When To Go For Fewer Lines?

[festivedaisy]

I plan on taking my 4-year-old to the park a couple of times this summer. Any advice on what day of week and time of day is best to avoid the most crowds?
Thanks!

[Brandon]

festivedaisy,

Try taking a look at this topic. Its been discussed but I'm sure some of the guys wouldn't mind dropping some more advice.

[Jimmy]

This is basically a copy/paste of the response I usually give of the topic from the link you just provided:



From my experiences, the best days of the season to visit are:

-- Sundays in April/May
-- Weekdays in June
-- Weekends (after Labor Day) in September

Those are much better days than anytime in July and August. And I would try to steer clear of Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day weekends.

I would also get to the park as early as possible (when the park opens if possible), as the more visitors tend to arrive later in the day (especially after noon). And I have not had much of problems with lines on the coasters. I have rarely ever waited close to a half-hour on the coasters.

The Rattler and Boomerang are probably the most popular coasters at the park, so see if you can hit those early as the lines can build up during the day. I wouldn't worry too much about Poltergeist and Superman Krypton Coaster, unless they are running a single train all day or it's busy.

Also the Scream is also very popular so it will also have a line; see of you can get that out of the way early as well.

Again all this is based off my past experience at parks, but I believe this is a general suggestion by some others as well.

[unknown09er]

Originally Posted by Jimmy

From my experiences, the best days of the season to visit are:

-- Sundays in April/May
-- Weekdays in June
-- Weekends (after Labor Day) in September

Those are much better days than anytime in July and August. And I would try to steer clear of Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day weekends.

I just thought I'd post a quick TR for Labor Day weekend: I visited the park twice [Saturday and Monday] and both days were not at all crowded. We were able to see all shows and ride all rides at our leisure. I even got to ride in the front row on the Rattler - this NEVER happens due to the park's *assigned seating* rule on major coasters. I guess my point is - typical or not - there were no lines and little crowds to compete with. Fun Fun!

[Greenville, Texan]

It's like I mentioned before. The mid-to-late afternoons in late July, while very hot, can be a good time, especially during early-mid week. The majority of the people who come there go for the water park, leaving the lines at most of the rides pretty short to non-existent, at least from what I've found. Before noon, and after 5 p.m., things start popping again. Then, we got rained out after 45 minutes last year, so, who knows?

[Brandon]

A few pointers from my experiences:

• Spring: Avoid the weekends with major events (such as Celebrate the Music) where there is a group event in place. I feel that when I go on those days, I'm cutting off charter busses on loop 1604, hoping they won't exit, then I end up at the front enterance and see that half the parking lot is filled with charter & school buses. Those days suck. Try to avoid Saturdays if you can. I have been on dozens of Sundays, and compared to the few Saturdays that I've been, there is always a significantly smaller number of crowds on Sundays. Beat the church crowds though, get there early as it tends to fill up later throughout the day.
• Summer: (mid)week days. Saturdays are usually always the worst.
• Fall: Sundays. Once again, get there early. Try for ugly/sprinkly days, as crowds tend to fear rain for their lives. If it happens to start raining, grab a poncho. The rides will stay open as long as it isn't lightning or just absolutely pouring out.

Also check the Season Pass Holder Discounts dates before you plan to go. Days where "bring a friend for free" or discounted rate coupons are valid tend to have more crowds than a usual day.

[Adam]

It is best to ride the Gully Washer in the 10-11 am hour, Because after 11:30 in the morning that ride could have as long as a 2 hour wait on a packed day. Rides like Superman and Poltergeist you can ride later on because Superman has a high capacity rating that causes a short wait time, Polty usualy has a fairly short line because the ride is short and they normally run 2 trains. Hit Rattler LATE in the day (7:30-close) because that thing always has a huge line during the morning,afternoon hours.

