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SeaWorld

SeaWorld is a low-stress experience, and much less frenzied than the other Orlando parks. Easily toured in six or seven hours, it’s laid out so that the crowds pretty much flow from one scheduled animal show to another, working in the smaller attractions along the way. SeaWorld is so beautifully landscaped that you often can’t see one stadium from the other, and the sense of space is a welcome change after a week spent at Disney. But the openness also means that children up to age 5 will benefit from a stroller. Strollers are $15, $20 for a double. You can also rent wheelchairs for $12 and ECVs for $50.

SeaWorld admission is $80 for adults and $70 for children ages 3 to 9, excluding tax, but if you buy your tickets online the price drops about $5. Parking is $12. Call 800/SEA–WORLD or visit www.seaworldorlando.com for more information.

If you’re headed to the other SeaWorld parks, combo tickets are available. Two-park tickets for SeaWorld and Aquatica are $114 for adults and $105 for kids, a fairly significant savings and, once again, if you buy online expect a $5 price break. Prices for Discovery Cove vary seasonally but begin at $286. For updated info on all ticket combinations and prices, visit www.seaworldorlando.com.

Shows

For years SeaWorld’s claim to fame has been its animal shows, especially those that feature the dolphins, the sea lions, and the park icon, Shamu. These three classics are periodically updated to feature new technological advances, but most of this is window-dressing. It’s hard to improve upon the grandeur and charm of the animals themselves. See them if you do nothing else.

The dolphin show, the sea lion show, and the Shamu show all take place in enormous open-air theaters, so touring SeaWorld is as simple as consulting your map for showtimes and being at the theater about 30 minutes early, 40 in the on-season. SeaWorld does a good job of keeping tabs on crowding and providing accurate estimates on how early you need to be there.

Insider’s Secret

Be forewarned that if you opt to sit in the “splash zone”—the first 10 rows of the stadium—Shamu’s good-bye wave will leave you drenched straight through to your underwear. Kids enjoy the blast of saltwater, at least on a summer day, but if you’re touring off-season or catching a nighttime show, it’s wiser to sit farther back and laugh at the unwary tourists down by the tank.

Kids also love the acrobatic show, which plays several times a day in its own theater, and Pets Ahoy!, a show starring a talented cast of dogs, cats, and other animals rescued from welfare leagues. You can come up front and meet the animal stars after the show. During busy seasons, such as summer and Christmas, SeaWorld often offers extra shows with kid appeal, such as the Elmo and Abby Treasure Hunt, featuring stars from Sesame Street.

Rides

There are only three mainliner attraction rides, but they pack quite a punch. Plus, since the shows are the main attraction, the lines for the rides are shorter than at Disney and Universal. A mother of three from Michigan visited SeaWorld in the off-season and reported, “After all the time we spent waiting in line for rides at Disney and Universal, we were stunned to find that two of the rides at SeaWorld had practically no waits at all. The kids loved Kraken and were able to ride it several times with no wait.”

Journey to Atlantis

Sea World’s version of Splash Mountain, Journey to Atlantis takes you on a sometimes-gentle, sometimes-not water-flume ride through the lost city of Atlantis, then drops you down a steep incline to a great big splash below. If you have a rain poncho, bring it. This one’s a soaker.

You start by boarding Greek fishing boats and are promptly lured by sirens into the depths of the lost city. The tiny boats twist, dodge, and dive through the water. For the first drop, the tracks come out of the front of the building, but the sirens pull you back for the second, unseen, 60-foot, S-shaped drop. The story line is weak and