SW and BG are both amazing parks. I refuse to let myself be swayed by anything without forming my own opinion. They have incredible aquariums full of delights I've frankly never seen before. Not even necessarily having anything to do with whales. Man, SW is soooo much bigger than one whale!
While walking on to Manta, one of the best ride experiences I've ever had (and I grew up on Cedar Point), you walk past the most stunning stingray aquarium, just beautiful and serene (not to mention cool and dark, a great break from the sun.) Then you ride this incredible ride with an inside inverted loop (you go upside down facing forward, not up into it facing backwards) and fly thru the sky like superman. And then, as you get off, there is another incredible aquarium with some of my favorite new sealife that I had never personally seen before, these elegant gorgeous Sea Dragons, one is called Leafy and one is called Weedy. They are serene and floating and just amazing.
Pets Ahoy is in indoor show (woohoo!) That allows you to see tons of cats, dogs, rats, birds, even a few other surprises, all perform a show with very little trainer interaction. I LOVE princesses, really I do! And I'll sing along to Frozen any chance I can get. But compare a few really funny jokes and songs we have heard a hundred times against watching FL Animal rescue dogs doing these adorable tricks and so happy and excited (like my own Gracie) and I gotta tell you, fake snow won't capture my heart that way. All the little kids (and adults) around us all feel the same way. We try not to get choked up at the adoption PSA part, but we aren't always successful...
Moving along, how about watching a Cirque style trapeze and acrobatic stunt diving show, or and there may be some dolphins that do a few amazing tricks as well, for a few minutes. Is it a dolphin show? Or incredible talented human performers doing things I'd never have the guts to try? You tell me...
How about some shark babies? This was another brand new discovery I never would have made without SW. Their shark encounter is SO wonderful! Breaking down barriers, I think. Incredible aquariams again, so many different and stunning aquariams. Walk right under a tunnel with pirhana, see a tank of barracuda literally they like are staring you down. Go into this awesome tunnel under all these gliding sharks and you can see their faces from underneath you. And huge huge fish! Come out if this tunnel aquarium and now you can see the interactive area with my favorite shark babies. They have an aquarium with some shark eggs (not all lay eggs) but these ones remind of black potato chips! And the most amazing, you can SEE the shark babies inside! All wiggling around, almost ready to check out their new BIG blue world! And next aquarium over, here they are, the pups! Welcome shark babies! They are so tiny! And when you exit the shark encounter, you can see where they grow and live in the big outdoor shaded shark and ray pool. Amazing!
What else can I talk about? Ahah! How about the Pacific sealion spot? Like you went to Cali for the day. It simulates real waves and current (like almost all their aquariams do) so it feels like a surf. Now, these guys are SO fun to watch! And this spring, we had a baby Harper seal and momma!! So sweet! Everyone was like awwwww going crazy over this baby! And more were on the way.
My sis LOVES fish and has aquariams. She also lives in Seattle, and loves to do the J pod whale watches and she has her own fish aquariams. She noted at all the aquariams we looked at, the fish were very relaxed, all of them were doing behaviors in the wild, and she says that it helps them see that these fish are not stressed or sick or nervous. I mean, the variety of fish I have seen is unlike any other aquariam to me.
Oh and while you are on your way to another stunning exhibit, you can hit Kraken, and that is a VERY FAST awesome ride!
I could comment briefly on the new One Ocean shows. The trainers are not in the water with the whales, they do everything from the glass and from the staging area. While I understand it's not for everyone, I have to say, it is unbelievable to see. These whales come up to the glass with these beautiful beaming eyes and they are so focused with the trainer, communicating with the trainer and also extremely intelligently with each other, for these extremely complex several component tricks. I gotta say, there is something soooo cute that reminds me of my Gibbs (if he thinks we have food, he goes thru every trick he knows to get some of our lunch. We don't make him, and we certainly don't starve him thank you very much! But he goes crazy doing all these tricks even when we don't ask him, just in case he can score a treat treat...) when they stick their tongues out like 'pile those fishies on in there!' I mean, you cannot make a whale do anything. If they don't want to, they won't, plain and simple.
When they first jump out of the water, you will hear screaming of awe and amazement from every little kid and adult and we have NEVER seen anything like this before. You would think they were all on an extreme thrill ride, and they are thrilled, but its because the power and elegance and beauty just hits you like a ton of bricks! The entire show has an extremely conservation message, its all one ocean for everyone, so lets all take care of it.
Oh I forgot to tell you about the Turtle Trek and the beautiful turtle tanks they have for rehab turtles that are injured and unable to make it in the wild. Watch them in these beautiful tanks from under and above. How could it get any better for these guys? They stand no chance to survive on their own. Beautiful and sad at the same time (man-made injuries in most cases, not all, but a lot.) The manatees are also here. And then, put in your 3D glasses, no Muppets here, now you are in a 360 omni dome living the 3D life of a hatching baby sea turtle, conservation conservation conservation.
I haven't even gotten started on the Wild Artic where you can see beautiful Beluga or literally play with your stuffed animal thru the glass at these entertaining and very smart and social Harper seals.
There is even more than I mentioned. I for one will be happy too when they expand their tanks. But I like to form my own opinion and I see and talk to scientists all over the park that these animals are their life's work. You cannot accuse them of exploitation on the whole. Just watch how they care for a sea turtle with no back legs and come back and tell me.
Now, I was just AT DHS again last night, and frankly, I'm itching to go back tonight. The park was completely busting at the seams. It definitely did not feel like a tired bored and empty park. I go to HS much more often than SW, as much as I love it. (Have passes to both.) Because of the FP+, which I don't have automatically at SW. We got TSMM, ST and ToT in about three days, great evening times (we work during the day) and did Walts Dream and of course the stellar fireworks. I LOVE HS still. But I would say only the power of the fireworks gets me even close to that wow feeling I get at SW (and that was because we were so close, we got covered in ash.) We used to go to SW and BG a lot more before the big tour groups came to bog down the lines. Starting Aug, I'm sure we will be back a whole lot more too.
In consensus, it depends on the experience you want. If you want to marvel down to your core at some things you have never seen before and have a very serious day regarding earth conservation that can be at times slightly heavy but necessary along with some glittering sparkling aquariums and exhibits in every corner (including great touch tanks where the kids can pet real animals) than SW is for you. If you personally make the decision not to let biased documentaries effect you (personal choice thing here) than I think it's definitely worth doing at least once. Probably will come back tho like the rest of us. (Btw, haven't been yet but the locals down here say Aquatica absolutely takes the cake compared to all the water parks!) Not to mention that no fun 'thrill' ride at DHS can compare with SW. I like them all, I ride them all, but Manta has to be in one of my top 3 faves ever. I think we will be there for the concert on Sunday too. (My honey likes them).
As for DHS, well be prepared for incredible lines, have your FPs ready, realize that the streets are very narrow and packed, but there are some super fun rides and you can act like you are a toy! Or in a frozen cartoon village. Or ride a rollercoaster with classic rock. See stuff blow up, cars run backwards, see some muppets and a fake snowman dance.
Both very fun options. You decide...
