Touring Plans for Sea World?

[Sunshine1987]

We are planning a short trip to Orlando this Spring (but still staying at Disney--yay!) to do the stuff we miss when touring the Disney parks. We really want to go to SeaWorld. I am a super fan of touring plans but the UG doesn't have any touring plans listed for Sea World. Is a touring plan necessary? Is it even possible to do touring plans for Sea World ahead of time or do the showtimes vary too much to do so. I just want to make sure we make the most of our time. We will only be visiting 1 day and my kids are huge fans of rides and shows both! We will be visiting in mid-March.

Any tips/must-see/best times, etc?

 

[JLR]

We are planning a short trip to Orlando this Spring (but still staying at Disney--yay!) to do the stuff we miss when touring the Disney parks. We really want to go to SeaWorld. I am a super fan of touring plans but the UG doesn't have any touring plans listed for Sea World. Is a touring plan necessary? Is it even possible to do touring plans for Sea World ahead of time or do the showtimes vary too much to do so. I just want to make sure we make the most of our time. We will only be visiting 1 day and my kids are huge fans of rides and shows both! We will be visiting in mid-March.

Any tips/must-see/best times, etc?

Like everywhere else, the key is arriving at opening. Sea World is mostly shows and exhibits that are not as affected by crowds as queued attractions. About 4-6 weeks before your trip, Sea World will release the show schedule for your date and you can plan your day. The dolphin show is supposedly not to be missed and we missed it and is on our must do list next time. We loved Clyde and Seamore - arrive early to see the Mime. We loved Manta and rode it 4 times! the queue is awesome even without the ride. Kraken and Journey to Atlantis were OK. Others don't think much of it, but my DD loved the pets ahoy show. Believe was fun and I had no memories of the previous show to miss having the trainers in the water. We enjoyed feeding the animals. I heard dolphin feeding can be a challenge if you wait too late in the day so we did it early. You can also get a punch card for feeling the rays, sea lions and shark and it saves you a bit if you plan to do that. Wild Artic is like a less exciting version of star tours in my opinion and not worth the wait. The animal exhibits were cool and I wish we had bypassed the ride. Everything else is exhibits to see at your own pace, so not problem.

You can easily do all of Sea World in one day. That said, it was dramatically slower in the morning before 11 am, we wanted a second ride on Journey to Atlantis and decided not to becuase the line was about 60 minutes. We were there the last week of April on a Monday.

We did Manta, Kraken, Dolphin feeding and Journey to Atlantis early and were glad we did. Everything else you should be able to do (show schedules permitting) as you move around the park. The area where they have Wild Artic and Believe is way the heck away from everything else - which was why we missed the dolphin show. We were going to skip WA and my dd changed her mind and then couldn't make it back for the 3 pm dolphin show - so watch the show schedules closely. You can click on my TR link below - there are links to the Sea World pages.

 

[Sunshine1987]

Thank you so much! This is why I LOVE the dis boards. Your information was really, really helpful! I like to have things planned out in advanced. Of course I am always open to spontaneous or serendipitous discoveries but planning, imho, really makes a difference.

Thanks again! I am printing your post now!

 

[mollybeasley]

We're only a week out, and DS23 keeps mentioning SeaWorld. We were going to save it for next trip, but who knows when that will be. So I'm inclined to say OK, why not.

So I'm looking for recs too. Esp for the holidays.

 

[JLR]

I can't help you with holidays. Check the other posts - people have mentioned some not to be missed shows. Sea World does have a front of the line pass that you can buy, if you are ride people you could check into that. We didn't need it in April and really there are only 4 major rides. Everything else is shows and exhibits. Do the rides and dolphin feeding first thin in the morning and then do the shows you want to see. If you are only a week or so away, the show schedule is likely posted on the seaworld orlando site. The link is to the park hours page for December. You can click on the dates you are interested in. It looks like they have some extra shows. Be sure you look at a map of the park when you are deciding what order to do the shows in as it is quite a distance from Shamu stadium/Wild Artic area to everything else. I hope you have an absolutely wonderful time!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thank you so much! This is why I LOVE the dis boards. Your information was really, really helpful! I like to have things planned out in advanced. Of course I am always open to spontaneous or serendipitous discoveries but planning, imho, really makes a difference.

Thanks again! I am printing your post now!

Another suggestion that worked well for us: If your little one wants to ride the rides in Shamu's Happy Harbor, I suggest you head there just before the Shamu show (assuming the new one is in place) starts. We were able to let DD ride all the rides with almost no waits while the first show was in progress. (We went to the second show.) As soon as the show let out, hundreds of guests streamed into the area and the lines went from non-existent to long.

I think that's kind of a general rule of thumb at SeaWorld - Don't try to see nearby attractions as soon as a show lets out.

I agree with hitting Manta and Atlantis early as well. The lines for Kraken didn't get too long when we were there, but I imagine they can.

We spent a couple days there and tried all the shows. My personal favorites were the dolphin show and the sea lion show. DD7 really liked the Pets Ahoy. We thought all the shows were good and worth the time if you have it.

We didn't bother with the ride up the needle or whatever it is called.

Have a great time!