zilp
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 359
I wanted to write about some of our animal interactions at Sea World and Busch Gardens. I will say that I planned these animal feedings and encounters mainly for my children. They really, really love animals and I knew they would be excited to see the animals up close in such a unique way. I am not what you would really call an animal person, but I can honestly say that my husband and I had just as much fun as our kids.
Busch Gardens:
Serengeti Safari
It was 40$pp (adults and kids are the same price). I booked ahead online before we left for our trip to secure our slot. We met at a tent in the Serengeti Outpost about 15 minutes before our start time. We were able to store some of our belongings in a large communal locker while we went on the tour. Next we walked a short way into the Edge of Africa area to find the boarding area for the trucks. The entire experience lasts about 30 minutes. Our guide was very knowledgable and gave us a running commentary about all the animals we encountered. We drove around the safari and saw many animals, but most of them were far in the distance. If I am honest, taking the (free) Serengeti Express train ride around the park gave us just as good of a view of the animals. BUT- the best part, and what differs from the train ride, is the giraffes. Obviously this is the highlight of the trip. We spent a good 15 minutes feeding the giraffes and it was absolutely wonderful! You could even gently pet them on their necks as they reached in to the trucks to eat the lettuce leaves. I would absolutely recommend the Serengeti Safari and would do it again.
There is a photographer on board to take family photos. As mentioned in other posts, there is a CD you can buy for 40$ with all the photos of the ride. These photos cannot be combined with other photos taken in the park (we asked). Otherwise, each photo is 20$ and addtional photos are 5$. We bought one photo with all of us but other than that, I think we got better photos on our own camera.
Lory Landing
My oldest son is absolutely bird crazy and I wanted to head to Lory Landing to let him experience the birds up close. We arrived soon after park opening. We bought 2 cups of nectar (5$ each), which seems like a lot of money but the nectar lasted a while and we were easily able to share between the 5 of us. Because it was so early, there was hardly anyone there and the birds were very active. In fact, I barely had a chance to give the nectar cups to my oldest two kids when I felt a bird land on my head, lol. If you noted earlier in my post, I am not really an animal person but the birds were so gentle. I started laughing because right after that another bird perched on my shoulder and then 2 more on my arm. This happened to each of us and we got many wonderful pictures of everyone with birds all over them. We easily spent a good 30 minutes in Lory Landing feeding and admiring the birds. As it got more crowded we noticed the birds flying off into the trees, so if you want a good interaction get there early.
Sea World
Feeding the Dolphins
We arrived slightly before park opening. I made a beeline to get in line for the 9:30am feeding. The line got really long really fast. FWIW, we were at the park at a really busy time of the year so not sure if the line always gets so long so fast. They let us in to buy the fish around 9:20. Each tray was 7$ and had about 5 fish. I read about feeding the dolphins on this board and was under the impression that each of us needed to have a tray if you were going to feed the dolphins. Now I am wondering if my husband and I could have shared a tray with each of our children. Anyway, the dolphins very active and eager for the fish. You could stroke the dolphin under the chin before you gave them a fish. My 6 year old loved it but was grossed out by touching the fish so I wound up feeding the dolphins while he watched
.
They had photographers taking pictures but none of our pictures turned out that well, so we passed. We managed to get some good pictures with our own cameras. They were 20$ each with additional photos for 5$. They also offered the 40$ CD with all pictures. I assume these cannot be combined with other park pictures (which was the case at BG), but I did not ask.
Dine With Shamu
We had dinner with Shamu on our last day of visiting parks. Since the parks were open until 10pm, we had our dinner reservation for 5:30pm. We arrived at the viewing area around 5pm. We got in line around 5:20 to get our assigned table. I had booked about a month and a half before the date and we got table #19. I think I saw numbers in the 40 or 50's? Sorry can't remember, but once we got in it seemed like every table had a good view. They did have photograpers taking a family photo (which is included for free with the meal) before you entered the dining area. We got our photo after dinner. We probably had about 45 minutes to eat before the trainers came out. They probably spoke for 10-15 minutes. There were some great photo opportunities. Overall the food was really good and service was excellent. Everyone in our group (kids and adults) found some really tasty options and the desserts were a hit! After the trainers were done talking, there was no rush to leave the dining area (which I was worried about). We stayed until about 6:45pm and at that point there was a friendly overhead announcement that the dining area was closing . At that point, at least half of the tables still had people finishing up.
