Dining with Shamu

[happygirl]

WE are thinking about doing this on our upcoming trip? Is it worth it? Can you get reservation the day of the trip? would you rather do this or the Shark dining

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

You will be able to get reservations on the day of your visit *if* there are still unsold seats still available for the dinner. Its a gamble as to whether that date will still have availability or not.

Do keep in mind, though, that the best seats (ie, located directly along the glass) are assigned on a first-booked basis. So the earlier you book, the better your seats are going to be. There are no "bad" seats, per se, as tables are arranged along the glass and only two tables deep, but you can almost guarantee yourself the second tier seating if you wait until the day of to commit to purchase your tickets to the meal.

We thought was a good value for the money. The food was excellent and the whale presentation was very interesting and informative.

My Christmas trip report (see link in my signature) includes a write up and photos on Dine With Shamu. That portion of the report starts on page 6 at post 82.

I have never dined at Sharks Underwater Grill, so I can't comment on which is better. I have done the all-day dining, and would highly recommend it if you could not get a DWS reservation.

 

[happygirl]

You will be able to get reservations on the day of your visit *if* there are still unsold seats still available for the dinner. Its a gamble as to whether that date will still have availability or not.

Do keep in mind, though, that the best seats (ie, located directly along the glass) are assigned on a first-booked basis. So the earlier you book, the better your seats are going to be. There are no "bad" seats, per se, as tables are arranged along the glass and only two tables deep, but you can almost guarantee yourself the second tier seating if you wait until the day of to commit to purchase your tickets to the meal.

We thought was a good value for the money. The food was excellent and the whale presentation was very interesting and informative.

My Christmas trip report (see link in my signature) includes a write up and photos on Dine With Shamu. That portion of the report starts on page 6 at post 82.

I have never dined at Sharks Underwater Grill, so I can't comment on which is better. I have done the all-day dining, and would highly recommend it if you could not get a DWS reservation.

Thank so much

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

Thank so much

I hate to be a downer but i did this 2 years ago and it was awful the food was cold, shamu was not anywhere near us to get good pics and to top it off some poor kid got sick at the buffet line and it took them almost an hour to clean it up.

 

[happygirl]

I hate to be a downer but i did this 2 years ago and it was awful the food was cold, shamu was not anywhere near us to get good pics and to top it off some poor kid got sick at the buffet line and it took them almost an hour to clean it up.

How far back from the glass were you sitting

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

How far back from the glass were you sitting

Front row on the glass..the trainer had him wait out in the middle.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I hate to be a downer but i did this 2 years ago and it was awful the food was cold, shamu was not anywhere near us to get good pics and to top it off some poor kid got sick at the buffet line and it took them almost an hour to clean it up.

Definitely not even close to our experience. The buffet items were fresh and well stocked, with the hot items piping hot. Everything was replenished promptly throughout the meal.

When the dolphins were "performing" (and I use the term loosely because its not a show on the same level as One Ocean), the trainers were excellent at giving a heads up as to which dolphin would be doing what skill in whatever part of the pool (as in "Dolphin A will be doing a backflip here in just a few seconds on the far end of the pool"). So we had enough time to get our cameras readied and pointed in the right direction to capture some pretty decent shots of the tricks they were doing. We had more issues with the darkness hindering our ability for great photos (since we visited during Christmas when it got dark very early) than we did we distance.

The buffet area is quite small for the number of people at the meal. It was pretty congested in there in the early stages of the dinner. I can imagine, if someone were to get sick in the buffet area, it could be difficult for staff to get the area cleaned up with all the foot traffic coming in and out (and yes, it would be sensible for people to avoid the area, but we all know that common sense often flies out the window if someone is in hot pursuit of the last piece of carrot cake on the plate).

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

Definitely not even close to our experience. The buffet items were fresh and well stocked, with the hot items piping hot. Everything was replenished promptly throughout the meal.

When the dolphins were "performing" (and I use the term loosely because its not a show on the same level as One Ocean), the trainers were excellent at giving a heads up as to which dolphin would be doing what skill in whatever part of the pool (as in "Dolphin A will be doing a backflip here in just a few seconds on the far end of the pool"). So we had enough time to get our cameras readied and pointed in the right direction to capture some pretty decent shots of the tricks they were doing. We had more issues with the darkness hindering our ability for great photos (since we visited during Christmas when it got dark very early) than we did we distance.

The buffet area is quite small for the number of people at the meal. It was pretty congested in there in the early stages of the dinner. I can imagine, if someone were to get sick in the buffet area, it could be difficult for staff to get the area cleaned up with all the foot traffic coming in and out (and yes, it would be sensible for people to avoid the area, but we all know that common sense often flies out the window if someone is in hot pursuit of the last piece of carrot cake on the plate).

Lol exactly it amazed me how many people were still at the buffet walking around the puddle on the floor i couldn't do it myself though. I am glad you had such a nice experience though maybe mine was just a bad day.

 

[jml06fsu]

Lol exactly it amazed me how many people were still at the buffet walking around the puddle on the floor i couldn't do it myself though. I am glad you had such a nice experience though maybe mine was just a bad day.

Your experience was something that happens VERY rarely. The people at dine with shamu are not trained to clean up bodily fluids. They can get terminated for cleaning up vomit. The reason it took so long to clean was probably because they had to call park services to clean it up.