One day.. what to do?

[SmithCrazy3]

I have a disney trip planned for october. I have one extra day and I really want to take my kids to Sea World. I want them to see the whales before they can't anymore.. If we just have one day at seaworld (and I really want it to be a short day). What is the best way to approach it and maximize our time?

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

Based on the age of your kids, check which rides are must dos and which shows are must dos. Realize that Shamu Stadium is on one side of the park, and mostly everything else is on the other side. If you want a short day, you want to avoid making that walk more than necessary. I would highly recommend Dine with Shamu - it is a great way to see the whales.

If you can narrow it down to 6-8 must dos, then a short day is possible. For me, I need two days because everything is a must do!

Take a look at the map on the website, but realize it is not really to scale, so maybe use Googlemaps to get a better feel for distance. Also, if the shows are the majority of the must dos, the day may be longer as there are set show times. If rides are the must do, look at Quick Queue, it's relatively inexpensive.

 

[dreamscometrue47]

We were at Sea World this past President's Day. I thought for sure the girls (17 and 20) would want to do the coasters, but they did not, which made our day much more leisurely! Check which rides are must do's. For us, all of the shows, including Pets Ahoy, were must do's. We also paid to have the 15 minute Dolphin Encounter, which was fun. So we looked at the times of the shows, figured them all in, saw a few exhibits (penguins were awesome, ride is, in our opinion, terrible). We could have been out of there by 4 but Pets Ahoy was at 5 i think. But we did not rush, hit shopping along the way, had lunch.

 

[keishashadow]

I have a disney trip planned for october. I have one extra day and I really want to take my kids to Sea World. I want them to see the whales before they can't anymore.. If we just have one day at seaworld (and I really want it to be a short day). What is the best way to approach it and maximize our time?

Not sure when in Oct and ages of your kids but they have had a 'free' daytime spooktacular past years on weekends

As others have stated, work around the show times and pull up a map of park to try and avoid criss-crossing the park.

 

[janicept]

I always go the third week in October and it's a slow time. Also I believe the orca shows will be continuing they will just be changing. They won't be able to get any new orca whales but the current whales will be here for many years. There is an orca viewing area behind the stadium that there never seems to be too many people at where you can get some good pics.

I agree with other posts. Just have your kids figure out the priorities of what they want to see or do - do those first then leave or stay and do some of the other things. I never get bored with the orca show and the dolphin show.

There is also an underwater dolphin viewing area that is way more interesting than everyone standing around the outside of the water. The dolphins come right up to the window and will watch you. I've even been before (around 10 am) when they were doing a special tour were they did a training session. They don't close the area when other people have tours so you can kindof stand back and listen/watch.

I personally would not waste my time with the Antactica ride (but do see the penguins) or the Turtle Trek ride unless your kids are really small and can't do other things. The ride to get to the polar bears and beluga whales is similar to Star Wars so if the kids don't care much about that just do to the "walking tour" line and you can skip the ride and go see the animals. Happy Harbor is for small kids so depending on ages don't plan any time there.

Have fun.

 

[Lurkerin]

Was just at Sea World yesterday. Have 3 kids ages 2-7. They loved all of the shows. We parked around 9:15 and made it through security by 9:30 and went straight to Dolphin Show. That is usually the earliest show.
Then went to the Manta Aquarium by the Roller Coaster and headed over to the Sea Lion show at 11 (my personal favorite).
Grabbed a quick bite to eat and did the walking tour of the penguins. I agree the ride is not worth it.
Took the kids to the sting ray and dolphin area and then headed to the 2:15 pets ahoy show
Then headed towards 3:30 Shamu show. Done with shows by 4. Let them play on the kids rides for an hour and left.

Not sure if this qualifies as an early day for you. But for kids they really will enjoy every show.

We packed it in, but made some great memories.