On President’s Day, anticipating less crowds than years past, we drove down to Sea World for a day with orcas and dolphins and other sea creatures. The daughters were pumped. First time at the park. We can drive down to San Diego since it’s only an hour ½ from our house. No traffic on a holiday Monday.
Sea World closed mid-March 2020 to adhere to pandemic protocols, reopened in August 2020, closed down in December 2020 and reopened again early 2021. My husband had bought tickets for a date in December when the park ended up being closed, so we already had our tickets in hand. Covid tip: Sea World requires advanced purchase tickets. You can purchase at www.seaworld.com. There are add ons on the website to purchase like Dine and Drink tickets, Parking Upgrades Stroller/Scooter rentals. We did Dine and Drink tickets which were worth it and VIP parking which was NOT worth it because we got to the park 15 minutes after it opened and could have paid $15 less to park 30 feet away from our VIP spot! We brought our own BOB stroller and were glad we had it. Masks are required unless eating, drinking or in a designated relaxation area in the park.
There is also an opportunity to buy “Encounters” with animals, allowing your child to get up close with a sloth, dolphin, flamingo…very expensive and if you have more than one child, exponentially expensive. Encounters book up fast and you must reserve on the website, so if you’re visiting from out of the area, check availability before you schedule your trip if interested. They’re only available Friday-Sunday.
The website also has a list of the daily schedule of events/shows. Covid tip: book reserved seating for the Orca show and get in line about 20 minutes before the Dolphin show and don’t sit in the middle section. Their stadium seating for shows has been divided into zones to allow for social distancing, so there is a reduced amount of seating. Lines form early to get into the more popular shows. And, to exit, a Sea World staffer dismisses one row at a time starting with the sections closes to the exit. It can take a while for the middle group to get dismissed. We sat in the Soak Zone for the Orca show and we got SOAKED. Like totally soaked…we all looked like we peed our pants! J Luckily I had a couple extra sweatshirts for the girls in our BOB stroller so they could change tops at least. If you plan to sit in the Soak Zone, bring clothes or a rain poncho. The sea lion show is super cheesy…and the girls didn’t understand the jokes. The content is due for an update. The adults favorite show was Orcas, but the kids loved the Dolphins.
I actually found healthy food for lunch at the Shipwreck Reef Café: salmon and vegetables. We all ate at the same place. The girls had mac and cheese and it was flavorless. My husband had the burger and loved it.
Covid tip: all the theme park rides are still closed as are indoor animal exhibits and the children’s Sesame St themed play area. You can “meet and greet” Sesame St characters, but the characters are on platforms above the kids so they can’t be touched. They wave and pose for pictures while your child stands at the base of the float. It took us like 3 minutes to take a quick pic and move on. You can still feed sea lions and manta rays and touch starfish, etc in the tidepools. Lots to do…especially for younger kids.
It was a full day, despite the closures, and we spent 5 hours there and saw everything the kids wanted to see. And my husband and I learned a lot of fun facts about orcas, dolphins, manta rays, otters, etc. Totally worth it!
We Don’t Sit Still 