Looking for Penguin Experience reviews

[Zim]

I tried to find this in any threads... has anyone experienced this? Is it worth the additional charge? How many people are in a tour group?

 

[SharonK0527]

I don't have any answers for you yet, but our family is booked to do this experience on October 10th. I can post information about it after we get home from our trip.

 

[Zim]

Thanks so much - greatly appreciated!! Have a great trip!!!

 

[SharonK0527]

Just a quick FYI - I received my confirmation for the tour yesterday in the mail from Sea World. It says the maximum number of participants per group is 16 people. But don't let that scare you - when I called and booked the tour, the guy on the phone told me there were lots of available spots and I am in Group #1 for the day. Since I booked it pretty close to the time of our trip and we are in group #1, that tells me there probably aren't a lot of bookings for the day we are going. There was a post on here a while back from a family who did this tour and they were the only people in their group. I'm hoping we experience something similar when we go.

Will post details after our trip

 

[Tramp68]

My DS9 and DD13 did this along with the Dolphin Encounter. I did the Dolphin with them and my DW did the Penguin. I got all thumbs up from the kids for both encounters. They really enjoyed touching the penguins. You have 2 high reccomendations from the kids!

 

[SharonK0527]

Great to hear that your family enjoyed the animal encounters so much! The penguin experience is going to be a surprise for my DD, who will have just turned 11 the day before. She & I both LOVE penguins so I know she is going to be SO excited when she finds out what we're doing!

 

[CameronCanDo]

We just did it and it was great - worth every penny!!!!

 

[SharonK0527]

We are back from our trip and participated in the Penguin Encounter on Tuesday October 10th. It was fantastic!! If you like animal encounters then it was worth every penny and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Our group was rather large - probably around 16 people - so our guide split us into 2 smaller groups. We met outside the Penguin Exhibit and started the tour as a large group, just hearing information from our guide and seeing some rooms from the outside. Once we went inside the building, we were split into 2 smaller groups. One group met the penguins while the other group met the puffins and then we switched. Our group met the penguins first. We walked into a small area behind the penguin exhibit where we met with a trainer and 2 King penguins. They were so awesome!! They walked around and went from person to person. We could pet them and pose for pictures with them and had lots of interaction. It was a wonderful experience!

After meeting the penguins, we switched with the other group and went to a different room where there was a trainer and 2 puffins. We were not allowed to touch the puffins but we could get very close to them to take pictures. One was an older female puffin who chose to sit in her carrier the whole time. The other was a young male puffin who was adorable to watch while the trainer was talking and educating us on puffins.

Overall this was a great experience, being able to touch and interact with animals that we normally would not get the chance to interact with. Well worth the money and I would recommend it to anyone!

 

[polopony]

We are back from our trip and participated in the Penguin Encounter on Tuesday October 10th. It was fantastic!! If you like animal encounters then it was worth every penny and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Our group was rather large - probably around 16 people - so our guide split us into 2 smaller groups. We met outside the Penguin Exhibit and started the tour as a large group, just hearing information from our guide and seeing some rooms from the outside. Once we went inside the building, we were split into 2 smaller groups. One group met the penguins while the other group met the puffins and then we switched. Our group met the penguins first. We walked into a small area behind the penguin exhibit where we met with a trainer and 2 King penguins. They were so awesome!! They walked around and went from person to person. We could pet them and pose for pictures with them and had lots of interaction. It was a wonderful experience!

After meeting the penguins, we switched with the other group and went to a different room where there was a trainer and 2 puffins. We were not allowed to touch the puffins but we could get very close to them to take pictures. One was an older female puffin who chose to sit in her carrier the whole time. The other was a young male puffin who was adorable to watch while the trainer was talking and educating us on puffins.

Overall this was a great experience, being able to touch and interact with animals that we normally would not get the chance to interact with. Well worth the money and I would recommend it to anyone!

Thanks for the helpful review. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[mommy.foster.6]

We went to SW last year and did the penguin experience....my ds and i had the first tour of the day and we were the ONLY ones signed up! it was amazing and he has not stopped talking about it in over a year! The penguin they brought out to meet us was named Ludwig and he was just adorable, I will def. never forget the smile on my sons face from ear to ear and I would book the experience again in a heartbeat! have fun!!!

