or one of the links in the frame on the left.Note: The content of the San Diego section is so large that I split it into sub-pages. To return here from a sub-page, click the red arrow icon: or one of the links in the frame on the left.
The San Diego area is a moderately popular tourist destination. Many vacationers come to the area as part of a trip that is often centered around visiting Disneyland. For some, the trek to Sea World may include visits to the San Diego Zoo and/or Wild Animal Park. This typically means that those visiting for just one day are staying somewhere in the proximity of Disneyland, while a multi-day trip implies staying in the San Diego area.
I have included information for planning your trip, including suggestions for where to stay if you're spending more than one day in the area, what to wear, and other touring tips on the Planning page.
The information included here is current as of my most recent trip on September 3, 2001.
Park Hours. By popular demand.
Sea World is now renting Motorola Talkabout 350 FRS radios. The rental fee is $10 per radio with a $50 cash or credit card deposit required. They are available at the stroller rental counter. Apparently this program is working well for them, judging by the nice new sign they placed on the outside of the building to advertise it.
They have a "rules of the park" sign posted near the ticket plaza. Among other things, it mentions that two way radios are not permitted in the park. About five years ago, they were enforcing this; I don't know if they are now. For those who don't know, cellular phones and FRS radios (such as those they rent) are two-way radios, though I'm not sure they would try to restrict either.
Because of the power crisis and general slowness in the theme park industry, Sea World has slightly scaled back some operations. Many shops open late and/or close early, primarily those away from the main entrance. The impact on the consumer is that you should do your shopping around midday (not a bad idea since the shows tend to be busier then).
For those who are annual passholders, be sure to keep your eyes open when you go into the gift shops. Certain locations are offering an additional 10% discount on selected merchandise.
They have been rotating the merchandise between stores and adding a lot more. I had taken notes on a prior visit and was preparing a shopping guide, but all that went out the window. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, much of the new stuff is wonderful. I may have a hard time keeping up if they continue at this rate... Some of the restaurants have changed as well, and not just their menus. The former Cascades Grill, home of yummy Fajitas, is now known as Mango Joe's Grill. The location once known as Mango Joe's is now Cap'n Lucky's Tropical Smoothies, and carries grilled items onlyt during the Summer season.
They are heavily pushing the DIP, especially at the dolphin show. The DIP area has been redesigned to better accommodate more guests. I fear even more for the health and happiness of these guys. It's fast revenue.
Walk-around characters can frequently be seen in the Entrance plaza area, and sometimes (though rarely) in the Happy Harbor area. Great photo ops!
As you walk through the entrance area, there are roving employees who will take your picture in front of a landmark such as the skytower and turn it into a souvenir. Fortunately, they're not very pushy about it, unlike at other theme parks. They used to be those pricey ($7) little peep-show keychains that were kinda cute in their cheesiness. They are now the same types of photos that you can buy, for example, at Shipwreck Rapids, i.e. your choice of a framed picture, a wallet-sized photo in a keychain, etc. Prices are $9-18.
Clicking on the title of this section or any of the links that follow to go to a sub-page with Hotel, Weather and Wardrobe, and Budget information.
Sea World is 1-1/2 miles West of the I-5 freeway on Sea World Drive. There are exits from both directions of travel. If you're approaching I-5 on I-8 (for example, from Hotel Circle) watch the signs carefully; you want to go North, towards Los Angeles, to get to Sea World Drive. From Southbound I-5, turn right onto Sea World Drive. From Northbound I-5, turn right. Sea World's Sky Tower is visible for some distance and serves as a good landmark for your approach. It will be directly to your right as you turn onto Sea World Drive.
Note: If you listen to traffic reports on any of the area's numerous radio stations (more than 40 to choose from!), you'll notice a Californiaism. Out here, the residents and the traffic reporters refer to the freeways as "the 5" and &qout;the 8" instead of "I-5" etc. This is something that was pointed out to me when I visited the San Antonio park. If you're from out of the region, don't let it confuse you.
If you're coming from Hotel Circle, take I-8 West and turn onto I-5 North. Sea World Drive is the first exit North of I-8. Turn left onto Sea World Drive.
If you're coming in from the Disneyland area for the day, the drive is long (about 1-1/2 to 2 hours) but uncomplicated. Take I-5 South to Sea World Drive (Warning: Do NOT take I-805 when you get to the 5/805 split). Turn right, but get out of the right-most lane as soon as you can to avoid traffic headaches; the right lane is forced to turn onto another surface street and finding your way back will be a challenge.
From other locations, you may wish to stop at your hotel's front desk for specific driving directions both to the park and for your return. Sea World is in an area near a freeway interchange and is surrounded by several streets that twist and turn. Also, the signage in the area is not the greatest.
