Seaworld vs Universal

ustasmom

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Our Disney passes are down for a break so we are looking for something to do.

Seaworld Fun Card is $91 (good until the end of the year.)
Universal Seasonal AP is $284.

I'm traveling with 2 teens and a tween.

What is my best option?
 
Our Disney passes are down for a break so we are looking for something to do.

Seaworld Fun Card is $91 (good until the end of the year.)
Universal Seasonal AP is $284.

I'm traveling with 2 teens and a tween.

What is my best option?
Our family's favorite has always been SeaWorld -- the beautiful landscaping, wonderful shows, animals, and great coasters. I don't know when you are going, but SeaWorld's special shows for summer nights and special Christmas shows are awesome too. Universal/IOA are very well done too and a must do if you are a Harry Potter fan. Do you have the budget to do both?

My 22 year old son would rank his top three Orlando parks as follows:
1-SeaWorld
2-Magic Kingdom
3-Universal (we usually just do one day when we go and get the two park pass)

Do note that he is a huge marine mammal fan.

On our next trip when we are only doing two parks we are doing SeaWorld and the MK. We are down in Orlando next March for a family wedding and will have lots of family activities going on. If we added a third park DS would go for one day at Universal/IOA, ranking that above for him the other three Disney parks, which we really like too.
 
Can I offer up a third option? Fun Spot Amusement Park.

I took my kids there a few years back for the first time as part of a Universal/SeaWorld trip and they loved it. Four pretty cool go-kart tracks plus a bunch of your regular amusement park rides. You don't have anywhere near the crowd levels of Universal so not a whole lot of waiting in line. And the prices aren't terrible -- we happened to catch a good deal but even without it's still not bad. Probably not worth a trip on its own, but great as a one-day add on to whatever else you decide to do.
 
When will you be there and for how long? What are the kids interests?


Someone just asked this on the Universal forum, and in their situation I said SW, but with only the info you provided, I’m leaning toward Universal, especially with your kids ages.


SW is good if you have only one or two days, aren’t into thrill rides, have young children who wouldn’t meet height requirements for rides at most parks, and enjoy aquariums / zoos and educational themed attractions. The Fun card is also a good value if you are local or plan to return on future trips or plan to visit for different holidays, especially Christmas. However, I know we’d get bored going back day after day on the same trip. Two days here and we are ready to leave.


Universal is better if you have 3 or more days, love thrill rides, can meet height requirements, and prefer movie based attractions. It tends to be geared more toward teens and adults. The season pass is a good deal, but it’s important to note it does have black out dates, including the entire month of July.


If I’m going to be visiting a place over and over again in the same trip, I’d choose Universal. With two parks verses one and Citywalk to explore, there’s much more to keep you entertained. I’ve done week stays at Universal before, and while it was more time than we needed to see everything, we never got bored and couldn’t wait to plan our next trip back.
 


I do love Sea World and Universal but if I could pick just one, I'd go with Universal. It definitely can fill up 3 days or more! The two parks are amazing! City Walk is fun!
 
Universal...just came back and we had a five day pass and used all five days....age range 4 to 55
 

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