We are thinking about taking our one year old daughter for her first trip to Sea World this weekend. I was looking on their website hoping to see the show schedules, but I can't seem to find one. My husband and I have been to Sea World before, but it was a long time ago. How long do we need to see the shows and animals there? Are there any recommendations on fun things for our daughter to do or see?

Though I don't think it makes much sense to take a one year old to any park--I think Legoland would make more sense.
David

depending on the kid, i think sea world would be a much more fun experience for a one year old than legoland. there isn't a heck of a lot for a 1 year old to do at legoland for one, and what kid doesn't love animals? seaworld even has horses (and i'm told a donkey, but i didn't get to see it).

the shows are tricky. there are quite a few of them, but for a one year old, i think it pretty much narrows it down to 4: shamu's adventure, dolphin discovery, pets rule! and deep, deep trouble. there's also cirque de la mer which is worth seeing, but it can be missed if it must.

each show lasts about half an hour, but the difficult part is you really have to be there 30-40 minutes to get a decent seat for most.

if she's into dolphins which it seems a lot of little girls are, for the first couple of hours of the day, you can hand-feed dolphins. you buy a little tray of 4 fish for $4 and they let you into a special area of the dolphin pool area where the dolphins come right up and you can pet them on the head before feeding them. it's a nice way to get up really close to one. they also do this for the sea lions and seals, but you can't really get all that close to them (you have to toss the fish) and sea lions can be particularly noisy and aggressive.

unfortunately, there probably isn't that much more for a 1 year old. i would suggest the aquariums they have set up there, but i didn't really get to see them and what i did see weren't all that impressive, plus they were packed wall to wall with people.

The old man - We've taken our daughter to Legoland several times since we like going, but there are only 3 rides that she can go on. We like going to Disneyland too, and our daughter enjoys going with us. It doesn't matter that she's only 1. We make it fun for her.

Thanks for the info, bradk. Our daughter does like animals, so the Sea World shows and aquariums should be fun for her. I definately want her to see Shamu and the dolphins. I was just hoping that the website would post the show times like the Disneyland website does, but I can't seem to find any listed anywhere.

unfortunately i believe i don't have my schedule any longer (it got pretty beat up along the way). i'm sure you could call the park if you don't get an answer here.

There's also a toddler area in Shamu's Happy Harbor, if I remember right. Our son could have spent all day there in that one little area. I wouldn't hesitate to bring a one year old to any park, but especially not SeaWorld.

Is Shamu's Happy Harbor an area where they get wet? Should I bring a change of clothes for my daughter?

So we ended up going on Sunday. We were able to see all the shows but the Pets one. We got into the stadiums about 15 to 20 minutes before each show and were able to get decent seats. I was worried about how many shows they had during the day, but they had several times for each show to choose from, so we were ok. We also visited the various animals and aquariums. Our daughter loved seeing all the animals. We didn't do any of the feedings though, because she was a little afraid to get too close to them. We even stopped to see the horses and taste the beer. We didn't get a chance to go into Shamu's Happy Harbour. But we still had lots of fun. Thanks for all your help.