One Weekend Left for Spooktacular at SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Spooktacular is a tradition for our family. Since it’s held every weekend in October, we try to make it out a few times. This year we’ve been every single weekend and there’s one more to go!

To add to the festivities this year, we decided to go to the “Count Von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast” (which is an additional charge). If you love the Sesame Street gang, this is a fantastic opportunity to get character photos! If you’re expecting a big show… not so much. There was a short dance number, but we missed it standing in line for food. Yes, I was bummed about missing it, but I did feel pretty special getting a hug from Cookie Monster himself. The food was typical theme-park fare, and the quantities were generous.

It’s hard to decide what we enjoy most, but live comedy has to be up there… especially the Longshoremen. They put on quite the show! (And this year’s pumpkin performance was the “gutsiest” ever, ha ha.)

The pumpkin guts are flying now!

People watching is another favorite pastime. I especially enjoy seeing how creative people can be with their costumes. I’m particularly fond of homemade costumes, and “family costumes.” The prettiest little Shamu smiled at us this past weekend. Her mom shared how she insisted on being the adorable orca. Mom, ya done good!

Families even get into the act, like the Toy Story gang. There was another little one in costume (a lamb) but, shhh, she’s sleeping!

I consider myself a really creative person, and I think that’s another reason I appreciate all that’s done for Spooktacular. The characters who greet the children are wildly imaginative… And there are so many of them! Yes, it is crowded at times, but if you’re patient and either get their first or wait for a few hours to enter the Spooktacular walkway, you’ll have a great time.

Theme Park Insider Tip: Don’t enter Spooktacular candy lane at the front entrance by the geese and Dolphin Nursery. Walk around to the other side of the park and enter from the opposite end of “Candy Lane.” The lines will be a LOT shorter!

A sure-fire hit with the kids is “Countdown to Halloween,” in the Pets Ahoy Theater. Abby, Elmo, and of course The Count will dance and sing to seasonal favorites like “Monster Mash.” It’s a graveyard smash!

So grab your cutest costume, or wear plain clothes… they don’t mind… and get to the last weekend of Spooktacular 2011. Even big kids with no kids of their own are welcome to dress up, trick-or-treat, watch shows and pretend they haven’t grown up… not yet, anyway! I know I haven’t!

Half-Price Kids Tickets Through October 31, 2011 at SeaWorld

Nothing Spooky about this Friendly Witch!

Now through the end of October, kids get in for half-price at SeaWorld*. With each full-paid adult ticket, a child’s ticket (kids 3-9) can be purchased for half price and you both also get to enjoy the “second visit free” promotional with the discount. Additional children get $10 off their admission.  Just in time for SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular!

Guests enjoy trick-or-treating by the water side, and Halloween-themed shows throughout the park. Clyde and Seamore tend to go all out and street performers, like the Longshoremen, will make you laugh with their take on apple bobbing and pumpkin carving.

For an additional cost, families can dine with “The Count” from Sesame Street. This seasonal special is a lot of fun! Tasty breakfast, Elmo, fun for the whole family… what’s not to love? Click here for the link to purchase tickets. (Passholders don’t forget to log in to the main website to receive your discount.)

Kids can wear costumes, or not. The choice is up to them. Our 4-year-old insisted on a different costume EACH time we went last year. And as season passholders, that’s a lot of visits. (For the record, wearing a tee shirt with a baseball on it does, indeed, count as a ballplayer costume! Ha ha.)

Longshoremen Remove the "Pumpkin Guts."

Here’s a peek at the “Halloween Party” routine. I suggest when you see it live giving the stevedores some “room” to do the show. It is a splash zone. A pumpkin-spraying, arms-waving, guts flying good time.

Be sure to bring your camera as there are lots and lots of great shows, and whimsical sea creatures all around who are more than happy to take pictures with your little one. (And grownups, too!) Shamu, Opie Otter, Daisy Dolphin and the rest of the characters can also be seen out and about posing in their costumes. There are even some mermaids “swimming” about. I wonder what Shamu will be this year?!

I see something fishy at Spooktacular!

My favorite from last year was a little girl dressed as a jellyfish. What are your kids wearing? Any awesome marine-inspired costumes?

Tell me how you enjoyed Spooktacular last year. Anyone help Abby find her wand? Did you see the roller-blade-wearing sea weed? What was your favorite part? I’d love to hear from you!

*Adult admission is $81.99 plus tax, and children’s half-off admission is $36.99 plus tax with each paid-adult ticket. Visit SeaWorldOrlando.com or call 1-888-800-5447 to purchase tickets.

Not Spooky at All: SeaWorld’s Spooktacular

Halloween is, for some, a time to get scared, to play “tricks,” and to dwell on the… shall we say… creepy things of this world… and things other-worldy. (Insert Vincent Price maniacal laugh here.) For me it’s none of those things. It’s about playing dress up, making new friends as you “forage” for candy and other tasty treats, and having an excuse to be just plain silly.

