Photo Update: Sea Garden among other new things at SeaWorld – July 2010
I headed into SeaWorld last night to check out their AfterDark events and see what else was new. I just had to take the above shot. It’s one of the best photos spots in Orlando.
These boats at the front of the park recently received a new paint job. The first boat sort of looks like the giant play boat in Shamu’s Happy Harbor. The second boat is called Journey II and the third is called Atlantis, in reference to the Journey to Atlantis ride.
Speaking of Journey to Atlantis, here’s a quick clip I took of one of the boats coming down the big drop.
The wait for Journey was pretty long at 60 minutes.
I just thought this new sign at the shop across from Manta was cool looking.
Considering it’s summer time, Manta’s wait wasn’t too long at 35 minutes, but we didn’t feel like waiting, so we headed in to check out the aquarium. In this area, the mantas swim overhead. This one was huge – much larger than the others swimming above.
This DJ was playing some good music near the Penguin Encounter as part of the AfterDark events, but I guess no one was in the dancing mood. Besides this DJ and the dance music playing throughout the park, we didn’t experience any other AfterDark activities. We missed the Sea Lions Tonight show and by the time we got over to see Shamu Rocks, the stadium was filled to capacity.
Since they no longer have horses in their stables, they’ve transformed the fenced in area next to the stables into a “Sea Garden”. The area is full of plants and rocks that look like they could be growing on the bottom of the sea.
Signs throughout the area tell about coral reefs and other things you’d see under the sea.
Carvings of fish and other underwater creatures can be seen throughout the gardens.
The garden path leads you to the new Animal Connections area. Here different animals are brought out at set times through the day for guests to learn about and get their picture taken with.
Fans of the arcade may not be happy, but fans of cold treats will. The arcade is half the size it used to be. The left half has been taken over by a frozen yogurt shop.
We didn’t have any, but it smelled great inside and they have a lot of toppings to choose among.
This Handimals stand is new in Shamu’s Happy Harbor. Here kids, and adults, can transform their hand prints into animal artwork. A similar stand is located at Downtown Disney.
I noticed this sign near Shamu Stadium. I tried it a couple of times while at the park but didn’t receive any reply. But I just tried it again and received a message back saying a guest services representative would reply shortly. I asked what time the Shamu Rocks show starts. About five minutes later I received a reply that the show starts at 8:30, but I should arrive 30 to 45 minutes early to ensure a seat. (I guess I should have done that when I was there.) It’s cool that someone personally answer your question instead of just getting an automated message, when it works.
There are many spots outside of Journey to Atlantis where you can put in a quarter to squirt guests as they ride by. Last night one of the buttons was working without quarters, so I spend quite a while here making guests scream at me.
We ended our day with a front row ride on Kraken. By that time (9:45 p.m. – 15 minutues before park closing) there was no line.
