San Antonio Family Fun: Is Six Flags Fiesta better than Disneyland?

Today I’m sharing a great spot your family can explore for a vacation. I feel like all my friends do cruises, go international or Disney, but I really want to explore the US because it has SO much to offer. We just got back from a trip to San Antonio and really enjoyed it — so I wanted to give you some tips!

As an FYI we few there on Southwest (if you’re going to fly them at all I always recommend getting their credit card because the points don’t expire and we have gotten a good number of free trips). We stayed in the heart of the Riverwalk (more on our hotel coming up) for 4 nights. That was perfect. We could’ve maybe done it for 3 days since it was mid-week and not as busy. We took two kids ages 15-21.

And, if you’re just looking for Six Flags Fiesta information — you can click here to skip the rest.

As a note, some of the activities in here I was given tickets for, but there are no requirements for a positive review and I will be as honest as possible whether I bought the tickets or was given them.

Family Fun in San Antonio

The “big” attraction in San Antonio is the River Walk — which is lovely. I especially love it in the mornings. Things are cool, you can enjoy the fresh air without the crowds. At night the walk gets crowded, but they have lovely lighting and it can be fun as well.

Part of me feels like the River Walk was mainly meant for margaritas… there is a lot of drinking along the restaurants of it… our family doesn’t drink, so that’s not a lure.

We DID do the River Cruise. We had heard to do it in the evening. We aren’t particularly late owls (maybe I should say I am not particularly a late owl — because my kids stay up later than me most nights). I would recommend it — and I think evening is nice. San Antonio gets hot! We hit it about 7 pm and while it wasn’t dark when we started, the lights were on and we really enjoyed it.

San Antonio really loves to re-use the buildings that it has for other purposes which gives some nice views of buildings and different types of architecture.

Note: If you had smaller kids I’d 100% want them on a leash or a stroller. Much of the River Walk does NOT have anything to prevent them from falling off into the water. In some places it’ shallow, but in some places it’s deep — just FYI.

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San Antonio Old Town Trolley

We love trying out the Old Town Trolleys.

We get to see the highlights of an area, and pick which interests us
We get to learn some history of the town along the way
We don’t have to pay parking fees if we rent a car to explore!

San Antonio’s Old Town Trolley was going every 15-20 minutes which was REALLY nice. We rarely had to wait long at a stop. They often call these hop-on/hop-off trolleys because there are stops you can get off along the way.

We’ve done a few Old Town Trolleys and I felt like San Antonio’s was a bit light on history. We’d most recently done Washington DC and Nashville, and there were so many cool facts and areas to learn about in both of those cities.

Just felt less-so in San Antonio.

It’s also sort of odd in that there is a central area (around the Riverwalk and The Alamo) and then an extended area out by the zoo… so them trying to find something to say as you drive out to the Zoo area is sort of tough… There was a lot of talk about golf.

However, in the heart of San Antonio there was lot to talk about regarding the history of Texas.

Highlights of our tour:

We walked up to the Japanese Tea Gardens just past the zoo area. This was a 15-20 minute walk beyond the trolley stop, but very much worth it. So pretty!

I should mention that we did San Antonio in early March when the weather was really lovely. I doubt I’d have as good of a time in that area during the hot summer. Something to keep in mind.

We also stopped by The Alamo — which is a not-to-be-missed attraction in San Antonio. There is a free ticket where you can just visit the actual mission, or you can also pay for a audio tour, or there is also a museum.

The actual Alamo isn’t that big. In preparation we actually watched the Davy Crockett movie on Disney+ — and it explained a bit more of the story for me. This doesn’t take long, but you want to be SURE to visit.

We also went to The Pearl and had some food, checked out some shops.

The Old Town Trolley always makes it so we walk a little less, and see a bit more — so it’s nice for our family. I will also say that some of the tour guides were top notch (looking at you Mr O), and some were less-so. So, if you find one that you really like, maybe take more of the tour with them.

