We are going to SW This Thursday and Friday and are trying to decide if we should do one of the behind the scenes which are around $30 or the dine with Shamu lunch?!?! What have your experiences been with either or both? Our kids are 6,8,10. Also I've heard to feed the dolphins to get there early.... Does the park let you in earlier then they open?
We did the Dine with Shamu several years ago at Sea World San Antonio. The buffet is crappy, but it is the experience you are paying for, right? The get the whales on a platform right next to the dining area and the trainers circulate around the tables and answer questions. Your kids are at a great age to ask fun questions and you will have up close photos that you cannot get any other way.
I have done EVERY program offered at Sea World San Diego....really. I have done the dine with Shamu a couple of times. They mind their own business and you eat crappy buffet food (but I would probably do it again because I'm a nut). There are different behind the scenes programs and they have varied the few times we have done it. I really liked seeing the rehab area for the animals.
There is not an early entrance in San Diego, even when my daughter was "trainer for a day" or there for three summers of sleep-away camp = $$$$. The lines to feed the dolphins start way before the feed time. There is also a minimal "interaction" program and then the full blown, get dressed in wet suits and swim with the dolphins program.
I love it all!! My daughter thought, planned and dreamed of being a marine mammal trainer from ages 10 - 16 and then she figured an education where she could get a job was more important.
Have fun, wish I was going this week!!
I love it all
Dine with shamu is really cool as you are within feet of shamu. The behind the scenes is ok. Which one? The one that you feed the beluga is fun. I liked the interactive events the best. If they offer a dolphin interaction program like in sd it is well worth the money. The only time we got in early was with trainer for a day but I think your kids are too young for that activity. Have fun!
I have done both. Dine with Shamu was one whale swimming while we ate at plastic tables around the tank. It was not what I expected at all.
The experiences were amazing. If you can do the beluga whales, it was the best.
Dining by the sharktank was like a hotel breakfast at an aquarium, nothing more. The behind the scenes tour was a bit boring because we basically walked around and saw things, but there was little interaction.
The animal interactions are the best!
