Has anyne done the Up Close Tours?

[poohbear8]

As I was checking out online to buy my tickets, there was another window with other things to add. Has anyone done the Adventure Express? It's $100 each, so I'm not sure it's worth the extra money. We are going in early October, so I don't know if it's worth paying for the "front of the line access".

Also, DD wanted to do the Polar Expedition Tour? That one is only an extra $12. Any feedback on it?

TIA!

 

[sarah_397]

Hi there,
We did the polar expedition tour in November last year as my DH loves penguins and it was only $12. It was ok. We went behind the scenes at wild arctic where we were supposed to see the balugas but they were off exhibit at the time. We got to see a polar bear for a little while but that was just through the glass. Then we all had to get on a small bus to take us over to the penguins. There was about 12 people in the group we were with and we were all ushered into a very small area and we each got to give a small penguin a little stroke. My DH was a little disappointed as this was why we had booked it and he only got about 5 seconds to actually stroke the penguin. I don't think we would do it again as it was not what we thought it would be and also by the time it had finished my DD was bored stiff. A lot of it is just listening to your guide talking. hope this helps you a little bit. Any other questions please ask away

 

[kalliyan1]

thanks

 

[poohbear8]

Thanks for the info. I think we will just keep our $12 each and put it towards a cute stuffed polar bear that I know DD will want.

 

[kokotg]

We just did the polar expedition tour last week. It was kind of cool. We went through some backstage areas with a guide who told us about beluga whales and polar bears and how they take care of them. Other than the penguins, we actually got a much better view of the animals in the public viewing areas than on our tour. We did get to pet a penguin, though, and that part was neat. My kids are 7, 5, and 2, and the two youngest weren't really old enough to get much out of it. It's not geared toward younger kids at all, and they got a little bored. My mother in law, on the other hand, really enjoyed it.

 

[angelat]

We went in April and did the VIP tour. Not sure what it was called exactly but we were offered it when we went to sign in for our polor expedition tour. It was about $100/pp though. We LOVED this. Our kids 10 and 9 were so happy we chose this. We got to pet a penguin and see the behind the scenes tours of the property, we ate lunch near Shamu before the show in a private area, we got reserved seating for the sea otter and seal show (forget the name) and reserved seating for one other show too as well as Believe. We were able to feed the seals, dolphins and sting rays for free and went to the front of the line for the rides. It was a great way to see Sea World quickly, but thoroughly.
Only problem with this is...I don't think I could go back to Sea World and see it as a "normal" guest.

 

[coastergirls]

We did the Save a Species tour this week and for 2 adults 3 kids it was $52 for the hour. There was just the 5 of us and we really enjoyed it. Saw the turtles, manatees and dolphins that were there was taken into the aviary and saw where the labs were. Girls found it really interesting. Supposed to have a photographer with us taking photos while in the aviary but he only took about 3 of us and loads of the birds. Guy at the viewing was not impressed that he hadn't taken more.
Did the Polar tour today and again we really enjoyed it. Saw the beluga whales, seals and polar bears also got to touch the penguin. Found both tours really informative and my 3 girls found it really interesting.

 

[torinsmom]

We did the Polar Expedition tour and really enjoyed it. The highlight for DS was getting up close with the penguins. We got to touch them and watch them play. Unfortunately, two of the penguins were "playing" a little differently, LOL. My DS13 thought we should have videotaped for Youtube, LOL

Marsha

 

[jennifer6800]

We did the polar expedition tour last year and loved it!!! I thought it was amazing, we did see a polar bear behind glass but do you really want to get any closer to them? The Beluga whales are beautiful, I could watch them for hours and it was great having someone there to answer questions about them. And then you get to pet a penguin, I know it was only for a couple of minutes, but when are you ever going to do that again, especially for $12. I loved the whole thing and so did my boyfriend and our 4-year-old nephew. We would absolutely do it again. We are thinking about doing the saving the species tour at Busch Gardens next week.