SeaWorld
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With a wide variety of activities, SeaWorld® Adventure Park is a great idea for the first full day of your holiday - stadium style shows means there's tons to see without having to line up in the searing heat! Make sure you pick up a show schedule and take 10 minutes to plan your day proceeding clockwise (or counter clockwise for you lefties) around the park - running from one side to the other will get old fast! Shamu and friends are spectacular as always. Get there early to enjoy the pre-show fun on the giant video screen and for boring parents to secure a seat outside the splash zone! Believe is the latest offering and undoubtedly the best we’ve ever seen – the underwater cameras produce some stunning images which are projected on crystal clear giant video screens.
Key West at SeaWorld is home to Stingray Lagoon and Dolphin Cove - both are very hands-on so look out for posted feeding times. (You buy their fish to feed their dolphins and nobody seems to mind!) The underwater dolphin viewing area is excellent and features underwater microphones that allow you to hear the dolphins' clicks as they talk to each other.
Pacific Point Preserve is where dozens of California Sea Lions (and half the local bird population) ride the waves in search of a fishy handout. Again feeding times are posted. Manatees: The Last Generation? is a good place to introduce children to SeaWorld's animal rescue program. The environmental message is quite clear. Smaller kids definitely need a stop at Shamu's Happy Harbor where they can spout off in the water area and take a ride on the Shamu Express mini coaster.
Blue Horizons involves very colorful bungee based theatrics and features Dolphins, and False Killer Whales (an important distinction if you're a salmon!). This one fills up fast so get there well before show time. The most popular sit-down presentation is the Sea Lion & Otter Show starring the very amusing antics of Messrs. Clyde and Seamore. Get there 20 minutes early and watch the SeaWorld mime hook up with hapless tourists with hilarious results. Don't laugh too hard you could be next! By contrast, Wild Arctic involves a rather bumpy helicopter 'flight' to the base station where you can venture above and beneath the ice to meet walruses, seals and beluga whales. Pets Ahoy on the other hand makes stars of regular cats and dogs as they yip, yap and meow their way through numerous skits, stunts and musical numbers.
Living up to the title of 'Adventure Park' SeaWorld also offers several outstanding thrill rides. Journey To Atlantis, a cross between a log flume and rollercoaster, has two of the steepest, wettest drops you'll find anywhere. The mighty Kraken, meanwhile, is hailed by 'coaster heads' as the best ride of it's kind in town. Then there’s Manta, which swoops around the park like a giant ray with riders suspended underneath it’s ‘wings’ – it’s a whole new genre of coaster, one that has upped the thrill stakes all across town!
Best Value Tickets:
The best way to enjoy SeaWorld is with an Orlando FlexTicket or an Orlando FlexTicket Plus. For those looking for a quick fix various one, two and three day combinations are available.
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- You might want to consider signing up for To The Rescue, a behind the scenes look at how sick or distressed animals are taken in, cared for and eventually released back into the wild.
- The salt water in the splash zones will RUIN camera equipment - you have been warned!
- Don't forget the Budweiser Clydesdales are residents here – a refreshing change from fish.
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