Tips for upcoming 4 days at Six Flags in Texas

We (family of 2 adults, 3 kids -ages 6, 11, 12) are getting ready to travel from Ohio down to Texas, arriving down there late on Dec. 25th. We have a couple of days allocated for Six Flags Over Texas, and a couple of days for Six Flags Fiesta Texas. After that, we have about 4 days at South Padre Island to relax before heading back north the morning of Jan 4.

First, I'm wondering if this might be too much Six Flags all together. Obviously, we wouldn't be there at the parks all day each and every one of the 4 days, but I'm still a little worried that this might be too much all at once for the kids or my wife. Should we break it up if possible? (one park for a day or two at the beginning of the trip, followed by ~4-5 days at South Padre, then 1-2 days at the other park right before we head back north?

Second, when we went to Six Flags St. Louis in September, there were some unexpected surprises. We have the meal plan, and we had a backpack to keep all 5 of those huge cups together, plus to hold our camera. The cups ended up leaking all over the backpack, and then we had to spend time cleaning it out and such. Can anyone recommend a better way to keep track of all of the cups, theme park cards, and everything? Also, on one or two rides, I got up to the coaster, and was ready to throw our backpack over to the departure area, to wait for us to get off and reclaim it. They told me no, that unless I had a medical condition, this was not allowed. I'm much too much of a cheapskate to be forced to rent a locker, so I just skipped the ride and waited for everyone. Is there a better alternative? Other than wearing a fisherman's vest and having things in pockets, (which would interfere with some rides with over the shoulder restraints), I can't really think of a solution, if they won't let me stow a backpack or duffel bag where we will disembark the ride. Help!

I don't know about loose articles (haven't had that issue at SFFT or SFOT before), but I can offer some advice. First off, at one of the days at SFFT I'd totally recommend (5-8PM or 6-9PM) last 3 hours at ZDT's. It's not too far away and is a great little park with some amazing go-karts and an awesome coaster and all for a little over $10 per person.

General SFFT advice:

Get night rides on Iron Rattler, back row. Superman night rides are rare due to that area of the park being prime for shows and such, but if you can get one definitely do it. Roadrunner is a really, really good family coaster and totally worth a few rides as it's usually a walk-on this time of year.

General SFOT advice:

Ride Titan and then NTaG, in that order. Titan gave me a headache due to blood leaving my head but NTaG pushed it all back up with airtime. Doing it the other way doesn't work. Ride NTaG, Shockwave and Runaway Mine Train in the back row and Judge Roy in the front. Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast is better than the one at SFStL from what I remember. S:ToP is really fun compared to other drop towers I've been on, the Oil Derrick is great for taking pictures. Runaway Mountain and JL:BFM get long lines, and Runaway Mountain is probably better in the back row.

As far as the question of it being "too much Six Flags" that really for you to decide. I do find both parks to be quite different, if that helps at all. I also don't know how busy it will be during Holiday in the Park, but I always recommend getting Flash Pass if you're coming in from out of down and this is going to be your one visit to this park in a very long time. Especially if you have younger kids that won't want to wait in line.

As for the loose articles thing, to be honest, I always tell people "don't bring that much stuff in the park unless you are willing to pay for a locker." Lockers are usually a dollar, maybe two at the most. And when you think about just how much value you're going to get out of your ticket anyway, it's not that much additional. Especially if you already have a Six Flags pass, that's really not much of an upcharge.

Going to theme parks, like movies, concerts, sports games, etc, are all expensive venues where everything is an inflated price. You're either going to inconvenience your wallet by having to pay an additional amount for the locker, or inconvenience yourself by not getting to ride something. You basically have to choose between one of those two options. Just being honest here.

Just went to Six Flags Over Texas yesterday, (Mon. Jan 4) rode Sky Screamer and noticed that even though the bumper cars' building was gone they still had the bumper cars. Construction trucks are moving in and they are laying down pillars for new rides. So I'm guessing construction will be done in off-season, so hopefully construction photos will be up soon.