Dine With Shamu Price Drop

[r2girl]

I guess I wasn't thinking that you would be eating outside. Just something to think about if you are buying tickets for the colder months

 

[massachusettsdad]

This is a great deal for $29, especially if you have a couple beers which I believe are $8+ in the park for the 16oz aluminum bottles. We did this a few years back in Orlando and thought it was a good value at the old price. Interestingly it's $39 at Sea World San Diego and beer/wine is said to be at an additional charge, at least according to the Sea World San Diego website.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We really enjoyed the meal and all it entailed. We thought the food was great and the whale "entertainment" (or perhaps "performance" is a better word?) was excellent. We had seats right along the glass, giving us a perfect view. Our evening was brisk, but not "cold", and we all brought sweaters so everyone was comfortable.

We were there on the 27th of December, and the park was packed with people, so it was wonderful to have a sit down, uncrowded meal in the midst of the holiday chaos.

I would not pay the $59 regular price per adult, but we would definitely do the meal again at $29 pp.

 

[kandb]

We are going in April, but the schedule for dine with shamu only goes until the first week in March. Does anyone know if it is going to be discontinued?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We are going in April, but the schedule for dine with shamu only goes until the first week in March. Does anyone know if it is going to be discontinued?

Its not being discontinued . They only release a block of reservations at a time, so just keep an eye on the website to see when the next block (for your travel date) is opened up. We were able to book for Christmas after Labour Day.

 

[kandb]

Thanks for the info.

 

[zilp]

I have a quick question regarding experiences with Dining with Shamu- did you feel rushed during the meal?

I read on the sticky thread that the meal is about an hour long, including time with trainers. I ask because we have 3 kids with us, so between getting them all settled and getting meals to the table, I am afraid we won't be able to enjoy much before it's time to go. What do you think?

oh, and for us the meal has gone up to 34$ per adult and 24$ per child since we are there during peak season.

 

[Priorityonecb]

We didn't feel at all rushed, but our daughter is a totally self sufficient 15 year old. I think with having to help three small children, you probably would feel rushed. We also went when the price was very low. I hate to be negative, but I don't think I'd pay the prices you quoted for the experience if it were me.

 

[alvaroaze]

I'm trying to make a reservation but on the date that I want it there is no specific time listed, it only says "Dinner". Park closes at 7pm, so what time is "Dinner"?

 

[scdak]

Bookings are open for the upcoming months, I booked our meal for Easter Sunday early this am, I think the calender was up thru October at least. Prices are higher during peak weeks but it has the prices marked on each day. The only thing I don't know is what time the meal is served, as the PP stated it just says "Dinner", and the night in question the park is open until 10pm. Does anyone have any additional info on the meal time?

 

[zilp]

We didn't feel at all rushed, but our daughter is a totally self sufficient 15 year old. I think with having to help three small children, you probably would feel rushed. We also went when the price was very low. I hate to be negative, but I don't think I'd pay the prices you quoted for the experience if it were me.

Thank you for your honest reply. I was thinking the same thing. Maybe Sharks Underwater Grill will be a better restaurant for us? I wanted to do something special for dinner, but not sure if it would compare to Dining with Shamu.

 

[scdak]

Thank you for your honest reply. I was thinking the same thing. Maybe Sharks Underwater Grill will be a better restaurant for us? I wanted to do something special for dinner, but not sure if it would compare to Dining with Shamu.

We did not have children with us when we did this meal but there were a number of tables around us with children in the age range of yours and they all seemed to have plenty of time to get their food and eat before the whales and trainers came over to entertain us. The area is not spread out so the food location is pretty centralized, no further than going to any other type of buffet type restaurant, the food is all in a large room and everyone goes in one door and out another one with a 2 sided main serving area, a smaller serving area at the end near exit door which I think is where the kid type foods were and a long area beside the entrance door where the desserts were, we made our plates of regular foods first then returned for dessert after eating our dinner. Even when our server told us we could go to get our meal it was never really crowded in line, it all moved orderly and in well paced manner. When the part started where the trainers put the whales thru the "show" and they talk about training we continued to eat and watch, when the whales came close to us we stopped to take pictures. There is a waitstaff person assigned to your table to bring drinks to you and ours was still serving us soda after the whales were done with the show, we were not rushed out of there by any means, the park was closed by the time the meal was over so there were staff members outside of the dining area to point us in the direction of the exit, and additional staff at every turn to continue to guide everyone over the bridge and to the exit. In case you are interested in the photo options that are available, the photopass booth was open and fully manned (6-8 registers?) even at that late of an hour, by that point the part had been closed for at least 1/2 an hour or longer. Hope this info helps, I don't usually repeat special dining like this unless its very good and I have reservations for Easter evening to take my mother and 5 y/o, 14 y/o nephews so it must have been pretty good. The food was very tasty and I am pretty picky.......there was plenty of options for adults and children, its not gourmet by any means but it was better than alot of buffets I have eaten at. I ate off of the kids choices plus the adult food and I saw kids enjoying the adult options in addition to the kid fare. The desserts were pretty standard but a nice quality, the carrot cake was very good and I am not a carrot cake fan!

