New Killer Whale Up-Close Tour

[SeaWorldRocks]

Exciting news. For you Shamu lovers out there SeaWorld is starting a new tour called Killer Whales Up close!!!
Cost is $79 per person but pass members get it for $71

Have you ever dreamed of getting up-close to our most amazing ocean ambassador?
Does the beauty and awesome power of killer whales inspire you? Then this is 60-minute walking tour was made for you. During this one-of-a-kind experience you’ll get up close with our park’s majestic marine ambassadors and learn how we care for them each and every day. Our animal trainers will spend one-on-one time with you, share fun facts about our killer whales, demonstrate key husbandry behaviors and give you the opportunity to take part in a special personal session, ending with a photo opportunity you’ll never forget.

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

Honestly, I think SeaWorld is missing out on a great potential niche market with these tours. Unfortunately, I just took my nephew on the shark tour and thought it sucked and wasn't worth the money. Perhaps they should sell discounted admission with the price of a tour and really beef-up/market the personal experiences aspect of the park.

Hope this one is better than the shark tour.

 

[MakoMania]

I have to disagree, I really did enjoy the shark tour when I did it last summer!

As for the Killer Whale tour, this is fantastic news! I will definitely be checking this out at some point

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

^ Really? Because it consisted of a 30-minute monolog about random shark facts, and then a climb to the top of the tank where she spoke for another 20 minutes, then into some broom closet to pet a baby shark. It felt like an afterthought, not a polished up guest experience, which is what it should be.

 

[UNIrd]

I really enjoyed the Wild Arctic Up Close tour. Is this the best of it's kind offered at SWO or is there another one I should look into?

 

[MakoMania]

^ Really? Because it consisted of a 30-minute monolog about random shark facts, and then a climb to the top of the tank where she spoke for another 20 minutes, then into some broom closet to pet a baby shark. It felt like an afterthought, not a polished up guest experience, which is what it should be.

We got to observe a shark feeding session up top as well as a great Q&A up there. We got to see how the cage for the Shark Immersion program works and then did the shark touch interaction.

If you don't like learning about sharks maybe you shouldn't have booked the shark tour Just a thought.

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

We got to observe a shark feeding session up top as well as a great Q&A up there. We got to see how the cage for the Shark Immersion program works and then did the shark touch interaction.

If you don't like learning about sharks maybe you shouldn't have booked the shark tour Just a thought.

...because I said I didn't like learning about sharks in which part of my post? I said the tour felt like an afterthought, reread the post. The fact that you had a completely different experience than I did regardless of the fact that we paid the same admission price is what I'm talking about. My point, to stay relative to the original topic, is that if SeaWorld could improve and polish the tours (Ex: take them into areas that don't look like chem storage) they'd have their own unique attraction that would help offset some of the competition down the road.

For example, you should be able to book admission like this:

Single Day Adult Park Admission - $75.00
Sharks Up-Close Tour (Includes Single Day Park Entry) - $90.00
Dolphin Encounter Tour (Includes Single Day Park Entry) - $115.00

They should bill these experiences much like a cruise and travel program would advertise excursions.

 

[MakoMania]

Many smaller more reigonal aquariums tend to build admission packages like that, it would be interesting to see how that would work at SeaWorld.

The only reason I presumed you didn't like learning about sharks is because of the words "monologue" etc. I guess it really depends on the guide that you get. That always has been and always will be the case unfortunately.

 

[UAN17]

We did the penguin tour which included learning about them, looking at their behind the scenes care and about a 15-20 minute session where 2 penguins came and walked amongst us and we could stroke them, take pictures, stand in their wee etc. It was an exceptional experience, and next time I'd probably do it again, but add a few more of them on as well. It elevated the Seaworld experience to another level.