This is our third holiday season as a travel family and I can’t express how much more magical this time of year is when you choose to skip the “stuff” part and focus on giving the gift of memories. We wanted to do it up big for the kiddos so we decided to visit the largest Christmas light display in Texas. Boasting over 9 million lights the obvious choice was SeaWorld! Not to mention the shows, rides, parade, and hot chocolate. Yum! This year’s Christmas adventure was definitely gift to remember.
First of all for my fellow RV families, they have RV parking and it is CLOSE to the entrance. I was completely blown away by that. What a nice way to be treated. Thank you, SeaWorld! We sprang for the All-Day Dinning, and All Aboard passes which made our day that much more magical. Skipping to the front of the line is always fun and the best way to squeeze in as much action as you can. Not to mention it comes with a commemorative cup of hot cocoa. With the All-Day Dining pass you can have your cake and eat it, too! Seriously I can’t believe that not everyone buys this amazing deal. I talked with one person who said they spent as much as 2 passes in one go at the pretzel booth! Which, by the way was covered by the pass. Dorky Adventure Dad ordered a pretzel wrapped jalapeno cheddar sausage and it was so good he cried. Don’t forget drinks are covered, too. It’s an awesome deal!
When it came to riding the rides at SeaWorld, we found that they are geared towards little kiddos and big adults, with not too much in between. Our Silly Adventure Sammy felt overwhelmed when he saw the Steel Eel, and decided it looked too big for him. He’s only 8, so even though a few of the rides in the Sesame Street Bay of Play area were too little for him, he really enjoyed the Super Grover’s Box Car Derby, and Abby Cadabby’s Rockin’ Wave. Which worked out well for us parents because we were able to take turns with the kiddos riding the smaller rides and the bigger rides all in one area. The same area where the amazing interactive parade is!
I don’t know how you feel about parades, but I love them! Parades are seriously my jam. I don’t care what the theme is, I’m there. I have never heard of and “interactive parade” before, but let me tell you, this blows all parades out of the water. The whole parade stops and performs a show right there in the street. Part of our All Aboard pass included reserved seating for the shows, including the parade. We figured we’d have plenty of seating available so we wouldn’t need to get there early. Wrong! We were about 20 minutes early and the reserved area was slammed packed. The area directly across the street was open so we went over there instead. Great choice! Sitting right by the stage was the best spot because at the end of the parade some of your favorite characters go up on stage. I still recommend the All Aboard pass, just know that for the parade my personal favorite spot is by the stage.
The Christmas themed shows were phenomenal. They were spaced out perfectly for hitting every one while catching snacks and rides in between. We started with a Beluga Christmas. Music from the Nutcracker filled the air while we watched in awe of the amazing Belugas and dolphins. Next we caught Clyde and Seamore’s Countdown to Christmas. Get there early because the mime is hilarious! The show was absolutely sweet and the sea lions looked so happy and full of life! The next we saw was Pets Ahoy. I didn’t really want to go to this show because, well, they aren’t sea creatures. I guess I was being silly. I’m so glad we went because our littlest family member was absolutely enthralled, and the bigger kiddos laughed and laughed. Who knew that SeaWorld rescued so any animals from the local shelter? In the Bay of Play we did the Jinglin’ Around the Block Party twice! Our Giggly Adventure Grace is a born dancer. We saved the Shamu Christmas: Miracles show for last and boy are we glad we did. With a fresh mug of hot chocolate in our hands, all cuddled up together we listened to amazing music while the orca whales wowed and amazed us. The perfect end to a perfect day.
Have you been considering giving the gift of memories instead of stuff? We recommend a visit to SeaWorld, San Antonio for sure. They get one great, big, holiday Fun Adventure Family approval from us!Tag us on your your fun family adventures with #FunAdventureFamily, and check out @SeaWorldTexas and give them a shout out with #SeaWorldSanAntonio.
