Penguin or Dolphin tour

[LoveMyLAP-BAND]

Hi all,

Has anyone done either one of these tours? What is your opinion?

THANKS!

 

[Dolphina]

I wanna know, too!

 

[Cleofish]

Hope you're still looking for info, as we did the Penguin Encounter Tour at Seaworld last September (hope this is the right tour you're aksing about). We absolutely loved the tour and thought it was well worth the money!!

We started out just at the side of the Wild Arctic gift shop where we met our tour guide. I would say in total there was about 12-15 people including us, a lot of which were kids under the age of 5. I will say there was a lot of walking on this tour, and the kids didn't hold up too well, some got a bit bratty by the end of it with tiredness and the heat, just something you may need to consider?

So, we were led round the back of the Wild Arctic exhibit to see the mural of the Beluga Whale, and then we were led through a door backstage to where there were a couple of Sea-Lions playing and being fed by one of the handlers. After our guide told us about the conservation of the sea-lions we were led further backstage to see some of the handler areas, and we were lucky enough to see a Beluga being hand-fed by it's handler, it was so beautiful to see. We were then led into the room where they prepare all of the food for the different animals, and it was explained how it's all worked out so that each animal gets the correct nutrition etc - it's all put up on a big white board and they follow it to the letter!
Once we came out of the feeding area our guide showed us around the infrastructure and explained how they keep all of Wild Arctic so cold for the animals (can't remember exactly what she said now, but there were a lot of pipes and tanks involved which gave off a lot of heat!!). We then went through another door and got to see a Polar Bear who was on the other side of a pool from where we were stood infront of some glass panes. He had just woken up, so looked a bit grumpy, but was an amazing spectacle. Once we left Mr Polar Bear we were led out to a mini tour bus where our commentary continued and we were led to 'Pet a Penguin'. This was the most exciting part of the tour for me, because I just love all things Penguin. Our tour guide explained about the 'projectile pooping' that the penguins were famous for, and then we each got to go over and stroke the penguin one by one whilst he sat on his keepers lap. It was fabulous to see them so close, I couldn't believe it! He was a little bit shy but fabulous. I've popped a couple of pics of DF & I stroking him so you can see:

After this our tour was over and we were led back into the main park, but all in all it was a great experience and I would definately do it again. If you do choose to do it I'm sure you'll enjoy it - let me know if ou have an other questions about it and I'll do my best to help :.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Hope you're still looking for info, as we did the Penguin Encounter Tour at Seaworld last September (hope this is the right tour you're aksing about). We absolutely loved the tour and thought it was well worth the money!!

We started out just at the side of the Wild Arctic gift shop where we met our tour guide. I would say in total there was about 12-15 people including us, a lot of which were kids under the age of 5. I will say there was a lot of walking on this tour, and the kids didn't hold up too well, some got a bit bratty by the end of it with tiredness and the heat, just something you may need to consider?

So, we were led round the back of the Wild Arctic exhibit to see the mural of the Beluga Whale, and then we were led through a door backstage to where there were a couple of Sea-Lions playing and being fed by one of the handlers. After our guide told us about the conservation of the sea-lions we were led further backstage to see some of the handler areas, and we were lucky enough to see a Beluga being hand-fed by it's handler, it was so beautiful to see. We were then led into the room where they prepare all of the food for the different animals, and it was explained how it's all worked out so that each animal gets the correct nutrition etc - it's all put up on a big white board and they follow it to the letter!
Once we came out of the feeding area our guide showed us around the infrastructure and explained how they keep all of Wild Arctic so cold for the animals (can't remember exactly what she said now, but there were a lot of pipes and tanks involved which gave off a lot of heat!!). We then went through another door and got to see a Polar Bear who was on the other side of a pool from where we were stood infront of some glass panes. He had just woken up, so looked a bit grumpy, but was an amazing spectacle. Once we left Mr Polar Bear we were led out to a mini tour bus where our commentary continued and we were led to 'Pet a Penguin'. This was the most exciting part of the tour for me, because I just love all things Penguin. Our tour guide explained about the 'projectile pooping' that the penguins were famous for, and then we each got to go over and stroke the penguin one by one whilst he sat on his keepers lap. It was fabulous to see them so close, I couldn't believe it! He was a little bit shy but fabulous. I've popped a couple of pics of DF & I stroking him so you can see:

After this our tour was over and we were led back into the main park, but all in all it was a great experience and I would definately do it again. If you do choose to do it I'm sure you'll enjoy it - let me know if ou have an other questions about it and I'll do my best to help :.

What you described was the old Polar Tour, which was sadly discontinued at the end of 2008. This was a great tour. The Polar, Predator and Saving a Species tours have been amalgamated into the Backstage Tour. In addition to this, two new tours were introduced, one focusing on dolphins (and replacing the Dolphin Nursery Tour) and one focusing on Penguins. Both are more expensive then the old Behind the Scenes tours.

Corinna

 

[LoveMyLAP-BAND]

Thanks. That is exactly what I was looking for. I think petting the penguins will be awesome.