Last year my then 2-year-old really enjoyed Halloween Spooktacular at SeaWorld. He wore a pumpkin T-shirt since it was a bit hot for his “real” costume, but there were kids fully decked out as well as wearing street clothes. All were welcomed and treated as if they were the most adorable child there.  (In case you were wondering, his “real” costume was Smarticus the gladiator. His mom (yours truly) was “Mother of Boy” instead of Helen of Troy. Dad was… wait for it… Dadius Gladius–pronounced: Dad he is, glad he is. Yes, we’re that nerdy. And yes, he was adorable!)

Walking down the entrance to the “Spooktaclar walkway” (as we call it), we were greeted by bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles. For a toddler, this is one spectacular way to be welcomed to the festivities! Whoa. A fish on roller skates just whizzed by us. Or was that sea weed? And a butterfly catcher?!

Down a ways we came to the first candy stop. Big inflatable barrels shaped in an anemone-type shape are practically overflowing with tiny, tasty treats. Mister Shy-when-he-wants-to-be is hesitant to go up at first. “Hey there, little guy,” the SeaWorld worker says. Smiles are exchanged, and my young man is loosening up. He gets a bit more comfortable as he continues on and even gets “brave” enough to have his picture with a beautiful mermaid. (Usually mommy is the only girl lucky enough for this.) Fully acclimated to the sights and sounds, we were off to fill our goody bags. (Yes, parents are allowed to sample, too. Score!)

On the way to Abby Cadabby’s maze we pass by dog fish. And catfish. And other assorted creatures of the deep (and some from someone’s fabulous imagination!). Photo opportunities abound, and I took them up on every one!

Older kids were not as impressed with the maze as my toddler was, but for his age-group it was perfect. At different way points, Abby’s friends posted signs about which way to go. Parents read aloud and kids answered silly/cute questions. Eventually they reached the finish line and they all, including mine, seemed pleased with themselves.

Along the shore you can find the hysterical Longshoremen at SeaWorld

One of the highlights, however, was watching the Longshoremen perform their pumpkin routine. You won’t find their schedule posted on the daily map (rats!), but you can find them “along the shore” most afternoons making people laugh. I think we sat down for their show every weekend of the event. FYI: “pumpkin guts” can be made using rope, shaving cream, and a tiny bit of orange tempera paint. Who knew?

Next stop: Shamu’s Happy Harbor where Penny Penguin, Opie Otter, and other strolling characters show us their costumes. Shamu (the character version!) can also be seen donning a fanciful getup. (Say, I wonder what he’ll be for Halloween this year!) After a few photos, and rides!, we made our way to the Pets Ahoy theater.

Seasonally, the fun is changed for a couple of shows a day and the Sesame Street gang, not the pets, are the stars. The Count takes over for the “Countdown to Halloween” and delighted fans sing along. OK. Their parents sing along, too.

While no frightening laugh track is piped in over loudspeakers and the only things jumping out at you are the dolphins and whales out of the water, SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular is our kind of fall festival. Good, clean fun. Adorable children. Smiles. And pop! More bubbles.

Sharks, Sea Dragons and our Pup at SeaWorld

As SeaWorld super fans, we were fortunate enough to have received the coolest costume from a friend… a shark. Our then 9-month-old looked adorable as we carried him through the theme park. (What? Were you expecting me to say we just had him wear it on Halloween?!)

First we went through the aquarium at Shark Encounter. Our little ferocious beastie pointed at all the creatures in the outer aquarium, and sat on the wall to gaze at the barracudas, daddy protectively holding him in his high vantage point. “See me? I’m a shark!” he seemed to tell the barracudas. “I scare YOU.”

Next we checked out the leafy sea dragons. It’s hard to believe they are alive, the blend in so well with the seaweed around them. Their camouflage is quite effective as they float through the water. My little guy wasn’t really that interested in them, they blended in so well. Eyes widened, however, as we entered the 60-foot glass tunnel. Directly overhead a huge shark swam. One tiny boy’s neck craned up. “OK. Now it’s your turn to scare me!” I’m pretty sure I heard him think.

Shhh. I'm hiding.

At the gift shop across the way it was our son’s turn to exhibit camouflage. Yes, we looked like dorks putting our child in a box of stuffed animals, but by gosh he was the cutest shark pup there! It kind of reminded me of that scene in E.T: The Extra Terrestrial when the alien blended in among the toys. That’s our little guy! The creature amidst the chondrichthyes.

SeaWorld’s Spooktacular is coming up. I’m sad we don’t have another shark costume for him to wear now that he’s a toddler. Maybe he’ll be some other sea creature this year. Maybe he’ll be a Longshoreman! Whatever costume we come up with, he’ll have fun collecting goodies and sweets. He’ll walk through the walls of bubbles and marvel at the seaweed-costumed characters on roller skates as they whiz past us. Hummmm. Maybe they’re actually leafy sea dragons. I wonder….