Next Trip...Should we do Sea World?

[lisareniff]

Hi everyone,
I'm starting to plan our next trip. ....Ok who am I kidding, I've been planning the next trip since before our last trip!!! LOL!

DH does not want to do Disney again, he wants the beach!?! ....but DD3 does. I'm always up for it. DD9 thought Seaworld sounded fun.

So.. we are thinking of staying at the Poly for a few nights(3-4), visiting some princesses, saying 'hi' to Rich at the HM, and having a Lapu Lapu. After the Poly we would like to go to Vero for a while (4-5 nights).

What do you think so far?

Then there is SeaWorld...
We could do this while at the Poly or come back from Vero a day early. I haven't been there since 1981 and was in high school. Do you think SeaWorld is worth doing? Are there any sites with info, other then the offical SW site? How about the tours?

Thanks for any advice you might have.

 

[CarolMN]

We did Seaworld last December - because we were traveling with my brother's family and his youngest (was 4) is just crazy about whales. I will say that the whale shows (there is a special one for the Holiday season that was exellent) were the highlight of the day for me. The boys (the older one was 8,almost 9) loved the pirate show with the seals/walrus - it was too corny for me, but the boys thought it hilarious.

I won't do it again - hated the food there and wasn't all that interested in the attractions other than the whales. That said, if the boys were along, I'd go if they wanted to - they really did enjoy the day. I bet your girls will, too.

Best wishes-

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

I usually go to SW once every 4 years or so. They have some interesting attractions and the shows are fun for the kids. They have a couple of decent rides (The Kraken is a great coaster) and the hospitality house is nice (free beer). The food isn't very good in general but they do have a nice seafood restaurant (which I always find a bit odd). I cannot think of the name of it at the moment though. I would recommend making reservations if you want to eat there as it is always very busy.

They do have a website Sea World

I would also recommend reading up on the Sea World / Discovery Cove Forum here in the DIS Board.

 

[cruise-o-matic]

IMHO, SeaWorld is SUDL (So Un-Disney Like).

We went 2 years ago and planned to stay the whole day. By mid-morning, we were calling the shuttle to come pick us up. Service level is really a drop off from Disney.

 

[lllovell]

*putting on my flame protection suit*

We LOVE SeaWorld! It is clean and spacious (after a couple of days in Fantasyland, a welcome relief sometimes) and has fantastic customer service and great shows for all different age groups. We get a "fun pass" there every other year (so we don't tire of it) and go 4-5 times during that year.

The park has a lot of walking to get to all the shows. There are different kinds entertainment (my sons also love the Pirate show and we make sure to see it every time!) from seeing Shamu to feeding dolphins and other indoor entertainment. I am a big manatee person and could spend hours watching the ones they have at Sea World.

I think the real issue here is do you like the feel of Animal Kingdom? For me, AK is my favorite WDW park (I know - usually at the bottom of most people's list). If you enjoy shows and interaction with animals in a beautiful setting (trust me - they have recently revamped and renovated 90% of Sea World and it is beautiful) then you will enjoy a day at Sea World. Like AK, it is not a zoo - so much more to see and enjoy.

Its worth a day and we usually feel refreshed and ready to dive back into the Disney madness (which we LOVE, but it can be overwhelming at times, especially with smaller children).

 

[senecabeach]

If you have more than a day, I would look into "Discovery Cove" across the street from SW. SW owns it and you spend the whole day there, swim with dolphins, snorkle with real fish in the water, theres a lazy river, aviary (reachable from the lazy river and a really good hot meal included.
Its pricy, but, IMHO...a great day!! Also...you will get free admission for SW for I think, 2-3 days. Check out thier web site!!

 

[Chuck S]

While we haven't done Sea World for awhile, the Orlando park is VERY nice, much better than the one we have here in San Antonio. It is certainly worth a visit.

 

[WDWorld2003]

Sea World is a must do for us every trip and we have teenagers! The grounds are beautiful, your kids will love the shows if they are interested in animals. There is a lot of walking but no more than a day at Disney.

