Sea World trip report from first timer visit 9/2/16

[juju12345]

I just got back from a quick trip to Orlando which included my first visit to Sea World. I bought a ticket online because they had a deal for $89 for a one day ticket including all day dining. My friend that went with me did not buy the all day dining deal so we ended up sharing food for the day and that worked out fine.

We arrived about 9:30am (they opened at 9am). We took an Uber from the Polynesian resort. My friend did not have Uber app so she used my link to get a free ride. Any new Uber user can get a code from somebody and they get free ride and then you get a free ride too! It would've been about $12 each way without the code. It was a very rainy morning and the park was empty. I took my ticket printout to a machine just outside the gates and scanned it and it gave me my park ticket and my dining ticket. There were no lines for bag check or park entry at all. We went straight to Seafire Grill for breakfast. The breakfast included a large muffin or cereal and a big fruit cup and a bottled water. They told me you cannot get two drinks at once, but I could go through the line again and the drinks are unlimited- there was literally nobody else in the restaurant so I exchanged my dining ticket for a wristband with the cashier and walked back and got a Coke. You can get more food after 1 hour.
We caught the 10am dolphin show. It was really good. It went on even though it was raining at the time. The only ride I did was the Journey to Atlantis. I'm not big on thrill rides and Expedition Everest had made me very dizzy the day before so I didn't want to chance riding any of the coasters at Sea World. It was still raining but Atlantis was running but nobody was on it. We literally walked onto it with nobody in front of us. You can't take any bags with you so we had to rent a locker for $1. Side note-- as a formerly nursing mom, it was nice to see a nursing room that was near the restrooms in this area. I loved Journey to Atlantis! It was kind of funny riding it in the rain because we were already soaking wet so didn't matter how wet the ride made us! Sky Tower seemed to be closed all day.
We then caught the Sea Lion show. I absolutely loved it! It is so cheesy but the walrus and the otters were so cute I was laughing so much at that show.
We had pizza at Seaport Pizza- they gave me 2 big slices and I had cookies as my side (they also had good looking salads and a few other options) . Again I got a drink then went back for a second drink. I went to a stand selling drinks and they told me Icees were included in all day dining so we grabbed an Icee there.
The gift shops were having really good sales- 70% off any of the 2016 merchandise and some t-shirts were buy one get one free. Souvenirs over all were really cheap anyways.
We saw the Shamu show at noon- theater was maybe a third full. The show was good- the rain stopped during the show so I was very excited about that!
We went to see the penguins- there were two lines- one for the riders and one for non-riders. We went through the non-rider line b/c I was scared of motion sickness. It is freezing in the penguin area. They were so cute and fun to watch but I couldn't stand the cold very long!
We saw the beluga whale/walrus exhibit and it was very good.
There was also a shark tank that you go through on the moving sidewalk that was neat to see. They had some small sharks in a shallow tank you could pet and also a very large sting ray petting pool. There were lots of options to buy food for different animals and upgrade to different experiences but we did not do any of that.
I went to Spice Mill and got a big burger and fries (lots of side options incl. desserts, potato salad, salad, but I just got the big dill pickles as my side) and a drink.
By a little after 3pm, the sun was shining and we were ready to go get a few hours of pool time at the Poly so we went ahead and left. There were a few things that we didn't see, but I feel like we saw enough to make it worth it. I feel the dining plan is well worth it for $20, but probably not the regular price of over $30 unless you really stay open to close. I think it's great you can get unlimited drinks/bottles of water with the plan.
I don't know if Sea World is usually uncrowded or if it was just due to the rain, but it was awesome not having big crowds! I would definately go back to Sea World in a few years if they have another ticket/dining deal at the time.

 

[macraven]

Thanks for sharing and including all the details

Sounds like you had the perfect day !

 

[eyehartdisney]

I just got back from a quick trip to Orlando which included my first visit to Sea World. I bought a ticket online because they had a deal for $89 for a one day ticket including all day dining. My friend that went with me did not buy the all day dining deal so we ended up sharing food for the day and that worked out fine.

