I'm so lost

[la79al]

My mom wants us to go to SW one of the days we are in Florida. I feel so lost on the whole idea. We will have a car so that is not an issue. Is the current cheapest ticket route UT? Can we take our lunch into the park? Without doing the big rides, is this a full day park (looks like park hours are 9-7)? Do we need to be here right at 9? Anything we can definitely skip or anything we absolutely must see/do?

 

[angelmom27]

SW tix are prettty cheap already. Not sure what UT prices are but you can always compare them to SWs price and go from there. SW isn't an all day park. Depends on ages of everyone and what they want to do. If you just for shows you will finish early. You don't have to be there at 9. I like to start the day early cause we get the all day dining plan and they serve breakfast at one of the restaurants in the morning.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

If you haven't been to SW before you can stretch it out to an all day thing because they have 5 or 6 different shows going on through out the day and if you time them just right you can space them out and see all of them in one day and do rides in between.

You can look at the schedule on the SW website for the dates you are going and it will show you the show times of whatever shows they have going on that day.

I planned our day around the shows. That way we were able to see all the shows and still do rides and things in between.

We have been to SW several times and we always get there at opening.

If I am not mistaken you ARE NOT allowed to take food into Sea World like you can at Disney.

SW tickets, if you buy them online at the SW website are $10 cheaper than gate prices and when you go into the park you can get your ticket stamped to get a second day free. Or at least you use to be able to do that.

 

[Mom2HandR]

I can't remember about food... we ate at the restaurants. We did two days, no big rides but all the shows and fed the dolphins, did rides, took our time.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Here is a link to the food and beverage policy for SeaWorld (what can and can't be brought into the park):

http://seaworldparks.com/seaworld-orlando/Park-Info/Food-and-Beverage-Policy

Must do shows for a first trip with kids your children's ages:

Pets Ahoy, One Ocean, and Blue Horizons

The smaller kids will enjoy spending some time in Shamu's Happy Harbour. Everyone can ride the SkyTower, and the views from up there are spectacular.

Feed the animals.....its fun for all ages.

I think you could easily spend a full day, as there's lots to look at and see. The pace is so relaxing, you will just want to stroll and enjoy all the exhibits along the way.

 

[JessB320]

Seaworld is a full day park for us. You can get show schedules off their website. Also as you first go into the park there are maps. Grab one as those will have show time for the day printed on it. Feeding the dolphins is fun. You can also feed the stingrays and sharks. One ride ( sorry the name slips my mind ) is a slow turning tower that lifts you really high up. It's all enclosed like a small round room. It was a nice little break and some really neat views. Food is a no go. They are Stricter than any other park with outside food. The parking lot is very very close however so walking to your car for lunch is totally doable, we have multiple times . I would go at 9 to give yourself enough time to do everything.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

One ride ( sorry the name slips my mind ) is a slow turning tower that lifts you really high up. It's all enclosed like a small round room. It was a nice little break and some really neat views.

SkyTower .

 

[DOOM1001]

Sea World is definitely a full day park,if you want to see most or all of the shows you have to plan your day around those times along with leaving time to do the rides,other attractions and eating,some people might tell you it's a multi day park.I think as long as you get there near opening and plan your day out with the park map you'll have enough time in one day to do most of the park.

 

[JessB320]

SkyTower .

Yes, thank you

 

[Capt_BJ]

plan the day with the show schedule!

the show schedule will order the shows so that they fall into one or two natural flows. Unless things have changed these flows won't be pointed out but become obvious if you look carefully at the schedule. It depends on where you start and then what you should do second and third has a progression. If you ignore this flow you'll see less in one day - to see everything will take longer. You'll know you've hit one when you realize everyone in the theater for the show that just eneded is slowly walking the same direction you are! If you find yourself a loaner swimming upstream against the current you've probably fallen off track! If you follow a flow you can see the main shows in one day. If you don't like being a lemming, SW can be a two day park at a slower pace.

IMO the SW 'thing' is the marine mammal shows and essentially there are 3 - the dolphins, Seamore, and Shamu - these are must do's. Then there is feeding the dolpins and sea lions. Fit in lunch and you've got a rapidly filling day. Toss in the 'other' shows and some rides . . .

