Our Trip to Sea World

[rowan555]

We went to Sea World for 8:30 AM the day after Aquatica, but within an hour my daughter was complaining of a headache, so we rode a few things and then took the first shuttle back to the hotel at 12:10 PM. We went back two days later and stayed all day, but it rained much of the day, which prevented us from doing all the things we'd planned to do. We missed the Sea Lion show and also didn't get to re-ride the coasters more than once, so we hope to return sometime in the future and do those things! Here are my thoughts on Sea World...

Dining Plan - THE BEST DEAL EVER. Compared to Universal's Dining Plan, Sea World's is simply amazing. Drinks are included, and the entree and side selections are far superior to the options at Universal. In addition, the desserts are to die for, and make Universal's cookie or anemic looking muffin options seem like a total joke. We enjoyed the most delicious carrot cake I've had in years, and later I had strawberry shortcake that was absolutely delicious. There are quite a few restaurants to choose from, so you're never far from a place to stop for a bite to eat, a soda, or a bottle of water. Even the beverage station in Shamu's theater was included. Amazing!

Attraction Highlights
The two coasters, Manta and Kraken, rival anything at Universal. In fact, I think Manta is the most fun coaster I've ever been on. We rode it 7 times in the two days we were there, and I wish we'd gotten to ride it a bunch more. Kraken is similar to the Hulk ride at Islands of Adventure, but it didn't bang my head around nearly as much. On both rides, we found it was more fun being in the last row then towards the front.

Blue Horizons
This show gave me chills. I loved the dolphins, and some of the "stunts" were quite extraordinary. Well worth taking the time to see this one

Pets Ahoy
Our favorite show of the trip - I wish we'd seen it twice! This was an unexpected delight, and it's so well done that any animal lover would enjoy seeing it. As a bonus, it's INSIDE - catch it in the afternoon when it's hot or raining - we made the mistake of attending the first showing when the weather was nice and we should have been hitting the coasters.

One Ocean
I know this show is apparently not as good now that the trainers can't get in the water, but it was still quite awe-inspiring, and we enjoyed it. I made my daughter sit in the splash zone with me, and let me tell you, that water is COLD! It made the show more fun, though, and we enjoyed it.

Seafire Inn
Great menu options for breakfast as well as lunch/dinner. If you only eat once during your time at Sea World, I recommend this restaurant!

Gift Shops
Great prices compared to the other parks, and we spent more money here than in our 4 days at Universal! Definitely take the time to stroll through the shops at the Waterfront. And if you're staying at a partner hotel, be sure to ask for the benefits card that grants you 10% off purchases of $50 or more. All the shops (5, I think) are connected, so you can shop each one and pay for everything at once, which makes reaching $50 pretty easy!


Low Points

Antarctica
Really? All this is is the Cat in the Hat ride, but less fun and with penguins at the end. What a waste. We waited in line 20 minutes b/c we went early, and I still felt we waited too long. Unless you are obsessed with penguins, this ride is simply a waste of time.

Turtle Trek
This attraction is reallllllly outdated. Movie "technology" like this seemed cutting edge 30 years ago, but today it's laughable. My daughter was bored to tears and hated every second of it, and I found it boring as well.

Wild Arctic
It was nice to walk through and see the animals, but the "helicopter ride" portion is a joke. It jostles you around a lot, but the simulation aspect is pretty sad.

Voyager's Smokehouse
The desserts were great, but the two entrees we had were not too good. The ribs were tough and dry and the bbq chicken salad was too soaked with ice cold bbq sauce to be enjoyable. Fortunately, since we had the dining plan, we simply walked over to Seafire Inn and had a delightful meal there AFTER enjoying our cake from Voyager!

Journey to Atlantis
This flume ride is actually "okay", but it's kind of cheesy and needs updating. My main problem was that we were in the last row, and a man in the front row had on a baseball cap which the attendant did not tell him to remove. At the base of the drop, it flew off and hit me in the nose, leaving my nose and the side of my face swollen for an hour or two. I never knew a hat could hurt that badly! I must admit, once I saw the hat in my lap and realized what had hit me, I stuffed it underneath the seat in front of me. He didn't deserve to get it back. I'm not proud of that, but at the time I was hurting and not terribly pleased with that guy, lol.


