Sea Life & Entertainment at SeaWorld San Diego

It has been a little while since I have written a post about the California vacation my family took this summer. I believe I left off talking about our trip to Cambria and the Hearst Castle. Next up on our adventures was a two-night stay at my cousin’s house in Carlsbad. She was so kind to put up my family of 6 for two nights! It was awesome getting to catch up with her and her sister, who happened to be visiting the same time as us! It was one big slumber party! Her house became our home base for the next couple of days as we visited the Mormon Battalion Museum in San Diego, SeaWorld, and Legoland! In this post I want to talk about the sea life and entertainment we experienced at SeaWorld San Diego.

First I want to talk about the cons of visiting SeaWorld over the summer, then I’ll talk about the pros.

Cons:

I think the biggest downfall of visiting SeaWorld was the crowds. We went right in the middle of peak season (July), and I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone who is wanting to visit. Having long lines and crowded shows may have tainted my experience a bit, which is kind of unfortunate.

The second issue we had was rides breaking down. The number of rides are very limited so if you are unable to ride them due to mechanical issues, it is very disappointing. The Journey to Atlantis was the one ride that our entire crew wanted to ride. We waiting in line for quite some time, only to have it break down. They had an estimated repair time of no less than 35 minutes. After a 45 minute wait already, that wasn’t happening. We opted to just stand by the drop and get sprayed with water from the empty boats dropping down. We did get in line a second time, but it broke down again. I would like to think that they were just having an “off” day, because I have heard fantastic things otherwise.

Lastly, we did get some unfortunate personal news by phone while visiting the park, which didn’t make for a super happy day. That had nothing to do with the park, but it did make us a little less patient with the other problems we encountered.

Now for the pros:

The shows are amazing and most definitely exceeded my expectations as far as entertainment and humor go. After having bad luck with the rides I wasn’t expecting much else out of the park. However, the creative story-lines and choreography from each show we went to just blew me away. My advice for those of you planning to visit the park would be to go for the sea life and the shows. If you happen to get on some rides then all the better. I think if I had different expectations when going into the park, my attitude would have felt very different. The two shows that stuck out to me were the Sea Lions LIVE and Pets Rule! We were laughing so much in both shows, but the fact that the shows truly showcase the talented animals just made it all worthwhile.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. We weren’t hot and we weren’t cold, and even better – nobody got sunburned! Sitting and watching shows outside can be miserable if it’s hot out, but it was just right. I guess that’s what you get for having a park in San Diego!

The shark exhibit was awesome. It was very cool walking over and under the variety of sharks that SeaWorld houses. My oldest is a big shark fan and thought these guys were definitely cool to watch.

If you or your kiddos are interested in sea life, then definitely take your time walking through all of the exhibits and watching the penguins, petting the stingrays, viewing the sharks, etc.

I’d love to hear how your experiences with SeaWorld San Diego have been! I’m really thinking time of year would make a big difference for crowds and lines. Comment with your thoughts!

 

I received some complimentary passes to review and express my opinions about my visit to SeaWorld San Diego. All opinions expressed are my own.