After last week’s article about SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment’s tough summer, we have a follow up article about changes being made at SeaWorld Orlando, and some updates around the park, along with some new babies.

Phased Openings at the Park

For the past few weeks, SeaWorld Orlando has been testing phased park openings on various attractions such as Sharks Underwater and Wild Arctic.  Phased park openings have a long history here in Orlando with Epcot opening one half of the park at 9am (Future World) and the 2nd half of the park at 11am (World Showcase).  Here is the list of the current attractions affected by the phased opening schedule:

  • Turtle Trek – 9:30 am
  • Sharks Underwater – 10:15 am
  • Shamu Underwater Viewing – 10:15 am
  • Shamu Happy Harbor – 10:30 am
  • Wild Arctic – 11:00 am

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With most guests heading straight towards Antarctica, Manta, Kraken and Atlantis at park opening, this change should have minimal impact. As more guests fill in the park, the 2nd half will open similar to what happens at Epcot. If they must do phased openings, this is the optimal way to do it.

All Day Dining Now Includes Breakfast

SeaWorld has been offering “All Day Dining” for the past 5+ years.  The $32.99 price tag includes 1 Entree, 1 Side OR Desert and a Non-Alcholoic beverage.  In order for the consumer to come out ahead, you would have to eat 3 times, which was difficult since you could only eat lunch and dinner.  Recently, SeaWorld has been testing breakfast at the SeaFire Inn, which now makes this “All Day Dining” plan the best value plan in Orlando.  We hope this test is successful, as it’s a good deal for guests.

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8 Sea Lion Pups born

This year has been a successful one for SeaWorld Orlando’s Sea Lion program, so far there have been 8 pups born in Orlando, and they are all healthy and doing well!  It is always exciting when babies are born in the park and visitors love to see the little ones.

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Basking babies

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New Panini Venue

In front of the the Sharks Underwater attraction, where the Shark Photo-op was, they have installed a new Panini venue, where guests can get great sandwich and wraps, with some good vegetarian options.

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Coca-Cola Swelter Stop

For the last week of Summer, a pop-up attraction appeared at SeaWorld furnished by Coca-Cola called the “Swelter Stop” where guests can go in and enjoy a nice club/dace party scene with free Coca-Cola products.

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Jack Hanna Breakfast and Dinner

On September 14th and 15th Jack Hanna will be at SeaWorld Orlando, where guests will be able to either eat breakfast or Dinner with the famed conservationist, and day guests will also be able to attend one of his wild weekend shows. Guests wanting to dine with Jack Hanna need to book in advance by visiting SeaWorld’s website.

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That wraps up our SeaWorld Orlando update, but for more SeaWorld news and discussion, please listen to  the Unofficial SeaWorld Podcast with your hosts Eric & Mike as they talk to Catherine Brown a Sea Lion trainer from SeaWorld San Antonio, along with animal spotlight and super fan interviews.

Eric Davis
By day, Eric is in Marketing and Social Media. But on the weekends, he's a theme park addict. Eric is a frequent contributor to MiceChat's Orlando Parkhopper columns and tends to focus his efforts on what's new and what's news at Universal Studios and SeaWorld.