sea world trip report

[martinrmn]

Having got back last month my wife, Donna, suggested I write to say about Sea World. We were a bit annoyed at the way they get money off you. First you pay to access the park, then once inside we found that if you wanted to get up close with the dolphins you had to buy food for them. If you didn't buy the food you could not get near them. I realise these parks are here to make money but this we found to be taking the Mickey, so to speak!

 

[natalielongstaff]

ive never been but i seem to remember someone else commenting on them having to buy food to get near the dolphins

 

[Minniespal]

The one thing which I dislike about SW is this, the extras whilst in the park. I seem to remember that we also had to pay to go on the ride which takes you up over the park. Fantastic view but still a bit of a con.

 

[wilma-bride]

Neither of my girls bought the food when we went in October but they both managed to get near enough to the dolphins to touch them. Obviously, if you have food, they will come closer more often but both girls were quite happy with just one touch.

We have been to Sea World several times and, on each occasion, have managed to get close enough to touch the dolphins without buying the food. Presumably, you're talking about the number of people crowded around the area which means it's difficult to get close

 

[Chilly]

I found it easier to touch the dolphins if you stood next to someone with food rather than if you had the food yourself.

 

[tashasmum]

I found it easier to touch the dolphins if you stood next to someone with food rather than if you had the food yourself.

But they have changed the system (we were there 14 Dec-2 Jan). It is now chained off so you can only get down there by buying food. If you go at other times when food is sold out you still cannot go down to the pool side where the dolphins swim, only to the far end of the pool where the dolphins rarely go. So from now on unless you pay extra you won't get near the dolphins

 

[Chilly]

But they have changed the system (we were there 14 Dec-2 Jan). It is now chained off so you can only get down there by buying food. If you go at other times when food is sold out you still cannot go down to the pool side where the dolphins swim, only to the far end of the pool where the dolphins rarely go. So from now on unless you pay extra you won't get near the dolphins

I didn't know they had changed the system, that seems mad, they had no problem selling the food when I was there so why shouldn't none buying people be allowed in, esp as they only have a limited amount of food on sale as well

 

[martinrmn]

I'm glad I am not the only one. It seems that this is possibly their way of getting you to come back to the park. I realise that all the parks are in business to make money but this just seems to be over the top. The next time we go, hopefully this year, we will be missing Sea World and concentrate on Disney and Universal.

 

[Cyrano]

Shame you had not enjoyed it as I was hoping to read your trip report.

 

[martinrmn]

Its not that we didn't enjoy the day, we did. But, it felt as though we were constantly having to pay extra for things such as feeding the dolphins. I know the parks are there to make money but Disney never made us feel as though we were constantly paying for extras.

 

[jns]

totally agree
a real rip off

but I'm glad to hear that they have cornered off the place becaucse when we were there everytime my DS 8 went to feed them someone else was in the way and he was not able to touch the dolphins even after 2 lots of food

and it was not just the dolpin food you had to pay for

 

[ely3857]

SW does dissapoint when compared to Disney. Looks like their main concern's have been dealing with Discovery Cove.

I always wanted to go up the Sky Tower for the view but on principle I feel robbed that I have to pay extra.



Jodie

 

[Delphis]

Sorry that some of you had a bad time at SW.

The followwing are just some observations and speculation on my part(nothing official by any means).

I don't like or care for the way the dolphin pool is being done now either. I don't think it is totally greed though. A few months back Sea World had 2 incidents in a very short time period where a child and somewhat excited /or to some people an aggressive dolphin were involved. So I think they're doing the corral thing to keep an eye out and to try to prevent anything else from happening.They also have someone at all times up on the upper observation area watching people/ the dolphins more closely now since then too.

As for the charging to ride the Sky Tower. The Sky Tower has a very small/limited capacity(and they only run the upper deck of the capsule most of the time) and if it were free the line could/would be many hours long. The ride itself is approx 7 mins long, plus I'm guessing about 3-5 mins loading the capsule and 3-5 mins unloading the capsule, so basically 3-4 runs an hour tops with maybe 20-30 people in each run since they're only running the upper deck. I waited the other day for 2 complete runs before I was able to ride and it was almost 30 mins after saying a 20 minute wait when I got in line. When I came off the ride the wait sign said 40 mins.

So you see if even if it were a dead day like 6000 - 8000 people and even 1/4 of the people in the park wanted to ride the Sky Tower and it were free, it just wouldn't be possible to accomodate that group of people. In the long run the price helps deter some people from wanting to ride so they can enjoy the park rather than wait all day for a 7 min ride. Don't get me wrong there are some days when I ride when it's just me, an employee, and 5 or 6 people on the ride, and other days it's not even open or closed early due to weather conditions/wind.

I have a full video from aboard the Sky Tower in the 2006, Sea World, Sky Tower section of my album in my sig if you want to see what it's like, and best of all it's free.