Visit to Sea World w/ 3 year old.

[pixie71]

Hello,

My son and I are taking a short trip in September to Disney and since he has become so fascinated with dolphins and whales I wanted to also take him to Sea World. I haven't been in about 15 years-what can I expect crowd wise? Can SeaWorld be done in one day...and will a 3 year old find it exciting or boring after a trip to the Magic Kingdom. I was thinking of seeing SeaWorld first. Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[highlander447]

He will enjot the shows also I am sure he will enjoy the happy harbour play ground SW is diff from normal theme parks more relaxed

 

[TN Traveler]

I think you're 3 yr old would LOVE Sea World. We have 3 girls including a 4 yr old. We did 1 day at Sea World after 6 days at Disney and they really enjoyed it. The dolphin and whale shows are great but you MUST take him to see Seamore. That was the funniest show. All of us really enjoyed it. The Happy Harbour play area is a nice break for you too b/c you can "turn him loose" and let him run while you relax and plot out your strategy for rest of the day or the next day.
Have a wonderful time.

 

[vernon]

Small things that are easy to miss, but he may enjoy.

The tide pool opposite the Coral reef is a nice little area where kids can do some "hands on stuff" like pick up a seaurchin and dip their hands into the water. It's designed for little kids to have fun so it's worth checking out.

Feeding the dolphins and seals will be fun, IMHO he's a little young for the stingrays as he'd need longer arms .

There are some "ice caves" in the wild arctic area that are a mock up of a polar bear den, kids love climbing about in there.

Pet's ahoy is a show aimed at his age group.

I think he may be a year to young to "star" in the Whale and dolphin show. I think they like kids of 4 or 5 but I may be wrong. It's worth getting to the dolphin show at least 30-40 minutes before show time and keep a look out for a CM with a clip board wandering about. If you can get your son to ask a few questions about the dolphins there is an excellent chance he'll be asked to help in the show. He may be just a little too young, but the CM would ask you his age and let you know. It's worth knowing the drill incase you come back next year .


With SW you're likely to get second day free passes , so I wouldn't leave it until your last day. You might find he's keen on a second visit. IMHO there is plenty to do at SW to make a second visit ( even if it's not a full day. At that age their attention span is limited so 2 visits of 3/4 of a day each is definately easier for them to cope with than going from opening to closing. JMHO.

 

[pixie71]

Thanks I didn't know about the Happy Harbour play area LORD YES he needs a place to run off some steam. I will plan Seaworld for our first full park day and if we do get 2nd visit passes for another visit right after the MK. I tried to go to swoinfo.com and it doesn't seem to work. Any other websites with Seaworld information??

 

[TN Traveler]

You might try a search for SeaWorld - Orlando. Or just go under SeaWorld/Orlando. When I went on, I found it helpful w/prices and schedules. I couldn't get swoinfo to come up for me either.

Understand 100% "running off steam" for your son. Have 3 girls ranging in age from almost 13 to almost 5!! Girls can get pretty wound up too!!