Seaworld Orlando - The Best Attractions

Seaworld Orlando is a great option for a family day out if you’re visiting Orlando. Located just 20 minutes from Orlando Airport, Seaworld has all sorts of aquatic wonders to enjoy, as well as some of the best rollercoasters Orlando has to offer. Whatever your interests, you’ll find something to entertain you at Seaworld, and Globehunters suggests you spend a full day there to fit everything in.

Seaworld is a great place for kids to get acquainted with some of the underwater world’s fascinating animals. Animal attractions include: sting rays, sea turtles, beluga whales and the Shamu killer whale show. One of the park’s newest attractions is Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin which opened in May this year. It features four different species of Antarctic penguin: Adelie, Rockhopper, Gentoo and King Penguins. Kids will have great fun trying to tell them all apart and learning about their different behaviour.

The attraction also features a trackless ride which follows the early life of Puck, a young Gentoo penguin. The ride takes you through Puck’s challenging early life in Antarctica, including his very first dive into the ocean. Having experienced a penguin’s early life, you can then see the real thing in an exhibit featuring over 250 penguins. The temperature slowly drops during the ride so that visitors are then accustomed to the cold temperatures of the final penguin exhibit. Definitely an advantage in the heat of the summer!

King Penguins at Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin

If you’d like to experience sea life up close and personal then how about feeding the sea lions at Pacific Point Preserve? You’ll have no trouble finding it as you’ll hear their distinctive bark from miles off! Guests can endear themselves to the sea lions by buying buckets of smelts for feeding time. One tip: watch out for the birds - they may be hungry too!

As you’d expect from an attraction in Orlando, there are also some great wet and wild rollercoasters to keep you entertained. The distinctive Kraken is Orlando’s tallest and only floorless rollercoaster. With no floor and no sides to the ride, the various upside down twists are certainly a white knuckle experience. It’s been consistently rated as one of the world’s top rollercoasters by enthusiasts and is definitely a must-visit for all rollercoaster thrill seekers.

Kraken - Orlando's only floorless rollercoaster

Likewise, Manta has been a favourite at Seaworld Orlando since opening in 2009 and shouldn’t be missed. It has even been credited for improving attendances at the park. The approach to the ride is arguably as impressive as the rollercoaster itself – a path surrounded by a huge underwater ray habitat. This should certainly keep you entertained in case of queues! The manta-shaped carriage hurtles along the track reaching speeds of up to 56 mph, scything through pools of water along the way. It can accommodate up to 32 people at a time. Take note: the last row is renowned for being particularly intense!

Fans of special effects theme park rides are also well catered for at Seaworld Orlando. The atmospheric Journey to Atlantis features lots of cool visuals and boasts not one but two of the steepest and fastest drops anywhere in the world. The ride is narrated by an apparently friendly mermaid; she seems nice but it turns out she has a few surprises in store! Again, be prepared to get soaked, especially if you’re at the front.

If you've seen all the animals and don’t fancy the rollercoasters then you can always enjoy a trip to the theatre. A'lure, The Call of the Ocean is reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil and takes guests on a half hour journey through the ocean via a captivating combination of special effects, music, circus acrobatics and much more. It’s ideal for escaping one of the numerous summer showers that Orlando is prone to, or even just taking an indoor break from the hot sun.

If you've already been to Seaworld Orlando, let us know what you thought of it! And if you haven’t been yet, here are some ideas on how to get to Orlando.