Not sure if the Christmas shows are everyday or just on weekends the first week of December; but they are all a must see.
Get to the parks at opening and plan to stay all day and night. If you have to choose between 2 of them be sure to go to O wondrous Night- check out the shows for SW on you tube to help you decide, too
The Christmas shows are mostly at night.
1. Clyde and Seamore have a special Christmas show about Santa.
2. There was a new show with animal puppets and live animals ....where the puppets tell how they helped the night Jesus was born. O Wondrous Night was the name, I think. Then the puppets are replaced with live camels,birds, donkeys, etc. The performers sing about 30 songs and it was wonderful. You have to line up for this one early. It is in the Cirque theater so seats are limited but it holds quite a crowd. It was beautiful, the songs were sung beautifully, and it was funny.
3 There a Shamu Christmas show
4. In Bayside stadium they have a beautiful Ice Skating Show.
5. Sea world converts Wild Arctic ride for Christmas,,,,,,so you do want to do the ride....it is a train ride using the movie Polar Express, Santa will be in the Arctic. Great photo ops in there. It is amazing how different this ride looks for Christmas. The theming is excellent. You can ride this one any time during the day.
The lights in all the oak trees in the park are beautiful and they have different colors and types of Christmas trees allover the park.
During the day try to go to as many shows as you can and see all the animals in the park. You can feed the dolphins, the sea lions, and the sting ray which is also fun.
Haven;t seen Turtle trek yet but probably good too. Be sure to go in the Shark aquarium , the manta aquarium to see the cool octopus, the aquarium in the gift shop at Atlantis ride.
I suggest that you buy the all day meal plan and eat all 3 meals in the park for $29.99 (adult). Food is good and there is a large variety of things to eat-not just burgers and fries. You can also get drinks and snacks inside the 5 restaurants all day long.
I was very impressed with Christmas shows and decorations at SW last year.
They even had a huge snow globe to get your picture taken in . At the end of the night there are fireworks, too.
My one gripe is getting out of the parking lot and out to I-4 or 528. Always takes about an hour at the end of the night.....so I usually hit the bakery or the ice cream shop, walk through the big souvenir store and watch the masses leave so we can drive right out.