Most of their food is high priced and and not easy to find a snack that doesn't cost an arm and leg! We did eat snacks and have a beer at the Anheuser Busch Hospitality House. Last time we did Dine With Shamu - the food was good and kids liked the short show but it is high priced for what you get. We also did the Penquin Encounter tour which was fun but the group we were with wasn't very respectful so it took away from the whole experience. My kids still enjoyed it and we would do another tour. Just keep in mind if you do a tour it takes time from the park and the shows.

My vote is to go if you haven't been since the 80's.... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and your kids will love it if they have an interest in dolphins or whales.

 

[nezy]

This year we did Sea World. We all loved it! (me, DH, DS_10,DS-8,DD-7). All of our Disney park passes are not matching--some of us have 2 days, some 4 DD has 0 on our old Park Hoppers. I didn't feel like dealing w/ the new tix system. The kids wanted to go to Sea World. While it is not Disney-nothing is, We thouroughly enjoyed it. we got buy one-day go for 5 or something like that. we went 2 days-took our time ans saw everything-somethings twice.

The Kracken ride was great although my 2 younger ones were not big/brave enough. The giant water flume/coaster ride was also VERY exciting. I loved them both. I would definately go back again-in a year or 2.

My favorite was getting to feed and "pet" the dolphins. Just love it.

I really want to do Discovery Cove when the kids are a wee bit older.


The shows were funny/corny. The Shamu show was awesome-did the day and night show. There is a great tribute to the troops.

Food-we brought our own sandwiches and had free beer samples at the hospitality house. we also had dessert in the park-overpriced-but good.

We also love VERO. It is a great place to go . Why don't you sandwich Sea World in between your Poly/Vero days. Check-out of Poly-do Sea World drive to Vero. or Get the Sea World return day free tix. Go to Sea World while at Poly-got to Vero and then go back to Sea World on your way home. I am not sure of your days and if you are drivin or flying and your flexibility.

If you go -YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED.

 

[Debbie Jean]

We also enjoy Seaworld. When we were there a couple of weeks ago we caught "Pets Ahoy" for the first time and absolutely loved it Although not a long show, it features dogs, cats, birds, etc rescued from animal shelters. They present the most amazingly humourous skits with almost no human intervention. It was delightful!

We did dinner with Shamu and while it's neat to do once, it's a bit pricey for what you get, I think.

 

[Granny]

Another vote for going to Sea World. This is a first class park, spotless and nice and spread out so even when they have large crowds you don't feel like it's overcrowded.

The shows are excellent, and what 9 year old (or kid of any age) wouldn't want to walk through a shark tank where the sharks swim next to and above you? It's a neat experience.

We happen to like the food we eat there...but we are not gourmet eaters by any means!

We go to Sea World and Busch Gardens (in Tampa) every trip. My kids would mutiny if we didn't! On the other hand, they can take or leave Universal.

 

[kikipug]

Another vote for Sea World... then again, I am partial to it for 'parent-company' reasons. I have spent a great deal of time there, and am always ready to go back.

It's very clean, so much to do and see (plan on a FULL day...)- grab a schedule and plan out what shows you want to see when, then fill in your day from there. Even Odyssea, which isn't a 'fish-show', but rather a 'humans dressed as fish in a Cirque du Soliel' type' show is excellent... and a great way to cool off, as it's indoors.

Voyager's is a great place to eat that is not horrendously priced, and gives you a better meal than the typical burgers and fries. And of course you need to head over to the Hospitality House to sample the world's finest products, AND meet the Clydesdales... if you've never gotten the chance to see them up close, they are very impressive!

 

[SylviaL]

My family loved Sea World. We went last November and spent 1 afternoon and 1 morning there. My boys are 2 and 4 (1 and 3 at the time). We had dinner at the Sharks Underwater Grill which was very good but expensive. The boys were fascinated with watching the sharks.

We all got a kick out of petting/feeding the dolphins. It's quite amazing how friendly and unafraid of people they are.

My boys got to run around a bit in their play area (we went right before the airport so that they would get tired).

If your kids love animals, then they'll probably enjoy it. It's much less crowded than WDW so that was very nice. We'll probably go back every other year.

 

[tamu91]

Are you nuts! Seaworld? Whatever for.

Just kidding, of course. Seaworld offers a chace to go at a different pace when in Orlando. To me, it a cross between AK and Epcot with a bang. SW offers quality shows and several excellent coasters to boot.
If you're looking something little different than WDW, SeaWorld is a very good choice. Unless you're a rollercoaster freak, Universal just doesn't do it for me.

