Seaworld-thoughts?

[dangler]

Hi! Anyone been to Seaworld? Is it worth the money? We are heading to Disney in November, but we have been thinking about a day at Seaworld.
Thanks

 

[mtmbyck]

We added Seaworld to our itinerary a few years ago. Kids were 14 and 11. My thoughts are these:

If it is a choice between Disney and Seaworld, stick with Disney for more rides, theming, value.
If you have younger kids that enjoy lots of shows with whales and dolphins etc then you may love it.
We had a 2 day pass for $99 but you can easily do the park in a day.

Cool stuff : we fed dolphins and stingrays.....like you can touch them. But lines get huge for the dolphins so go there first. The shark tube that you walk through with sharks all around you is very neat. My daughter was selected to be the star of the Believe whale show. Very cool. They made her wear a sweater over her Mickey Mouse shirt LOL.

There are 2 thrill rides, one of which my DH found way too nasty and bothered his stomache. On the plus side, we went during March Break and although Disney was packed, it was fairly dead at Seaworld and waits we're almost non-existent for most things.

Kids now want to do the swimming with dolphins at discovery cove. We're thinking of putting that on the agenda for this coming March.

So I guess if you have time to squeeze it in go for it but I wouldn't skip a day of Disney for it.

 

[damo]

We really enjoy SeaWorld every few years. Food is really good and reasonable, shows are cute and the few rides they have are good. Their newest coaster, Manta, has received great reviews.

 

[pooksma]

Could be a day trip. We had 2 day passes and really could have done everything in one.

Depends on what you want to do. We watched the shows, rode Manta several times and wandered around to feed the animals. It was a leisurely pace over the 2 days.

 

[MedicGoofy]

I go everytime I go to Disney, with the exception of this trip coming up, a 4nt Disney trip just doesn't warrant a day out to Sea World.

However, whenever at in Florida, I enjoy getting out there. Im assuming you have kids, but you didn't say if you did, or how old they are.

They have 2 roller coasters, the newer one Manta, is great. You sit tilted forward in the seat, like flying, basically, like a Manta. The other coaster, Kraken, is your basic, steel, looping coaster. I've never had a problem while riding either. Obviously it's going to be up to the individual person, and whether or not you can handle it.

Other than that, they have a 'log' ride, more than your typical log ride, somewhat comparable to splash mountain just not as good as splash mountain.

They do have the best sea lion and otter show you will ever see!! There dolphin show is pretty decent as is the whale show, is the big beast will cooperate Last time I went, dumb whale got stage fright and wouldn't cooperate, had to bring out a newer whale they were working with and do 'tricks' and stuff. They do, as pp commented, have feeding time with dolphins (large tank, but does get crowded, they take pics of you which you can later buy) and sting rays.

They do have a simulator ride, kind of a star tours ride but based on the artic. And a kids zone, with kiddie rides. Again, depending on what ages your kids, might be appropriate, might not.

Food is decent there. Depends on what you want to eat, and what you want to spend. I've done the 'Dine with Shame' which was amazing! You sit tank side, in a nice little alcove restaurant and Shamu almost swims up to your table, about 3-5 feet away. It's a beautiful buffet meal, which was really nice. Also, ate at 'Sharks Underwater Grill'. Think, Coral Grill (?) but with sharks in the tank, resting right beside your table....and the menu, when I was there, was quite good. Regular CS is decent as well.

It's a great quick park to visit. Im done usually by about 5:00. I never need the second day to see it. I never find it 'overly' crowded there and it's just a nice little change of pace

Enjoy if you go!!

Jenn

 

[dangler]

Thanks for all the replies!!!!

 

[mcoaddict]

We went on our honeymoon 2 years ago and loved it. We did the dine all day plan and found it to be great value, we saw loads of cool marine animals and fish and really enjoyed ourselves.
We went back last year and hated it! Half the attractions were closed and this wasn't posted until you were IN the park. We found out from one of the staff that they had recently changed ownership and that the new owners were making alot of changes.
I would call the day of, before you go, and make sure everything is open.
The dolphin pool WAS wicked, I was just talking about it again yesterday, it was awesome to touch a dolphin.

 

[dasan]

We were at Sea World on August 16th,2012.

We got to the park around 9:30. Watched the Dolphin show at 10.
Good show.

At 11 we watched Clyde & Seamore, lot's of fun.
After the show, we had lunch in a very empty Voyageur restaurant at 11:45.
Decent food. Not bad price.

We paid for a private Dolphins up close tour at 12:30.
We feed the Dolphins, showed them tricks and pet them. It was about 45 Mins.
They took photos of us. We got two framed pics and a CD of 12 pics for about
$50. The tour for four of us was $170. Well worth it if your Dolphin fans.
I don't believe you can pet the dolphins anymore unless your on the tour.

We went on Atlantis water ride. Neat ride.
We also watched the Shamu One Ocean show at 2:30. It had 4 or 5 whales.
It was excellent.

We than did the Wild Arctic ride and Shark Encounter.

That took us till about 4:30. Did some shopping and left at 5 because
it started to rain and things were shutting down.

It was a great day. If you like marine life you will love it.

 

[Susan2771]

Our family visited Seaworld this past July and it was a great experience. We were there for the full day and the shows are top notch and very entertaining. It was also a great learning experience for our girls and us about marine life. We also did the dining plan for the day. It was a great value but kind of wished more dining venues were included because there was a lot of criss crossing the park when someone wanted a drink or something to eat.

 

[baby_tran]

We just did 1.5 days at Seaworld a couple of weeks ago. I have 2 kids ages 14 and 12 and they both loved it. We got the CAA passes which include a meal voucher and the extra day at no charge. We're more "show" people than "rides" people. The shows were great! We watched Shamu...2 or 3 times. The dolphin show would have been great if we weren't in the blazing sun! The acrobatic show was great!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We LOVE SeaWorld. Out of all the Orlando parks....all four Disney, two Universal, and SeaWorld....SeaWorld is our favourite.

The park is gorgeous, the rides are great, the shows are outstanding, the staff are friendly, and the all-day dining is an exceptional value.

I would not hesitate to recommend that you go.