Sea World Orlando With a Toddler

While in Orlando, Florida with your toddler on vacation, it's easy to put blinders up about what to see and do while there. Although the ready default for an Orlando vacation with your toddler may be Disney World, Sea World is, in many ways, just as wonderful for toddlers as the Magic Kingdom. In order to make the most of a Sea World Orlando vacation with your toddler, here are some hints and tips on what to see and do while there.

Like many toddlers, mine really enjoys watching animals. Sea World Orlando takes this to a higher level, as the animals there are presented both in a more traditional zoo or aquarium fashion and in shows where they perform amazing or funny stunts. One potential issue at Sea World Orlando is that there is simply too much to see and do in one day. With a toddler, you don't want to let them burn out, or the rest of the day could very well be shot. Therefore, advance planning is necessary.

When you arrive at Sea World Orlando, you can easily obtain a map, which has the schedule of shows on the back. There are several shows that have been presented at Sea World Orlando for a very long time and are unlikely to change, while others change a bit more often. Typically, to avoid boredom early in the game, we head over for a light breakfast at the bakery towards the front or over to something that our toddler can watch while we plan out the day.

First and foremost, priorities matter. Although I'm sure it's feasible to get to every show on the schedule, even without a toddler, most people will not want to do this. It's very stressful, and you will spend most of the day dashing from one place to another in a huge crowd of people. Plus, you will miss out on many of the other exhibits and things to do at Sea World Orlando.

For our toddler, we pick a handful of must-see shows, and plot the times we will go to see these shows according to where we are in the park. Sea World Orlando can seem very large if you have to hike back and forth across the park to get to the shows. The signs to help you locate where you are seem very unclear to many people, including myself, and it is easy to get turned around.

Now that we've planned out which shows our family would like to see, we make sure that our toddler gets plenty of time to enjoy the exhibits. By making your toddler a part of those decisions and letting her know what will happen next, her enjoyment is greatly enhanced. Toddlers like feeling that they have a role to play in the family vacation. Some of the exhibits are more toddler-friendly than others. The penguins are a little hard to see for smaller children, so holding them up may help, as well as assuring a front row place to stand on the conveyor belt. Our toddler particularly enjoys penguins, and her experience at Sea World Orlando was greatly enhanced by the fact that we allowed her to spend over an hour circling around to see the penguins time and again while waiting for people to come off of Kraken. Instead of making her sit and wait, we let her choose if she wanted to see penguins over and over versus seeing several exhibits in the vicinity. She still talks about how much fun she had peeking at the penguins.

Since toddlers are notorious for not being able to sit still for long periods of time, some of the shows can be a bit long for them at over 30 minutes in length. Some toddlers may enjoy this, but, for others, sitting in a location that will allow a bit of movement may be necessary. Pay attention to splash zones. Particularly for the shows with very large animals, people in the splash zones at Sea World Orlando will get soaked. This might not be particularly fun for a toddler, or for your camera.

There are a couple of areas of Sea World Orlando that toddlers might particularly enjoy. Ours really enjoys making a point to see the Clydesdales, but it is a bit of an extra hike. Therefore, we tend to couple this with lunch, as there's a restaurant in that area, as well. In addition, Sea World Orlando has added a small ride area for children. There are splash zones and some carnival style rides appropriate for toddlers. Ours thought this great fun, and we found that letting her get some energy out by running around in the splash zone allowed her to sit still for some of the shows.

At naptime, you can keep moving and go see some exhibits or shows that your toddler may not have the attention span for, choose an indoor show that will be cooler (and generally darker), or find a place to sit and relax yourself. For the latter, we found that the observation areas for the orcas and the dolphins were extremely amusing. The dolphins enjoy watching the people as much as we enjoy watching them, and will often show off to gather a crowd. The orcas will swim in fairly regular circles, presenting all sorts of great photo opportunities.

Shows that seem to be of appeal to toddlers in particular are Clyde and Seymour, Shamu Tonight, Pets Ahoy, and the Whale and Dolphin show, but different children may enjoy different shows. One must-do for us is to feed the dolphins. We just have to be careful that our toddler doesn't lean too far over the edge but placing her chest on the wall rather than letting her kneel there.

Sea World Orlando is an absolutely amazing place to take a toddler. If you plan it right, it can be a great deal of fun for the entire family.