Sell me Sea World!

[iheartdisney]

I want to go before DH leaves on deployment in December, but their website really isn't all that informative as to what my $50+ per person will get us. So I was hoping some of you could fill me in, and maybe even offer some tips.

We are DH, Myself, (26 weeks pregnant), DD almost 3, and DS almost 2.

How did you and your little ones like it? What was a favorite part? What is not to miss?
Thanks so much!

 

[lark]

Sea World is great. There are basically three big stadium shows -- the Shamu show (big whales doing tricks or, in sea world speak "behaviors"), a dolphin show, and a cheesey sea lion show that's sort of a play. Then there are a bunch of walk through exhibits -- you ride a people mover through a glass tunnel with sharks all around you, see penguins, polar bears, and other large sea animals. There are some smaller aquarium exhibits, and a bird show during some of the year. The big show stopper ride there is called Journey to Atlantis, which is a roller coaster that turns into a water ride. Probably one of the best theme park rides in SoCal -- I'd put it second on the list to Tower of Terror (although I haven't been to the major roller coaster parks like Magic Mountain). You can pay a few bucks for a little tray of frozen herring and feed them to the dolphins, and pat their heads while you're at it.

There is a great outdoor play area -- huge, with climbing tunnels and slides and stuff, and also a water play area where the kids can run through jets of water in tunnels and stuff.

Sea World is great. There are lots of discounts out there if you look.

 

[LucyKate]

Our trip report and photos http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/5333/35818.html may help you decide.

But in short, I was pleasantly surprised by Seaworld - we expected a whale show and got so much more.

Our favourites:
- Shamu Show (of course)
- Dolphin show was also fun. Don't sit near the front in either unless you want to get wet!
- The arctic experince "ride". This is actually a front for their display of polar bears, seals and walrus. It's a bit like the Star Trek ride in that you pretend to take a ride, which with films and special effects gives you the impression of riding. After that you wander past the polar bears, seals and walrus and see them extremely close up - very well done.
- The moving footpath past the penguins was also well done. Amazing display of penguins.
- Feeding the dolphins and rays. You buy a $4 container of food then get to pat and feed dolphins and/or rays while pictures are taken. My daughters loved this as it was a very cheap way to see dolphins up real close and get to pat them.
- They have their onw Grizzly river run - not as good as the DCA one, but still good fun.
- They have a great climbing area fir kids filled with net, ladders, bridges, tunnels, slides, swings etc - great place for them to burn off steam.

We went mid week in December and it was empty - no queues for rides, heaps of time with the dolphins and sit anywhere for the shows.

 

[abby]

I took my dd at 3 and 4 and she loved it. Loved feeding animals, petting the dolphins and the shows. We easily spent a day and on one trip parts of two days. She talks about it and would love to go back. (I loved it also...)

 

[caimakale]

We didn't hit any of the rides, our youngest was too little.

That gave us plenty of time though to see all the shows without having to rush through the day. My kids loved Sea World almost as much as Disneyland and we will continue to visit it in our future trips. My kids are ages 7, 5, & 2.

 

[Disneyfan_77]

I want to go before DH leaves on deployment in December . . .
Thanks so much!

Speaking of deployment as in military . . .
I could of sworn when I recently went military was free! I would check into that and call Sea World directly. You might not have to pay!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Disneyfan is absolutely right. Mitilitary is free right now!!! I believe it goes through the end of December. You just need to go to the Sea World website and print off the military form. My husband is air force and we went a few weeks ago. All four in our family got in absolutely free! We would have spent about $200!!

It was a great day! They had a couple of military tributes inside. There was a long one before the Shamu show.

FREE! If that doesn't sell you I don't know what will!

 

[gjw89]

Remember that AD military have free admisson through dec 31. Take advantage of that Salute to Heroes and don't pay a dime! Anheuser Busch is awesome to mil families (they own Sa world) they did this the prevous year too. we chose to got Sesame St. Aprk (which they own too) Downloading the free admission certificate was easy and it was no hassle at all to redeem it at the park!

 

[gjw89]

HA! I was so anxious to post and let you know it as free that I didn't see the last couple of posts! Sorry

 

[brenda1966]

Oh my yes, if you can go for free then do it!

A couple of things:
Petting/feeding the dolphins and petting the sting rays was one of our favorites.
The "Pet" show was a favorite too. DD really liked it.
Your kids are too young/small for the rides there. And I thought the Atlantis ride was a major dud. So glad the line was short!
It was too cold to play in the splash areas.
We spent the day walking around, seeing the exhibits and the shows.

DD asked to go on the Haunted Mansion ride. LOL. So, while Sea World is fun, it's no Disneyland!

 

[iheartdisney]

AWESOME!! We will definately take advantage of free entrance before the end of the year!
I'm really looking forward to it, DD loved going to the Virginia Aquarium when we were in VA Beach, so this should be fun.

Another question- How big/ spread out is it? DD is getting to the age she doesn't like to be strapped in all day, so should we take her stroller?

 

[wdwrich]

The free deal is not just for active duty. I'm a reservist and my family and I were able to get the free admission too.

 

[gjw89]

Good for you Rich! Take all the freebies we can get

 

[lark]

Another question- How big/ spread out is it? DD is getting to the age she doesn't like to be strapped in all day, so should we take her stroller?

It's about 3/4 size of of DCA, but it's not exactly hub-and-spoke style like most disney parks, so there's a fair amount of backtracking.