SeaWorld used to be just the relaxing part of an Orlando vacation. It's the park to visit to have a break from all the chaos and long queues that is Disney and Universal. But these days, SeaWorld arguably have more thrill-rides than any single Disney or Universal parks. And when we say thrill-rides, we meant thrill-rides. Not the kind of dark, indoor roller coasters with special effects and animatronics but the open air roller coaster that can throw you about a mile away if you got unstrapped.
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| SeaWorld Orlando front facade |
We came in before opening time as usual and bought our tickets in the e-kiosk. We were a bit disappointed with their ticket options because the cheapest was 82usd with a "free" second day visit. In our opinion and probably most people's opinion, one day is more than enough. We only allotted one day for Sea World in our itinerary so that "free" day was a waste. Business-wise it is a great move for them but I can see the lack of a "real" single-day tickets for less money would leave a bad taste to tourists who are really just planning to stay one day in the park.
Once we were in, we went straight to the Journey to Atlantis ride because its description in the map sounds good. It is a part-roller coaster, part-special effects and part-flume ride. From the get-go you get a feel that this is not your typical Disney/Universal ride because it lack the attention to detail that the other 2 theme-park giants always have in their rides. Still, the ride was not bad and we appreciate the effort SeaWorld has put into the ride. We would still suggest them to put more detail on the ride to get that fantasy-like feel.
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| Entrance to the ride |
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| A view of the flume part of the ride |
After the ride, we saw a number of people walking into a stadium, looked at the show times and knew that they are going in to watch Blue Horizons which is a dolphin, birds and acrobat show. It was a relaxing and entertaining show and was really one-of-a-kind. We knew then that we should concentrate on seeing the shows instead of lining in queue for the other rides. And it wasn't hard to plan how to see all of them because the schedules are designed nice enough that you have enough breaks and walk time in between shows.
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| Acrobats in Blue Horizons show |
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| That's one large dolphin! |
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| An actress riding the dolphin |
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| Macaus were released as a finale |
The rest of the shows were good and entertaining and the rides we rode in between was so-so. But what made our day and made the 82usd entrance a bit worth it was our lunch. It's not that the food was ridiculously great that we would want to eat it everyday. It was the ambiance that made it a lunch to remember. We had our lunch in the Sharks Underwater Grill which is a restaurant that has an aquarium as its wall, and in it are different species of sharks. It is a lunch that we would remember the rest of our lives. The feeling of eating a good meal while watching sharks swimming just a few feet from you is indescribable. It definitely was the highlight of our visit.
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| Good food, better view |
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| Our waitress was nice enough to take our picture ^_^ |
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| The kind of sharks present in the tank |
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| Mmmmm... Desserts! |
Brief descriptions of the other shows and rides are as follows:
Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island - a comedy show featuring pirates, sea lions, an otter and a walrus
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| Entrance to the stadium |
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| Two sea lions and a walrus with the pirates |
Manta - an upside down roller coaster where riders are strapped in a "superman" position
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| Facade of Manta ride |
Pets Ahoy! - cats and dogs, and other animals trick show
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| Stage of Pets Ahoy! |
Wild Arctic - a simulated plane ride in the arctic
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| Ride entrance |
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A made-up polar bear habitat with the polar bear
sleeping from a distance |
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| A polar bear display in the gift shop |
A'lure - a dance and acrobatic musical show
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| Theater where A'lure is played |
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| Neon sea horses... Sorry for the blurred pic |
Kraken - a seated but floor-less roller coaster
One Ocean - a "save the ocean" show with killer whales
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| One Ocean stage |
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| Killer whales triple jump! |
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| Stadium where One Ocean is played |
