We always spend a day at SeaWorld when we do a Universal vacation because it has some great rides and of course, the sea creatures are the coolest! The controversies about the park don't bother me, and I do care very much about how animals are treated. I think SeaWorld has made the appropriate modifications and that the animals there are treated like royalty, and that it's a good way to showcase how wonderful they are so that people can learn and care more about them.
SeaWorld was a little different this time, I think because of our post-Covid/current-Covid/supply-chain problem world. It was still good, but not as good as it's been in the past. It wasn't terribly crowded which is a good thing, but it made the usual worthwhile investment in Fast Passes kind of a waste of money, although it did still save us a lot of time for a few of the rides. The customer service wasn't as good. The food was very overpriced and not terribly tasty, at least at the hamburger place we ate at for lunch. The penguin ride had been modified and is no longer even a ride. But overall, it's still a great park and it was worth the time and money we spent there (with the exception of those hamburgers!).
SeaWorld has some great coasters that the boys enjoy.
Where did all the people go!? It was like a ghost town in this section of the park when we were over there. It was weird!
Here I am entertaining myself while waiting for the boys while they went on the coasters I didn't want to go on (which is most of the coasters at SeaWorld--they're too high and scary for me!).
There was a new coaster called Ice Breaker that Sam was excited about and I did go on that. It was fun and way less scary than Velocicoaster!
Selfie time again as I waited during another coaster ride for the kids.
I love these aquarium tunnels!
We went to a fun sea lion and sea otter show.
I thought Sam looked cute in his new shades.
Freezing (literally) with the penguins! It's so cold in there!
This picture of Sam makes me LOL. 😂 He was being silly for these pictures and wouldn't do a normal smile.
John would, but not Sam!
We also went to an orca/killer whale show and it was good, too. It's more educational and not as flashy as it used to be which I believe is part of SeaWorld's modifications in response to the animal rights protests. It's pretty apparent to me, at least from what I see, that these animals are very well loved and cared for.
We saw dolphins on the way out! I've always loved dolphins. I would have liked to do a dolphin encounter again where we feed them and pet them, but I was trying to save money so we skipped doing that this time.
Sam tried on some funny hats.
Overall it was a fun day at SeaWorld! It was good to be back!