We arrived about 9:30am (they opened at 9am). We took an Uber from the Polynesian resort. My friend did not have Uber app so she used my link to get a free ride. Any new Uber user can get a code from somebody and they get free ride and then you get a free ride too! It would've been about $12 each way without the code. It was a very rainy morning and the park was empty. I took my ticket printout to a machine just outside the gates and scanned it and it gave me my park ticket and my dining ticket. There were no lines for bag check or park entry at all. We went straight to Seafire Grill for breakfast. The breakfast included a large muffin or cereal and a big fruit cup and a bottled water. They told me you cannot get two drinks at once, but I could go through the line again and the drinks are unlimited- there was literally nobody else in the restaurant so I exchanged my dining ticket for a wristband with the cashier and walked back and got a Coke. You can get more food after 1 hour.
We caught the 10am dolphin show. It was really good. It went on even though it was raining at the time. The only ride I did was the Journey to Atlantis. I'm not big on thrill rides and Expedition Everest had made me very dizzy the day before so I didn't want to chance riding any of the coasters at Sea World. It was still raining but Atlantis was running but nobody was on it. We literally walked onto it with nobody in front of us. You can't take any bags with you so we had to rent a locker for $1. Side note-- as a formerly nursing mom, it was nice to see a nursing room that was near the restrooms in this area. I loved Journey to Atlantis! It was kind of funny riding it in the rain because we were already soaking wet so didn't matter how wet the ride made us! Sky Tower seemed to be closed all day.
We then caught the Sea Lion show. I absolutely loved it! It is so cheesy but the walrus and the otters were so cute I was laughing so much at that show.
We had pizza at Seaport Pizza- they gave me 2 big slices and I had cookies as my side (they also had good looking salads and a few other options) . Again I got a drink then went back for a second drink. I went to a stand selling drinks and they told me Icees were included in all day dining so we grabbed an Icee there.
The gift shops were having really good sales- 70% off any of the 2016 merchandise and some t-shirts were buy one get one free. Souvenirs over all were really cheap anyways.
We saw the Shamu show at noon- theater was maybe a third full. The show was good- the rain stopped during the show so I was very excited about that!
We went to see the penguins- there were two lines- one for the riders and one for non-riders. We went through the non-rider line b/c I was scared of motion sickness. It is freezing in the penguin area. They were so cute and fun to watch but I couldn't stand the cold very long!
We saw the beluga whale/walrus exhibit and it was very good.
There was also a shark tank that you go through on the moving sidewalk that was neat to see. They had some small sharks in a shallow tank you could pet and also a very large sting ray petting pool. There were lots of options to buy food for different animals and upgrade to different experiences but we did not do any of that.
I went to Spice Mill and got a big burger and fries (lots of side options incl. desserts, potato salad, salad, but I just got the big dill pickles as my side) and a drink.
By a little after 3pm, the sun was shining and we were ready to go get a few hours of pool time at the Poly so we went ahead and left. There were a few things that we didn't see, but I feel like we saw enough to make it worth it. I feel the dining plan is well worth it for $20, but probably not the regular price of over $30 unless you really stay open to close. I think it's great you can get unlimited drinks/bottles of water with the plan.
I don't know if Sea World is usually uncrowded or if it was just due to the rain, but it was awesome not having big crowds! I would definately go back to Sea World in a few years if they have another ticket/dining deal at the time.

Next time you go, do the penguin ride, it's really not even a little queasy if you do the "mild" ride. About what you would get from haunted mansion in disney. The feeding the sealions is really a gem to try, many of them will perform tricks to get fish. Also the 15 dollar dolphin tour is a great deal, you get to pet a dolphin, and signal them to do tricks.

 

[juju12345]

Thanks for the tips! I will keep in mind for next time I go.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Great review! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us .

 

[maryj11]

We plan on going to Sea World next trip to Disney. We want to try Uber also. Did you have any trouble getting Uber back to the Poly? We have not been to Sea World in years so it has been such a long time I do not even know what it is like now.
We would like to try the dolphin tour and maybe another one. We have never been up close to a dolphin!

 

[maryj11]

Next time you go, do the penguin ride, it's really not even a little queasy if you do the "mild" ride. About what you would get from haunted mansion in disney. The feeding the sealions is really a gem to try, many of them will perform tricks to get fish. Also the 15 dollar dolphin tour is a great deal, you get to pet a dolphin, and signal them to do tricks.

Do you know what times you can book the dolphin tour? Do you have to book feeding the sealions also or is that just something you get in line for?

 

[eyehartdisney]

Do you know what times you can book the dolphin tour? Do you have to book feeding the sealions also or is that just something you get in line for?

