As a place that prides itself on sharing conservation information—in fact, as a place that keeps animals on display, its reputation depends on it—SeaWorld (www.seaworldorlando.com; 800/327-2424) offers Animal Tours that are less about touting its vaunted design team, as Disney’s are,…
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SeaWorld Orlando Attractions
The second theme park chain to set up shop in town, after Disney, was SeaWorld Orlando. The park, which began in San Diego in 1964, staked a claim in Orlando in 1973, predating Universal by 17 years, but the last few years have been the hardest. The Blackfish flap hit hard, and although the park has always touted its legitimate rescue and conservation efforts, now such boasts can feel awkwardly defensive. In 2009, before its troubles began, it was the 12th most popular theme park in the entire world. Now it’s not even in the top 25. But thanks in large part to a new focus on thrill rides, it seems to have stopped the bleeding.
While SeaWorld operates three American parks (the third is in San Antonio), its Orlando location is the company’s most important. SeaWorld Orlando is amid a multi-year investment strategy to remake itself as an amusement park and sidestep away from animal entertainment. For now, however, the focus is still aquatic animals and conservation, and if watching larger animals such as dolphins obey commands for food makes you uncomfortable, you’ll hate it. As more alternative attractions are built, it’s increasingly easy to avoid those shows, but they haven’t gone away entirely. Otherwise, there’s a lot going for SeaWorld: 200 acres of space for gardens, a compound that absorbs crowds well—and you don’t have to pre-plan every move the way you do at Disney. Across the road you’ll find its luxury animal park, Discovery Cove, and a waterslide park, Aquatica.
For now, the optimal SeaWorld experience is mostly show-based. Your day here will revolve around the scheduling of a half-dozen regular performances in which animals (mostly mammals, but some birds, too) do tricks—except here, they’re called “behaviors”—with their human trainers. To some, SeaWorld’s banner attraction will always be that controversial Shamu show (named for an orca that died in 1971—and also savagely bit a trainer), and when you’re not watching orcas do backflips, you’re ambling through Animal Connections habitats stocked with other beautiful creatures. Thoughtfully, schedules are posted online a few weeks ahead of time so that if you’re really detail obsessed, you can map out your day in advance; the show schedule calendar is under “Plan Your Day.”
21 Results
- Activity/Ride
Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin
SeaWorld’s tribute to penguins is this 4-acre, iceberg-styled, fishy-smelling pavilion. As your teeth chatter in the frigidity, view a colony of 245 Gentoo, Rockhopper, Adélie, and King birds with a fascinating underwater viewing of the little birds zipping around underwater and from… - Show
Dolphin Adventures
It’s the kind of dolphin show that has been standard for decades—trainers chat about the animals, which leap and flip and otherwise frolic for your applause—and that’s what makes it so good. You don’t need fancy frippery to appreciate the strength and agility of these dolphins (which… - Cooking Class
Dolphin Cove
Next door to the Stingray Lagoon/Key West, make appointments for the Dolphin Encounter ($35–$45, no cameras allowed), in which your 3–5 minutes of face time—from land, you may pet them, not feed them—are doled out as part of 15-minute blocks (times later in the day are less crowded).… - Cooking Class
Dolphin Nursery
Between the entrance plaza and the Waterfront, the young mammals are kept with their mothers for the first few years of their lives before graduating to the larger Dolphin Cove elsewhere in the park. Much of the day, human trainers can be found here, feeding the adolescent animals… - Ride
Ice Breaker
For 2022, SeaWorld squeezed a whole roller coaster onto a tiny plot of land alongside the water. Technically, it’s a “multi-directional quadruple launch,” but in practice, that means it slides back and forth on the same track, gathering speed and peaking at 100 degrees on a 93-foot… - Ride
Infinity Falls
On this new-ish (2018) 5-minute round-raft ride, groups of eight ride along 1,500 curling feet of flume through jungle and are sent flying through rapids, bouncing aggressively between waterfalls and soaking fountains operated by sadistic fellow guests. That’s just the beginning. By… - Ride
Journey to Atlantis
On this 6-minute flume-cum-coaster ride (you can’t see the brief coaster section from the front), getting drenched is unavoidable, as the 60-foot drop should warn. Atlantis is incoherent but fun enough. First you pass through a few rooms as if you’re on a family-friendly dark ride… - Ride
Kraken
Take a 2-minute dose of testosterone. After you settle into your pedestal-like seat, the floor is retracted, leaving your legs to dangle while you undergo seven upside-down “inversions” of one sort or another. The coaster, which hits 65mph and drops 144 feet on its first… - Ride
Mako
Wholly independent of animals, Mako (“MAY-ko”) takes the crown as Orlando’s longest (nearly a mile of track), fastest (73mph), and tallest (200 ft.) coaster. It’s billed as a “hypercoaster” with “relentless air time,” which means there are lots of humps and drops, including several… - Ride
Manta
Rising above the park is SeaWorld’s thrill-ride pride, a “flying coaster” ridden face-down and head-first, in a horizontal position (claustrophobics, breathe). You board sitting upright, and after your shoulders and ankles are secured, you’re tipped forward and the train is… - Show