 

[jml06fsu]

If the park closes at 6, the dinner begins at 4:15. There is a 45 minute window where you eat before the interaction begins and most people stick around until 5:30. They give you plenty of time! I believe that the dine begins around 6/6:30 when the park closes at 10. I also saw a post about gratuity for this location, so I wanted to add that our server informed us that gratuity is not included in the price when we asked her. Just a heads up in case you normally don't carry cash with you.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We did not find ourselves feeling rushed at all during our Dine With Shamu experience. That said, we found the buffet area to feel VERY busy and congested.....lots of small kids with full plates milling about, and you had to be very watchful that you didn't inadvertently bump or step on a little one. It was hard to see those wee guests with so many bodies in a small area.

If anyone wants to see photos and a write-up of our Dine With Shamu meal, there's a whole section of them in my trip report (see the link in my signature). The DWS portion of the trip starts on page 6, post 82. Check out the remainder of the report for lots of SW pics in general.

 

[coastgirl]

Gina I'm just heading off to look at your TR. Thanks for all the info, it looks like a really cool experience. We are getting flexpasses for two weeks in August, no Disney this time. I had just decided it's not worth the high price for a character meal at Disney's GF, but this looks like a really neat alternative for us. It's showing $29 pp for late Aug, but still, that's not bad for what sounds to be a decent buffet and a cool experience. (At 10 and 13 our kids are technically adults--I am still getting used to that. Well, I guess it's time to get them voting and paying rent! ;-) ) Anyway, thanks for the info, I wouldn't have known about this otherwise.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Gina I'm just heading off to look at your TR. Thanks for all the info, it looks like a really cool experience. We are getting flexpasses for two weeks in August, no Disney this time. I had just decided it's not worth the high price for a character meal at Disney's GF, but this looks like a really neat alternative for us. It's showing $29 pp for late Aug, but still, that's not bad for what sounds to be a decent buffet and a cool experience. (At 10 and 13 our kids are technically adults--I am still getting used to that. Well, I guess it's time to get them voting and paying rent! ;-) ) Anyway, thanks for the info, I wouldn't have known about this otherwise.

You are very welcome!

I have to agree with the Dine with Shamu value......we did DWS for dinner (when we eat way more than we do in the morning) cheaper than we could have had breakfast at Chef Mickeys.

Have an AWESOME trip with those Flexpasses!! Two weeks in Orlando......I am so jealous . One of these days I'll be able to stretch my vacations beyond our 7 night/8 day schedule .

 

[LexPlayer]

Gina I'm just heading off to look at your TR. Thanks for all the info, it looks like a really cool experience. We are getting flexpasses for two weeks in August, no Disney this time. I had just decided it's not worth the high price for a character meal at Disney's GF, but this looks like a really neat alternative for us. It's showing $29 pp for late Aug, but still, that's not bad for what sounds to be a decent buffet and a cool experience. (At 10 and 13 our kids are technically adults--I am still getting used to that. Well, I guess it's time to get them voting and paying rent! ;-) ) Anyway, thanks for the info, I wouldn't have known about this otherwise.

I find it fascinating that the website does not define the age of a child vs. adult and that a separate web search is required to ascertain that information....

 

[the_princess]

I remember doing this like 4 years ago. It was great.. But I thought they would have changed it now, after the accident?? Is it the same as always??

 

[angelmom27]

I remember doing this like 4 years ago. It was great.. But I thought they would have changed it now, after the accident?? Is it the same as always??

What do you mean?? The only change is that the trainers are not allowed in the water with the whales. They can still have them do tricks by giving commands from the platform.

 

[the_princess]

What do you mean?? The only change is that the trainers are not allowed in the water with the whales. They can still have them do tricks by giving commands from the platform.

Well, normally the price goes up and not down, so I thought maybe they made a new kind of Dine with Shamu. I know it was taken off the program for a while, so that's why I want to know if it's stil the same experience or if they changed it.