 

[WOW]

We love Sea World and it is a must for us. We just LOVE the Shamu Family.....During the show they paid tribute to all of our soldiers and asked any soldier in the audience to stand up.....It was very touching. We did the Dine with Shamu, very good as far as being so close to the whale, the food was just OK...The Klydsdales are also AWESOME!!!!!!! You can also feed the Dolphins at the Key West Area there and that is fun. It is a very clean place. Eating there isn't too teriffic, but there is a deli style eatery in the Anheiser Bush Hospitality House......they also give out free glasses of beer there........There is a flume ride there that looks nice and lots of other things that are not awesome, but nice. I definately would recommend going there.

 

[CharlesTD]

We loved Sea World the kids are nature freaks and love Epcot and the living seas so we figured that Sea World would be great for them. Go and have fun I would do Sea World over US/IOA any day.

 

[MJTinNH]

I love Seaworld too. Although I don't go every year anymore. I usually go every other year. I love this park. It is on a par with Disney in my opinion. It just has a different theme and approach then Disney. The landscaping and shows are excellent.

We usually try to get to all the shows. There is a new show called Pets Ahoy that is just amazing. Done completely with cats, dogs, birds and a few other surprise animals. I consider it a not to be missed show now.

Well as you can tell by my response, Seaworld is worth the effort to me. I say give it a try. I am sure you will find it very different from the last time you were there in 1981.

 

[lisareniff]

WOW! You guys really came through with some good opinions! Thanks!


We are into the animals, so it should fit our interests. DD9 loves dolphins. I would love to do Discovery Cove but will save it for when the girls are a bit older. We really like AK but I can't quite put it above MK. It would take a lot to do that!!

I was thinking one or two of their 1 hr tours would be great. They have a 6 hr Adventure Express Tour that might be a bit overkill (animal tour stuff, front of line, lunch, reserve seating at 2 shows) Has any one done the Adv. Express Tour??

So how much time should we allot to Seaworld?? There is only one thrill rider in our family (DH) and he doesn't like going alone, so the rollercoasters are pretty much out. We like to take our time watching the animals and would like to do a tour or two. A day and a half??

 

[CharlesTD]

We did it in a day and spent lots of time lolly gagging around the place. It is really nice but not nearly as large as any of the Disney parks IMHO but still well woreth the admission.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We did Discovery Cove on 6/4 and had a great time. We got 7 day tickets to SW with our package at DC. We went to SW on 6/6 and spent about four hours. We had gone about two years ago, so we already saw the dolphin show and seal show. We did want to see the Shamu show, but the whales decided that they did not care to perform for that show. Two females hung out by the gate and refused to move away from it. So there was a little bit of show and that was it. Way to go Whales!!! I was proud of them to not perform the circus tricks even though I really wanted them to do so. It's kind of degrading to see intelligent animals doing these tricks.

After a full day at DC, SW was a real let down. My husband and son did Atlantis, but did not want to do Kraken. The food is not nearly as good at SW as it is at WDW. We ate a late breakfast there and the cinnamon roll was dried out and hard. The croissant was little more than a crescent shaped hamburger bun.

SW is hard to manuever. There are no straight runs like MK, Epcot, AK and Disney Studios. The path seems to twist and turn and it's hard to get from point A to point B without getting lost at times. There is also a real emphasis on smoking and drinking (with Busch as the sponsor - they even give out free beer).

When we arrived at SW on Monday, we had our DC photo IDs that we were told would be used at the gate. My son tried to enter first and his card could not be read, so they told him to go over to the DC office around the barricades, out of our sight. My card had been read okay and I was already in the park. My husband was in another line and he was in the process of getting in. So I had to ask them to let me out so I could go with our son (11 yrs old) to get him into the park. Luckily at the DC office, his pass was read okay and they let us into the park through that office. It is very congested at the entry to the park. Very small, too. Think International Gateway small or about 1/2 the size of AK entry.

It turned out the card reader was not working correctly and it wasn't my son's card that wasn't working.

I'm not impressed with SW. I did like Discovery Cove and would do that again, especially if I could purchase a ticket for that without the 7 day SW or Busch Gardens ticket attached.