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All-New Holiday Festivities

New to this year’s Christmas Celebration is the Sea of Trees.  Guests will discover 74 massive trees, each sparkling, lighted and choreographed to classic holiday tunes, making a dramatic display around SeaWorld’s center lake.

Also new this year is The Christmas Market, located on the park’s Bayside Pathway.  Here guests can shop for one-of-a-kind gifts and dine on scrumptious holiday delights.

“Our guests will be immersed in the wonderful sights, sounds, and tastes of a joyous holiday experience,” said Michael Fletcher, vice president of Entertainment for SeaWorld Orlando. “The Sea of Trees is going to transform our holiday nights with a stunning symphony of lights and music on the water.  Guests can even do their Christmas shopping in the Christmas Market while they feast on delicious holiday favorites.  We want SeaWorld to become a joyous holiday tradition for our guests, so this year we’re truly bringing the sea to the season!”

Returning Holiday Favorites

Returning to SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration are family favorites.  At the park’s Wild Arctic attraction, guests can jump aboard and take an unforgettable train ride to the North Pole.  Classic scenes from THE POLAR EXPRESS movie are recreated in a multi-sensory experience that immerses passengers in special lighting, scent, sound and motion effects. When they arrive at the North Pole, guests discover a winter wonderland surrounded by holiday cheer and amazing animal encounters.

THE POLAR EXPRESS Experience is based on the film from Warner Bros. Pictures and Shangri-La Entertainment, inspired by the beloved Caldecott Medal children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg about a doubting young boy who takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.  He embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.

Families and friends can once again enjoy the spirit of Christmas during four of SeaWorld’s holiday-themed shows:

• Winter Wonderland on Ice, is a spectacular show where Christmas comes to life with towering water fountains, magnificent fireworks and some of the most talented ice skaters in the world.
• Clyde and Seamore’s Countdown to Christmas, is a Christmas comedy with everyone’s favorite sea lions Clyde and Seamore and a few mischievous otters and a jolly walrus or two, just for good measure.
• A Sesame Street Christmas is a festive and fun musical celebration where guests can celebrate the holidays with friends from Sesame Street.  The holidays have arrived, but Abby Cadabby doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about … she’s never heard of Christmas! Elmo, Big Bird and other Sesame Street friends gather to share the true spirit of the holiday with her.
• Shamu Stadium once again brightens the night with dazzling lights and glowing candles, while Christmas carols abound and Shamu splashes to celebrate the holiday season.  It’s the magnificent holiday show, Shamu Christmas … Miracles.

For those looking for unique holiday cuisine with SeaWorld’s special touch, the Makahiki Christmas Luau is a South Seas-style festive celebration of the ancient holiday traditions of the Pacific Islands.  Joyful songs of the season are reinterpreted with Polynesian rhythms, music and dance.  For more details on holiday dining options, visit SeaWorldOrlando.com.

’Tis the season of giving and what better way to do so than to give back to wildlife, something SeaWorld has been doing for more than 50 years.  With each adult admission purchased online through Dec. 31, 2010, a child ages 3-12 receive admission to SeaWorld for only $5, all of which is donated to non-profit organizations supporting wildlife conservation projects.   It’s the perfect place to give back and connect with wildlife but also to share in the holiday spirit together with family and friends at SeaWorld.

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Trick-or-Treat Sea Sweets Located throughout the park, and designated on your Trick-or-Treat Treasure Map, the Trick-or-Treat stations slowly and judiciously hand out 2 pieces of candy per person. I recommend getting your candy early in the afternoon to avoid the long lines. Later in the afternoon we gave up getting candy because the lines were very long, 15-20 minute wait for 2 pieces of candy. We heard several parents tell their kids they would buy them a bag of candy on the way home they didn’t have time to wait, they had to get to Shamu Stadium to get seats for the next show.

Abby Cadabby’s Halloween Adventure is a 4,000 square foot outdoor maze where trick-or-treaters can help Abby search for her missing wand. At the end of the maze you can have your picture taken with Abby Cadabby (additional fees apply).

Count von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast Little ones will sing, groove and mingle side-by-side with Sesame Street Characters, while listening to Halloween themed music and enjoying a special breakfast “boo”-fet. ($18 for adults $16 for children ages 3-9 call 1-888-800-5447 for reservations)

Strolling Entertainment Gummy Worm Wanda, Salt Water Taffy, and Swedish Fish Suzy are among the dozens of fanciful sea creatures that stroll through the park with schools of playful pumpkinfish. These roaming characters helped spread the Halloween theme throughout the park and they were happy to stop and have their picture taken.

Frozen Fun Zone a DJ will melt the ice with interactive games and dancing at Wild Arctic Plaza. A fun break, especially watching families do the Cha-Cha Slide together!