SW won't allow you to bring a full lunch into the park (nor do most parks by the written rules) BUT most have a picnic area in the parking lot and you can leave and re-enter. I work at a 'park' and management wants us to tell people we see eating a full meal from their backback to move out of tables in the food areas cuz they are for those who 'buy'. My co-workers and I try to ignore that mgmt desire but you see the point. If folks who buy food from the park can't get a seat . . . Pack a cooler and tailgate it and no one cares.

Have fun -

Hint - you REALLY want to get to Clyde & Seamore early. There's a good "pre-show" (if they haven't dropped it since my last time)

 

[kandb]

I hope the mime before the clyde and seymour show is still there. It was the funniest thing ever, hilarious. We are going in April, hoping he is still there.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I hope the mime before the clyde and seymour show is still there. It was the funniest thing ever, hilarious. We are going in April, hoping he is still there.

Yes ma'am, he is still there .

My DH is a big fellow (6' 4", 295 pounds). When we went on Christmas Day, the show was starting to get pretty full and we had to walk past the mime to get to the spot where there were some open seats still remaining. I looked behind us as the crowd started to roar in laughter, and he was mocking my hubby, beating on his chest like he was King Kong .

I thought it was hysterical. DH was not nearly as amused .

 

[RabFlmom]

My mom wants us to go to SW one of the days we are in Florida. I feel so lost on the whole idea. We will have a car so that is not an issue. Is the current cheapest ticket route UT? Can we take our lunch into the park? Without doing the big rides, is this a full day park (looks like park hours are 9-7)? Do we need to be here right at 9? Anything we can definitely skip or anything we absolutely must see/do?

To see the park in 1 day-get there as close to 9 as you can . I don't do the big rides and can spend the day even though we are there often since we are locals. Must dos.........everything.........

1. Feed at least one of the animals that you can do this at....the kids will love it. It is cheaper to feed the sea lions and stingrays because you can buy 1 tray for the whole family instead of one for each of you.

2. Must see Shows...... Turtle trek, Clyde and Seamore, Shamu One Ocean, Pets Ahoy. There is also a Cirque type show in the theater that you may enjoy . It is a good place to sit and rest when it is really hot out, too.

3. The aquariums are must sees too.....Shark Encounter, The one at Manta that has the cool starfish and octopus, and the one in the gift shop where the exit from Journey to Atlantis is. Also plan time to go to the under water viewing areas for the dolphins and whales.

4. Even if you don't do the coasters be sure to do Wild Arctic to see the polar bear and walrus.

5. If you have kids you need to plan time for that area, too.

6. And you will want to have time to go through a few of the gift shops and watch the craftsman in some.

7. The food at SW is good. You do not have to eat burgers because it is the cheapest meal in the park like we do at Disney sometimes. They have an all day deal that is well worth the price. We usually buy that because then for the $29 for the day we get as many meals as we want, snacks as we want, and bottles of water or soda that we want for the whole day. It always adds up to more than the price of the deal for us-especially when it is hot. The one drawback of buying the deal is then I don't get to buy my strawberry waffle cone that I love from there because the outside stands are not in the deal. . We figure if we eat 2 meals in the park the plan is covered. Everything else then is money we saved. <g>

8. Another new must for us is to stroll over by the stables to see which animals they are featuring.

The one thing/area that we always skip is the games area. But if you are into that, it must be pretty easy to win big stuffed animals because there are always a lot of people carrying huge stuffed animals around the park.

The important thing about Sea World is you can take your time and have a relaxing day without running from ride to ride.

One other piece of advice when driving.....if you stay and close down the park, take your time getting out of the park. We have even started just stopping for ice cream or in the bakery for a last snack to wait for the parking lot to empty out some. There is also a bottleneck getting out of the lot and on busy nights it can take forever to get back up to International Drive.

 

[hydrotony]

Go to the SeaWorld web site, it has show times and lists various activities. It only lists about 1 week of showtimes but they are typical whenever you visit.

http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/

The parking lot is adjacent to the park and you walk from your parking spot to the entrance. No trams.