I have been going to Seabreeze Amusement Park since I was a little kid and have enjoyed hours of fun there. I brought my own kids here, and Seabreeze turned my daughter into an amusement park enthusiast. In fact, both my children became Seabreeze ride operators when they were old enough to get Summer jobs. Over the years, after many visits, we have learned a lot about planning the best day ever at this historic park.
Fun for the Whole Family
Seabreeze Amusement Park is a destination full of history and fun for the whole family. This is a fantastic family-friendly amusement park and waterpark that is small enough that you can hit every ride on your visit but also large enough that it feels like your money is well spent.
While it has its fair share of thrill rides, the park is as much fun for little kids as it is for adults. Kiddie City is a section of the park specifically for small children, with five unique rides the little ones will go nuts over, including the bear tracks, a fun bear-themed coaster the kids will adore.
Height Restrictions
Many of the rides have height restrictions, which are New York State-mandated. The larger thrill rides require children to be at least 48” tall. Although this does seem a bit annoying, please be kind to the ride attendants if they say your child is too short to ride. The height restrictions are for the safety of the park’s patrons, and the employees take safety very seriously.
Some of the water slides also have height restrictions for safety. You should look at the height requirements for the rides before planning your trip to this park. With the exception of the Big 5 thrill rides, children over 44” tall can pretty much ride any of the rides in the park. The park’s website lists the attractions and their height requirements.
Seniors Are Free on Tuesdays
Along with the park being great for kids, it provides a nice opportunity for seniors to enjoy the park with their grandkids. On Tuesdays, the park is free for senior citizens. Pretty much every ride in the park has accommodations for seniors, and the staff is more than happy to provide assistance when they can. There is also seating all around the park for folks who need a breather after walking or an intense coaster ride.
Accessibility
In terms of accessibility, the park tries to be as accessible as it can. Rides like the train or the carousel will allow service dogs on the ride, and many rides have their own disability policies which you can find on the Seabreeze website, or you can ask the ride operator of the ride you want to ride.
Food
There are tons of delicious options throughout the park. Walk away tacos, subs, the grill, etc… there is quite a variety of food and lots to choose from. Towards the front of the park, there is a small ice cream shop where you can buy ice cream, sundaes, and/or milkshakes to cool down on a hot day.
Over in the midway, you have the snack shop, the walk-away taco stand, and the grill. You can purchase slushies at any of these locations and refill them at any of these shops or at the stand near the gift shop. The same policy applies to soda refills. If you get one of the seasonal cups for the slushies, soda refills are much cheaper than purchasing another drink.
Toward the back of the park, there is a little pizza shop where you can buy pizzas, breadsticks, pizza logs, and other pizzeria goodies. I’d actually recommend going to this shop if the park is busy for food since the line tends to be much shorter than the other food shops.
By the log flume and the eagle, you’ll find the park’s most popular food spot, Chicken and Fries. They have great boneless wings and fries, and it shows with it being the most popular food spot in the park. If it’s busy, it will have the longest lines, but the food there is excellent and could be worth the wait if you really like chicken. Lastly, throughout the park, there are Dip and Dot’s stations where you can get Dip and Dot’s ice cream. It’s a great way to cool down, and the lines are usually pretty short.
10 Tips For Making Your Visit Even Better
As with any amusement park, having some tips for a full and great experience is always great. Seabreeze is no different.
Tip #1: try going on a weekday or rainy day. Weekdays and rainy days are way less crowded, and on those days, there’s typically waiting in line. There are some risks involved with rainy day visits, though. Be aware that some of the food stalls, like Walk Away Taco or Chicken and Fries, may close early on days with fewer people or on rainy days.
On days where there is lots of rain or thunderstorms, there is also the risk of storm or rain closure. You can always go to the guest service building by the carousel to do a rain check if the park is going to close on the day you visit so worry not about losing your tickets. Also important to note is that if it is raining during your visit, many coaster rides will be half-loading for safety so some ride lines might take longer than usual.
