SeaWorld decisions

[jaoconnor]

Please help me make some Sea World decisions.

We (me, DH, DS-13 & DD-11) will be visiting Sea World for the 1st time this October.

Here are my current debates:

1. Is one day enough? We are visiting Discovery Cove & will have unlimited passes to Sea World throughout our trip. As awesome as that sounds, I'm wondering if one day will be plenty for my crew. We all love coasters & will want to ride the 2 coasters multiple times. In general, my family doesn't enjoy theme park shows, but DD is a huge animal lover. I think I can talk them into One Ocean, Blue Horizons & maybe Pets Ahoy. If we do the park all in one day, I could also take advantage of the All Day Dining & Unlimited Quick Queue.

2. Unlimited Dining I have read several positive reviews about Sea World's All Day Dining program. I love the idea of this, but I'm not 100% convinced we would get our money's worth. The park is only open 9 am-6 pm on non-Spooktacular days. I don't think we would have time to eat 3 full meals.

My DD is also a vegetarian & there doesn't seem to be an abundance of options for her. I think we could make the program work for us if we take more of a "snack all day" approach after breakfast. I would love to be able to grab a drink & fruit cup or salad multiple times throughout our day. Does this sound feasible? Are the lines short enough to "grab & go" quickly. Will it save us $$?

3. Quick Queue We will be spoiled from multiple days of quick queue at Universal & DH is a huge baby about waiting in lines (much worse than the kids!) The price seems somewhat reasonable, but I'm not sure its worth it for mainly 2 coasters. We will also hit Atlantis & maybe the Penguins. (we have a great Penguin habitat at our local zoo & would be willing to skip it without QQ if lines are long)

If we arrive at rope drop is it likely we could skip QQ and ride the coasters multiple times first thing in the morning without much wait?

4. Spooktacular I am planning on avoiding Spooktacular to avoid the crowds. It appears that this event is geared towards younger children & I did not see anything that would appeal to my kids. The only positive to Spooktacular for my family may be the 8 pm close. I could see the All Day Dining having much more value with an extra 2 hours of park time. The 8 pm close time would also allow us to easily take a mid-day break at our nearby condo. Any thoughts on Spooktacular?

Any & all advice & suggestions are appreciated!!!!!!

Thanks

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I, personally, think SW is worthy of two full days. Then you can explore the park at a leisurely pace and see it all. It also allows you to revisit your favourites because sometimes, just once is not enough!

I am a big fan of the all day dining. We love grabbing a slice of pizza or a fruit cup as a snack, and on a hot day, we can drink the value of the plan in water bottles alone. Lines are longer during peak meal periods, but shorter during the "between times". If you time it right, then you're not stuck in line for gobs of time. For your vegetarian DD, I know there were several salad and fruit options. I am also guessing you could get the fettucini alfredo at SeaFire Inn without chicken, and pizza at the various places without meat. Hopefully someone else can chime in with their personal experiences with that particular restriction.

We LOVE Quick Queue, but always wait to purchase it at the park. If we need it, we buy it. If not, we don't. If you arrive at park opening and do the rides you wish to do first thing, you could probably avoid the expense and keep your waits to a minimum.

I know you said you're family is not much into shows, but the Clyde & Seamore show is also worth a watch. The pre-show mime is worth seeing all on his own.....he's hilarious. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the shows at SW....they are so well put together and carried out, they are nothing like any other "theme park show" you have ever seen.

Enjoy your vacation!!!

 

[jaoconnor]

I, personally, think SW is worthy of two full days. Then you can explore the park at a leisurely pace and see it all. It also allows you to revisit your favourites because sometimes, just once is not enough!

I am a big fan of the all day dining. We love grabbing a slice of pizza or a fruit cup as a snack, and on a hot day, we can drink the value of the plan in water bottles alone. Lines are longer during peak meal periods, but shorter during the "between times". If you time it right, then you're not stuck in line for gobs of time. For your vegetarian DD, I know there were several salad and fruit options. I am also guessing you could get the fettucini alfredo at SeaFire Inn without chicken, and pizza at the various places without meat. Hopefully someone else can chime in with their personal experiences with that particular restriction.

We LOVE Quick Queue, but always wait to purchase it at the park. If we need it, we buy it. If not, we don't. If you arrive at park opening and do the rides you wish to do first thing, you could probably avoid the expense and keep your waits to a minimum.

I know you said you're family is not much into shows, but the Clyde & Seamore show is also worth a watch. The pre-show mime is worth seeing all on his own.....he's hilarious. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the shows at SW....they are so well put together and carried out, they are nothing like any other "theme park show" you have ever seen.

Enjoy your vacation!!!

Thanks so much for your reply Gina. I know things always take longer than I plan & I tend to try to stuff too much into one day. I'm still working on our itinerary, but I'm hoping to hit Sea World early in the week & have a second day later than can be an optional 2nd Sea World day if we need it or a relax pool day if we don't

Good tips on All Day Dining too. I have a hard time with theme park food/drink prices & would much rather pay it upfront & not hesitate to grab a bottled water whenever I feel like it. More of a psychological thing I guess, but it helps me be able to relax & enjoy when I'm not checking the prices before I order.

