Sea World Trip Report July 1, 2012

[JPL]

As promised my report from Sea World from July 1st.

We arrived at Sea World around 10 AM. The price of travelling with my friend's 4 yr old & 1 yr old I purchased my ticket and we entered the park. Our first stop was Stingray Lagoon to pet some stingrays which is still a cool little hands on exhibit and a fun. After this we headed towards Dolphin Cove. I am not a fan of the way they have this set up because if you don't actually buy the fish to feed the dolphins you really don't see much any more. We spent a few few minutes in the underwater viewing area which was cool(literally it had AC) After watching the Dolphins and cooling off for a bit we decided to check out Turtle Trek. The wait was 90 Min so at first we decided to come back later. We checked out the outside for a few minutes they still had the Manatee & a new section with Sea Turtles near the Exit. As we were rounding the corner there was a Sea World employee handing out Fast Pass like tickets for Turtle Trek so we grabbed a few and then had something to drink and just hung out in the area for about 20 minutes until it was our time to enter.
We enter Turtle Trak and which is in the old Manatee attraction building and we waited in the old Manatee underwatere viewing area. After about 20 minutes we entered the Pre-Show area which consisted of more underwater views of the Sea Turtles. A girl used a puppet to tell a synopsis of the story and talk about Sea Turtles. The we entered the theater after picking up our 3D glasses. The show was projected in a domed theater and you stood against lean rail much like the circlevision attractions at WDW. The show began to tell the story of a Sea Turtle's journey. The attraction was a little intense for small children and my friend had to leave with the 4 yr old. Overall the attraction was a bit underwhelming. The projections were not very clear and the 3D was avaerage at best. I was highly disappointed since it was hyped to me before my visit. After we finished with Turtle Trek it was time for lunch.
We head over to the Waterfront Area & ate and the Spice Mill Cafe. I was pleasanrly surprised by the food. It was one of the best Theme Park burger I have ever had Disney could really take a lesson from this place! After Lunch we were heading to see One Ocean the newest version of the Shamu Show.
I always loved watching the Shamu show and think that it's amazing what these trainers do with the whales. Now as for One Ocean it was terrible! This was by far the most boring and least educational of all the renditions of the show I have seen. The show focused a lot on the video screens and less on whales and their trainers. It seemed like the whales did a few jumps, came out of the water, & splashed the audiense and it was over. Sea World really needs to find a way to get the trainers back in the water with the whales if they want to produce a successful show.
After the show we headed over to Shamu's Happy Harbor for the kids to play in the water for a while and I headed to Wild Arctic. I think Wild Arctic is really well done it really has great theming even though I skipped the ride portion of the attraction since the line was long. It was nearing time for dinner after a little water play & shopping. We had reservations for the Sharks Inderwater Grill which we made earlier in the day. We still had about a half hour to kill before dinner we headed to Shark Encounter so we wouldn't be far away from dinner. This is an attraction I remmber from my youth and it's still cool today! Nothing like travelling through a tunnel surrounded by sharks. It also set the mood for dinner.
After a short wait for dinner we were seated across from the Shark Tank and I will say the atmosphere of the restaurant is really cool much like Coral Reef at Epcot. We sat & watch the sharks and other fish swim by while we waited for server just talking about our day. Then everything fell apart we actually order food from this place. The food & service were absolutely horrible! Me & my friend ordered steaks and they were both terrible! The had absolutely no taste followed by a lighter fluid like after taste. His wife order salmon which also was terrible! The kids had the kids steak(first try had a hair in the food!) The 2nd attempt took over 20 minutes to reach the table nothing like a cranky hungry 4 yr old to deal with! The baby had a hot dog. They were nice enough to take the on child's steak off the bill but still the place was expensive & terrible!
After Dinner we went back through Shark Encounter before heading over to Pacific Point Preserve to see the Sea Lions.
We spent some time watching the Sea Lions' antics and waiting for the Nighttime show Sea Lions Tonight which I had heard was very good. We grabbed a few seats and waited for the show. Before the show the Famous Sea World Mime came out to entertain the crowd. I really enjoy this guy's act always funny & entertaining. The show started and to my surprise the Mime had an active role in the show which made it even better. This show is parody of your day at sea World and pokes fun at a lot of the show & attractions throughout the park. This show is much better than the daytime show and I wopuld highly recommend it. After the show it was time to say our goodbyes to Sea World the kids & adults were all getting tired and it was almost park closing. We stopped in a few gift shops on our way out and that ended our day.

[NJGIRL]

Thanks for the review Jeff !

[minnie04]

(I always loved watching the Shamu show and think that it's amazing what these trainers do with the whales. Now as for One Ocean it was terrible! This was by far the most boring and least educational of all the renditions of the show I have seen. The show focused a lot on the video screens and less on whales and their trainers. It seemed like the whales did a few jumps, came out of the water, & splashed the audiense and it was over. Sea World really needs to find a way to get the trainers back in the water with the whales if they want to produce a successful show.)


I agree totally!! The last time we were at the park we were really disappointed with the "shamu" show. It was still the "Believe" show. And it was horrible, sorry Sea World, but unless the trainers are with the whales in the water people aren’t going to enjoy the show. I understand the dangers, but it’s not a show if they aren’t interacting with the whales.. The 'Shamu Rocks" is good at night it’s more entertaining for the kids... We love Sea World and will continue to go, but they really need to rethink of a way to make that part of the entertainment better...

[mom2morgan]

We've always gone in December when the days are fairly short, so we go early. This time we're going in September - I didn't know that they had "evening" shows that were different. Would it be worth going a little later, then?

[Crow]

never been there....i used to hear it was good, but idk if i will ever take the time.
thanks for the report