Sea World touring plan?

[Pig Pen]

I have been to WDW dozens of times, but never to Sea World. Since active military can get in for free, DS wants to try it. We will most likely go on Sat Aug 16 or on Sun Aug 17.

Does anyone have a touring plan? I am researching the attractions, but would like to have a general timeline (i.e., which show to hit first, when to get in line for a certain attraction, etc.) I can do WDW in my sleep and the thought of researching another park in 14 days is almost too much for my brain.

There will be me, DH, DS-30, DDIL-29, and DGS-11 mos.

THANKS!

 

[kmk1180]

I'm glad you posted this.
I had the same question. Planning on SeaWorld but have no idea how to schedule the day to make the most of it.
Any help would be great.
Thanks

 

[alabamagirl]

Apparently, they have a show schedule on their website up until September 7 (got this info from another thread). I would recommend printing that out and using it to plan the shows you want to see. Then study the map and try to hit attractions close to those shows before and after.

I haven't been to SeaWorld in 13 years (going in Dec. though) so unfortunately I can't give any detailed help.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Check the SeaWorld Website for the show schedules - August should be there now - and also if you want to Dine with Shamu, you'll want to get that booked now.

Head right to the Dolphin feeding area as soon as you get in the park if you want to feed the dolphins. For 7.00 per tray, you get 3 fish per tray and can feed and touch the dolphins while you feed them. We bought 8 trays of fish and the kids wanted more but I said no way.

There are photographers that take your picture and you can pick it up right away. They took a couple of great shots of my kids that I just had to buy. This took us about an hour for the feeding and choosing pictures.

Then if you are riding Journey to Atlantis or the Kracken you'll want to go to those next. The lines get really long.

Plan on visiting the areas of the park around the shows but don't go to ride the Wild Arctic ride directly after a Shamu show gets out. The wait it very long unless you are just going to do the walk through portion.

The kids favorite shows were Blue Horizons, Clyde and Seamore, Shamu Rocks, and Believe. We tried to see Pets Ahoy but missed it.

I don't know for sure about August but in July the penguins were on Arctic time so the lights in the exhibit were only on from 11am - 3:00pm so if you want to see the penguins, you'll want to go during that timeframe.

Looking at your age group, you can probably skip Shamu's Happy Harbour. I've got an 8 year old and we had to do it for her.

You are probably used to getting to places before they open since you know WDW but you'll want to do that at SeaWorld too. Get there 20-30 minutes before they open so you can be a bit ahead of the crowd.

We just went in July and I'm finishing up a trip report on it but we didn't really put together a touring plan since we were there for a day and a half.

There is a tour plan for SeaWorld - it was a couple of pages back but I didn't see it when I just skimmed looking for it.

 

[brenda1966]

We have little ones so would probaby want to do Happy Harbour.

So... where would you fit that in the plan? After lunch?

What time do you break for lunch? Early? i've heard horror stories about the lunch lines.

thanks for the great information!

 

[moopdog]

Sorry to hijack OP, but... will the show schedule change much from Aug to Sept? Or do they switch things around pretty severely?? Thanks.

 

[murcor]

Thanks GaSleepingBeautyFan for the touring plan. It looks like alot of us need an idea where to start and head from there when doing Seaworld
It gives me some great ideas.

Moopdog....I cant access the seaword site at the moment but I just found this out that if you go to the site and find the the monthly calender with the hours it is open. If you click on the day it will give you the show times.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We did lunch early - between 11am and 11:30.

We did Happy Harbour on our second morning about 10am or so. It wasn't crowded and all the rides were walk on.

But we did walk by it late afternoon on our first day and it was really crowded so I guess if you do it before lunch, you'll be fine.

 

[ekatiel]

We just did SW San Antonio a few weeks ago. My best tip for lunch is go to the restaurant right next to the stadium where Believe is RIGHT after the show has started (preferably right after the first show of the day has started). We were there on a Sunday, it was completely packed-- the day before on Saturday DH had to wait in line for over an hour for lunch, but on Sunday I had my epiphany about getting to the restaurant near the Shamu show just after the show started. There was a believe show at noon. We went to Vogager's Cafe (not sure if this restaurant is the same one that's close to Believe in Orlando) at 12:05PM. We WALKED RIGHT IN-- NO LINE AT ALL!!! I told DH that I was a GENIUS!!! Everyone in that part of the park was at the show-- we literally had the place to ourselves!

 

[MrsSparrow..]

Hiya, just to add on to some of the great advice.

I would consider buying the book "Beyond Disney" thats part of the Unofficial guide series. It has a touring plan in there that you can easily adapt to on your day. It's also great for tips and budgeting for meals and things like that.

Hope you have a great time

 

[WiganTony]

We were at Seaworld on August 14th and 17th, and both times there were virtually no queues for Atlantis or Kraiken after around 7pm. May be worth fitting in the shows earlier in the day then having a couple of hours on these rides. Alternatively, could you take advantage of the Seaworld 2nd day free offer and just return one evening to catch Sealions Tonight (a must see - it's hilarious) then do the rides.

On the Tuesday, we ate at Dine with Shamu so queuing wasn't a problem. On the Sunday, we had a late breakfast, got to Seaworld around 2pm, then had dinner at 4.30pm at Mango Joe's (next to Shamu Stadium) which was very quiet.