A Week in San Antonio/New Braunfels - Day 2

On our second day in San Antonio, we ventured to Sea World and Aquatica.  Both my son and
daughter love the water and water parks, so we spent the majority of our day at Aquatica.  Sea World and Aquatica have a variety of "add-ons," that you can purchase to enhance your stay.  This includes anything from quick cue to dining plans to cabanas.  Each of these have a price and can quickly add to the expense of the trip.

Here is my take on each of these.

• Quick Cue - this one totally depends on the day's crowd.  Quick Cue is only available at Sea World, and is only for their ride attractions.  Our kids are both still young and only able to ride Journey to Atlantis.  Luckily for us, the crowd was very light and we only had to wait in line for about 15 minutes.  If you are spending the majority of your stay at Aquatica or will not be riding very many of the rides, I do not recommend this.
• Dining Plan - The dining plan is per person and runs about $35 for adults and $20 for kids.  This will get you an entree, side, desert, and drink each time your go through.  If you are a big eater and plan on spending the entire day at the park, it may be an option to consider.  Some things to consider... the dining plan is only valid at select locations.  This means that you are not able to just grab a snack at a cart in anywhere in the park.  It also does not include alcohol.  We decided against this purchase.  We spent about $35 for a family of four for each of our meals.  If we would have opted for the dining plan, we would have spent almost three times that amount.
• Cabanas - Cabanas are available for rent at Aquatica.  We have rented these in the past, and were very impressed with the service and convenience.  Aquatica now has three types of cabanas: standard, premium, and ultimate.  Let me start by saying that I would only recommend a
  
  cabana if you are planning on spending your entire day at the park.  The cabana is a covered area that has its own private locker, mini-fridge, ceiling fan, and chairs.  You also have the ability to close the shades on the cabana if you need some privacy.  We opted for the standard cabana.  The difference with the three levels really comes down to park location, size, and amenities.  The premium cabana also has a water shelf attached to one of the pools that you can put your chairs on; as well as food and beverage delivery service.  The ultimate cabana is for large groups and is located on the side of the wave pool.  If you get to the park early enough, you can easily find a area that you can stake claim to.  In the end, it was a nice thing to have, but not necessarily.  The cabanas range in price from $200 - $800 for the day.

The entire family loved the park!  Here are some of our highlights.

1. Look for deals.  My wife and I are both certified teachers.  In Texas, certified teachers are eligible for a free fun pass.  This offer usually is available in the spring and you must sign up for it by Memorial day.  During this trip, both of our children qualified for a pre-school pass.  Total we paid $0 for tickets.  That's right, we were able to get a family of four into Sea World and Aquatica for the price of parking.  (We opted to pay the extra $5 for preferred parking.  It was well worth it after a long day.)
2. Get there early and hit the high traffic rides as soon as you can.  At Aquatica, Stingray Falls is the highlight ride.  We were at the park as soon as it opened.  Even after getting to our cabana, and ready for the day, we still had about a 25 minute wait for this slide.
3. Find the hidden gems.  My son spotted a caged area from our cabana, which was right in the middle of the lazy river, and had to check it out.  What we found was an aviary that had its own wading pool and the lazy river snaked through.  This was the most intriguing part of the park.  We spent close to 1-1/2 hours in the aviary looking at the various birds and just relaxing.
4. What's a day at Sea World without seeing some animals.  At Aquatica and Sea World, animals are everywhere.  We were able to get close and personal with sting rays, a wallaby, birds, and tortoises.  We also made sure we saw One Ocean featuring Shamu and AZUL the whale, dolphin, and acrobatic show.  Nothing is better than seeing both kids' faces when Shamu bursts out of the water to begin the show!
   

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