Trip To Sea World San Diego
So our family (my side of the family) is known for spontaneous events. (My husband is still getting used to it). So we decide the morning of a Saturday, that we are heading for an exciting day trip to Sea World, San Diego.
Talk about spontaneous right? It’s about an hour and half drive so it wasn’t as bad, although the kids constantly if we were there yet.
My sister gets discounts for tickets through her work, so we got the fun pass for the year. Fun pass is like an annual pass but with some blocked dates. Sea World was having a spring break special, so we were able to get additional discounts.
As with the pandemic and sea world taking precautions, they did ask that we make reservations in advance. We were lucky to get reservations that morning. And the day trip to Sea World San Diego started with an unknowing day of adventures.
The sea world website stated that they were expecting to open up rides and other things the following Monday. We were hoping for a less crowd in the park since there were so many limitations.
We arrived 30 minutes before the park opened but waited in a line of cars because even the parking lot wasn’t opened yet. Say What? Yes, somehow the parking attendees were not letting people in, even 30 minutes before the park opened.
As we made our way to the entrance, we expected some strict guidelines in the entrance area, but not much. There was no temperature checks, a quick back pack check, and DEFINITELY no 6 feet social distancing.
I felt very uncomfortable because people were lining up like sardines with no given space in between. There weren’t any considerations for people in front or back. Everyone just rushed to get in. I was already dreading this day trip to Sea World.
Once we got in, we managed to find an area to just reorganize and gather ourselves after the manic entrance. We made sure everyone had sunblock and water to start the day off right.
We were able to catch the dolphin show first. The seating arrangements at the park had some social distance from the neighbors, but what I found was funny that they only thought about people next to you, but not too much about people in front. Nonetheless, they tried their best to accommodate the social distancing with I give them credit for that.
After, we went to see the penguins. They were swimming and having the time of their lives. It felt refreshing to watch them.
Seeing the white beluga whale made me think of the song “Baby beluga in the deep blue sea, swim so wild and you swim so free. Heaven above and the sea below, and a little while whale on the go.” I wasn’t able to catch a good picture of it but just a glimpse of his face being lifted. Nonetheless, watching him swim around enough to be near us for a photo was great enough.
The worker was feeding the otter that was swimming in the water. She saw that the kids were entertained so the otter came by the window. I was able to capture him eating and looking at us. The worker helped lure him closer to the window with food so I got a better close-up.
I think the best show out of the whole park was the sea lions. The pre show was pretty hilarious, even for the kids. It was comical and family oriented which was awesome. The show itself was engaging and entertaining as well too. There was a lot of laughter in the crowd, which meant it was a great show. Probably the best for the trip to sea world.
Last but not least, we were able to catch the orca show. Considering how big the stadium seating was, there were SO many people. Seeing the huge change in the orca show was also pretty disappointing. There was apt of talking but the whales weren’t doing much as well. And exiting from the seats was sheer chaos.
Although the workers tried to direct traffic from the outer areas, no one was abiding by the rules. People were just ALL eager to get out as if there was a fire. No one respected the social distancing rule and all they wanted to do was every man for themselves.
Prior to entering the park, people needed to make reservations for that day. With that many people at the park, there was no way all the reservations were checked, including the person who assisted us.
The disappointment I felt about this visit is beyond my belief. They had to have reached capacity way before, but even as we were leaving, they were letting more and more people in.
The lines were getting extremely long and people were shoving and pushing through the walk ways. It was just a hot mess. The day trip to sea world has been one that was interesting.
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