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Dinner with Shamu

snookhams

<a href="http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/" targ
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Jan 27, 2002
Has anyone done the dinner with Shamu that I have seen advertised and is it worth the $28 + tax and gratuity for adults and $16 + tax and gratuity for children 3 - 9. Thought that this could be something we could do on one of our free entry days after DC but will be $100+ for us and don't know if its worth it, it seems alot for a meal.
 
I had lunch with shamu in californa sw. got a mug for extra money that says dinned with shamu on it. We all had a great time. There was to rows of tables so there is not a bad table we were in the front row right next to the tank. The trainer come by every table to see if you have questins Brings shamu right up to you it was great watching dd and ds.
goofy truly goofy:p :p :p
 
I called 2 days ago and the word is that it opens on June 10. Reservations required. 1-800-327-2424.
 


I made reservations for June 20, they did not have set times for the dinner. She told me to check-in before noon at the dining booth and then they would let me know the exact time. For now it is between 6 and 7. I hope it is great!!
 
Where did you find information on this dinner? I will be there on 6/20 and am considering this. Thanks for any info.
 
We did have dinner with Shamu in 1997 or 1998. I'd have to look for the pictures. We had DS and DD with us they were 5 and 4 or 4 and 3 years old. They held it right behind the tanks for the shows by the stadium. They set up pretty little tables right next to the pool. Before dinner, they let the kids touch the whales, some got to feed the whales, and they did a wonderful demostration with them. They kids really liked it. DD had was too scared to feed the whale though and we did not press the issue. The food was good as I recall. I think you are paying more for the whale attendance than for the food. I'll see if I can post some of the pictures tonight when I get home. I'm glad to see they are offering it again. I will definately be checking into for our trip in October. We have checked every year since 1997/1998 and they stopped offering it.
 


I just made reservations for August. There is a $5 off discount for AAA. Also, I was told the dinner times are 4:45 and (I believe) 7:30.
Thanks again, this is something I would have missed if not for seeing it here.
:)
 
this sounds cool, I am definately doing it on our August trip...hubby gave me a weird look when I turned around a few minutes ago and said "hey, wanna have dinner with Shamu?"
He thought I was making it up.....I'll show him!





CBR-Aug 2002
CBR-2001
BC-2000
YC-1999
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Bump!!

I would love to hear more about this!!
Thanks!
 
Where do they hold this and what type of food do they serve? It sounds like something the kids would really love!
 
The only thing I know for sure that they offer at the buffet is pasta primavera. I had specifically asked about vegetarian entrees when I made my reservation, and she read me some of the menu items. That's all I remember, tho, sorry...
 
I just made a reservation for my crew Friday night. I will post details shortly.
 
We just got home from 3 days in Orlando and 2 in Tampa. Did the Shamu dinner on Tuesday (July 2).
It was very nice. First of all, I have to say the employees were super! I called about 10 days in advance and asked if they could accomodate my disabled son's special diet and they said no problem. When we arrived they told me they had everything set for him before I even had a chance to ask. I noticed they all went out of their way to please all of the other people too, and were especially attentive to the kids.
There must have been about 60-80 tables that seated 4 people each, but only half are "on the rail". We had table 19 and it was a nice spot, one of the trainers set up right in front of us and we were also not far from the buffet. Really any of the tables on the rail are good. I think we would have been very disappointed had we gotten an inside table.
Because it is a smaller pool and of course they don't want to splash the diners, the show they put on is nothing really spectacular especially compared to the shows in the Shamu Stadium. In fact it was kind of short and simple, but the Orcas were swimming around the whole time before and after the actual show, and of course my kids were thrilled with seeing the animals up close and personal.
I was hoping that they might get to touch or feed the whales as someone here had posted, but that did not happen. In fact, the trainers did not talk to any of the diners before or during the show either. They did say that they would answer questions after the show but with only one trainer stationed at either end of the venue as people filed out it really was not worth fighting the crowd to ask a question. No special souvineers were offered free or for sale- a missed opportunity on the part of Sea World, IMHO.
The food was also good but far short of spectacular. There was a premixed salad with a choice of 2 or 3 dressings, a tasty chicken/veggie dish in a tomato sauce, tender beef with mushrooms and pearl onions in a brown gravy, yellow rice, a pasta dish that was supposed to be a seafood dish but I had to dig to find just a few shrimp in it and a few pieces of a white fish I think was cod. Also offered were hot dogs, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, and I think 2 or 3 other non-memorable dishes. The rolls were standard commercial quality dinner rolls.
For dessert they offered a vanilla cake drizzled in chocolate, a chocolate brownie type cake drizzled with vanilla frosting, vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, chocolate mousse, plain mini cupcakes (no icing), and large cookies in the shape of shamu that were very cute but dry and tasteless, but good dunked in coffee.
Soft drinks were unlimited. The coffee was good.
Was it worth $89+ tip for the 3 of us? I am not sorry to have tried it. We had a good time. If the food, the show, the price, or especially if ALL of these were better I would do it again without hesitation. As it was, once was enough.
:jester:
 
Thanks for the review Suz. We had to cancel our dinner to go out of townm at the last minute for a funeral. Thank again for posting the details.
 
Sorry to hear of your loss Buschfan.
I hope SW did not give you a big hassle about cancelling your dinner. When I used my credit card to make my reservation I thought they had told me it was non-refundable but I was not really paying attention, I should know better because I do know that anything can happen. In any case I cannot imagine them refusing to refund the money in your circumstance.
I hope you'll get another chance to try the dinner, it really was fun. BTW- I always wanted to let you know I feel like a neighbor to you since I have 2 brothers in the NPR area and usually incude a visit to them when we come up to do Busch. Small world huh?


:jester:
 
We were able to cancel with no problems. We called before the 24 hour period that was mentioned to me when I made the reservation. We did lose 2 nights on Priceline though.

We will try again. They said they were over half full when I booked. We probably would of been in the seats away from the rail. I now know to book earlier to get a rail seat thanks to your review.

It is good that you can see family and Busch when in the area. We meet up with family in Orlando when we go over to Universal/Sea World. It makes it a well-balanced trip.

I did manage to visit Busch in Williamsburg on the way back home on Monday. It was a great day there. We saw the new Imaginque show at night and met up with a cousin that works at the park.
 
Thanks for the report Suz! I am so sad to hear there is no animal interaction. That would be the only reason for us to go!
 
I had to post! My rather cynical husband who is doing NONE of the planning just the driving (no small chore that) just laughed when I told him about Dinner with Shamu and thought it was Dinner FOR Shamu -- take your youngest kids...

Then I read your post DisOrBust. What kind of interaction were you expecting? LOL!
 

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