Sea World Orlando....

Feeding the Dolphins at Sea World Orlando 2012

Sea World has always been a favorite of my sister's when she comes to visit me.  She has a love of stingrays and dolphins that can only be described as "borderline creepy".  (Just kidding!) But I must say that each time she visits we are never disappointed with Sea World.  Because of the interactive nature of the park you can have a different experience every time you visit.   This is the first time I have ever waited on line to feed the dolphins, 55 minutes in all, however it  was worth every minute.  Hint: Everyone that steps into the feeding area is charged $7.00 so if you have someone in your party that just wants to take pictures and has a good camera they can go across the water area and take pictures standing on the bridge.

Feeding the stingrays is a must for everyone!  Everyone can reach in the water and touch the stingrays as they swim by and they come right up to you if you have the tray of food.  The trays of food can be purchased for $5.00 or if you wanted to feed the Stingrays, Sharks and Sea Lions you can feed all 3 for $10.00. You may get wet since the stingrays gets excited and a bit aggressive when it comes to feeding, but they have hand washing stations at every feeding area so everyone can get cleaned up when done.  Hint: If you are going to pay to feed the Stingrays, Sharks and Sea Lions get there early or don't do all three.  The Stingrays will eat any time, but the Sharks and Sea Lions are full and they are not as excited about eating in the afternoon and it is then a wast of money.  Alert: Be careful of the birds at the Sea Lion feeding area, they are aggressive and will swoop down and take the fish out of your hand!  My daughter, age 8, had one swoop down and try and grab a fish from her hand and left a small cut on her hand.

Must See: The Clyde and Seamore Show was entertaining from the minute we sat down.  They have a mime comes out before the show and gets the crowd laughing and then the show is less serious and a bit cheesy which makes it all the more fun.  If you can only see one show, make it this one.

The One Ocean show is where Shamu is featured, and due to the unfortunate death of a trainer a few years ago, the show has been scaled back to jumps and splashes.  Although the changes were necessary for the safety of the trainers, it did reduce some of the entertainment value of the show.  If time allows I would see it, but I would not arrange my schedule around it.

Has anyone had a great or awful experience at Sea World Orlando?