Many of the larger hotels have a shuttle that services Sea World and other area attractions (Zoo, Balboa Park, etc.). Taxi rides are an alternative if you don't have a car at your disposal; figure about $18-25 each way from Hotel Circle (per a taxi driver that I asked outside the front gate).
Parking prices are $7 for regular parking, $9 for RVs, and $4 for motorcycles. Preferred parking (autos only) when available is $14. For preferred parking, they cone off a section of the lot in front of the main entrance; this happens during the Summer and other busy days. The sign at the entrance plaza will note when preferred parking is available.
If you get there early (within 1/2 hour of opening), you can get a very good parking space in the regular area right next to or behind the preferred area. On busier days, trams serve the more outlying parking areas, but only at designated stops along the North end (park side) of the lot.
Adult admission is $41.95. Children 3-11 are $31.95, and kids under 3 are free. Admission is half price if you are a pass holder at any other Anheuser-Busch theme park.
Discounts? You may be able to find discount coupons if you look around a bit. The Exit Information Guide, available at most Denny's restaurants and at many moderate-level motels, typically has a $5 Sea World discount coupon.
The San Diego park runs many different promotions, including tie-ins with other Southern California parks. Many area hotels have a two-days-for-one Sea World ticket, plus combinations for visiting the Zoo and Sea World. Ask when you make your reservation.
An example of the promotions available when I visited 9/3/01:
All of the parks have now gone to a "color" pass system.
You may apply your day's admission towards the purchase of an annual pass. Annual passes and multi-day tickets are not eligible for any discounts.
If you get to the park within the first few hours of opening time, you may hear someone speaking over a public address system to those in the entrance plaza. Pay attention, as they may mention information that is not printed on your map (or here, even!). They may have previews of some of the new ttractions or might be offering specials such as Second Day Free that you wouldn't know about unless you specifically asked.
Wheelchairs and most of their many styles of strollers are available for rent for $8 per day plus a $3 refundable deposit. Electric Convenience Vehicles are a somewhat steep $32.25, plus a $50 deposit. The rental center shares the building with the Reservations Center, and is to your right as you enter the turnstiles. The strollers available are an infant which has a built-in baby support that strongly resembles a child seat, a single seat model, and a double-wide version of the single which rents for $12 per day.
Many exhibits and all shows request that you park your stroller outside the building/stadium. Exceptions are the Manatee and Shark Encounters, which allow strollers selectively. They have a slide-in sign at the exhibit entrance that they can change to allow or disallow strollers, depending on how busy it is inside. Check it first, please!
Those who are in wheelchairs or otherwise require special assistance at the rides or exhibits should ask for a guide for those with disabilities at the Guest Relations center, which is across from the reservations desk.
Park information is dispensed from the (tiny) Guest Relations office, on the right as you enter the park. It is next to the Reservation Center. This is also where you go to This is also where you would inquire about your missing child (or parent). They provide a book in which you can leave messages for other members of your party, a very handy service indeed.
Sea World San Diego has two different "Behind The Scenes" tours. The standard tour takes you to several backstage areas where you learn more about how Sea World rescues and rehabilitates sick or stranded animals, as well as how they take care of their resident population. Tours last about 1-1/2 hours and may encompass a visit to Animal Care, where mother dolphins go to give birth and where all the rescued animals are taken; Shark Lab, where you get an in-depth education about a very misunderstood species; their extensive aviary facilities; and possibly even a backstage visit with Shamu. Your experiences will vary depending upon shows in process, worker activities in those areas, season, safety concerns, and many other factors. You can ask when you sign up, but sometimes the destinations are changed during the course of the tour. The cost $8 for adults, $7 for children and seniors. Annual Passholders get a 20% discount. Several tours are scheduled per day, with the last ones starting in the mid-afternoon. An added bonus: Tour participants get reserved seating at a pre-determined Shamu show. The seats aren't the greatest, but it's a nice perk during the busy Summer season.
For those with money to burn, sign up for the Spotlight Tour. This 3-hour long adventure takes you to some of the areas mentioned in the standard tour, plus a few bonuses that I won't give away. Let's just say that there's some extra-special up close opportunities. This tour is only offered once per day, Wednesdays through Sundays. The price recently has been raised 60% to $35, and have eliminated the 20% 12-Month Passholder discount for this tour. It's a wonderful tour, but at this rate, I think that the value for the money is limited.
Sign up for the tours at the Reservation Center, to the right as you enter the park. You can also make reservations here for Dine With Shamu and Beer School.
Special note: Tours are generally accessible to those with disabilities, but some elements may be restricted. Inform the person at the Reservation Center when you sign up for the tour so they can make the appropriate arrangements.
The Shows
In the interest of keeping the size of this page reasonable, the show descriptions are on their own sub-page. Click here or on the link above to go to the show information page.
