Sea World Trip Report!

[muffinman71]

hello all,

just returned from sea world and discovery cove (more on this later). had a great time. We booked DC for 10/14, so we used our first day at SW on 10/13 and a second day on 10/17.

First, there are so many shows going on that you are doing a lot of running around to see them all. Glad I had two days. I was still exhausted.

Since we had DC ressies, we got day passes in the DC guest building. Easy check in.

Dolphin Nursery - head all the way down on the right hand side to get a nice up close view of the dolphins. Got lots of great photos here.

Stingray Lagoon - the stench kept me away.

Turtle Point - dull and boring.

Dolphin Cove - I had to line up a half hour in advance to get some fish to feed the dolphins. Then I had to wrestle my way to the side of the "cove". Once that was done, I got some great pics of the dolphin getting the fish and getting patted. Also, photographers with zoom lenses are more than happy to take your pic for $15 bucks. Still, it was nice, although crowded and very hectic.

Blue Horizons - a nice dolphin show. Cut out some of the circus de soleil crap and it would have been perfect.

Manatee Rescue - a bit boring. But nice and cool inside.

Journey to Atlantis - could not hear any of the dialogue and the special effects were really cheesy. Sucked.

Kraken - decent coaster.

Penguins - nice.

Clyde and Seamore - a nice, pirate, themed show.

Pets AHoy - a cute animal show featured rescued animals.

Shark encounter - the restuarant took away the big shark tank. Now you enter through the old exit. Lots of wasted space. The big feature is the one tube with the sharks swimming around you. A letdown.

Odyssea Show - pretty decent. It was nicely air conditioned.

Pacific Point Preserve - was a lot of fun feeding the sea lions. They bark loud and fight over the fish. Great photo ops.

Clydesdale Hamlet - waste of time.

Busch Hospitality Center - two free budweiser beers. Cant complain about that. One thing of note. This is a Anheuser Busch park - so why is the beer so damn expensive? A small draft of bud in the restaurants was $4.79. What gives?

Shamu show - great. One thing of note. The people answering for the "quiz" are not "live" and are pre taped.

Wild Arctic - awesome. My personal favorite.

We did the DIning with Shamu on the first day. We lined up at the gate at 4:45pm for a 5pm seating. When you check in you are handed your table assignments. A bit unorderly since the guy just stood in the middle of the mob instead of at a podium or something. There are two rows of tables (4 chairs each). One row is against the pool and the other behind it. Many people in the back row were pissed off that they did not have the closer tables. oh well. Dinner started promptly at 5pm. The buffet was decent quality, and you had unlimited pitchers of pepsi and sprite on the table. You could get bud beer, at a max of two per person. The show started at 5:15pm or maybe closer to 5:30pm and lasted about 15 minutes. Plenty of close ups with the killer whale (it was not shamu, but another one whose name escapes me) that come almost into your lap. We were "kicked out" at 5:50pm so they could prepare for the 6:30pm shamu show. Well worth the $34 though.

We also did the polar expedition tour on the second day. What a total waste. I complained and got a full refund. You meet by the polar bear statue next to wild arctic at 11am. You go by an observation tank for the belugas. However, there was nothing in the tank. So, we looked at a painting of a beluga on the wall and were told facts about it. Our tour guide did not have the right key, so we could not enter the sea lion area. ***? How about making an effort to get the key? Have a walkie talkie? Cell phone? Lead us back to the wild arctic exhibit and get the key and start the tour over? Nope. We walked past the oh so interested filtration system for the sea water. Then, we did not have the key for the polar bear dens. SO, we stayed in an alley outside the door looking at a painting of a polar bear. More facts. Wow. She brought us into the wild arctic exhibit twice and continued her facts and info at the polar bear window and the beluga tank while we hung out amongst the public.
We hopped on a bus to the penguin area. We patted the penguin and got some up close photos of the other penguins in the observation area.
I complained and got a full refund.

The beluga interaction was going on during our "tour" and looked like a lot of fun.

We ate a "mama's kitchen". If my mom cooked this way, I would have run away. Overpriced, medicore sandwiches, overheated fries, and expensive soda. On day two, we tried voyagers wood fired pizza. $7 for one slice of medicore pizza and some fries. then more expensive soda.

overall a great time!

 

[NDAMomX2]

Great report. You made me laugh.

 

[Gabriel&Nana]

I love SW, but I've never found decent counter service food to eat ...

It seems you didn't too...

Do anybody recommend a place to eat ?

 

[Dax]

We have been SW passholders for many years now and we always would leave the park to eat..

One good place thought was on the Waterfront...right next to the oyster lagoon thing...the name escapes me. They have the BEST cheesesteaks in there, and also waffle fries. Yes a bit pricey, but awesome nonetheless.

 

[RabFlmom]

I love SW, but I've never found decent counter service food to eat ...

It seems you didn't too...

Do anybody recommend a place to eat ?

Definitely recommend Smokey Creek. The food has never let us down there. We even just go to Sea World to see our son who goes to college in Orlando. We always tempt him with the food from Smokey Creek instead of going to his apartment. You can get ribs, beef , and chicken platters. You can get 1, 2, or 3 of the meats with fries. Price is more than a burger but well worth it. My husband and I can usually eat for less than $24 (if we order 2 platters)and it includes our drinks, dessert, and coleslaw etc. Sometimes we get the chicken/beef combo and share it . We never go away hungry. LOL
Of course there isn't air conditioning there. You eat at umbrella covered tables, under the trees outside, or in the pavillians, and it usually isn't too hot or cold.

If we eat at Mama's we generally just get the breadsticks which makes a meal for us.
Favorite snack is the waffle soft ice cream with strawberries that you get over by the penquin exhibit.

 

[robvia]

That was a funny report.
I went on the polar bear tour and actually liked it.

Park food is never that good, just think of how many people they feed.
My favorite is Voyagers wood oven pizza. It's a buffet place where you slide your tray looking at yummy things behind the glass. At the end is where you can get pasta and pizza. A slice costs about $8 and comes with a mound of fries.

Oh, and you asked why they charge so much for beer. If they charged less, then everyone would probably get tanked. Plus they need to make money for their shareholders.

Agree, JTA is nothing like it used to be. Since the building has water running thru it, the effects break, and costs too much to fix. That's why the San Diego verson is more of a coaster.

 

[muffinman71]

A few things...

There is no excuse for SW to charge so much for beer right at the source. It's like going to Hershey Park and being charged $5 for a candy bar. WHY?? I can understand people getting tanked if it was cheap, but almost $5 for a small draft? It is more like what you said - more money for the shareholders. Like they don't make enough already?

I would have liked the polar tour if I actually got the polar tour. There was no excuse for the tour guide to not have the keys, and then expect us to be okay with skipping 90% of the tour. On top of that, with no offer of a discount of some kind at the end to make up for the half *** job they did.