Please review my plan for my first trip to SW!

[TigerLaw]

I am going to SW w. my girlfriend for the first time next sunday (10/20). I THINK I have down my "plan of attack" but any advice from all the SW experts out there would be helpful!


here's my plan (which I already know I will have to modify someone once I get the dolphin feeding time schedule):

1. JtoA (two rides);
2. kraken (two rides);
3. 10:00 dolphin show;
4. feed dolphins(?) penguins (?);
5. 11:15 sea lion show:
6. pacific point;
7. get a quick lunch;
8. 12:30 shamu;
9. wild arctic;
10. terrors of the deep:
11. penguins(?)
12. 3:15 cirque;
13. manatees;
14. stingray lagoon, turtle point, and tropical reef;
15. extra rides on JtoA and kraken;
16 dinner w. shamu

thanks in advance for your help!

 

[vernon]

While it's possible you'll fit everything in , I think you'll find the rush to accomplish "everything" will mean you miss a little of the "time to smell the roses" of the experience. It is almost certain they will have second day free at this time of year, so if you can find time in your schedule to take at least an extra half day at SW you're going to find your experience is improved.

Just looking at your plans, 5) Seal show is 20 minutes ( so finish at 11.35), 5 minutes to exit the stadium, and you need to be at Shamu stadium (10 minutes walk) 10 minutes minimum before the show. Only leaves you 30 minutes to take in Pacific point preserve AND get lunch. Also Wild Arctic gets REALLY busy immediatly after a show, you're better trying to time it either during or 30 minutes before a show that your missing, IMHO it will save you 40 minutes in the queue, unless you miss the last couple of minutes of the Shamu show AND sprint down from the stadium.

 

[TigerLaw]

thanks for the feedback - what would I do w/o this board! Anyway, if its not too much to ask, can everyone check out this revised schedule (I added times as well) and let me know what you think:

9:00 - 9:45 JtoA and kraken (two rides each hopefully)
9:45- 10:45 10:00 dolphin show
10:45 - 11:00 get lunch to eat while waiting for s.l. show
11:00 - 11:40 11:15 sea lion show
11:40 - 12:00 feed dolphins?
12:00 - 12:45 manatees
12:45 - 1:00 pacific point
1:00 - 1:45 terrors of the deep
1:45 - 2:30 2:00 shamu show
2:30 - 3:00 penguins?
3:00 - 4:00 3:15 cirque
4:00 - 5:00 wild arctic

finally, couple other questions:

1. any quick lunch recommendations for food that we can take into the sea lion stadium while waiting for the show to start

2. I know I could free up this schedule a bit if I took out the cirque show - how good is it really?

everyone, all I can say is thanks so much for the help!

 

[robvia]

You plan will be a little bit different because the back of the park does not open right at 9am during off peak season. It was 09:45 last weekend.

And the pathway leading to the ski stadium is closed off so you won't be going that way in the morning. The sky tower, and ski stadium are under construction.

When you enter the park, you end up going to the stingray lagoon, Key West Dolphin feeding area and Manatees, which is the left pathway.

The first dolphin show is at 10am. Tuff decision. See the show, or go on the rides, your call. During off peak season, the lines for the rides are usually a walkon. Front seat line usually has a 20 minute wait. It's off season. There will be lots of people for a Sunday, but it won't be summer crowds. Get there early and you'll be 1 step ahead of the crowds.

 

[TigerLaw]

Thanks vernon and robvia for the great input so far! At this point, I think I am just going to have to stop stressing over this so much. I wish we had more than one day for the park, but that's all time we got.

One of the real problems is trying to figure things out with incomplete info. For example, I finally was able to find out today that there would only be one sitting (at 5:15) so that kills a lot of time and now I find out the rides won't be open right away! UGH! At this point, as much as I wanted to see cirque, I think I am going to have to drop it from our to do list.

 

[vernon]

The Cirque de la Mer is a nice little show, but IMHO not a vital part of SeaWorld. It's a useful (FREE !!!) guide for people who are not sure if they want to pay the $$$ to see Cirque de Soleil at DTD as some of the acts are similar in content and style. Near the Sealion stadium there is a pretty good barBQ pit for ribs and chicken with sitting outside ( I'm pretty sure that eating in the various stadia is not allowed), if you're eating early you shouldn't have too many queues. P.S , you haven't allowed any time to avail yourself of the free samples of Anhauser Busch's products shlurly shlom mishyake

 

[TigerLaw]

thanks for the beer point, but we are from St. Louis (world headquarters for A/B) and we have about five different places here that sound exactly alike SW's beer center, so it wasn't a priority to us. also, thanks for the comments on cirque, as now it seems I was more for it than my girlfriend. We did the cirque show in vegas a while back and now she tells me she didn't like it that much!

I thought about maybe giving up the dinner w. shamu instead of cirque, but the more I thought about it, it seemed like something unique and special to do.

 

[gschmerl]

We loved cirque de la mer. We went in July and it was HOT. FIrst of all , it was great to sit in an air conditioned place. Second, the show was hysterical. Aside from the acrobats, they have an audience participation portion that had us laughing so hard our sides hurt!

 

[Buschfan]

The Cirque show is really good. Never seen the $70 Disney version, so I can't really compare. Get there early to see the pre-show antics. I don't want to give anything away going into details. It is amusing though! You really don't need to rush going in October. Crowds will be light. Please don't pass on the free beer. I know you are from AB's hometown, but it seems tragic to pass up a cold one or two.