[festivedaisy]

Thanks for all the info -- we went a week ago on Monday and hardly had any waits at all. Got to the park right after it opened and walked on everything we wanted to ride. After lunch there were some minimal wait times (5-10 minutes on the big rides). Then around 3:30 we headed over to the water park for a few hours. We did the rides my 4-year-old could go on and those had maybe 10-15 minute waits. We loved the waterpark renovations!

[Brandon]

Great! Glad we were of some assistance.

[Arizonaguy]

Originally posted by Brandon@Jul 3 2006, 04:30 PM
Great! Glad we were of some assistance.

[snapback]4339[/snapback]

Hopefully the park is doing a lot better this year than in the past. I'd hate to see such an awesome park get put on the chopping block.

[Adam]

I dont want the same crap happen to Fiesta Texas, that happened to Astroworld.

[sfft_2108]

^ What crap? Closing?

[Adam]

Yeah.

[sfft_2108]

I doubt SFFT will ever close or be sold.

[Greenville, Texan]

The powers that be are on the record as saying how much they love the park, so I wouldn't worry.

[Adam]

SFFT is here to stay!!!!! think god. There even reinstating Holiday in the Park!

[jds03]

Go durring tha day at fright fest, no one comes then, they just come for the stupid ghost stuff.

[LostInSFFT]

On the bright side go ahead and splurge and use Flash Pass....it's only a couple of bucks and you shoot straight ahead to the head of the line. Last year on Easter I managed to ride at least 10 rides....yup...on Easter with all those people there we still managed quite a few rides thanks to Flash Pass.

[quickey]

I’m going to San Antonio on the Thu 5th and Fri. 6th of April and am planning to go to sea world and SFFT. I will probably get to San Antonio at about 11 – 12 am and will leave on Friday as about 6 – 7:30 pm.

What day should I go to which park and can I expect it to be busy.

[Stacy]

To be honest, I don't know what Sea World is like "Easter week"... we hadn't been to SW since 1992, until this season.

However, I would imagine that SFFT will be quite crowded on Good Friday (April 6) as well as over that weekend, since all the kids will be out of school and it'll be a 3-4 day weekend for a lot of people... another chance to travel, you know!

Personally, I'd probably go to SFFT on Thursday, then SW on Friday. Reason being, is that when we go to SFFT the primary reason is for the rides - and we're talking LINES when they're crowded. With SW, although they have the two 'big' rides, the kiddie coaster, and the water rides, the park's primary draw is the shows. And since the shows take place in large venues that seat a lot of people, it's not like you're having to stand in a long line to wait your turn.

When going to SW on a crowded day, the key to getting a seat for the shows is to get to each venue early... at least 20-30 minutes before a show starts. When we go, we get the show schedule and plan it out. When one show is over, we immediately walk to the next one. Getting to each venue early assures that you'll get a good seat, regardless of the crowds.

Most schools don't let out until Thursday afternoon that week, so you may have a better chance at shorter ride lines on Thursday at SFFT, earlier in the day (prior to like 3-5 p.m.). I don't know that for a fact, it's just my opinion, using what little common sense I may have. lol

Park Hours for both parks are:

SFFT: Thursday, April 5, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Friday, April 6, 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

SW: Thursday, April 5, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Friday, April 6, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

[quickey]

Thanks a lot for that info! It is greatly appreciated! I think I will take your advice and go to SFFT on the Thursday if most of the schools aren’t out, the school holidays in America are totally different to England!

Once again thanks for the info!

[topthrill]

If you go on Thursday, which i will be working there all that week i believe, it will be dead. All schools in San Antonio won't get out until good Friday so you will probably get a lot of rides in. No...you will get a lot of rides in.

[mrrollercoasterman]

Early Mondays!

[Greenville, Texan]

During the last week of July 2007, when it rained every day ... not that I'm BITTER about that ...

[kct2008]

During the summer, there's always been short lines if you go on a Monday or Tuesday. If you go on the weekend, it's packed. In 06, the longest I had to wait in line was maybe 10 minutes and in 07 maybe 15 mins.