Sea World Orlando

That SeaWorld is a top Orlando Florida attraction is due in no small part due to Shamu and the orca’s crack team of handlers. But there is more to this wonderfully entertaining and educational park than an acrobatic killer whale. SeaWorld is devoted to demonstrating the ways we all can protect the mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles that live in the ocean and its tributaries. As the world's largest marine adventure park, SeaWorld uses gentle humor to bring us closer to these creatures to foster our responsibility in safeguarding their environment.

Like sea currents, the curving paths here include no distinct “lands” as in other Orlando theme parks, but instead center on a 17-acre lake. Exhibits feature manatees, dolphins, penguins, beluga whales, walruses, and other creatures of the sea.

Although the pace is slower here than at other thrill parks, it can get crowded at popular attractions like Penguin Encounter, Wild Arctic, Shark Encounter, Journey to Atlantis, and Key West at SeaWorld. There’s less chance of lines at the Key West Dolphin Stadium, Turtle Point, Stingray Lagoon, Manatees, Dolphin Cove, and the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium. Other attractions include Shark Encounter, Odyssea stage show, and the Dolphin Nursery and Tropical Reef.

At Shamu Stadium, the park's prize orca performs several times daily with Shamu Rocks America. Seating provides views from above and under the surface of the water. Be prepared to sit further back or get wet, as the killer whale's is happy to soak anyone within reach.

If you’ve ever had the fantasy to swim with dolphins, you will want to look into Discovery Cove. This all-inclusive limited-admission attraction only allows 1000 people a day into its authentic recreation of a Caribbean coral reef, complete with sandy beaches, cascading waterfalls, and underwater ruins. And best of all, you come face to face with exotic birds and sea life from the Bahamas, Micronesia, Tahiti, and other parts of the world, as well as swim with live dolphins.

SeaWorld is also home to some killer rides. Built to be the fastest, tallest, longest and wildest rollercoaster in Orlando, the savage Kraken hurls you at 65 mph and extreme G-forces through a cobra roll, zero-G roll, several vertical loops, and flat spins over water, underground, and entering an underwater eel lair at full speed, huge plumes of spray drenching bystanders. Don’t be surprised if afternoon thunderstorms cause temporary closures of Kraken, Journey to Atlantis, Sky Tower, Ski Show, Shamu's Happy Harbor, and the Paddle Boats.

If you get tired of whales Florida rescue shelters provide the stars at the SeaWorld Theater’s Pets Ahoy, where 12 dogs, 18 cats, and an assortment of ducks, doves, parrots, and a pig perform a series of incredible and complex stunts leading to a grand finale.

Across the street from the amusement park is the Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld, with a 10-story atrium full of waterfalls, goldfish ponds, exotic birds, and palm trees. It’s excellent restaurant, Atlantis, features Mediterranean cuisine.