Help Plan our Day in SW w/3 young kids 1st time visitors

[TinkerSouthernBelle]

Hi,

We are going to go to SW on Wed, Feb 6th in the middle of our WDW vacation.
We have never been to SW.

I already purchase one day passes for us.

We are a mom & dad w/3 kids (ages 7, 6, 2.5)

We plan on getting there at opening (park at 8:30, opens at 9:00, right?)

7 yo DD might do thrill rides with me (Mom)

I KNOW Disney but I'm feeling lost with SW.

Tell use where to go first and what not to miss.

Any counter service recommendation? Or even table service if you really think its worth it? DH is allergic to seafood if that matters

And.....is this TOTALLY crazy??? But we were thinking of trying to get back to AK in time for PM EMH's after being at SW all day? Is that GOOFY?

Thanks for your advice & help.

 

[J. Galt]

I can't help you with everything, but here are some bits of info... We just went in December with kids around the ages of yours. We got the show schedule to plan around that right away. Shamu was only showing once while we were there (with additional end of day show, but it was Shamu Christmas show). We knew we had to hit that, so that set some of the day's plans. We also hit the Clyde and Seamore show which we loved, so that scheduled another part of our day. They seem to schedule the shows so that you really can't see all of them, so you need to pick and choose a bit and plan around those. My other tip would be to get to the dolphin feeding first thing when it opens (this was really cool and not to be missed for our group). The dolphins are hungry when they come out and will totally interact with you first thing. Within 1/2 hour they were all full and hard to pull over by those who arrived later. Our group was ready to go by 3, so depending upon how much you want to see, you could make it to evening EMH. Also... we ate at the Shark's Grill which was really neat, but did take up a chunk of our time. We also spent a good chunk of time at the Shamu playground thing to blow off some steam.

My tips then:

Hit the dolphin feeding right when it opens (there were a line up of people waiting to get in first thing)
Plan which shows you want to see and when
Then fill in with the rest of the stuff you must see.
Unless you are dying to do the Shark's grill thing, I would just go counter service (which I have heard is good in the park) so you don't eat up too much time. This would give you a fighting chance at evening EMH.