We love Seaworld, and it is probably our fav park in Orlando!!! For us, it's the atmosphere! When I am at Disney, I feel like I spend 90% of my day in line, and grumpy, cause my kids are tired of waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seaworld, is such a laid back place to be! We walked in last year, after doing a few other days at other parks! We had decided we actually weren't going to do SW last year, as we have overkilled it the last 3 years!! Our girls begged, and bugged, so we decided to buy tickets and take them back, half way through our trip! As we were walking along the paths, my husband looked at me, and said, this is my fav park, no rushing, no pushing, it feels like our home park!! So we upgraded to season passes, and will be back in March!!
NO doubt the shows would leave something to desire if they no longer existed, but if the whales were there, & dolphins even to see, we would probably still go!