SEA WORLD Is it worth it?????

[scootch]

My brother took his three kids the one year, ages 6, 8 and 10. Theydid a combined wdw and sea world trip and much to his surprise, all they talked about when they got home was Sea World. I loved Sea World when I was a kid and they had the one in Ohio.

 

[RabFlmom]

Is it worth it to pay $240 for a family of 4 to spend one day at Sea World? We are DVC members and we have our 8th trip planned for June. We have 9 year old twin girls and they saw the Sea World commercial and asked if we could go. We always go to Disney and we have never been to Sea World or anything else in Orlando. WE are just so happy with Disney we never really thought about anything else. I just don't know if it is worth the extra $240 for one day at this park? Do they ever offer any discounts? Thanks

Actually $240 is a pretty good price for 4 people to get into SW since I think the kids price is $ 65 for the day. My family loves SW and we have been going since 1975 just like going to Disney. My kids grew up going to the parks. One actually works for Disney so we get in there for free most of the time, but we buy the season pass to SW and probably spend more time there than at Disney. The thing we like about SW is nothing is ever exactly the same. You can see the same show-for example Clyde and Seamore 3 times in the same day-even with the same people in the show, the same script, and never see the same show because of the animals and how they respond to the trainer at that moment. Because of the live animal element it is never the same.

The thing I think you have to remember in going to a SW park is you can't go into the park with the same mentality that you go into a Disney park-except for maybe Animal Kingdom which is my favorite Disney park. SW is a much more relaxing park so commando type tourers don't enjoy it. Plan which shows you are going to see so you can get to most of them, but leave lots of time to walk through all the rest of the park and just enjoy it. Let the kids spend as much time watching the animals as they want. Ask the CMs questions about the polar bears etc. and they will love the park. Lots of friendly CMs all over the park waiting to help you. When my husband had a heart attack there, they saved his life and were wonderful. There is also a great kids area so plan to spend an hour or so just letting the little ones play.

If you want down front seats in the splash area you have to get to the shows about a half hour early, but we usually plan to get to the stadiums 15 minutes early and get seats that are not too bad. At Shamu stadium you will probably find us in the top row of seats because we prefer being up there so we can watch the whole stadium. Gauge how early you have to get to a stadium by the number of people in the park and how full the stadium was for the first show you went to. Some shows at some times of the year fill up and are closed before the show starts. Christmas week and busy times during the summer may have closings an hour before the time show begins.
Seems like you can make it from show to show, but the show times are set up so you have to walk across the park to the next show instead of just going to the next closest stadium so we do a lot of walking.

Like others have said they still have the come in for a day and get a 2nd day free within the next 7 days so basically $40 a day. Since you are DVC owners you might consider getting the Fun pass which is good for the rest of the year if you visit Orlando area more than once a year.
Food is sort of expensive at the park, so you need to budget that. You can get hamburgers and hot dogs at a couple places, a slice of pizza and fries for about $7, and they have kids meals at most restaurants. They have good BBQ but that is in the $14-$25 range for a platter.
You do have to buy the fish to feed the animals if you want to do that which has gotten more expensive in the last year, too-$7 for a tray to feed the dolphin and $4 or 5 to feed the rays or sea lions. Parking is $12. Only you can decide if the day is something you can add to a Disney trip which is already expensive. But give it a chance and I bet you will love the park.

 

[yasuern]

We love Sea World

It IMHO is a slower paced park and we truly enjoyed all the shows.
You can get a 2nd day free i beleive year round just ask as you enter - I have always found 1 day enough time. But we have Passport passes and go everytime we go to WDW.

As for the few LARGE rides at this park if the lines are less than 40 minutes we do them any longer we don't - after all we go to SW to see the animals/exhibits not go on the rides(Thats what WDW and US/IOA is for )


So I guess my vote is GO

Sue

 

[taliategan]

I am debating between SW and Universal for 1-1/2 park days before our Disney cruise in January. I am leaning towards SW now because I think Universal would be better if we had two full days & our girls are at the moderate level on thrill rides (and will probably be too short for some of rides even if they want to ride them). They both really like shows, and SW would probably be more relaxed with just one park in a day and half. (I am not planning on the water park in January.) I probably wait to see what type of deals I can get at both places, but its nice to see that both have discounts or other incentives on tickets & the Marriott package at SW seems pretty good with free tickets for the kids. Although I am not that crazy on paying $$ to feed SW's fish/animals.

 

[MissionMouse]

We have enjoyed SW everytime, but we have never paid full ticket price. It clearly pays to look and leep looking for a good deal and with the economy like it is you should expect not to pay full price.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

Enough that I buy the Platinum Pass.

PROs
Better rides than Disney,better animal interactions than Disney,very easy to navigate as you can almost see any attraction from close to the water similar to EPCOT,good food and reasonable,mist fans everywhere in the summer,fewer line cutters and rude crowds(like the evening rush to the exit at MK after fireworks)souvenirs and clothes are much less expensive,shorter lines in general,huge discounts for APs and serious perks(my free parking alone pays for the pass after about 11 days a year)

CONs
less"magic ",fewer food selections,fewer fireworks,no onsite hotels per se and hence transportation can be an issue as well,Shamu does not own TV channels dedicated to merchandising it's products,WDW addicts may consider you boorish or trashy,leaving the parking lot can be eventful and confusing,no afternoon naps back at the room and return rested for the second shot at a park

Just a few things to consider,there are of course personal likes and dislikes.

The group I travel with are seasoned travellers and kids with several of us having been in dozens of countries and cultures and we LOVE all the parks and rotate visits mostly to accomodate birthdays,holidays etc.

 

[WALTSAGOD]

We loved SW!