All in all, we really enjoyed our Sea World visit despite the rain and the LOOOONG lines for the rides after they re-opened. We'd definitely return.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Thanks for the review!

 

[AndreaDM]

Thanks so much! We're headed that way on Saturday & it's nice to have a recent review.

 

[angelmom27]

Glad it was a good time. Totally agree about the meal deal and food choices. And like you said the gift shop prices are very decent. Haven't done the antartica yet but I know I will not be able to avoid it since my son is obsessed with penguins. He has been asking to see them since they shut it down. I don't blame you about the hat let him think its gone. Thanks for letting me know the snack station at shamu stadium takes the meal plan I didn't know that.

 

[Jadeey]

Thanks for the review. Visiting Sea World is one of the things I'm most looking forward to at the end of the year.

I'd been on the fence about whether or not to get the dining plan. I think we'll get it based on what you said here!

 

[vacation_junkie]

We went to Sea World for 8:30 AM the day after Aquatica, but within an hour my daughter was complaining of a headache, so we rode a few things and then took the first shuttle back to the hotel at 12:10 PM. We went back two days later and stayed all day, but it rained much of the day, which prevented us from doing all the things we'd planned to do. We missed the Sea Lion show and also didn't get to re-ride the coasters more than once, so we hope to return sometime in the future and do those things! Here are my thoughts on Sea World...

Dining Plan - THE BEST DEAL EVER. Compared to Universal's Dining Plan, Sea World's is simply amazing. Drinks are included, and the entree and side selections are far superior to the options at Universal. In addition, the desserts are to die for, and make Universal's cookie or anemic looking muffin options seem like a total joke. We enjoyed the most delicious carrot cake I've had in years, and later I had strawberry shortcake that was absolutely delicious. There are quite a few restaurants to choose from, so you're never far from a place to stop for a bite to eat, a soda, or a bottle of water. Even the beverage station in Shamu's theater was included. Amazing!

Attraction Highlights
The two coasters, Manta and Kraken, rival anything at Universal. In fact, I think Manta is the most fun coaster I've ever been on. We rode it 7 times in the two days we were there, and I wish we'd gotten to ride it a bunch more. Kraken is similar to the Hulk ride at Islands of Adventure, but it didn't bang my head around nearly as much. On both rides, we found it was more fun being in the last row then towards the front.

Blue Horizons
This show gave me chills. I loved the dolphins, and some of the "stunts" were quite extraordinary. Well worth taking the time to see this one

Pets Ahoy
Our favorite show of the trip - I wish we'd seen it twice! This was an unexpected delight, and it's so well done that any animal lover would enjoy seeing it. As a bonus, it's INSIDE - catch it in the afternoon when it's hot or raining - we made the mistake of attending the first showing when the weather was nice and we should have been hitting the coasters.

One Ocean
I know this show is apparently not as good now that the trainers can't get in the water, but it was still quite awe-inspiring, and we enjoyed it. I made my daughter sit in the splash zone with me, and let me tell you, that water is COLD! It made the show more fun, though, and we enjoyed it.

Seafire Inn
Great menu options for breakfast as well as lunch/dinner. If you only eat once during your time at Sea World, I recommend this restaurant!

Gift Shops
Great prices compared to the other parks, and we spent more money here than in our 4 days at Universal! Definitely take the time to stroll through the shops at the Waterfront. And if you're staying at a partner hotel, be sure to ask for the benefits card that grants you 10% off purchases of $50 or more. All the shops (5, I think) are connected, so you can shop each one and pay for everything at once, which makes reaching $50 pretty easy!


Low Points

Antarctica
Really? All this is is the Cat in the Hat ride, but less fun and with penguins at the end. What a waste. We waited in line 20 minutes b/c we went early, and I still felt we waited too long. Unless you are obsessed with penguins, this ride is simply a waste of time.

