We will be visiting DLR in mid November. The kids would like to go to Sea World for a day. I thought we would go down and spend the day on Thursday. Would it be better to come back to LA on Thursday night, or come back on Friday morning. We have to be at the Port of Los Angelas by noon on Friday. Coming from Michigan I am not sure of how trafic would be. Any Sea World tips would be appreciated as well.

Thanks for looking, I have gotten so much good information from this board.:D

It all depends on when you would come back from San Diego. If you leave a little later you should be alright. If you leave in the morning, you might run into SD traffic and then get the tail end of LA/OC traffic.

No matter which option you choose, it all depends on what time you leave. If you leave Sea World at closing, and start to head north, you will get caught up in San Diego commuter traffic on the 5. In that case, it would be worthwhile to find a good place to have dinner around the park (there are some great Mexican restaurants in the Old Town area) and wait out the traffic so you leave the area around 7pm. If you decide to wait until the next morning, if you left around 9am, you will have plenty of time to deal with any residual traffic in the morning, barring any major accidents on the freeway.

Sea World is definitely a worthwhile day trip. Have Fun.

I can't make any comments on traffic or anything between SD and LA, however when we went to Seaworld for our side trip in May, I don't remember traffic being a problem at all. We left early in the morning and left the park to head back to Anaheim after park closing.

As for tips in Seaworld .. the biggest one we give to people who are visiting Seaworld is to get there early and spend a few minutes going over the map and the show times.

A few minutes spent going over the show times we will save you a lot later in the day as you can plan out how you are going to tackle the park and make sure you see the shows you want to within the time frames you have.

By doing this we have managed to see the entire park and all the shows in a one day trip (and yes that is with little ones in tow).

Usually my wife plans out the day looking at the map as soon as we get in while I goop up the kids with sunscreen.

This isn't about Sea World, but the last time my husband and I went to DL we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific at Long Beach, and it was wonderful. They have shark and stingray (with stingers removed) petting exhibits, as well as a big (no petting!) shark/stingray tank (the biggest stingray was about 10' across!, and the sharks were massive). They have a bird feeding enclosure where the Lorakeets actually land on you and drink nectar from little cups. This is in addition to otters, wonderful fish displays, lots of educational exhibits, a whale exhibit, seahorses, jellyfish, and a 2 story coastal display tank. If you are interested in fish more than rides, I would highly recommend it as an alternative to Sea World, which is rather touristy. I'll never forget the way the stingray looked at me as it lunged out of the water wanting to be petted. It was an amazing place. There is nothing like a really good aquarium to make me realize what a truly spectacular world we live in.

We will be visiting DLR in mid November. The kids would like to go to Sea World for a day. I thought we would go down and spend the day on Thursday. Would it be better to come back to LA on Thursday night, or come back on Friday morning. We have to be at the Port of Los Angelas by noon on Friday. Coming from Michigan I am not sure of how trafic would be. Any Sea World tips would be appreciated as well.

Thanks for looking, I have gotten so much good information from this board.:D

Thank you all for your information. I guess I would probably prefer leaving later on Thursday just to be safe. Hopefully we'll get to check out the Aquarium of the Pacific too. It sounds like my kids would love it!:D

I agree with JP1. Find a place to eat and then leave around 7pm. Knowing how SD traffic is, especially a little north of Sea World in Del Mar, it wold probably be worth your while to just relax, and then try to make the trip back to Anaheim.
My theory is: better to be safe than sorry with SD traffic. The oddest things tie up traffic for hours, and rush hour is awful!! Especially where you are going through Del Mar. There is always a mess there. But, other days, you can get lucky, and there is nothing.
As far as tips go, get there as early as you can, and yes, do look at the map and plan out what shows you want to see. If you want to ride the rides, do this while standing in line for Journey to Atlantis. It's the longest line in the park usually.
Also, if you wanted to feed the dolphins, the crowds die down more in the afternoon. This is my favorite time of day at Sea World, and favorite thing to do there as well.
Catch the last or second to last feeding (last is usually, but not always less crowded.) You don't have to buy food to get a dolphin to be by your area, and pretty much come up close to you. You just have to be patient. It helps if someone else has food around you, although don't butt in on their time with the dolphin.. it will eventually swim up to you, and you can touch them. I was able to have a dolphin next to me for about 3 minutes before it swam away, it was awesome!
The shows are usually filled by the last 5-10 minutes (depends on the show), so be sure to get there early. I think they open the gates about 30 minutes before. The one show I have had the most trouble with is the Clyde and Seymore in deep deep trouble. It's a small stadium, so it fills quickly, there is also a very funny (at least I think so) "boredom buster" towards the beginning of the show that you won't want to miss. So, especially get to this one early.
You can do the whole park in one day easily, as long as you plan it out.
Bring lots of sunscreen, cause there really isn't a lot of shade at the park. I always tend to get burned when I spend the whole day there.

I have also heard wonderful things about the aquarium of the Pacific. I have not been there, but I have heard that afternoons are better there, since the school groups will be gone by that time, but that is only what I have heard.

Whatever you plan, have fun!

Exactly what everybody is saying... If you leave at closing on Thursday.. find a nice place for dinner and traffic will clear. If you plan on leaving on Friday morning.. you'll need to leave by 7 to guarantee getting there by 12.