 

[SharonK0527]

We went to SW last year and did the penguin experience....my ds and i had the first tour of the day and we were the ONLY ones signed up! it was amazing and he has not stopped talking about it in over a year! The penguin they brought out to meet us was named Ludwig and he was just adorable, I will def. never forget the smile on my sons face from ear to ear and I would book the experience again in a heartbeat! have fun!!!

Ludwig was one of our penguins too! He was awesome - very friendly and calm. They also brought out a female penguin but she was not quite as sociable as Ludwig was. She was calm and not aggressive or anything, she just didn't socialize with the people as much as Ludwig did. I agree with your comment about the ear-to-ear smile. My favorite picture from our whole trip was of my DD with Ludwig

Glad you and your son enjoyed your experience as much as we did!

 

[Zim]

Thank you for all the penguin feedback!! We're definitely signing up for this!! She'll be so excited!!

 

[SharonK0527]

Thank you for all the penguin feedback!! We're definitely signing up for this!! She'll be so excited!!

Have a great time!! You will definitely enjoy this experience!

 

[amandaC]

May I ask how much this costs?

 

[SharonK0527]

May I ask how much this costs?

$40 per person. Tour lasted around an hour or so. For our family, it was well worth it. We enjoyed it very much.

 

[Zim]

OK, we're officially all signed up!! Thanks for all the feedback. I almost changed my mind as they offer a Holiday Time Family Tour that includes a light meal, feeding dolphins and sea lions, and petting a penguin... in addition to some reserved seating at a couple shows at the AP rate of $58. Tempting....

But I decided on the more detailed penguin experience, as I would bet those family tours get crowded and it's probably more of an assembly line experience with the animals. Besides, I can't NOT go on the penguin experience after reading all the wonderful reviews here

 

[SharonK0527]

OK, we're officially all signed up!! Thanks for all the feedback. I almost changed my mind as they offer a Holiday Time Family Tour that includes a light meal, feeding dolphins and sea lions, and petting a penguin... in addition to some reserved seating at a couple shows at the AP rate of $58. Tempting....

But I decided on the more detailed penguin experience, as I would bet those family tours get crowded and it's probably more of an assembly line experience with the animals. Besides, I can't NOT go on the penguin experience after reading all the wonderful reviews here

The Holiday Time tour sounds nice but I think you'll be happy with your choice. As you said, the other tour is probably more of an "assembly line" experience. With this tour you will get to see the backstage areas of the penguin exhibit and have more face to face time with the penguins and puffins than the other tours will. Plus, you can feed the dolphins and sea lions on your own - you don't need to be part of a tour to do that. We did it and they were great experiences! The sea lions can be fed pretty much at any time. The dolphins have specific feeding times and you need to get in line prior to the feeding in order to purchase your fish. They only allow a certain number of people in to feed the dolphins so if you really want to do it, make sure to get in line early enough. That feeding line can get pretty long, especially if the park is crowded! My daughter especially enjoyed the feeding experiences (we fed the dolphins, sea lions, and stingrays). The fish you have to purchase isn't cheap but if you enjoy feeding the animals, as we do, it was definitely worth the money! In our case, we just bought a few less souvenirs.

Can't wait to hear about your experience - you're going to have such a great time!!

 

[amandaC]

$40 per person. Tour lasted around an hour or so. For our family, it was well worth it. We enjoyed it very much.

Thanks!!! My son will love it!!! I thought it would be a lot more than that.

 

[Zim]

I just wanted to follow up with a thanks for everyone who recommended the penguin tour. I'm SO glad we didn't change to the general tour which included a shorter version of the penguin experience.

My DD13 was absolutely in heaven. The king penguin Leon just adored her and once they let us just hang out in the small area inside the penguin enclosure, Leon wouldn't leave her side. It was absolutely priceless.

I would highly recommend this tour to anyone. And one suggestion - when the penguin comes out, make sure you're squatting or kneeling and not standing. He is more likely to approach the person hanging out at his level than the person standing above him.

 

[SharonK0527]

So glad you enjoyed your encounter! It's a wonderful experience, isn't it? What an awesome picture of your daughter hanging out with the penguin! Thanks for sharing!!