SeaWorld Orlando’s new show “O Wondrous Night” features puppets…. yep it’s officially a trend. While Walt Disney World has owned the winter holidays since opening in 1971, the other major players in town are beginning to make some inroads into the lucrative tourist market with… Read More »SeaWorld Orlando Christmas Offerings Continue to Grow
Thinking about what to get your favorite theme park for Christmas? SeaWorld has been thinking of you! This December 1 – 25, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (SEA) is celebrating the spirit of giving with an online promotion that features 25 days of prizes. During the… Read More »All SeaWorld Parks Join for 25 Days of Giveaways
Last year SeaWorld went all out for Christmas with a new Sea of Trees holiday lights show and decorations that rivaled anything Disney offered. The best part was that on the nights SeaWorld was open for Christmas, it was included with your regular admission. All that remains true in 2011, but they’re adding a show meant to bring a bit of Christmas tradition, similar to Candlelight Processional at EPCOT, to SeaWorld.
O Wondrous Night – The Story Greatest Never Told is a living nativity show that tells the Christmas Story through the eyes of the animals that were there. Think Finding Nemo – The Musical with nativity animals instead of fish. It promises to be a light-hearted and glorious celebration featuring a host of angels, animals and the true glory of Christmas.
The Disney Blog was invited in to get a taste of the show before it debuts on Nov 25th along side the rest of SeaWorld’s Holiday celebrations. Here’s a little video we were able to capture:
The 30 minute show will feature a magical moment where puppets are replaced by their real life counter parts. Songs were chosen to appeal to the young, with a Glee-like sensibility. The show will run twice per evening on the nights SeaWorld offers its Christmas Spectacular. It is staged in the 2,500-seat Nautilus Theater, home of “A’lure — The Call of the Ocean” show, which will continue still be seen during the day.
More about SeaWorld’s Christmas Spectacular below the jump:
In a year of bad political and economic news, I love to report stories like this. Animal care experts from SeaWorld Orlando released an adult loggerhead sea turtle yesterday morning at Lori Wilson Park just south of Cocoa Beach, FL. The turtle was rescued on March 14, 2011 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station by park personal and transported to SeaWorld Orlando for treatment. The turtle is approximately 20 yrs. old, 150 lbs. and is 2 feet and 4 inches long.
For 45 years, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment has helped animals, such as this sea turtle, in need. More than 20,000 animals have been rescued by their experts, and most of those animals are successfully treated and returned to the wild. SeaWorld’s animal rescue team is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Video of the moving release below the jump:
Read More »SeaWorld Orlando’s Animal Rescue Team releases loggerhead sea turtle
Yesterday SeaWorld Orlando announced it was stepping up to the plate with a desire to continue to compete with the big players in the Orlando attractions market. They’ve announced three new experiences. One at Discovery Cove and two at the main theme park. Nothing for Aquatica, however.
Construction at Discovery Cove is already underway with Freshwater Oasis scheduled for opening next year. The area, which replaces the old reef experience, features swimming and wading adventures and face-to-face encounters with playful otters and curious marmosets.
The construction at SeaWorld will include a large expansion of its current offerings. First to open in 2012 will be the TurtleTrek area that combines the Manatee exhibit with a new exhibit focused on sea turtles. Additionally there will be a new domed movie experience that sounds pretty amazing.
The last exhibit has the fewest details, but Antarctica – Empire of the Penguin is clearly SeaWorld’s attempt to say, “Hey we can do massive themed lands too.” This should open sometime in 2013.
Terry Prather, president of the company’s Orlando parks, SeaWorld, Discovery Cove and Aquatica, said, “With TurtleTrek at SeaWorld Orlando and Freshwater Oasis at Discovery Cove, travelers will have all new reasons to visit Orlando. What we’re creating will take you places you’ve never been before, places only SeaWorld can take you.”
We’ll have more details about each attraction soon, but in the meantime, follow below the jump for the press release.
Read More »SeaWorld Orlando Makes Waves With Big Announcement
SeaWorld fans mark November 8th on your calendar, the Orlando park has announced plans for new attractions. As you can see from the press invitation above, the plans appear to center around three islands. SeaWorld has also announced the return of the Florida Resident Fun Card for 2012. Although it doesn’t include parking, it’s basically a whole year of fun for one day’s admission, more than a year if you buy it in November or December of 2011.
More details on the Fun Card below, but first lets try and prognosticate about what these mystery announcements may be.
We know there is a new ‘island’ area being added to Discovery Cove. Construction is already underway and it will feature fresh water swimming area and various rainforest themed animal exhibits. Sort of like a zoo you float through.
So that’s one island. The other two islands are back across the street at SeaWorld. One will be a new turtle themed exhibit and movie. SeaWorld is known for its rescue and care of the Loggerhead Turtle, and yet it has none in the park. They’ll fix that with a version of the Turtle attraction at SeaWorld San Diego and a shortened version of the Turtle movie they just released.
The third island is a bit chillier, as you can see in the invite. The feeling is this will be an expanded Penguin attraction with a new ride-through experience. That’s definitely needed as the current facility is aging.
I am hoping that there is still an even bigger, still secret, announcement to be made. That’s because, as nice as these three ‘islands’ sound, none of them will convince the Jones Family from Kansas to add a day at SeaWorld if it means one less day at Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, or even Legoland. That’s the real need.
Okay, more details on the 8th. Remember more details about the Fun Card for Florida below the jump:
Read More »SeaWorld Orlando to Announce New Attractions, Offers Florida Resident Deal
SeaWorld Orlando is returning the popular Spooktacular Halloween family friendly weekends this year. It’s free with your SeaWorld admission and includes a trick-or-treat experience, special party zone, decoration activities, and lots more fun.
SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular takes place every weekend in October: 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, and 28-30. This daytime event runs from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., leaving the littlest of trick-or-treaters wide-eyed for the fun-filled activities.
Read More »Spooky Fun found at SeaWorld this Halloween Season
Discovery Cove’s SeaVenture is a walking tour of a beautiful undersea landscape created to provide a once in a lifetime memory. Don’t miss it.
While SeaWorld’s boutique water park opened its newest area, The Grand Reef, back in June, the much anticipated SeaVenture add-on excursion has only been running in soft-opening phase until now. They finally have enough divers and personnel trained to operate at full capacity and invited some of the local media out to experience it first hand. I was happy to be included in that bunch. It’s a good thing that they’ve added capacity because I can tell you that SeaVenture is an experience everyone will remember for the rest of their lives.
The walk includes special up close encounters, like this fish feeding.
Okay, there’s one caveat. If you’ve been scuba diving, then you can think about passing on SeaVenture. However, the people I’ve spoken with who have done both say that SeaVenture is still a great experience as you get to just be there without having to worry about time or oxygen or a 60 pound weight on your back. The folks at Discovery Cove really worked hard to make this a natural effortless experience for the participant and that is the big success.
The whole walk happens in this area of the Grand Reef. But it’s a full 20-25 minutes plus another 20 minutes prep-time.
Follow below the jump for a video I filmed while under water and more photos. Plus advice on how to book SeaVenture for yourself:
Read More »SeaVenture Adds Upclose Undersea Marvels to Discovery Cove, SeaWorld