We are planning to go to Sea World with my sister and husband July 9. My kids are 7 and 9 and I was wondering what are things we must see or do while there since we will only be there one day. I know it will be crowded because it is a weekend so I was hoping to plan out as much as possible.

Also, how far is Sea World from Disneyland?
Thanks for your help :D

i won't guesstimate the distance, but anaheim and san diego are not next to eachother. i actually took amtrak to go from one place to another, and the train took about an hour and a half i believe. so you might be talking a 2 hour drive in the best of conditions, but don't quote me on it.

as to what to do, i'm a zoo/aquarium buff and hadn't been to a sea world in a long time (last time was in orlando and i doubt i was over 5 at that time, so i remember very little), so i didn't know what to expect. here's what i learned.

sea world is not your typical aquarium - it draws in way more people than one might expect. so i really didn't get to see a lot of the actual aquariums (every time i tried, i encountered small aquariums with masses of people that barely seemed to move). so you might want to skip those kinds of exhibits like the aquarium of the sea and the fresh water aquarium, etc.

depending on the ages of those going, do everything else though. expect to get to each show at least 40 mins to each performance for a good seat (unless there's really low attendance). most shows also offer standing room only, if you don't mind standing. there are a lot of shows too.

atlantis is a great little roller coaster which you should try first or last thing. also, in the middle of the day, if you get really hot, there's a 'soak zone' area near where the cars dive splash down into the water and you REALLY get soaked - a lot more than the riders do.

get there as early as the park opens and consider heading to the dolphin or , sea lion/seal exhibit where you can actually feed fish to the animals (and pet the dolphins) for a nominal fee. they severely limit the hours (and then the time within those hours), but it's an experience i wouldn't miss if i had the chance again.

also poke around the website a bit and find the information on the tours. i've taken the wild arctic tour and the animal spotlight tours and both were amazing, but they also have a lot of other tours, some as little as $11pp. and they let you get to do things you probably couldn't do at most other places.

Also, how far is Sea World from Disneyland?
Thanks for your help :D

In good traffic about 90 minutes.

we do Sea World very frequently and here are my recommendations:

1) the Shamu Show (if you are staying until closing there is a night version, more upbeat but less animal behaviors.).

2) The Dolphin Show

3) The Mission Bay Sky ride or the Sky Tower, the view of San Diego Bay from the sky ride is really nice and the Sky Tower will make you feel like you can see forever.

4) Wild Artic, the ride and the exhibit

5) I agree with BradK about feeding the Dolphins, its so cool, you can also feed the Bat rays.

6) Journey to Atlantis and Shipwreck Rapids, on a hot day the best way to cool down.

7) Cirque De La Mer, sorta a Cirque de Solei ripoff, but enjoyable.

8) The kids might like the Haunted Lighthouse 4D, not my favorite thing, but older children seem to enjoy it.

9) If you can get it into your budget, dining with Shamu is a neat experience, also they now allow small groups of people to interact with the Dolphins out ot the water for about 28 dollars per person.

Have a good time, try and stick around for the evening hours, the crowds get much smaller as the sun starts going down,

what was funny about feeding the dolphins is they have a routine. first you pet them on the head, then you feed them. what's really amusing about it tho is the dolphins aren't afraid to let you know they're doing it for the food. if you try to pet a dolphin for too long, it'll start trying to get your hand off its head.

as far as the dolphin encounter program (as opposed to the dolphin immersion (?) program), I believe it's actually $35 without discounts. the funny thing is, you can take the animal spotlight tour for $40 and not only does it include time with a trainer and dolphins in the training area (i was told you get the same experience as the DEP gives you), but you're shown around the animal care facility, you get to pet some sharks (the non-threatening kind), visit the birds being cared for, feed morey eels and feed the sea turtles by shipwreck rapids. the whole thing is roughly 2 hours, but if the park has long hours, it's more than worth the money. tours also get you reserved seating at the shamu show - not in the soak zone, but in the center (of course you can sit anywhere you want, but if you don't want to spend 40 mins on line for a good seat, it's a nice alternative).

i kind of disagree on the wild arctic ride, although i had already been on at least 5 or 6 motion rides that week, so i was jaded. it's a long wait (there's a stationary version of the show that moves along a lot faster), but if you want to skip it altogether, you can enter via the exit which is located in the gift shop.

i liked the haunted lighthouse 4D film. as with above, it was the upteenth number of 4D film I had seen that week and they all pretty much have the same tricks, but this one is slightly different in the way it toys with you. the audience reaction was probably the best i had experienced as well. i wouldn't recommend it for small children though, although the disney ones are a lot scarier.

good info Brad on the DEP ( we do have annual passes, so I would assume the price we were quoted was the discounted price), I had never even heard of it until last week, and we were thinking about doing it on our next excursion, but the animal spotlight tour sounds much more interesting, and such a better deal.

I forgot for things to do, if the kids like dogs and cats, Pets rule is a pretty cool show.

have you taken any of the tours? if you haven't, the wild arctic tour can't be missed. it's $60 (normal price), but i've overheard multiple people say it's their favorite while waiting to take it plus even the tour guide said it was her favorite tour to give. it's usually a small group due to the cost, you get a bit of one on one time with a beluga whale, go into the polar bear keeping area behind the exhibit, spend time with a walrus and it's the only place you get to see the arctic foxes (when they're willing to be seen). what i heard is that the park received them after the wild arctic exhibit was already created and there was just no place to put them on display.

Thanks for all the information. It is so overwhelming to look at the Sea Wolrd web site. I know it will be crowded because it is a weekend and wanted to do some fun things. I will look into the tours more. They sound like a good value. My son LOVES the 4D things. My kids aren't afraid of anything at Disneyland so I think they will be OK at the show.

In good traffic about 90 minutes.

DL is a appx 100 miles from SW. I would say plan for a nice 2 hour quest - with nice traffic and the carpool lane.