HOME > VACATIONS > 2004 > SAN DIEGO > SEAWORLD

SeaWorld : San Diego, California : Trip Report

SeaWorld Adventure Park

Another relatively nice day to visit a theme park. It wasn't what I expected, mostly because I wasn't sure what to expect. I guess I expected lots of tanks of fish and some amusement park rides. There really weren't many rides but there were a LOT of shows. I think the shows were the key.

I wasn't sure there was going to be anything for my 20 month daughter to enjoy but she really enjoyed the shows. Her parents did too. All in all a nice, albeit VERY expensive, experience.

What I was expecting was various exhibits of rare and exotic wildlife presented in a pleasing pseudo-natural setting. That there was plenty of. Since SeaWorld is very park-like there was a lot of effort to make the "cage" look like the natural surroundings the animals are usually found in. In most cases they look much better than some other places that just put the animal in a simple concrete cage or tank. A couple of the indoor exhibits obviously get a lot of traffic so they even have a moving sidewalk to help move the line along. When we got there early in the morning it was pretty empty so we were able to linger as long as we wanted. By the afternoon the park was getting crowded so we had little choice but to "move along".

My daughter's favorite part of the park was actually Shamu's Happy Harbor. That's basically a huge playground. Even though she was probably too young for most of the activities there she tried them anyway and had a fantastic time. She had a tantrum when it was time to go.

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SeaWorld Shows

The highlight of any visit to SeaWorld are the shows. In most cases we liked them a lot. All the shows seemed to involve getting wet. In some shows the water was part of the show, in others it seemed kind of pointless. The little kids seemed to love it. Some kids even showed up wearing bathing suits.

The first show we went to was the Dolphin Discovery. There were four Bottlenose Dolphins and two Pilot Whales. Before the show there was a musician to entertain the crowd. Since we got there early we found seats right up front in the "soak zone". There were MANY warnings that the "soak zone" is called that for a reason. Just in case we bought one of their vinyl ponchos. That turned out to be a VERY good idea especially since I was carrying a camera. The show itself was very entertaining and

The second show was Shamu Adventure which was also great. We got there late but still found seats near the front and still in the "soak zone". The show was incredible. It's amazing what animals that big can do. The "soaking" was part of the show but there was also a part where one of the Killer Whales swam around the tank deliberately splashing water on the audience. Once again, it thrilled the little kids and made those of us with cameras duck for cover.

The third show was Fools with Tools, a show feature Sea Lions in some goofy skit about a troublesome Weasel. The show was kind of goofy and amateurish and didn't have a whole lot of tricks. The "soak zone" in this case was mostly for a spray from some sprinklers triggered by one of the Sea Lions. Kind of lame.

The final show we attended at the end of the day was the Pets Rule!. This one had nothing to do with Sea creatures at all but my daughter found it extremely interesting. That's probably because it had the most animals she recognized, such as dogs and cats. Believe it or not there was a soak zone in this show too but also done with just some spray from the stage. It was an amusing show anyway.

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