Our family just got back from our first visit to SeaWorld San Antonio. You would think that as much as we love theme parks and roller coasters, that we would have already visited. Plus, SeaWorld is only 3 hours away, which makes it an easy weekend trip. Why, oh, why did we wait this long?
One thing I can tell you… now we are fans and will be going back soon.
Wondering why we finally decided to go?
Last month I was asked if I would be interested in attending the #Wildside Bloggers Family Reunion event at SeaWorld San Antonio. This group has some amazing Texas Bloggers. They extended the invitation to include some additional bloggers, like me! They must have heard I had a Wildside and in this case, I was happy to have this reputation.
We drove down Friday night, a little later than expected. I realized we were going to miss the Ice Cream Social. I tweeted our host, Brian to let him know we probably wouldn’t make it in time. The kids were a little bummed, until I received this tweet…
This was the moment I knew we were in for a wonderful SeaWorld adventure. Any host that would arm wrestle a kid to make sure we had a piece of cake when we arrived, is a host after my kid’s heart! When you make my kids happy, then I’m happy!
Just as promised, when I checked in, the attendant handed my daughter a piece of cake. YUMMY!
Saturday morning the #Wildside Bloggers met at the SeaWorld entrance and we were greeted by this…
Our amazing host, Brian, is the Director of Communications at SeaWorld San Antonio. He made our trip fun and he definitely knows how to host a group along with Kami (yes, that’s right… I won’t be forgetting her name).
We were treated to a private “dolphin feeding”. We found out that one of the dolphins was pretty amazing for two reasons. First, most dolphins live about 20 years and this one was 47 years old and easy to spot. It is dark, has scars, is slow and just looks old! Second, this same dolphin helped save a little girl in the movie Jaws 2!
The dolphin feeding was one of my favorite activities of the day. It is incredible to be that close to a dolphin.
Wildside families feeding the dolphins!
We had brunch at the Castaway Cafe and got a chance to socialize and find out more about upcoming SeaWorld events. Then we headed out to enjoy the park with our families. We headed over to the Lost Lagoon. I was surprised that they had 9 slides, a lazy river, a wave pool and a kids waterpark/play area. We loved the slides and the wave pool. You could hang out there all day!
But, we were on a mission… a mission to find the Steel Eel.
Our ride highlights were the Steel Eel, Journey to Atlantis and Texas Splashdown.
Steel Eel is a hypercoaster that goes 65 mph and 15 stories high. It was thrilling and sickening at the same time. My son and I rode it once and hubby and daughter rode it three times!
Journey to Atlantis is a combination roller coaster and water ride. It rotates 360 degrees taking you backwards on a reverse camelback. Then another rotation of 45 degrees which plunges you 100 feet at 49 mph downhill and finishes with a HUGE splash! This ride leaves you and the bystanders in the Splash Zone, SOAKED!
Speaking of Journey to Atlantis, this was the last ride of the night.
Want to know how it ended…
My son and I love, love, loved the Texas Splashdown and rode it 4 times! We decided it was the perfect mix of calm, adventure and wet! Plus we had lots of fun screaming. We screamed during the little dips and we tried screaming as long as we could on the big dips. We even tried adding scary facial expressions and noticed we were entertaining the other riders. We were quite a scene!
picture courtesy of MommaFindings
The #Wildside Bloggers met back up at the Azul show later that day. It was an INCREDIBLE show! Even the pre-show was humorous with plenty of water gags that left some of the audience members wet! The show included synchronized swimming, divers and acrobats that performed daring stunts. Of course, they didn't forget the animals! The show also included beluga whales, dolphins and birds. I am still amazed how the acrobats and animals timed everything perfectly.
My hubby said, “We’ve paid $100 a ticket to see a Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas and I thought this was better!”
We had a wonderful time and I wanted to share my Top 5 List of Things to do at SeaWorld (below).
Top 5 List of Things to do at SeaWorld…
#5 Get Wet at the Lost Lagoon
Waterpark and Play area
Bowl and Flume
#4 Find a Splash Zone
A great one can be found next to Journey to Atlantis.
I guarantee all the people in the picture below were SOAKED!
#3 Feed the dolphins
#2 See Amazing Shows
like Believe with Shamu…
picture courtesy of MommaFindings
and Azul (our family favorite)
and the #1 Thing to do
at SeaWorld San Antonio…
Ride the Steel Eel
Want to know what it was like? Watch this video to find out.
Oh, if you’ve eaten in the last 30 minutes, I would wait awhile.
Don’t forget to make new friends…
like I did… with the Texas #Wildside Bloggers.
Momma Findings
MommaDJane
Communication Overtones
Tip Junkie
Erica Says
A Southern Fairytale
Simply Being Mommy
Daddy Digest
Using My Words
Mommys Wishlist
A Cowboy's Wife
Not Going Postal
San Antonio Busy Kids
A Healthy Mom
Mommy's Joy
Wandering Off
Kids Stuff World
Baby Potential
SeaWorld San Antonio Blog
Have you been to SeaWorld? If so, what was your favorite thing to do?
Other Posts You Might Like
Top 3 Questions I am Asked About Blogging by MommaFindings
What Memories Will You Leave Your Family
Top 10 Tips for a Fun Family Trip to Disney World
Cammie Moise
Disclaimer: As an attendee at the SeaWorld Wildside Bloggers event my family received day passes to SeaWorld, a special “feed the dolphins” event, brunch including some animal encounters, Quick Queue cards, All-Day Dining Cards and a few “additional perks”. I was not compensated in any other way or for this post. Opinions stated are my own and those of my family.