That sums up our most interesting animal encounters and I would do all of them again. If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them
Busch Gardens:
Serengeti Safari
It was 40$pp (adults and kids are the same price). I booked ahead online before we left for our trip to secure our slot. We met at a tent in the Serengeti Outpost about 15 minutes before our start time. We were able to store some of our belongings in a large communal locker while we went on the tour. Next we walked a short way into the Edge of Africa area to find the boarding area for the trucks. The entire experience lasts about 30 minutes. Our guide was very knowledgable and gave us a running commentary about all the animals we encountered. We drove around the safari and saw many animals, but most of them were far in the distance. If I am honest, taking the (free) Serengeti Express train ride around the park gave us just as good of a view of the animals. BUT- the best part, and what differs from the train ride, is the giraffes. Obviously this is the highlight of the trip. We spent a good 15 minutes feeding the giraffes and it was absolutely wonderful! You could even gently pet them on their necks as they reached in to the trucks to eat the lettuce leaves. I would absolutely recommend the Serengeti Safari and would do it again.
There is a photographer on board to take family photos. As mentioned in other posts, there is a CD you can buy for 40$ with all the photos of the ride. These photos cannot be combined with other photos taken in the park (we asked). Otherwise, each photo is 20$ and addtional photos are 5$. We bought one photo with all of us but other than that, I think we got better photos on our own camera.
Lory Landing
My oldest son is absolutely bird crazy and I wanted to head to Lory Landing to let him experience the birds up close. We arrived soon after park opening. We bought 2 cups of nectar (5$ each), which seems like a lot of money but the nectar lasted a while and we were easily able to share between the 5 of us. Because it was so early, there was hardly anyone there and the birds were very active. In fact, I barely had a chance to give the nectar cups to my oldest two kids when I felt a bird land on my head, lol. If you noted earlier in my post, I am not really an animal person but the birds were so gentle. I started laughing because right after that another bird perched on my shoulder and then 2 more on my arm. This happened to each of us and we got many wonderful pictures of everyone with birds all over them. We easily spent a good 30 minutes in Lory Landing feeding and admiring the birds. As it got more crowded we noticed the birds flying off into the trees, so if you want a good interaction get there early.
Sea World
Feeding the Dolphins
We arrived slightly before park opening. I made a beeline to get in line for the 9:30am feeding. The line got really long really fast. FWIW, we were at the park at a really busy time of the year so not sure if the line always gets so long so fast. They let us in to buy the fish around 9:20. Each tray was 7$ and had about 5 fish. I read about feeding the dolphins on this board and was under the impression that each of us needed to have a tray if you were going to feed the dolphins. Now I am wondering if my husband and I could have shared a tray with each of our children. Anyway, the dolphins very active and eager for the fish. You could stroke the dolphin under the chin before you gave them a fish. My 6 year old loved it but was grossed out by touching the fish so I wound up feeding the dolphins while he watched
. They had photographers taking pictures but none of our pictures turned out that well, so we passed. We managed to get some good pictures with our own cameras. They were 20$ each with additional photos for 5$. They also offered the 40$ CD with all pictures. I assume these cannot be combined with other park pictures (which was the case at BG), but I did not ask.
Dine With Shamu
We had dinner with Shamu on our last day of visiting parks. Since the parks were open until 10pm, we had our dinner reservation for 5:30pm. We arrived at the viewing area around 5pm. We got in line around 5:20 to get our assigned table. I had booked about a month and a half before the date and we got table #19. I think I saw numbers in the 40 or 50's? Sorry can't remember, but once we got in it seemed like every table had a good view. They did have photograpers taking a family photo (which is included for free with the meal) before you entered the dining area. We got our photo after dinner. We probably had about 45 minutes to eat before the trainers came out. They probably spoke for 10-15 minutes. There were some great photo opportunities. Overall the food was really good and service was excellent. Everyone in our group (kids and adults) found some really tasty options and the desserts were a hit! After the trainers were done talking, there was no rush to leave the dining area (which I was worried about). We stayed until about 6:45pm and at that point there was a friendly overhead announcement that the dining area was closing . At that point, at least half of the tables still had people finishing up.
That sums up our most interesting animal encounters and I would do all of them again. If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them
