SeaWorld during Thanksgiving weekend - is it very crowded?

parkbr

Mouseketeer
Joined
Sep 1, 2016
Hi,

How busy is SeaWorld during Thanksgiving weekends? That Friday, Saturday and Sunday? compared to the weekend after that?
(i.e. Nov 29/30/Dec 1 vs Dec 6/7/8)

Last time we went, it rained, so the park was empty and when the weather got cleared up in the afternoon and by evening, there were quite a lot of people for Christmas celebration. (of course, not like WDW, but considerably a lot compared to the earlier in the day.)
 
From what I remember - the weekend of Thanksgiving is usually busier than the following weekend. Might not be by a huge amount but usually notable. I will go to the park the following weekend, I stay away Thanksgiving weekend.
 
Every weekend has the special holiday shows in the evening. We have not noticed a difference in crowds the years we have gone between a Thanksgiving weekend or a weekend the beginning of Dec it seems the same so we always buy the special holiday show priority seating package to ensure we get a seat.
 


The past two times we've gone on the wed b4 turkey day and the Friday after....best of both worlds. One day its SW, the next, it's Christmas SW
 
The past two times we've gone on the wed b4 turkey day and the Friday after....best of both worlds. One day its SW, the next, it's Christmas SW

That's pretty neat! Does SW have something special for before Thanksgiving?

Also, is the park very crowded?
 
General rule of thumb. SeaWorld is always more busy on days that schools are on some kind of break (weekends, Thanksgiving week, Christmas break, spring break, summer break) than when schools are in. Weekdays right now are very light at seaworld. Thanksgiving week will be different because everyone is off school and work. Weekends are busier because of everyone coming for Christmas shows.
 


Thank you for your response.

I thought so. I guess it's the same every theme park and we plan to go for Christmas shows, so it really ties us down to the weekends.
It's kinda bad that we're going during Thanksgiving weekends. It's just that air fares are much cheaper from Canada. Oh well.

When we went last year, it rained from the morning when SeaWorld opened and got so bad so quickly that SeaWorld suspend many shows and rides for one or two- hours due to rain at one point. The weather forecast said little rain, but it was not little at all!
Desperately looking for something to do indoors, we ended up moving to one restaurant to another for food (thanks to all-day dining) and watched Rudolph movie, enjoyed Sesame street holiday indoor shows, etc. Then when it started operating again, we had NO line what-so-ever. I think my DH didn't even got off the Mako? Manta? one of those. and rode it 3 times in a row. I think one of three times, he was alone. :rotfl2:
There were no lines at the shows either, we showed up less than 10 minutes before the show and we got great seats, etc.

Then later in the evening, we saw TONS of people. A LOT. The Christmas shows were packed. We were wondering where all these people came from. lol! This was on Sunday.

Then that Friday, we went to SeaWorld again, but had the same thing. Rain started in the morning at around 8AM. But not as bad, so they didn't suspend any of the rides (if they did, just under 30 mins or so), and there were more people there. But this time again, I think my DH waited for about max 10 minutes for any rides. My DD didn't have to get off of her carousel either and I had to drag her out to go to Orca Show.

So overall, I think our two experiences are rather 'not-usual', hence thought I'd ask here, so I can plan better.

Also especially with the new Sesame street world, I would like to plan my days ahead.
 

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