Tips, Tricks and Ideas I Learned When Visiting SeaWorld San Antonio

SeaWorld San Antonio is a fun activity that the whole family can enjoy. If you are thinking about making a trip to SeaWorld San Antonio, here are my thoughts and helpful hints from when I visited.

SeaWorld is essentially made up of two parks, SeaWorld San Antonio and its waterpark Aquatica. While Aquatica is an activity you will most likely want to add to your list of things to do, this article will focus on SeaWorld itself. If it was me, I would plan at least one day to visit each park to make the most of your visit if you plan to go to both.

Parking

When you first arrive at the park, there can be a decent amount of cars waiting in line to enter. Make sure to plan a little extra time for the traffic when you go. There will be a parking fee upon entering and if you want to purchase that before you go, you can find those passes here – Parking Passes. It is recommended that you purchase this online to help make your entrance faster on the day you visit. There is a large parking lot available at SeaWorld and we were easily able to find a space to park.

Tickets

Before heading out to SeaWorld, I recommend going to their website (listed here – Tickets) to check out all the available ticket options and purchase your tickets before you go. You can buy one, two or three day tickets along with any day tickets. You will also want to check and see if there are any deals being offered that could save you money. Along with single day tickets, you can purchase season passes if you plan to go more often. When you buy your entrance tickets you can also purchase additional upgrades including line passing privileges and reserved seating, animal encounters and vip tours with tour guides. 

Meal Plans

While purchasing tickets you will also want to consider the all day dining deals. At the time of writing this article, the adult pass was $59.99 per person and the kids pass was $29.99 per person for children aged 3 years to 9 years old. With a meal plan you can get an entree, side or dessert and a drink every 90 minutes. This meal plan is what my family and I chose to do and we loved it. There were restaurants located throughout the park and you can walk to one whenever you want to grab food. We set a timer each time we got food to remind us when we could go get food again. 

Something to consider if you choose to go this route is that not every restaurant works with the meal plan. There are some you would still have to pay for if you wanted to eat there. However with the options provided by the park, we never had a problem finding food we would like. I would also suggest purchasing your meal plan before you go. The line to purchase passes at the park was quite long the day we went. If you purchase any tickets, meal plans or special experiences, you may want to buy them ahead of time. You could save yourself a lot of time and hassle. 

Things To Do

The animals! One of the main reasons you go to SeaWorld is to see the ocean animals. At SeaWorld San Antonio you can see dolphins, whales, seals, puffins, penguins, sharks and so much more. The penguin area also has a neat walking escalator that you can ride along to see these amazing animals. The aquariums are also great for all ages. 

In addition to the aquariums, there are also several shows that happen throughout the day. Check the schedule ahead of time to help you plan which ones you want to go to. Another show they had the day we went was a firework show at the end of the day. When looking online, I was unable to find this show currently on the schedule but you might check before you go. And although not a show, you may also want to make your way over to the seal habitat where you can buy small fish to feed the seals. This can be a fun memory to add to your day.

Besides the animals and shows, you will also find several roller coasters and kid rides for the whole family to enjoy. While I’m not much of a roller coaster rider, other park goers were having fun on these coasters. There is even a roller coaster that goes over water while you ride. If you have young children with you, the kids area has rides designed specifically for them.

Other Tips and Helpful Information

Upon arriving, the first place you want to stop by and see is the dolphins, This area is located outside the main park and it closes earlier than the park. Because of this, it can be good to stop and see at the beginning of your day. One of the neat things about the dolphin tank is that you can see the dolphins above and below the water. If needed, there was also a less busy bathroom near this area, making it a bit nicer than others we stopped at throughout the day.

You will also want to plan your day as much as possible before you go. If you have the chance,  look up the different shows here – Show Schedules. You can make sure you don’t miss any shows you want to see and maybe plan out your best route around the park.

Walking, walking and more walking. If you’re wanting to get your steps in, this is a great place to do it. To get from place to place you should expect to walk a decent amount throughout the day. You might consider this when planning out how long you want to stay and what you want to do.

Drinking water can be found at varying water fountains throughout the park and can also be chosen as one of your drinks on your dining pass. Knowing where to grab water can be extremely helpful, especially on a hot Texas summer day. You are also allowed to bring in a water bottle or a refillable water bottle to use throughout the day. Make sure you stay hydrated throughout your visit!

If you do travel to SeaWorld on a hot day, one way you can cool off is by sitting in a show’s “splash zone”. In these areas you have the opportunity to get splashed with water from either the animals themselves or the show waterspouts. If you want to cool off between shows, you can make your way over to the Atlantis roller coaster. At this roller coaster,  there is a place you can stand to get splashed with water when the roller coaster goes down its drop.

And last but not least, if you bring a stroller or wagon for your children, you usually have to leave them in an area outside the shows you attend. Because of this, I highly recommend bringing a small bag with you that you can put your valuables in and grab to take with you when you go into watch a show. 

I hope these tips and ideas help make your trip to SeaWorld San Antonio more enjoyable. – Pepper and Passports

If you find yourself in North Texas this summer, you might want to check out Ham Orchards for some of the best peach barbecue around – Top 5 Things to do at Ham Orchards

And if you and your family like to hike, check out Inks Lake in Austin – Visiting Inks Lake State Park

And don’t forget to grab these helpful worksheets below:

Bucket List Maker – Click Here

Daily Travel Planner – Click Here