June 16, 2008
Make sure to take a shuttle from your hotel, the drive in can be a little hectic and parking is out on the open blacktop (your car will bake in the FL sun all day). And remember where your shuttle picks up and when (most don't wait for you).

The entrance is a little congested but any theme park is trying to funnel in that many people. Be prepared to feel like cattle as you move past the gates into the shopping area at the front of the park.

Guest services is available right after your picture spot with Shamu (Disney like character - good family shot). Book/confirm all your in-park excursions with them. Most helpful and the friendliest people in the park.

We booked the "Pet a Penguin" and "Dine with Shamu" experiances prior to arriving. I would suggest only doing 1 excursion in a day, felt too overbooked and spent too much time worrying about getting to them on time to enjoy all the other exhibits in the park.

Be prepared for lots of walking and it to be hot. After all it is FL. Lots of opportunities for little ones to have melt downs because of the heat. Make it a point to bring a swim suit for them and let them play in the small water/splash area to cool down or it will ruin your day. Saw lots of over-tired over-sun exposed kids crying which lead to a lot of over-animated parents coming close to losing it (a few did and paid the price with a lot of disapproving looks from the crowds of parents around them, had to do the walk of shame as they retreated with their children).

The 'Penguin' experiance was cool. You get to walk around behind the scenes of the beluga whales, sea lions, polar bears, and then take a quick 2 minute shuttle ride (we had to wait for 20 minutes for ours) to the Penguin area (not the Penguin house) this is the care facility area. You get your directions and you can pet the peguin for about 15 seconds then you are scooted along so everyone can get through the line. Watch out for projectile poopers!

"Dine with Shamu" should have been a great experiance but it leaves a lot to be desired. You get your picture taken when you come in to the facility (located behind the Shamu stadium) but you don't get it as part of your admission (everything is extra) and it isn't even with Shamu, just the training area in the background. Dinner is buffet-style. Decent variety, pretty standard stuff. Not high quality but by 5pm after all day in the park it looks like 5 star stuff. Book early (weeks to months in advance) to get a table next to the pool, if not you are one table back and can't see as much or be as close. You get to see some whales jump and listen to the trainers tell you about the training methods. No splashing but Shamu does come up real close to you for picture chances. Take them quick because he is only there for a few seconds. Then the trainers dismiss the animals and come around like they are rockstars to answers questions and sign autographs. Kids thought it was cool but why would I want their autograph? If you are expecting an up close and personal interaction with Shamu don't book this one. If you want to have a decent meal without the hustle and bustle of the park then it isn't that bad. Dessert table was pretty good. And no special seats to the next Shamu show 'Believe' included.

'Believe' (new generation Shamu show) is a lot of broadway and a lot less Shamu jumping. The old show was much better. More whales and more jumps to wow the crowd. No more multiple whales in the pool splashing everyone. If you want to get splashed sit on the sides of the pool. The middle doesn't get too much in the splash zone. Nice tribute to the armed forces before every show. Get there early to get a good seat. Send one parent to stake a claim on an area and have the other one take the kids to the rides just outside the stadium.

Make sure to see the 'Clyde & Seymore' sea lion show. Caught the first show on a Monday and despite some uncooperative sea llions, at times, the show was very entertaining for the kids.

The Stingray exhibit was a hit with people of all ages. You feed them shrimp (where's the cocktail sauce?). Make sure to stand at the end of the pool by where you buy the shrimp or the rays will never make it to your part of the pool. They (the rays) feel like jelly. My kids (7 & 5 girls) had a great time there.

All the other exhibits are pretty standard stuff of what you would expect of SeaWorld.

I cannot say enough about Seaworld, absolutely fantastic, magical, awe inspiring, and an experience you won't soon forget. It cost us £45 each for an unlimited pass for 14 days, to Seaworld and their waterpark Aquatica, and it was the best £45 I have ever spent! We went there for around 12 days of our holiday, and we STILL didn't get round it all properly!
And you MUST go to the evening shows, Shamu rocks, the most fantastic show you will ever see, without a doubt!

We booked a two day one night stay in orlando online. I have 6 children ranging in age from 8 to 15 and we were looking for a two day day trip from Jacksonville while we were visiting family there. We tried to do Disney, but found it prohibitively expensive for our crew of 8. I could not find a two day stay with hotel for less than $2,000.00!
I grew up in Jacksonville and have never been to SeaWorld so I had no clue what was in store for us.
We found a deal on the SeaWorld website for a two day "park hopper" pass to SeaWorld and Aquatica with a two bedroom two bath hotel room at the Residence Inn for $900!

We upgraded to preferred parking on arrival ($15 vs. $10) and it was definitely worth the extra money. We were able to park within 100 yards of the front gate (NO TRAM!).

Overall, this was the best possible park for our crowd. It has a great variety of shows, both educational and entertaining, great rides for all ages (see below) and all in all the park is very clean, not too crowded, and easy to manage. Our stay was cut a little short by weather which cancelled some shows but we were ready to leave by 6 pm anyway. If you have the time and ability, I would suggest spending two or more days at SeaWorld, both in the morning and evening. We did not have that luxury.

Rides:
Kraken - incredible roller coaster, very short line, definitely worth waiting a little longer for the front!
Journey to Atlantis - Good plume ride, short, do at end of day because you will get soaked.
Wild Arctic - the worst of the rides, do not do if you get motion sickness easily, the walrus played with himself for all to see...

We spent the second day at Aquatica - overall a very funfilled short burst of a vacation for my crowd.

This is the first time my family and I have been to Seaworld in Orlando. We went to the one in California and we enjoyed that one but WOW! We had so much fun here. It was fantastic! We loved the show Believe and Blue horizons. When you visit Seaworld you don't want to miss these shows. They were very exciting. My 11 year old son loved the ride Kraken. He rode this ride 5 times. He managed to get me to go on this ride and if you like thrill rides this is the one for you. It is definitly scary. My daughter really like feeding the sea lions. She thought it was pretty cool cause they would get right up on the rocks in front of you so they were really nice and close. I don't think there is one bad thing to say about Seaworld. The staff was great. The prices were very reasonable. And it is one experience that you don't want to miss.I am already wanting to go back and we just went in June.