Turtle Trek
This attraction is reallllllly outdated. Movie "technology" like this seemed cutting edge 30 years ago, but today it's laughable. My daughter was bored to tears and hated every second of it, and I found it boring as well.

Wild Arctic
It was nice to walk through and see the animals, but the "helicopter ride" portion is a joke. It jostles you around a lot, but the simulation aspect is pretty sad.

Voyager's Smokehouse
The desserts were great, but the two entrees we had were not too good. The ribs were tough and dry and the bbq chicken salad was too soaked with ice cold bbq sauce to be enjoyable. Fortunately, since we had the dining plan, we simply walked over to Seafire Inn and had a delightful meal there AFTER enjoying our cake from Voyager!

Journey to Atlantis
This flume ride is actually "okay", but it's kind of cheesy and needs updating. My main problem was that we were in the last row, and a man in the front row had on a baseball cap which the attendant did not tell him to remove. At the base of the drop, it flew off and hit me in the nose, leaving my nose and the side of my face swollen for an hour or two. I never knew a hat could hurt that badly! I must admit, once I saw the hat in my lap and realized what had hit me, I stuffed it underneath the seat in front of me. He didn't deserve to get it back. I'm not proud of that, but at the time I was hurting and not terribly pleased with that guy, lol.


All in all, we really enjoyed our Sea World visit despite the rain and the LOOOONG lines for the rides after they re-opened. We'd definitely return.

Yeah! You guys are back! can't wait to read all about it!

 

[2girlsmom]

Great review! I mostly agree with you. We did enjoy Turtle Trek the one time we did it, though it made all of us feel a little dizzy standing in the dome. We agree, the "wild" version of Antarctica is so mild as to make my kids comment they should have called it mild and sleeptime versions. We ate lunch at SeaFire on our last trip (first week of August) and really loved it as well. We have loved the Voyagers food in the past but haven't been there recently, and I will agree that the salad sounds good but usually doesn't live up to the hype there. When we eat there, the roasted chicken and the brisket are usually the faves. We also figured out that the best seat (I now think on all coasters) for a thrilling ride is the back. Front is nice for the view and is VERY smooth. Manta is my fave anywhere. As for shows, we agree, though for comedy the otter show is also terrific.

 

[wiigirl]

Great review!

 

[diamondpixienc]

Great review ;0) I only have one question. Can Sea World be done in 1 day? Planning a Universal spring break trip my girls who i lovingly call my "Bindi Jungle Girls" have decided on Sea World instead of Lego Land as an extra park day. BTW they decided that a WDW park would be too much fun to just have one day so only a Universal trip with a day at Sea World this trip.

 

[rowan555]

Great review ;0) I only have one question. Can Sea World be done in 1 day? Planning a Universal spring break trip my girls who i lovingly call my "Bindi Jungle Girls" have decided on Sea World instead of Lego Land as an extra park day. BTW they decided that a WDW park would be too much fun to just have one day so only a Universal trip with a day at Sea World this trip.

You can easily do it in one day. If you find you're running low on time, the things I'd skip without worry would be the Turtle Trek (just an obsolete 3d movie, but sometimes there's quite a wait for it) and the ride portion of Wild Arctic.

The only reason we really wished for more time is because we were all about the coasters and wanted to ride them again and again. Then the 3 hours of rain messed that up. Other than that, you should be fine.

 

[RudeDogg1]

Didn't turtle trek only open last year?

 

[DisMama3]

Didn't turtle trek only open last year?

While I agree that Turtle Trek is boring and does seem old, it did only open in June of last year. We were just there last week as well. Antarctica was a huge disappointment. Our favorite part was feeding the dolphins, that cannot be missed. If you have 2 days, I recommend doing shows one day, and then the second day do the rides in the area that a show is taking place, we virtually hit no lines! Also, if you get the hotel QQ take advantage of it for the bigger rides. Huge perk and you basically walk right on.

 

[rowan555]

Didn't turtle trek only open last year?