Tip #2: Going to the bigger thrill rides, like the rabbit or the eagle, is a good idea since their lines fill up quickly. The Bobselds also have a long line on busy days due to loading and the limited number of cars on the track. This would also be recommended as a first ride since it’s such a long line during the day.
Tip #3: On a hot day, there will often be water jugs out for patrons, but if not, you can go to any of the food stands and ask for a cup of water. They will give you water so that you can cool down. I recommend bringing a water bottle, though. Speaking of drinks. There are cups you can buy for soda or slushies, I recommend these if you are sharing a drink or plan to visit a lot. The refills are only a dollar or two, and the cups are around 6-10 dollars, depending on the size you get. It’s just over all cheaper than paying for a drink every time, and you get a fun souvenir out of it. The popcorn buckets are also refillable.
Tip #4: If your little one is too small for the big rides, I recommend going on the train and the carousel. The rides will allow anyone to ride them and do not have restrictions besides needing a parent with them if they aren’t the required height. Kiddie City is also a good spot for kids with lots of unique rides for them to ride, most not needing a parent.
Tip #5: Similar to Disney there is a recommended part of the park to start with since there will be fewer people there in the morning. Most will want to start with the Rabbit so there will be a lot of people on the upper side of the park where the Rabbit is. If you wanna avoid the crowd in the morning, go to the lower part of the park where the Whirlwind and 360 are. Another recommendation is going on Big Five rides when the acrobat show is going on, lots of people will be going to see the acrobat show so the lines will be shorter during the show.
Tip #6: Many of the food shops will close before the rides around 6 pm or 7 pm so if you want food, get it before 6 (on slow days before 4 if you can); the same goes for the water park, it will close an hour earlier than dry rides so its important to get your fill of the water park before it closes (7 on weekdays, 8 on weekends during normal hours)
Tip #7: On the topic of normal hours, School Day tickets are also a great idea if you are looking for a cheaper ticket. Warning: these days can be very crowded due to school groups, and the park will usually close at 5 pm, but the tickets are much cheaper than normal tickets.
Tip #8: If you’re interested in the park’s history, there’s a small museum behind the carousel with relics, pictures, and fun facts about Seasbreeze.
Tip #9: There are 3 bathrooms in total for guests in the park: by the pizzeria, by Kiddie City, and by the water park changing rooms. The nicer bathrooms are also by Kiddie City, but the line can be pretty long sometimes. The shorter line will be by the pizzeria or the water park.
Tip #10: When it storms, high rides (meaning rides that go higher in the air) will be closed. Low rides like bumper cars and the Music Express, however, will still be open, so if you want to ride, it’s a good idea to hit those rides when there is lightning in the area.
History of the Park
Seabreeze is over 100 years old and opened in 1879. It was the last stop on a rail station and was a cute little park with picnic tables and a lake view. The rides followed pretty soon after, in 1900, when the first ride, the carousel, was introduced. The current carousel is actually the Park’s third carousel and was built by the park’s owner.
Jack Rabbit ~ The Oldest Continuously Operated Rollercoast in America
In 1920, the Jack Rabbit was built and remains the oldest continuously operating roller coaster in the United States. Despite numerous updates and renovations to the ride to keep it safe for patrons, you can still see little bits of history here and there on the ride, such as the large hand levers the operators use to operate the Jack Rabbit. If you look closely, one of the overhead beams says, “Pay as you leave,” this is a relic from when the ride first opened, and you paid for each ride individually to ride it.
In 1958, they introduced the ride Over the Falls, which was built by the park owners as their flume ride. It was later replaced by the log flume in 1984, which has one of the steepest log flume hills in the country at 55-degree angle drop. A couple of years later more water rides were added with the introduction of the water park. In 1990, the 3rd and newest iteration of the carousel was built by the Long family after a devastating fire. As the park gets older, they continue to add new rides and preserve and embrace the history of their older rides. They also have a history book in their gift shop that goes into a lot of detail on the park’s history. If you enjoy theme park history, it’s a great read.
Hours and Admission
For current hours and admission, please check with Seabreeze’s Website.
Getting to Seabreeze
Address: 4600 Culver Rd, Rochester, NY