Second day of our Orlando stay we spent in SeaWorld, which is very different from Magic Kingdom. We were not disappointed in this park. SeaWorld has Marine life shows, thrill rides, aquariums and up-close encounters with dolphins, penguins and more.
When combined with its neighbor Discovery Cove and Aquatica, it forms SeaWorld Parks Orlando. As of Summer 2014, SeaWorld Orlando has been separated into 8 themed areas, that encompass the Port of Entry and seven “seas”, which are the Sea of Shallows, Sea of Legends, Sea of Ice, Sea of Delight, Sea of Mystery, Sea of Fun, and the Sea of Power.
Having lived in Florida, I have visited many theme parks there, but I had never been to Sea World before. Dave visited this park a long time ago, so we were looking forward to exploring this park. Today we arrived at Sea World in Orlando right at the opening. It wasn’t crowded yet, so we quickly parked our car and took a walk towards the park’s entrance.
The walruses next to the iconic Shamu themed lighthouse greeted the visitors in the Port of Entry, the main gate area at the entrance with souvenir shops, tropical foliage, and a large artificial lake with a marina theme.
SeaWorld is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, so we could see quite a few 50th anniversary banners and installations all over the park like in the picture below. SeaWorld’s 50th celebration features a Sea of Surprises throughout an 18-month celebration highlighting the most memorable SeaWorld experiences in San Diego, Orlando, and San Antonio.
The first sea we entered was the Sea of Shallows. Just as the name suggests, the Sea of Shallows features most of the shallow water sea animal exhibits, which includes turtles, manatees, manta, stingrays, flamingoes, and alligators. This area is designed to mimic the appearance of Key West, Florida with specially designed architecture and landscaping. It is also home to the Dolphin Theater and Manta roller-coaster.
Dave and I were rushing to get to the Manta ride right away, before it got crowded, but we stopped to take a look at these beautiful birds – flamingos.
We started our day in SeaWorld with the flying steel roller coaster called Manta and themed as a “flying ray”. We experienced 3 different thrill rides this day, riding each one twice, but we liked the Mantra ride the most. It is fun and entertaining ride with intense dives, surprising twists and loops. The ride has an unusual start – we were strapped to the seat with our head-first and face-down, with the seat rotated 90 degrees, which made us feel like flying. This way everyone has a close to the front row experience.
The line to the ride goes through the aquarium with dozens of rays and fish that enhances the experience.
After Manta, Dave and I moved to the Sea of Legends to enjoy a different ride. Kraken is a floorless roller coaster named after a legendary squid like sea monster of giant size that terrified sailors for centuries. Kraken can be explored beneath to reveal live eels that represent the Kraken’s young.
Next, we moved to Journey to Atlantis, a boat ride through dark waters and tunnels of a forbidden, forgotten city, featuring roller coaster-like elements with a 60-foot drop. This ride got us wet, but it felt good on this hot day.
After the ride we visited the Jewel of the Sea Aquarium next door, with a glass floor and swimming fish underneath. Here is a few of the aquarium’s inhabitants.
Golden Trevally is a beautiful schooling fish of the Pacific and the Red Sea area.
Green Moray eels have no scales covering its brownish/gray skin. Instead, this fish has a protective yellow slime that makes it appear green in color.
The Sea of Power is home to SeaWorld’s iconic killer whale shows at Shamu Stadium. The shows in SeaWorld are incredible. The Shamu show is the best! Very entertaining! The stadium was already crowded by the time we arrived. We found a couple seats right outside of the Splash Zone, although we still got a few drops of water during the show. 🙂 After the show we walked through The Shamu Underwater Viewing exhibit for a close up look at the beautiful killer whales.
Our absolute favored attraction in the park is Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin located in the Sea of Ice. First, we were seated in eight-person vehicles for the ride, where we got transported into the rarely seen icy world of Antarctica. We were following a tiny penguin named Puck on this motion-based simulated adventure ride and were able to explore the frozen continent of Antarctica with the South Pole through his eyes.
After we stepped off the ride, we spent some time exploring the penguins’ colony above and below their icy world meaning above and under water. Here is the live Penguin Cam to take a peak.
Next, we rushed to a newer attraction called Turtle Trek. Our adventure began with entering Turtle Trek’s theater, the world’s first 360 degree dome theater to show a 3D film. According to SeaWorld’s website, the theater uses 34 projectors to seamlessly cover the entire surface of the dome, allowing the movie to be shown all around guests and even above them.
Turtle Trek tells the story of a sea turtle’s journey through life, from birth to adulthood, following the life of a Sea Turtle from the time she hatches to the time she returns to the same beach to lay her own eggs. It was an incredible experience! It felt like we really swam through a group of jellyfish, escaped a commercial fisher’s net, and many other adventures.
After the movie, we were escorted to two naturalistic habitats, one filled with manatees like in the picture below and several species of freshwater fish, the other home to more than 1,500 saltwater fish and over a dozen sea turtles. Many of the manatees and sea turtles were rescued by the park’s animal team or were born at SeaWorld.
At the Blue Horizons show we followed the adventure of a young girl named Marina as she discovered the secrets of the sea and sky in a mesmerizing blue world of adventure and wonder. This theatrical spectacular features dolphins, tropical birds and acrobats.
Here are a few pictures from the numerous aquariums in SeaWorld. Meet the huge octopus.
Zebra shark.
These stingrays look like the cute ghosts, don’t they?
Purple seahorses.
This is not a seaweed. It is a weedy seadragon. Some of the seadragons were born in SeaWorld.
Cownose Stingray.
At the end of the day we watched an all-new sea lion comedy adventure, which started just a couple weeks ago, on April 16, 2015. It felt good to sit down and take some light relief from all of the rides and exhibits. The name of this hilarious 30 minute stage show is “Clyde and Seamore’s Sea Lion High”, where Seamore is a Sea lion and Clyde is a very large Walrus.
Full of fun and the big personalities of sea lions, walruses and otters, the show takes place in an aquatic-themed high school where laughter and education go hand in hand (flipper).
When these dynamic duo were nominated to win scholarships to Ocean University, they must enter crash courses in science, dance and gym in a storyline that is full of fast-paced fun. This educational pre-show celebrates teachers from all over.
On our way out of the park, we noticed the Parlor Ice Cream Shop that serves delicious ice cream, but I was amazed by the ice-cream cone shaped plants in front of the shop entrance. SeaWorld is great! We will definitely return for another visit.
