Just back-here's what I found

[Embel]

We took a cab to & from the Pop Century. It was about $25 each way. We're a family of 5 with a toddler & a stroller & wanted to skip the bus transfer.

We used our Southwest rewards card to get 20% off the ticket prices. We bought the tickets that morning just before opening. We went straight to Dolphin feeding & ended up in the first group. FYI- line forms right at opening for first feeding & you must buy a tray for everyone in line. Trays are $7 and have 3 fish on them. We had to buy one more tray than planned, but it was well worth it!

The shows were awesome, but my 6 & 7 year old did not seem to "get" how awesome. They liked the sting ray pool the best. There was a lot of contsruction going on & although I don't think it was too crowded, counter service lines did seem long. We decided not to get in one. We were done by 3PM- saw most attractions & 3 main shows. Did not do any rides. All in all, while I'm glad I went, I think the kids would have been just as happy with another day at DW.

 

[murcor]

Thanks for sharing your trip report to Seaworld We are going in Dec and every little bit of info helps

 

[honeybee8200]

Yeah, thanks for sharing. There's so little info available compared to WDW. So now I know, first thing to do, feed dolphins and get 3 trays. I think that's what we would do anyways but still. How much was a tray?

 

[champdds]

If we try and do the Dolphin feeding first, where is it in relation to entering the park ? And just to clarify, everyone in line must buy a tray, at $7.00 each ?(My family of five would be $35 ?) Did they take credit cards ?

What is the cut off time for this ?

David

 

[Embel]

Dolphin feeding is right near the opening of the park. I'm pretty sure it was cash only, and everyone over 3 yrs old needs to buy a tray to enter the feeding area. There is a free viewing area farther down. Our feeding began at 9:15, so we waited in the feeding line for about 5 minutes after the park opened.

Not sure about cut-offs. I would grab a map at the entrance & just head straight to the feeding line.

We finished in time to catch the 10 Sea Lion show.

 

[champdds]

Thanks !

David

 

[Disneyof3]

Great info. Thanks alot for the ideas. I'm glad I now know about the cash only and buying a tray per person in line.

 

[honeybee8200]

Thanks so much for the info!!! I'll have to make a SeaWorld envelope to put some cash in for feeding. Did you feed any of the others? Rays, Sea Lions. I'm guessing they would probably be the same way. One tray per person and cash only.

 

[Embel]

We fed the Sting Rays. I don't remember, but I think it was $5 a tray, $9 for 2 trays. We only observed the sharks & sea lions. The difference is that the feeding & observation areas for the dolphins are separated by a gate. This was not true for the others.

Sting Rays will eat the fish right out of your hand. It's a weird feeling. For the sharks & sea lions I believe people were dropping food into the tanks.

 

[missesdisney]

Been a bunch to SeaWorld and last year the line setup for Dolphin feeding was new. It makes me mad how they've done it - you basically cannot interact with the dolphins unless you feed them - they are smart animals and don't go near the wall where the 'viewing' area is since they know there are no fish.

So everyone has to get in line and everyone has to buy fish to be in there? insane. I know that if you have an annual pass you get a discount - maybe 10% and possibly with a AAA card also - try it for sure - a lot of the stores at SeaWorld offer AAA discount.

At least last November you did not have to do the same setup to feed the stingrays or sea lions - you just buy the fish and go toss em (or whatever you feed the stingrays). The dolphin was the new setup.

Any questions about SeaWorld - ask away - I'd be happy to share my knowledge - we go every year.

 

[P&B's Mom]

We went in June, arrived before it opened, had already bought my tickets and rented my stroller, so we were at dolphin feeding within minutes. A lot of people stopped at the rays, we did it later and it was empty. For dolphin feeding, we were probably the fifth person in line, waited about 10 minutes. By the time 9:15 am rolled around, there had to be over a 100 people behind us waiting to buy fish. There were photographers taking pics, which we went and looked at when we were ready to leave the park for the day. After feedings, we went over to the Clyde and Seymore show--plenty of time, we even looked at the sea lion exhibit before the show. When we returned to look at our dolphin pics, we stopped at the underwater viewing area--it was cool inside and empty. Probably my kids favorite exhibit all day. Saw three shows, ate at the Backstage with Believe!--well worth the money, and did a behind-the-scenes tour. We were done by 3 pm.