 

[Chelley00]

I, personally, think SW is worthy of two full days.

I know you said you're family is not much into shows, but the Clyde & Seamore show is also worth a watch.

Please try and spend at least one and a half days at Seaworld, if not 2 full days. I so wish we would have 2 day tickets when we went. I felt like we rushed to get to do things and we even missed some of the shows. The wait, even in October, can take awhile for the rides. We moved pretty quick and still felt like we didn't have time to do so much.

The Clyde and Seamore show was the highlight of our day.

 

[jaoconnor]

I will be sure to add the Clyde & Seamore show to our "can't miss" list. Thanks for the tip.

Does anyone have any experience with Spooktacular?? The Sunday date works well for us & I love the longer hours, but I'm scared of increased crowds.

Assuming we buy quick queue for the rides, how much are the shows effected by crowd levels? How long do you typically plan to arrive before the beginning of a show on a slow or crowded day?

 

[InMemory]

We used the strategy to save the rides for last and got to ride the coasters repeatedly with little to no wait during a busy season. It killed the teenagers to walk past them but with over hr waits they gave in and thanked me a 100x's later for my strategy working!

We liked the food plan. We grabbed waters, soda, fruit, breadsticks chicken fingers, and cake often. Easy as could be with out ever waiting! We always did a day but I didn't have little kids if I did I would stretch it out. We loved the nighttime show!

 

[JillyBean1899]

Another vote for the Clyde & Seamore show, and arriving early enough to see the mime. Just be forewarned, if you get there after he does, you might become part of his "act". If you have a good sense of humor, it can be worth it, though. If you happen to be there on a day when they're rehearsing the show, stop in if it's open to the public (it usually is). Imagine the rehearsals for the kindergarten play each year. Add fish breath. That's basically what you'll see. Really, the sea lions are the funniest critters in the park.

Blue Horizons is amazing, too. It's basically Cirque du Soliel meets dolphins and birds. Speaking of Cirque type shows, Cirque de la Mer is amazing, too, and it's air conditioned.

If the girls have extra energy to burn, take them over to Shamu's Happy Harbor. Yeah, it's a kids area, but if they're anything like my nieces, when they see a 3 story tall rope tower to climb through, it doesn't matter that it's a "kids" area, they want to run through it! (And, truth be told, so do I )

We have platinum passes, so we have reserved seating for shows. Aside from the Clyde & Seamore show, we typically arrive about 5-10 minutes before the show starts. I know some people get there 20-30 minutes ahead of time, but that's really for prime seats. Unless it's really really crowded, the shows don't typically fill up until a few minutes after the show starts, so I'd guess getting there about 15 min before they start would be fine unless you have your heart set on sitting in a particular spot.

Nothing on Spooktacular, sorry. My nieces don't come down during the school year, and I never went because I don't have any kids of my own.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I'm hoping to hit Sea World early in the week & have a second day later than can be an optional 2nd Sea World day if we need it or a relax pool day if we don't.

Or, you could do a combination of both. Half day at SW, half day poolside (assuming you enjoy yourself enough to want to go back for a second visit ).

Assuming we buy quick queue for the rides, how much are the shows effected by crowd levels? How long do you typically plan to arrive before the beginning of a show on a slow or crowded day?

We usually get there about half an hour beforehand. We like decent seats but don't need the "best" ones. If we can work it time-wise, we try to grab snacks and drinks to enjoy while we wait for the show to get underway. Pets Ahoy has a much smaller seating capacity than, say, One Ocean, so that one you may need to plan to arrive sooner than 30 minutes in advance in order to be able to get seated.

I am no help on Spooktacular, unfortunately.....still haven't been lucky enough to enjoy a trip during the month of October!

 

[919Florida]

Does anyone have any experience with Spooktacular?? The Sunday date works well for us & I love the longer hours, but I'm scared of increased crowds.

Spooktacular really affects the Bayside Pathway area and Happy Harbor area. The rest of the park is not affected as much. The kids are all about trick or treating, the crafts and characters. i wouldnt let it sway you from going to the aprk when the park is open later. Enjoy those extra hours.

If you can stop by the spooktacular area. Seaworld has the animal ambasadars out and you can see some pretty coole animals up close and even pet some of them. I have seen an eagle, owl, otter, sloth, opossum, kookaburra and more. Its really worth it to see these animals and to pick up some candy along the way. Even the SeaWorld characters like Dolly the Dolphin, Shamu, shivers the polar bear and pete and penny penguin make apperances in their halloween costumes. Lots of fun

 

[cranbiz]

Just got back from a mini vacation in which it was just the wife and I. We spent two days at Seaworld and we have been before when we were living in FL (Before Manta).

There really is not a bad show there and you need both days to hit all the shows. You do need to hit Antarctica, it's a great improvement over the previous exhibit.