You know what’s fun? All kinds of things! So after a weekend of grown-up(ish) scares at Howl-O-Scream we decided to go in a different direction. So it was off to Orlando with the niece and nephews for Sea World’s Halloween Spooktacular. What a good time!
The park was open and we were in before the Halloween festivities began, so we started by ditching the kids (with thier mom, not alone in case you wondered) and hitting some rollercoasters. Unrelated to Halloween but still important, Mantra is my new favorite roller coaster and the aquariums you pass in line are awesome. I was surprised to find that even on a Saturday the lines were really short first thing in the morning.
We rejoined the kids and after a helicopter ride to the Wild Artic to see a walrus and some beluga whales (love) and a training session with dolphins it was time for some Halloween treats.
Through the jack-o-lantern and into Halloween Spooktacular land. As soon as you enter the spooktacular part of the park Halloween is everywhere. There are dancing fish, happy witches, and a mermaid to take pictures with. There are trick-or-treat stations with signs above them letting you know what they are giving out so you can choose your favorites. Each station has a line of kids waiting to get their candy, but the lines are really fast and the treat givers are generous.
The trick-or-treat trail is longer than I expected, with lots of great spots for pictures. They have great trick-or-treat bags on sale for $2 or you can bring your own.
When you go be sure to stop at the Dance Party – it’s a lot of fun watching all of the kids dancing with the characters, and I had no clue fish were such great dancers.
The one thing we missed was the Sesame Street Halloween parade. We were so busy doing everything else we just forgot until after it was over. I may have to go back before the 27th just to see it. That’s one of the advantages of getting their yearly pass; you don’t feel like you have to do everything in one day!
It just so happens that Sea World is also throwing a Craft Beer Festival until October 27th. They have a ton of different beers to try including a peanut butter lager and some kind of black cherry beer I wanted to try but didn’t get around to.
Part of any festival is food, and they didn’t disappoint. One of the beer huts has an Impossible burger and fried green tomato slider that is amazing. I don’t even usually like impossible burgers and I wanted another one.
The only issue we ran into at the park was with the Sea World app. Internet connection is spotty at best in the park; they gave us 3 free beer festival samples as part of having an annual pass and we didn’t get to use them all because we couldn’t get the app to open. Anything else we did in the park they could use the downloaded ticket. I think the samples needed the app so they could count how many times we used it. I reached out to Sea World asking what to do if this occurs again and will update this post when I get a solution.
The best thing about Sea World’s Spooktacular Halloween is that there really is something there for everyone. The group I went with was everywhere from 3 to grandma-age and everyone had a great time and wants to go back.
Here’s what you need to know to play tourist:
Sea World Halloween Spooktacular
7007 Sea World Drive
Orlando, FL 32821
(813) 273-4000