Everyone is going to have their own opinion of the shows. Obviously, the descriptions I give will be full of personal bias. I try to keep the descriptions as honest as possible, with my opinions and commentary towards the bottom of each description.
During the Summer months, lines begin forming as early as 90 minutes prior to some show times. Quite often, they will add extra shows in response to higher than projected attendance. If the crowds are heavy, check the sign at the entrance to the stadium to see if any shows are scheduled for the late afternoon. This is a good time to see them, as many people will be off standing in line to buy dinner.
Special note: Disabled access to Shamu Stadium is relatively easy and the seating areas provide a great view. However, disabled areas for the other shows are very limited in the number of wheelchairs, etc. that they can accommodate, and some are in areas far removed from the stage. I advise people to arrive as early as possible before show time to get a good seat; this is especially imperative for disabled seating at the Sea Lion and Dolphin stadiums. Expect a lot of ramp climbing to get to the disabled areas, especially if you arrive late. Those who have trouble climbing stairs and ramps should seriously consider renting an electric convenience vehicle, lest you get stuck in the lower rows of the Splash Zone.
Special note: Wild birds in the vicinity of the attractions that sell animal food are very aggressive and can really hurt you. I have personally seen a seagull draw blood in its attempt to steal a fish. ALWAYS keep your food covered, even when walking from the food booth to the interaction area. The best method is to use a short section of paper towel wrapped around the food tray, which doubles as something to use to wipe the slime off your hands. Also, especially at the dolphin and sea lion exhibits, NEVER hold the fish above the water in an attempt to get the animals to jump or perform other tricks. At best, you will agitate the animal (you ARE teasing it, after all). It may bite you. It may decide to take its frustration out on the other animals in the exhibit. You will likely lose your food (deservedly so, in my opinion) to a bird flying up from behind - they're pros at this. Please, keep the animal food in the water where it belongs.
Many of the exhibits have an employee from the Education department on a PA system telling you about the animals in the exhibit. Questions are encouraged!
Click here to go to the exhibits sub-page.
I won't go into my dissertation on the merits and evils of rides in an aquatic park here; that will be found elsewhere. I'll just stick to simple descriptions.
A (generic) flume ride in a (generic) innertube-with-seats that (generically) gets you wet. At least the theming is original. Bring a change of clothes or buy one of the heavy vinyl ponchos (about $5) at the vending cart or in the gift shop. Put all of your valuables in one of the nearby 75-cent 12x10x18 inch lockers. See the Spoilers page for a description.
The Sky Tower, besides making a convenient landmark for orienting yourself, is a wonderful opportunity for getting an overview of the park and Mission Bay. The ride costs $2.75, or you can buy a combination ticket for $3.50 that includes a ride on the Bayside Skyride.
The exhibit portion is documented in the Exhibits section. The ride is fully described in the Spoilers page.
The ride portion of Wild Arctic serves two purposes. The first is to set the mood for the rest of the exhibit; the second is to limit the number of people entering the exhibit to prevent overcrowding. The theme, if you can't guess by the name, is a visit to an outpost in the Arctic region. You board a high-tech 'helicopter' and 'fly' in to the outpost. You have a choice of riding in a moving simulator, or sitting in a non-motion room and seeing the movie.
Home of the Deli restaurant, a beer sampling bar, a gift shop, and Beer School. The Deli is described in the Food section below. The beer-sampling bar allows you to try various A-B brews. They limit you to two samples an hour. For some reason, this part of the Center is popular :-). Beer School is in a room on the Clydesdale Hamlet side of the building. I have strong negative feelings about Beer School.
They have a small arcade and games area right next to Happy Harbor. The arcade has several video and pinball games, some test-your-skill plush and prize vendors and ticket-vending machines, and a ticket redemption counter. The games all operate on quarters. The midway games are typical carnival-style: milk-can and ring tosses, water races, etc. No wallet comes out unscathed. You have been warned.
While it still retains many of the original displays from its design as a tribute to Hispanic culture, this building now serves as the Annual Passport Processing Center. I'm glad to see it finally put to good use.
Need to wear the kids out? Here's the place! Sea World does a pretty fine job of designing their children's areas. They tend to be relatively safe, and well-staffed. At no time, however, should you abandon your custodial duties. YOU are responsible for the actions of the children in your care, and Sea World makes no bones about reminding you (see the reverse side of the map). But enough of that. Hopefully, you brought a swimsuit and/or a change of clothes for the kids. Turn 'em loose and watch them have a blast.
Nearby is the Coco Loco Fun Center. Try not to let the kids get too close. :-)
You have three choices when you get hungry. The food inside the park is a pretty fair value when you consider that it's theme park fare, though the quality is just ok. There is a lot of room for improvement, but you're not going to starve. Well, you won't unless you are a vegetarian (see below). You can bring your own food, but you have to keep it out in your car; Sea World stopped allowing you to bring in outside food in January, 1997. The third option is to leave the park and go to one of the area restaurants.
