I had forgotten about rush-hour traffic. . Poor dh--our sole driver--would go insane! He hates driving in urban areas the way it is.

 

[Hound 109]

We're from Iowa...so one very long drive!

Thanks to everyone who replied! I think we will stick with just Disneyland this trip, since we only have a few days. Also I had forgotten about rush-hour traffic. . Poor dh--our sole driver--would go insane! He hates driving in urban areas the way it is.

I think you're wise. Seaworld is neat....but it's not Disney.

I think a SD leg to a SoCal trip is great.....but I'd include the zoo & a day of sightseeing along with it. imo, 2 nights minimum to justify the drive & all that there is to see.

If you want to break up the trip AND do DLR each day, consider a quick jaunt to the beach one day.

- Go to DL at opening.
- Tour & collect FPs for 2-3 hours.
- Drive 25-45 min. to Huntington or Newport.
- Spend a couple of hours on the beach or sightseeing & have a fun lunch.
- Back to the hotel & a rest.
- Return to DCA &/or DL with your FPs at night.

Have fun.

 

[DisneyAprilFool]

We have annual passes to Seaworld- but only because they are so much cheaper then Disney I'd say- it wouldn't be worth the trip out and back. There are a lot of shows to see at Seaworld and if you go during a weekday, I believe they don't have as many shows going at once and you'll end up only seeing a little bit of the park. I'd just stick with DLR.