Would you go to SW on a Saturday mid Dec?

prcoamo

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 17, 2005
What is your experience w/ going to SW on Saturday in December (date would be the 16th)? Should we instead go during midweek day?
We only have one day to do SW, the rest of our days will be at WDW
Thanks :thumbsup2
 
We're going on a Staurday. I'm betting that a Sat in SW is going to be less crowded than any of the WDW parks.
 
My guess it will be crowded on weekends because that is when the locals and in state tourists will be there, but still won't be as many long lines or waits as the Disney Parks will have. The Christmas decorations at all the parks help to make it feel more like Christmas down here, so lots of us go on the weekends in December.
 
Saturday's at ALL the parks are busy, but I wouldn't worry about attending Sea World as it is such a large park it copes with the crowds very well.
 


Busy at SW is different now than it used to be. Since the new productions less shows are offered through the day so stadiums do fill up and close on really high attendance days. Sometimes the lines waiting to get into Believe and the dolphin stadium wrap around the stadiums with shows closing an hour before the show begins. The lines for the rides will be much longer waits and the lines to get food at stands will be long. You have to plan on getting to shows sooner and sometimes make quick changes to your plans. Last year we never did get to Pets Ahoy during the holidays because we always were too far back in the line to get a seat.
They do keep the park open later and they do add some shows at night so if you can't make a day show it may be offered again at night. We were able to get from Shamu stadium'sd last show to a good spot to watch Mystify but we had to get out of the stadium as fast as we could and walk at a good pace to beat the rest of the crowd. Even though it was busy we still had a blast and really loved the Christmas time there.
 
The local school districts will be out for winter break beginning that weekend. That may or may not affect crowds, but I think it will definitely be less crowded than the following weekend!
 
Saturday it is. We're switching resorts that day so that's why I figured going to SW on this day would be perfect (since our luggage won't arrive at the next resort till later anyway) :thumbsup2
I hope to get there at opening. DD and I won't be doing any rides so we'll focus on shows

Thanks
 


People are let into the front part of SWF at 08:45am. National Anthem plays at 9am and then you can head left towards the Key West area.

Eat lunch at 11:30am even if you are not hungry. At noon everyone decides to eat, and the lines are long.
 
We are checking into one of the Sea World hotels on 12/17 and plan on doing SW on Monday. I have booked the dining with Shamu for my kids. Hopefully, it won't be too nuts on a Monday! Then on the 12/19, we check in at disney1!!
 
We went last year on Saturday the 17th, figuring the same as all of you that it would be a better bet than Disney parks on Saturday near Xmas. We had already seen the big shows so planned to see just Clyde and Seymour, plus we don't do thrill rides. We arrived at opening and hit the dolphins and stingrays (spent a long time and much $$$ feeding them), Arctic area including Wild Arctic ride, and sharks. Minimal crowds. Very happy. Grabbed a bite at Voyager's pizza when it was starting to get a little crazy... did the Clyde and Seymour show and the otters and sea lions area. Then progressively more crowded till we felt a little battered and left at about 3:00. We are pretty crowd-allergic so if you have some tolerance for bumping up against other people you might have been OK for even longer... I hate crowded pathways worse than I hate waiting in line even!

Hey, we're probably going to do the same thing this year, so we'll be part of the throng on the 16th! See you there!
 

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