breakfast w shamu vs dine w shamu

[halfmonkey]

We're planning on heading to Sea World and was interested in doing one of the eat with Shamu packages. We're not sure which one to pick as the website doesn't have too much detail and doesn't really say if there are any differences, besides the food between the two.

I called Sea World and asked the customer service rep and she wasn't even sure if there was a difference, besides the food. She said she thought that maybe with the breakfast with Shamu, the killer whales don't really do much except swim around and the trainers don't bring the whales onto the platform whereas with the dine with Shamu package, they will do more with the killer whales.

I was hoping if anybody has had experiences with either packages, if you could provide some feedback on which you like better and also let me know what they do or don't do in either package.

We're planning on going tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[A_NY_Outlaw]

I am assuming your Cali SW is which one you are referring to. We are going to SW Orlando next week and I have been constantly trying to see if the Dine with Shamu was open. I do not believe it is, as they still don't list it.

In any case, we did the Dine with Shamu in our 2009 Orlando trip. I thought it was very cool. The food was buffet style, they gave you beer/wine/drinks and they happened to seat us right at the edge of the pool. I wanted to do it again, but I don't believe they ever opened it up again in Orlando after the tragic accident with the trainer.

 

[halfmonkey]

We ended up doing the Dine w Shamu (in San Diego) and picked the 12pm slot for lunch. It was perfect because we just finished watching the One Ocean show and then went to the Dine w Shamu reservation. The food was good. It definitely isn't a 5 star dining experience but it was def good food. My wife and I actually agree that the food at Sea World SD is better than Disneyland.

We sat next to the glass and the trainer was there for about 30 minutes. It's nice but I don't know if we would do it again. The trainer instructs the whales to perform some actions and the trainer will explain what they've told the whales to do and they'll answer any of your questions. As far as it being a personal experience, they don't do anything that is personal to you except answer your questions. It basically is a mini performance but it was pretty nice when they had their 2nd largest whale prop up on the display ledge for about 5 seconds for pictures. Dang, he was huge.

Next time, I think we'll try other things such as the Beluga whale experience of the Dolphin experience although, I don't really like paying about $60 per person for about 10-15 minutes if interaction and feeding with the Dolphins.

We found out during this visit that they no longer offer you the opportunity to feed the dolphins anymore. I guess you used to be able to spend like $15 for three pieces of fish to feed them but they're no longer doing that. They now push you towards the Dolphin Encounter and Dolphin Experience. One of them is just feeding the dolphins and the other one is jumping in the water with them. $60 to feed and $215 to swim with them. Yikes.

At least you can still feed the sea lions. The bat ray was supposed to have food that you can buy to feed them but with the Mantra ride just coming on-line, they didn't have everything in order. Maybe next time.

 

[chiamarie]

We ended up doing the Dine w Shamu (in San Diego) and picked the 12pm slot for lunch. It was perfect because we just finished watching the One Ocean show and then went to the Dine w Shamu reservation. The food was good. It definitely isn't a 5 star dining experience but it was def good food. My wife and I actually agree that the food at Sea World SD is better than Disneyland.

We sat next to the glass and the trainer was there for about 30 minutes. It's nice but I don't know if we would do it again. The trainer instructs the whales to perform some actions and the trainer will explain what they've told the whales to do and they'll answer any of your questions. As far as it being a personal experience, they don't do anything that is personal to you except answer your questions. It basically is a mini performance but it was pretty nice when they had their 2nd largest whale prop up on the display ledge for about 5 seconds for pictures. Dang, he was huge.

Next time, I think we'll try other things such as the Beluga whale experience of the Dolphin experience although, I don't really like paying about $60 per person for about 10-15 minutes if interaction and feeding with the Dolphins.

We found out during this visit that they no longer offer you the opportunity to feed the dolphins anymore. I guess you used to be able to spend like $15 for three pieces of fish to feed them but they're no longer doing that. They now push you towards the Dolphin Encounter and Dolphin Experience. One of them is just feeding the dolphins and the other one is jumping in the water with them. $60 to feed and $215 to swim with them. Yikes.

At least you can still feed the Walruses. The bat ray was supposed to have food that you can buy to feed them but with the Mantra ride just coming on-line, they didn't have everything in order. Maybe next time.

I seriously. Seriously doubt you can just feed the Walrus'. In Orlando, they only thing that comes close to that is the Wild Arctic Tour, which I believe they also do one similar in San Diego, where you might have the chance to feed them during the tour. But in Orlando, that tour costs more than the 60 to do a dolphin interaction.

 

[halfmonkey]

I seriously. Seriously doubt you can just feed the Walrus'. In Orlando, they only thing that comes close to that is the Wild Arctic Tour, which I believe they also do one similar in San Diego, where you might have the chance to feed them during the tour. But in Orlando, that tour costs more than the 60 to do a dolphin interaction.

My previous post has been edited as it's not the walruses, it's the sea lions you can still feed. You can buy a tray of fish for $7 and it gives you 5 pieces of fish.

The beluga whale interaction does allow you to feed the walrus at least that's what they told us yesterday. The beluga whale experience lasts for about an hour.