SeaWorld

I am taking a small staycation, mostly relaxing and chillin', but doing some stuff around town...including a visit to SeaWorld, which I have not visited for at least 8 years.

Let me just say, SeaWorld has not changed too much over the years between visits. I remember going there as a kid, my parents complaining about the price while watching hokey shows, (especially, Shamu Goes to College, I still remember how bad THAT was). Some of these things have changed and others not.

One thing that has changed is the Shamu show, Believe. This is a good show. They let the animals, these incredible orcas, be the stars. No hokey dialogue, or corny story lines. The show has great graphic panels that enhance, and really showcases the group of whales they have. Production quality is top-notch, with a very good soundtrack, and the trainers really get the crowd into it without too much cheer leading.

On the other hand, the sea lion show was old school and painful to watch. There were no educational messages at all, in fact one line leaves the audience thinking these animals are seals. It had an idiotic "plot" and was just hard to watch. Very very hokey and corny, the antithesis of the Shamu show. In between the two is the dolphin show, which has some amazing animals, but does not quite forgo the corny lines and jokes, but does get rid of the unnecessary "plot" and highlights the animals.

The last of the four shows we saw was the Pet's Rule Show, and I liked that very much. Of course I am a sucker for dogs and cats, and the animals were amazing. The message of adopting pets from shelters and humane societies was very good too, and I think I enjoyed the show more than the others, certainly more than the sea lion and dolphin shows.

SeaWorld runs five shows right now, the last being a Sesame Street show that we skipped...not really for our age range. To get into the parking lot costs 12 bucks, and then checking out the prices at the booths I was stunned. $61 bucks for adults (defined as 10 and up) and $51 bucks for kids. Let's say a family of four was going to SeaWorld...Two adults is $122. 12 year old is another $61...that brings us to $183, then 7 year old brings us to $234. plus the parking is $246 to walk in the gate. See, that part has not changed, my parents would be complaining about the price right now too. I was lucky, in that I had some free tickets, so my cost was the parking and a bottle of water for $3.

But is that steep, or it just me? Now granted, they probably have discount tickets in the marketplace out the wazoo. But still, for 5 shows? I like SeaWorld, but would NEVER pay that price to visit.

We had a nice day at SeaWorld. But if I had to pay that much money, I would have felt ripped off, I have to say. While an engaging experience, it is not worth $61 a head.