Orca Encounter: A Killer Whale Experience
While orcas still live at SeaWorld they’ll be given something to do in the “Shamu” show. When the orcas start to fly, the crowd comes alive. Closed-circuit TV cameras capture and display the spectacle on four huge, aging rotating screens as the animals thunder dauntingly through the… - Cooking Class
Pacific Point Preserve
Like Dolphin Cove, Pacific Point is an open-air, rocky habitat that encourages feedings, but here the residents are incessantly barking California sea lions and a few demure seals. There’s a narrow moat between the tank and the walkway, but you’re encouraged to lean over and toss the… - Ride
Pipeline: The Surf Coaster
SeaWorld took a risk in reviving the stand-up roller coaster—the first versions, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, were often criticized for being uncomfortable. This new version, which opened in 2023, put a twist on the concept by adding saddle-like support stems that slot between passengers’… - Show
Sea Lion & Otter Spotlight
SeaWorld's long-running Sea Lion High show was retired in 2021, but sea lions and otters still appear in a goofy spectacle. Expect a prototypical sea lion act: cheesy tricks (animals doing double takes, sliding, waving), surprises splashes of water for the front rows, and much… - Land
Sesame Street at SeaWorld Orlando
Behind Shamu Stadium, kids have their own richly imagined area, a beautifully realized product of a partnership with Sesame Workshop. Children can romp among re-created sets of Mr. Hooper’s store, Abby Cadabby’s garden, and the 123 stoop. There’s so much to discover by ringing… - Cooking Class
Shamu Stadium
The home to the orca show has something to offer outside of showtime. A few of the killer whales are visible in the viewing area (accessed from the lakefront) that surveys one of their holding pods. Above the surface of that pen, the Dine with Shamu supper is held, separated by… - Cooking Class
Shark Encounter
The onetime Terrors of the Deep was given a more responsible name to rehabilitate the public image of the much-maligned creatures within. It’s one of the better exhibitions, with 60-foot acrylic tubes passing through 300,000 gallons of water stocked with sharks—you’re ushered along… - Observation Ride
Sky Tower
Jutting above the lagoon—and topped to still-greater heights by a colossal American flag—is the 400-foot, old-fashioned “Wheel-o-vater,” which rotates as it climbs 300 feet for a panorama. At the top, it slowly spins for two or three revolutions, giving you a good look around, before… - Cooking Class
Stingray Lagoon & Feeding
A not-quite-reproduction of Front Street in Key West, Florida, features the Stingray Lagoon, where you can lean over and feel the de-barbed, slimy, spongy fish. You can buy food to feed the rays for $7 per tray of about four fish. - Activity/Film
TurtleTrek and Manatee Rehabilitatio
A circuitous entrance ramp brings you to a popular air-conditioned underwater viewing area for 1,500 Caribbean fish and sea turtles the size of coffee tables—that’s what earns our two-star rating. If you look closely, you can tell which turtles are rescues—one lost her lower jaw from… - Aquarium
Wild Arctic
In this severely past-its-prime pavilion, walk through at your own pace enjoying first a surface view and then an underwater look at the Pacific walruses, and the park’s utterly beautiful white beluga whales, which look like swimming porcelain. (The exhibitions used to be preceded by…
More About SeaWorld Orlando Attractions
SeaWorld Orlando Shopping
SeaWorld doesn't have nearly as many shops as Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando. The Waterfront Marketplace is filled with handcrafted gifts made by artisans from exotic ports all over the world. At Oyster's Secret, visitors watch as pearl divers dive in search of just the right oyster, which will be pried open for the pearl inside. Guests can then have the pearls made into jewelry. There are, of course, also lots of cuddly toys for sale around the park. Where else but Manatee Gifts can you get a stuffed manatee? The Friends of the Wild gift shop, near Penguin Encounter, has one of the larger and more varied selections in the park. The shop attached to Wild Arctic is good for plush toys as well. The Emporium, near the entrance, is one of the largest stores in the park, featuring an array of souvenirs ranging from T-shirts to toys.
SeaWorld Orlando Nightlife
There's not usually a lot to do at night at SeaWorld—in fact, it may often close as the sun sets. The notable exceptions are special concerts, which happen along the lagoon; Howl-O-Scream around Halloween; and Electric Ocean, an after-dark celebration of illuminated decorations and fireworks that happens at night in the peak summer months.
More To Do in SeaWorld Orlando
Frommer's Favorite Experiences in SeaWorld Orlando
Hook the trainers. To get the most out of a visit, try to be in the same place as the animal trainers, who frequently appear to nurture their charges. Ask questions. Get involved. They may even allow you to feed or stroke the animals (set aside another $25 or so for fish food).…
The Best Thrills in SeaWorld Orlando
The Best of SeaWorld Orlando Don’t miss if you’re 16: Mako Requisite photo op: Orca Encounter, Shamu Stadium Food you can only get here: Shamu ice-cream bar at carts parkwide The most crowded, so go early: Orca Encounter, Shamu Stadium Skippable: The movie at TurtleTrek Biggest…