As a note, the maps were entirely off during our trip. The stops somehow didn’t align and it was VERY confusing. I’d 100% ask your guide where you should get off if you want to go somewhere in particular… to make sure you’re doing it right. Hopefully that gets fixed soon (I think they just shifted some of the stop #’s).

Missions of San Antonio

We rented a car for a day, mostly to go visit Buc-ee’s (if you’ve been to Buc-ee’s, you know why) but since we had it we also visited the missions of San Antonio. We just got it in-town and got it in the morning, returned it in the afternoon (cost was around $30 for a full-size car).

The Alamo is actually one of the smaller ones, and is much-less chapel-like.

You’ll want a car or a bike to get to them, they’re a bit of a ways out of town and a few miles apart, but it was worth a visit for us. Some of them we just drove by, and most we got out and checked them out.

If you only want to do one Mission san Jose is the most well-kept, and maybe the largest. It also had a visitor’s center, where we watched a movie about how missions changed lives (some ways for the worse) of the people in the area.

I don’t think this was my kid’s favorite part of our trip — but it’s an interesting to see how the Catholics came in to “help” them but may have ultimately hurt them and their way of life. An important note, but you could do these in just a couple of hours (or much longer if you got a bike to travel between them all).

The Saga at San Fernando Cathedral

A night they do a light show projected into the San Fernando Cathedral.

They have chairs set-up. We got there about 20 minutes early and had an easy time finding 3 together.

It’s done entirely with music and visuals projected on the chapel. It’s really well-done, although sometimes we couldn’t figure out what era was being represented, it was still very interesting and worth a trip. During the time we were there they did it at 9 and 9:30 but check the area around the Cathedral for more info (or your hotel might know).

The cathedral is also worth a visit during the day. It’s beautiful, and it is where the ashes of those who died at the Alamo are kept.

Looking for other places to visit? — be sure to check out these posts:

Where to stay?

We stayed at the Drury Inn and Suites there on the Riverwalk. This made it VERY walkable to most of the places we wanted to go. It was also a reasonably-priced suite where my older son could be on the pull-out couch in a separate room for us — a must when you have older kids. 🙂

The Drury also serves a breakfast and a dinner (a “light” dinner — but it was enough for us after a big lunch). This can end-up saving you a lot of money and stress. It also has popcorn and sodas in the lobby at night, which my family loves!

Where to Eat?

There are a lot of very similar restaurants along the River Walk. We ate at two places we enjoyed.

Mi Tierra was recommended. It was decent Mexican food. The service was fast and they also have a bakery attached. We enjoyed walking through the Market Square.

We also ate at the market on one of our days as well, but I felt like the food was overpriced, and not well-done (or authentic). I wouldn’t recommend eating there unless it fits your needs at the time (which it did for us).

We also ate at Pinkertons for some BBQ and it was DELICIOUS. Would 100% go back there. Be aware you order meat by the pound, and then pick sides. My favorite side was the Cheesy Rice.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

We planned Six Flags Fiesta Texas for the last day of our stay, and we were pleasantly surprised. They get GREAT reviews online, and I can see why.

Large Variety of Rides

They have lots of great coasters for people who like the bigger rides (my favorites were Iron Rattler and Superman).

They have lots of other kinds of rides, and also kiddie rides so everyone in your family should get something they like.

They have a whole DC Universe area for kids that is really fun (and new for 2025).

Six Flags Fiesta Texas: Plus Size

I was a little worried about how I’d fit on the rides. I wear a size 2XL with the majority of my weight in my abdomen and hips. I was really happy without having an issue on any of the rides.

For reference, it’s often tough on the Matterhorn at Disneyland. At Knotts I don’t fit a few of the rides (Sierra Sidewinder and Jaguar). At Universal Orlando I barely fit on Hagrid’s.

It’s just nice to see the park is really accommodating for the majority of people. They also had test seats in front of many of the rides which made it easy to see if I’d fit.

You can learn more about my fit on rides from my post Overweight at Disneyland.

Entertainment

Want to take a break and sit down? I bet you do — especially if it’s summer! We enjoyed some of the shows (one was entirely indoors and air conditioned) and they even had a very interactive and fun parade when we were there.

