Jim and I have not been to Sea World in many years, and when we were annual passholders before, we always seemed to gravitate towards Shamu’s Happy Harbor – the area of the park where the giant playground is. Eilis LOVED Sea World camp over this past summer, and has been talking about going back to Sea World ever since. When the weather threatened our trip to the beach, having Sea World right across the street from the hotel made it an appealing alternative, and to make it even more enticing, they are hosting the Sea World Halloween Spooktacular today (most weekends in October).
After a few false starts, debating ticket options, and settling on our passes, we went into the park and decided the focus this trip would be the Halloween Spooktacular. Unlike the Disney and Universal Halloween festivities, everyone entering SeaWorld during the Spooktacular gets to take part in the trick or treating, fun, and games. At the entrance to the Halloween “path”, everyone is given a treat bag, and the fun begins. There are about 15 treat stations – some sponsored by vendors like Musselman’s, who gave everyone a cup of applesauce – and the bag had a nice amount of treats in it by the time we were done. Along the path, you run into some beautifully costumed characters – some telling stories, some playing interactive games, some posing just for pictures. At about the midway point is the Bayview theater, and they host a concert series which takes place during the Halloween event. We saw Hot Peas ‘n Butter the day we were there. They put on a nice concert, which was dismally attended, but they really put their heart into it anyway. Check them out at their website: http://www.hotpeasnbutter.com/
The path has booths set up where you can purchase Halloween Spooktacular t-shirts and various snacks and lunch type food. For $5, you could buy a lunch box kit that had a large cookie and icings and sprinkles to decorate your own cookie, and they sold hot dogs, cotton candy, etc.
A dance party, held right where all the kiddie rides are, seemed to be a big hit. The ice queen/DJ handed out stickers, played all the kids favorites, and hosted contests (hula hoop was one).
Overall, this was an absolutely adorable event. The fact that it was included in the price of admission makes it even more of a fun thing to do with your kids. We didn’t do so much of the actual Sea World stuff this trip, knowing we’d be back, but added to everything else Sea World has to offer, this was the Halloween Theme Park bargain of the century!