Photo Finds: A stroll through SeaWorld Orlando – February 2011
My family and I spent the evening at SeaWorld on Sunday. I needed some photos of the “Believe” show for an article in our upcoming Spring issue. Here’s a look at what caught my eye as we enjoyed the park.
As you can see in the top photo, Shamu Stadium is under construction as they get it ready for the new show, “One Ocean”. Notice the multi-colored whale tale. Believe will continue to run until One Ocean starts in late April. So expect to see more changes in the stadium as April nears. You can read more about One Ocean Here, and in our Spring 2011 issue.
As this sign reads, you can text swfinfo and a question about the park that day to 69050. You don’t have to be in the park to use this. A good example would be to find out what the park hours or show times, or find out wait times to see how busy it is.
If, like me, you’ve never been to the Makahiki Luau at SeaWorld, then also like me, you may have never seen the stage and auditorium where it’s performed. This is it in the back of the Seafire Inn restaurant.
While construction work is done on Shamu Stadium, the path behind the stadium and the killer whale viewing window is closed. As you can see on the sign, work is also being done to reopen the Dine with Shamu experience soon.
Mmmmm, my wife gave me a bite of her Premium Shamu Bar. If you’d had a Mickey Bar at Disney World, this is SeaWorld’s version.
It was nice to see some strolling entertainment. These stilt-walking drummers were performing in Shamu’s Happy Harbor.
I also spotted these fake palm trees in Happy Harbor. The palm fronds have water misters in them – very clever.
When you’re walking past the games area, look for an employee standing near the pathway handing out free game coupons. We each received one for the Frog Bog game where you try to launch a frog onto a lily pad. Unfortunately our frogs landed in the pond.
These pink and yellow flowered trees are very pretty and blooming all around Orlando right now. Unfortunately, I think they may be part of the cause of my family’s allergy problems right now.
I think I may have written about these Nanny Caddy vending machines before, but they’re great for families with young kids.
I noticed these Shamu Rocks T-shirts marked down and it made me wonder if the show is not going to return this summer. So I checked with our SeaWorld media contact and have been told it is returning. Last year’s SeaWorld summer programs were called SeaWorld After Dark. This year they’ve been renamed SeaWorld Summer Nights. Without any specifics yet, I’ve been told a lot of new stuff will be going on. I hope Shamu Rocks returns with all new music.
As an annual passholder, I used to be able to ride the Sky Tower for free. Unfortunately I now only get a dollar off the $4 charge.
The girl pearl diver was having fun seeing how many cups she could stack on the guy’s head.
Even though they don’t sell gum in the theme parks, I guess too many people are bringing their own and spitting it out on the rides. This gum drop was just one I saw in the queue for Journey to Atlantis.
I love that Dippin’ Dots are available in the park, but my son was disappointed to find the stands closed at 6 p.m. even though the park didn’t close until 7 p.m.
There is still a lot of Believe merchandise available, but get it while you can before the show ends in April. When I posted this photo on our Facebook page, someone asked if they could buy any of it outside of the park. There are two ways: SeaWorld has a store in the Orlando airport, and they also have an online store at shamushop.com.
sea is good but the tickets are over priced