Cookie Decorating Station For a small fee kids and parents alike can decorate a Halloween themed cookie. The kit includes a souvenir lunch box filled with a sugar cookie, frosting, sprinkles and candies as well as milk or apple juice to wash it down. We enjoyed decorating our cookies in the cool shade of the tent, as did most of the families around us. Unfortunately, the cookies tasted awful. We watched as most kids took one bite out of the cookie and then just pick the candy off the top and…we did the exact same thing-seemed like a waste of money in the end.

Countdown to Halloween this adorable show full of Sesame Street characters is only shown a few times in the afternoon and evening and the small theater fills up fast so make sure you are in line early to see it. I video taped the entire show and part one is here in the post and you can see part two on my YouTube page.

All-in-all we had a nice day at SeaWorld, in addition to checking out the Halloween activities, I was able to introduce my husband to the best show in the park, Blue Horizons and we enjoyed seeing the manatees, rays, dolphins, sharks and other aquatic animals. Sadly, we didn’t enjoy the Believe show, and neither did the people around us who used words like “lame” and “boring” to describe the Shamu show with no real human/killer whale interaction.

If you are planning a visit during the Halloween Spooktacular, I’m sure you’ll have some Halloween fun. If you are thinking of going just for the spooky festivities and you aren’t a SeaWorld Passport holder, I’d think twice about it. Unfortunately there isn’t much added value and there are better family friendly Halloween values in the Orlando area.

Disclosure: SeaWorld invited my husband and I over for a day in the park to experience the Halloween Spooktacular. They also gave each of us a cookie decorating kit. All opinions are 100% mine.

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We started back where they care for the rescued sea turtles, manatees and dolphins.  SeaWorld parks have helped animals in need — ill, injured, orphaned and abandoned — for more than four decades.  Nearly 20,000 animals have been rescued by the park’s animal experts including whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, manatees, sea turtles and birds. This is the equivalent of helping one animal a day — every day — for 45 years. The majority of these animals are successfully treated by SeaWorld veterinarians, rehabilitated and returned to the wild. In a normal year SeaWorld will care for 13-30 rescued SeaTurtles. In 2010 they have already rescued 368 sea turtles and they have released 256! That is about 25 times more work and they have added no staff! The huge increase is due to both the January cold snap and the oil spill. We even got to see the orphaned manatee but we weren’t allowed to take pictures.

Our next stop was Pacific Point Preserve where park guests can feed the seals and sea lions. Then we headed to the much anticipated stop at an educational building that houses Magellanic Penguins! These penguins are used as ambassadors for SeaWorld because they can withstand temperatures in the 60’s, unlike most other penguin species. Aaron and I even got to pet Miss Mario the penguin!!

Next stop was dinner at the Sharks Underwater Grill. It was very cool eating dinner right next to the shark tank! We were served a Ceasar Salad, an appetizer platter with stuffed mushrooms, shrimp cocktail and bruschetta and this was followed by a dessert platter with chocolate cake filled with chocolate cake and covered in chocolate ganache, white chocolate mousse in a dark chocolate cage and fried tortillas dipped in chocolate and covered in coconut whipped cream. Needless to say the meal was yummy.

After eating all that food we were free to explore the park on our own, and encouraged to see the special summer nighttime shows. Our first stop was Manta! I rode this coaster last October and I couldn’t wait to introduce Aaron to it. Well Aaron’s tummy was bothering him so I got really brave and rode it alone! I still love this coaster but it wasn’t nearly as fun as it was riding it with Corrin, Toni, Dave and Laurie last fall. Next we walked around and checked out some of the animal exhibits before heading to Wild Arctic. After that we got in line for Shamu Rocks. This show was the whole reason Aaron wanted to go to SeaWorld and after waiting an hour in line to say it…we were both disappointed. The music is great but we both agree that the show was boring and didn’t live up to our expectations. I’m sure some of that has to do with the fact that the trainers no longer go in the water with the orcas thus leaving the show with just some dancers, an electric guitar player and some killer whales that wave at the crowd a lot.

After the show we decided to head back to our car. We had hoped to see the fireworks but we would have had to wait around  over a half hour for them to begin and we had an almost 2 hour drive ahead of us. All-in-all we had a great day at SeaWorld and I still can’t wait to take my entire family on Manta!

Disclosure: We were guests of SeaWorld Orlando for the day. No cash was exchanged for this post all opinions are 100% mine.

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That is Toni, Corrin and myself on the ride.

We enjoyed the Believe show with Shamu.

The Clyde & Seymour show was hysterical due to several cast mistakes and uncooperative animals!

Corrin, Dave and Laurie had a lot of fun feeding the animals through out the park.

We all had a great time enjoying all of the attractions at SeaWorld Florida.

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