I actually think they had some of the best entertainment of any park that we’d been to. VERY family-friendly and fun.

Have little ones who might enjoy some time with some characters? There were fun shows for them too including Bugs Bunny & Friends!

Seasonal Offerings

We were there during their Mardi Gras season. They had some seasonal food booths, and the park was decorated really cool. The parade was also Mardi Gras themed (with LOTS of beads).

six flags fiesta texas decorated for Mardi Gras

I was also really happy to see they had a haunted walk-through for Mardi Gras that our family really enjoyed. Yes, it did have scare actors, and yes my daughter screamed in my ear so loud I think I might be deaf — but totally worth it. A fun addition I wasn’t expecting!

A nice test-run to see if Halloween Horror Nights if for Her. Spoiler alert: it is not.

The Heat?

Sure, in March — this is a great park, but I do think they’re making a lot of efforts to allow people to cool-off in the hot Texas heat as well.

Many of the rides have indoor queues that are well-themed. If they are not indoors, they often have fans that can blow on patrons to cool them off.

They’re big fans of their refillable drink cup, and many rides had spots you could put it in a number while you rode so it wasn’t a big deal to carry around (that’s an issue I see in a lot of parks).

We were also able to get free water and ice at the Coke Freestyle machines.

Lines?

We were there during San Antonio Spring Break and I think lines were about as long as they get — with them ranging from about 20 minutes to 45 minutes.

You can get an express pass or a VIP wristband that can decrease the line times. I think that is a GREAT option if you’re one who likes to ride a lot.

Not only can you skip the lines with the VIP wristband, but you also get access to the VIP lounge that had a fully air conditioned space, free sodas and a few snacks available. It was GREAT to just sit down, and recharge mid-day (they also have outlets for your phones too).

The park ticket itself isn’t that expensive, so when you add something like the Flash Pass or a VIP Wristband it can make your day less stressful, and not add to the cost as much as some places.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas Vs Disneyland?

I am a Disney planning pro — so, I always love to compare parks to Disney theme parks.

Guys. I think you can have just as much fun at a lower price point at a park like Fiesta Texas.

The rides are great, the staff was courteous and kind.

The main downfall is food — I think Disney has upp’ed their food game more than most parks, but are you really there for the food?

Honestly, with the big coasters, I’m pretty careful to not overeat because I don’t need to see that meal a second time, if you know what I mean.

They DID have mobile ordering though, and it was nice to sit at a table while they prepared my food, rather than waiting in line. It was really slick, and I just used Google Pay to pay — VERY easy!

I hear so often “we only like Disney” and I often wonder why? Why not try some of the parks closer to home — save a bunch of money, and still enjoy some time together as a family. If you like Incredicoaster, there is a good chance you’d like some other coasters as well — maybe give them a try?

Especially when you can get a ticket, plus the Flash Pass for a LOT LESS than you can for a day at Disneyland, maybe by-passing the crowds will make the day less stressful (aka, you don’t have to spend weeks figuring out which ride to ride when).

Is Disney great? Yes. Is Six Flags Fiesta Texas great? Also yes. We’ve had great days at both, but I will say that one is a lot cheaper.

As a note, we Uber-ed to Six Flags from the Riverwalk area — for an XL it cost us $30-40 each way (still cheaper than paying for a rental, paying for parking it at our hotel and paying for parking at the park).

I also compared Knotts and Dollywood to Disneyland, if you want more info on that. Want me to compare another park? Let me know in the comments and maybe I’ll pick that park next!

There is also a Sea World that a lot of families love to do close to San Antonio — just not our family’s scene, but we went with smaller kids and they really enjoyed it (in San Diego).

Overall, we had a GREAT stay. Do I want to go back? Not so much. Maybe to the Six Flags because we loved it there, but I think we’ve done San Antonio, at least for a while.

Definitely would recommend it though — a great, short trip that a family of many ages can enjoy!

Have questions? Tell us in the comments!