Christmas, a time of celebration and giving, filled with joy, laughter, family, lights and music. Aspects of the holiday season which are all represented at SeaWorld San Diego’s Christmas Celebration this year. On Saturday we had the delightful privilege of visiting the SoCal park to experience many of the new offerings and once again the creative team at SeaWorld nailed it. SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration is a rare event in terms of its execution. It has a very grand feeling while still holding on to very intimate and warm environments and decorations. No corner is left untouched as the park is literally covered in Christmas decor.
One of the largest new offering’s this year is the addition of Santa’s Christmas Village. Due to the construction on Explorer’s Reef last year, elements of Santa’a Christmas Village were revealed but the land was never fully realized, until now. Guest’s can mingle with Santa’s elves, Mrs. Clause, or perhaps, visit the big man himself in his cottage. Other offerings include food, games, arts, and live performances throughout the day. If you’re lucky enough you can have a chance to see Mrs. Clauses nightly tree lighting ceremony taking placed right in the heart of Santa’s Christmas Village.
Just north of Santa’s Christmas Village is the Reindeer Training Academy, an interactive area filled with more games, a retail location, photo ops as well as a chance to meet some of Santa’a actual reindeer. What makes this area special to me is the fact it’s surrounded completely by live Christmas trees, the smell is almost euphoric and will put any scrooge right into the holiday spirit.
The last of the Holiday themed lands is the highly popular Snow World, one of the largest snow play areas on the west coast. Snow World offers a multitude of activities for the whole family. Whether you want to build a snowman, or toss a few snow balls, there are things for everyone. Just keep an eye out for rouge snow balls, you never know when there is a prankster in your group.
When you’re in Snow World we HIGHLY recommend getting the Bacon Maple Glaze Cinnemon Rolls. They are completely to die for. Bacon and Cinnamon Rolls in 1. It’s a genius concoction.
The last of the new offerings that we had the chance of seeing first is of course, the Holiday themed Orca shows. This year the park had received a new show titled “Shamu Christmas Miracles”. The show shares many similarities to the Holiday show at SeaWorld Orlando which bares the same name. The show certainly feels fresh and the pre-show entertainment as well as the live singers are top notch as usual.
While most of last year’s show, Shamu’s Christmas, took place in the audience with performers, musicians and choirs interacting with the audince, the bulk of this year’s new show takes place mostly on the stage and in the water. It’s a different take on a familiar classic, the show is definitely the tent-pole event at SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration. You can see a full view of the brand new show at the link below.
Overall, SeaWorld has once again given us a world class Christmas event worth visiting. The park is entirely decked out, the shows are all currently themed to the holidays and exclusive food and merchandise is worth a trip alone. There is plenty to do for the whole family and we wouldn’t want it any other way. Check out a full gallery of images from the event below.
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Stay tuned for more from SeaWorld San Diego as well as much more Holiday fun, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook, and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