Did it? Well, then, that's even MORE shocking. I'm 40, and I remember doing an attraction VERY similar to this when I was in my early teens and thinking it was pretty neat (but hating the standing), so I assumed the ride was rather old. Interesting to learn that this is a new attraction - I don't know what they were thinking.

 

[angelmom27]

You can easily do it in one day. If you find you're running low on time, the things I'd skip without worry would be the Turtle Trek (just an obsolete 3d movie, but sometimes there's quite a wait for it) and the ride portion of Wild Arctic.

The only reason we really wished for more time is because we were all about the coasters and wanted to ride them again and again. Then the 3 hours of rain messed that up. Other than that, you should be fine.

Turtle trek has a FP option. If you ask the attendent they will give you a ticket for a return time and then you can go look at other attractions to return later.

 

[kirstenb1]

Great review!! I agree about antartica and Turtle Trek. Too funny about stuffing the hat under the seat---I would have too!!

 

[toscoo]

Actually turtle trek is the ONLY 3-d 360 show that takes place in a dome theater at ANY THEME PARK IN THE COUNTRY.as for Antarctica the ride really isn't meant as the highlight and is only meant as a way to get you to the penguin area and get you ready for the cold temperatures.Also there are 32 different story lines of what happens during the ride.

 

[housemouse]

Dining Plan - THE BEST DEAL EVER. Compared to Universal's Dining Plan, Sea World's is simply amazing. Drinks are included, and the entree and side selections are far superior to the options at Universal. In addition, the desserts are to die for, and make Universal's cookie or anemic looking muffin options seem like a total joke. We enjoyed the most delicious carrot cake I've had in years, and later I had strawberry shortcake that was absolutely delicious. There are quite a few restaurants to choose from, so you're never far from a place to stop for a bite to eat, a soda, or a bottle of water. Even the beverage station in Shamu's theater was included. Amazing!

I'm very glad you posted about this. We have one day planned at SeaWorld on our upcoming US trip. I went off and investigated this and found that they're running a promotion for weekday visits of buy one adult dining ticket, get one adult dining ticket @ 1/2 price. That's a stellar deal. It averaged out to $26 dollars(w/tax) each for both of us. For a couple of meals, a snack or two and the tons of bottled water we'll want while there it's a great deal. Thank you!

 

[andrews_dad]

I enjoy Atlantis.

Blue Horizons is the best show in Orlando, IMO. Beats Fantasmic in my book.

You must feed the dolphins. Worth the few dollars up charge for the fish. We fed the sea lions and the stingrays on most trips.

Shamu Happy Harbor is the best place in Orlando for my kids, ages 5 and 3. We could spend 3 days there on the rides and in the nets.

Aquarium is worth a walk through in the Manta ride area. As is the Sharks exhibit.
Personally, I would give 2 days for SW if you possibly can.

 

[DawnM]

Do you have a link for this deal?

I'm very glad you posted about this. We have one day planned at SeaWorld on our upcoming US trip. I went off and investigated this and found that they're running a promotion for weekday visits of buy one adult dining ticket, get one adult dining ticket @ 1/2 price. That's a stellar deal. It averaged out to $26 dollars(w/tax) each for both of us. For a couple of meals, a snack or two and the tons of bottled water we'll want while there it's a great deal. Thank you!

 

[rowan555]

I enjoy Atlantis.

Blue Horizons is the best show in Orlando, IMO. Beats Fantasmic in my book.

You must feed the dolphins. Worth the few dollars up charge for the fish. We fed the sea lions and the stingrays on most trips.

Shamu Happy Harbor is the best place in Orlando for my kids, ages 5 and 3. We could spend 3 days there on the rides and in the nets.

Aquarium is worth a walk through in the Manta ride area. As is the Sharks exhibit.
Personally, I would give 2 days for SW if you possibly can.

I wish we'd fed the dolphins, but with the weather, we just didn't get to it. We'd have fed the stingrays, but we regularly swim with the stingrays in Grand Cayman and get to interact with them and feed them squid while in the water with them, so I figured there was no need to feed them in the touch pool.

We'd definitely go back to Sea World and spend maybe 1.5 days there - just because the two coasters warrant a second morning's visit!