This section is split into two parts, covering the first and last options. Restaurants inside the park, and some within a 15 minute drive outside the park at which I have eaten. There is a plethora of restaurants outside the park, and I will be adding more reviews as I get a chance to visit them.
The in-park restaurant and fast food location descriptions have been moved to their own sub-page in the interest of saving space.
Special note: Vegetarian selections are available at only a few selected locations. Some of them are NOT listed on the menu, and a lot of the foods employees have absolutely no clue.
I've complained about the lack of vegetarian food situation to the foods manager, who suggests you might enjoy a Caesar or dinner salad, a plate of fruit, or a cheese sandwich.
The biggest single advantage to leaving the park to eat your meals is avoiding the lines. In Summer 1998, it took as long as 75 minutes to buy food at the restaurants, and 25 minutes to buy popcorn from one of the vendor carts. Of course, you're not going to just waltz right in and be seated at an outside restaurant at dinnertime, but many of the restaurants I list will allow you to phone in a reservation, which shortens the wait appreciably.
To reduce the length of the text on the San Diego SWIG page, the outside restaurant descriptions are located on their own sub-page. Please click on the title of this section or here and it will appear in this text window. When you are done, simply click the navigation button beneath the restaurant descriptions or your browser's back button.
Gift shops are generally large and have a good variety of merchandise. Nearly every show and attraction has its own gift shop with merchandise themed to the area.
Outdoor vending is prolific, but non-intrusive. ODV encompasses portable lemonade, popcorn, cotton candy, plush, and other carts.
Annual Passholders get a 10% discount on all ODV purchases. This discount is not available from the plush/drink/popcorn/etc. vendors that wander the stands prior to the shows.
To answer the most frequently asked question: The map of the US is long gone.
Many species of plants and trees around the park are labeled for your viewing convenience.
The dolphin that is part Common and part Bottlenose that is seen in the dolphin show came from Sea World Florida.
Many of the restrooms around the park are themed to their areas. The exception is the newer restrooms. Many people complain about their lack of cleanliness and a strong underlying 'fishy' odor.
Longer-term employees tend to be generally happy with their jobs; satisfaction with the company is hit-and-miss. Many seasonal employees are rude. The park has major staffing problems during the Summer. Part of the reason is that the pay is not great, even for the long-timers. Why do they stay? Most of them are there because they love the animals, or because Sea World has flexible scheduling.
Sea World San Diego is the first Sea World park. In 1964, several UCLA students came up with the original concept of an underwater restaurant, but the technology didn't exist to build it. Instead, we got a dolphin show out on Mission Bay, and Sea World as we know it was born.
In the Shipwreck Reef area, the Morse code message that you hear being broadcast every five minutes or so is OSO (instead of SOS). Is this intentionally wrong? And oh by the way, the S is sent at the wrong speed. The (geeky) pedant in me...
Most of the commercials, attraction photography, and other PR stuff are produced in Florida using pictures taken around their park.
Do those nasty seagulls annoy you? There's nothing they can do about eliminating them other than hope to educate the public not to feed them (good luck!). They are a zoological park and these are wild endemic animals.They have tried various means of repelling them, but the birds aren't smart enough to be confused by all that technology. The cute little bunnies are also a major problem. They are bunnies, and are therefore quite prolific. Their favorite place to hang out is next to the Clydesdale Hamlet, where they make quite a mess of things. It's kind of funny to walk through the park and see people stop to stare at the bunnies more intently than they watch the dolphins. I heard the story of one guest ask an employee how they train the rabbits. Um...
The San Diego area has many attractions to draw your interest. Major local attractions include:
If you are visiting Sea World as part of your Southern California vacation, you likely wish to visit some of our other theme parks. As with Sea World, the corporate sites for these parks are full of information on why you need to spend your entire vacation (and budget) at their parks. You are visiting The SWIG because you want 'insider' information, so you'll want to visit independent sites for other parks as well.
Disneyland has many (possibly hundreds of) fan sites, but the two that stand out are Al Lutz' famous (infamous?) Disneyland Information Guide hosted at MousePlanet.com, and Doobie and Rebekah Moseley's Laughing Place. The DIG is targeted more towards trip planning and Disneyland rumours, while Laughing Place focuses more on news articles and columns relating to current events at Disney parks worldwide. A special emphasis is given to Disneyland, with reviews and essays written by several park regulars.
Heading to Knott's? Head on over to Bob Barber's Knott's Berry Farm Information Center first. While not as in-depth as some Disney-related sites, Bob has a lot of valuable park information on his site.
Universal Studios or Magic Mountain? There are a few sites out there, but to be honest, I have yet to see anything that impresses me enough to recommend to others.