You don't need to book the dolphin tour before you get to the park. It runs every 20 minutes or so the entire day, so it rarely completely books. The sealions can't/don't need to be booked. You just head to the sealion area, and if the stand is open (usually like 10/11ish to 4pmish) you can buy the tray of food for them. Get the 3/$10 card, and you'll be able to feed the stingrays, sharks(not that great), and sealions for the same price as the sealions/stingrays. Or get 5 trays for 20 dollars.

 

[maryj11]

You don't need to book the dolphin tour before you get to the park. It runs every 20 minutes or so the entire day, so it rarely completely books. The sealions can't/don't need to be booked. You just head to the sealion area, and if the stand is open (usually like 10/11ish to 4pmish) you can buy the tray of food for them. Get the 3/$10 card, and you'll be able to feed the stingrays, sharks(not that great), and sealions for the same price as the sealions/stingrays. Or get 5 trays for 20 dollars.

Ok thank you !

 

[eyehartdisney]

Ok thank you !

And if you aren't squeamish, you can tear the fish/shrimp in half and make it go twice as far

 

[juju12345]

If you need an uber code use mine julias8506ue. That will give you up to $20 ride free. The pickup from poly said 4 minutes and he was there in even less than that. When you request the ride it immediately shows a picture of driver and his name and picture of car. Pick up from sea world was easy- they can only pick up at one spot which is same spot they drop off and very short walk from front gate. Driver was there in probably 2-3 minutes. He had to show his driver license at poly gate- he said some resorts make him show it and some don't buy they didn't give him any problems.

I wish we would've booked the dolphin encounter in the morning. We stopped by the booth on our way out of the park about 3pm and they did have room for the 3:45 encounter but we didn't want to wait around at that point. Next time we will do that and the feeding things for sure!

 

[eyehartdisney]

Ok thank you !

Sorry to keep stringing these answers out, I just read what you're planning to do. FYI there are two dolphin tours. One is 15 dollars, for 15 minutesish (most of the time for us it's around 25) and a more in depth tour called 'dolphin up close' it's 45 dollars for an hour or so interaction, and that one does book up ahead of time. It allows booking through december right now, so you can make that reservation any time.

There are other tours, but the ones most worth it are the penguin tour, and the wild arctic tour.

I didn't feel the sealion tour or the behind the scenes tour was worth the price, especially since they now have a shark touch pool. I haven't done the shark up-close tour.

If you have another day, the VIP tours are worth it. Expedition seaworld is 80 dollars, it includes all day dining, quick queue, feeding stingrays and the sealions, plus a guide and reserved seating to all the shows.

 

[maryj11]

Sorry to keep stringing these answers out, I just read what you're planning to do. FYI there are two dolphin tours. One is 15 dollars, for 15 minutesish (most of the time for us it's around 25) and a more in depth tour called 'dolphin up close' it's 45 dollars for an hour or so interaction, and that one does book up ahead of time. It allows booking through december right now, so you can make that reservation any time.

There are other tours, but the ones most worth it are the penguin tour, and the wild arctic tour.

I didn't feel the sealion tour or the behind the scenes tour was worth the price, especially since they now have a shark touch pool. I haven't done the shark up-close tour.

If you have another day, the VIP tours are worth it. Expedition seaworld is 80 dollars, it includes all day dining, quick queue, feeding stingrays and the sealions, plus a guide and reserved seating to all the shows.

Thank you I'm glad you are posting the extra information because I know nothing about the Sea World tours. We will only be there one day. Do you think the dolphin up close is worth it or should we just do the 15.00 one? If you had to pick between the penguin tour or the arctic which would you choose? I'm not sure if we will have time but we would like to do more then one in the day we go. Do you think that will be possible?

 

[eyehartdisney]

Thank you I'm glad you are posting the extra information because I know nothing about the Sea World tours. We will only be there one day. Do you think the dolphin up close is worth it or should we just do the 15.00 one? If you had to pick between the penguin tour or the arctic which would you choose? I'm not sure if we will have time but we would like to do more then one in the day we go. Do you think that will be possible?

I don't think it would be worth it for you in terms of time. The 15 minute tour is great, and a great price. What ages of people will you have with you and how many? If you have younger kids, do the penguin one, it's very much less of the talking, touring, and more of the PET PENGUINS! stuff. If not, it's really up to you, I enjoyed both, but I'm a huge penguin fan, so I'll always say the penguin tour. And yes, you could do more than one of these, but you won't get much riding and such done in the meantime.