Grade 7-9 Resident Camp Sea World Orlando

[scootch]

Anyone have a child enrolled in the camps for this summer or have already gone to one?

 

[Staks11]

I have enrolled my twins in this camp and their friend is going as well, in July. They have never been before, but it looks amazing. If you have any insight, I would love to hear it.

 

[momto2js]

My kids have done the Busch Gardens Day camps and they were really good!!

 

[kathy884]

Anyone have a child enrolled in the camps for this summer or have already gone to one?

Fantastic camp!!! My son did the Orlando one after 8th grade, after 10th grade, after 11th grade, and after 12th grade. He did Sea World San Diego camp after 9th grade and Sea World San Antonio camp after freshman year in college. He wanted a chance to check out all three of the parks. The Orlando camps were his favorites by far.

Although pricey for a camp, it's really a good deal if you look at all the behind the scenes experiences that the kids get to do. It would cost a fortune to do those individually. They are with like minded kids who love marine mammals and other sea creatures, so making friends is very easy/second nature. They also get to meet kids from all over the country. Usually there are participants from the United Kingdom too which is cool. I thought it would be a one time thing in the eight grade, but it was so great that as you can see we did six years. In high school camps the kids kept in contact through out the year and some signed up for the same week the following year even. My son is now 21 and is still in contact with others some of the friends he has met in camp. In fact last summer we had two campers come to St. Louis to visit us for a week. Also when in NYC, my son met up with a camper who lives there for an afternoon. Pretty cool.

The kids are very well taken care of and supervised, but treated like they are adults with cell phone access available and some independent time too. The first and last night are overnights at animal venues (e.g. underwater dolphin swimming area and wild artic usually). The other three nights are typically slumming it (not) at the Marriott Residence Inn.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you have.

Oh and one year my son did the Busch Gardens camp one week on top of the Sea World camp too.

 

[scootch]

My daughter just got back. She had a great time, although didn't match up well with her roommates. There were 3 of them and I think the saying, 2 company, three's a crowd.... Other than that she loved it again.

 

[ctc917]

Kathy884 I have a question about your son's experience at the Busch Gardens camp, did he like that as well as the Sea World Camp? Does he like roller coasters or did he go to the Busch Garden Camp for the animal interaction? did he like the Sea World camp a lot better than the Busch Gardens one or did he just attend more Sea World Camps because there were more of them?
Can any parent who sent their kids to either the Sea World or Busch Garden Camps give some thoughts on the following: we are from New England so I was wondering what your kids said about the weather? one more question if you are from other states besides FL did you put your son on a plane to attend and is this even possible or did you go with him and spend the week in Orlando while he attended

thanks

ctc917

 

[kathy884]

Hi ctc917, Although my son enjoyed the Busch Gardens camp a lot he did not like it nearly as well as the SeaWorld camp in Orlando. He loves roller coasters and animal interactions, but his real passion is for marine mammals and sea creatures (always has been), so really it should be no surprise at all to me that he liked the SeaWorld camp best. He just was soooo excited about the up front and personal experiences with the sea creatures and marine mammals in Orlando in particular (every week he went) -- shark cage, penguin encounter, preparing food for the marine mammals, talking to the dolphin and Orca trainers, and getting close to the marine mammals. Busch Gardens for him was a camp to try once. SeaWorld San Antonio and SeaWorld San Diego were camps to try once. SeaWorld Orlando was one he would go to even now if they had one for college aged students or adults. That's the one he repeated and went to four times. San Antonio is the only one with college aged, graduate school, teacher, and adult over 25 camps. // I think part of his liking the Orlando camp best too is spending your evenings in Orlando at two animal venues (first and last night) and the Marriott Residence Inn (three middle nights) vs. being in a basic camp style bunk room. Sleeping in the animal venues was a super memorable (hearing the beluga whale at night the one night, being in the underwater viewing area for dolphins, dolphins deciding they really like you and spending all night right next to you - right by your head against the glass, etc. was just really cool for example). And those Marriott Residence Inn beds were just way more comfortable than the bunks too. // DS too is not by any means cell phone obsessed or anything like that. But he really appreciated that he could keep his cell phone with him the whole time he was at the Orlando camp vs. the Busch and San Diego ones where you had to turn in certain things to counselors the first day who kept them locked away for the duration of camp. He felt that the Orlando counselors treated individuals with the upmost respect and like adults vs. the other camps that had lots of what he thought were unnecessary rules and restrictions. // I don't remember what the scoop was at the San Antonio camp on that, but there too being in college and being in a bunk room with high school kids who weren't as mature in San Antonio wasn't that thrilling for him either.

Orlando is a tropical climate, so very hot and humid in the summer. They have lots of air conditioning, keep the kids hydrated, etc., so DS said it really wasn't that bad. I think those youngsters are much better with the heat and humidity than I am.

We are from Missouri and each time he flew by himself to Orlando. If there is anywhere in the Orlando airport I know he would always be able to find it would be the SeaWorld gift shop lol. Do note that it gave me comfort that he had a cell phone and that he could call me when he arrived. And counselors have your son or daughter call you once your child has connected with the group. He flew to San Diego and San Antonio by himself. // Now I actually went with DS to Tampa (we flew in together), and we spent a few days before the camp at Clearwater beach and visited Winter at the Clearwater Marine sanctuary before the camp (something after seeing the Dolphin Tale movie DS always wanted to do). This was a really fun weekend. I have a cousin who lives in Tampa who joined us for that. I also spend another day with my cousin after we dropped DS off at the Busch Gardens camp. DS, though, from there did fly home on his own (well actually the counselors really look after the kids, get them to the airport, etc. and through security).

I think all of the Busch Gardens / Sea World camps were great experiences and as a parent would have to give them all a big thumbs up. The Orlando one in particular, though, was always just such a magical week for DS.

Do note that we live in St. Louis, MO and have a wonderful zoo here too that has day camp programs with an overnight on the last night, overnight experiences, and behind the scenes programs that sound very similar to a lot of what they do at Busch Gardens. We are zoo members and have always participated heavily in the programs we have locally for kids, families, and adults. We have done a lot with our local wolf sanitary too which was started by Marlin Perkins which breeds, trains for the wild, and reintroduces wolfs on the endangered species list to the wild. DS has done camps there, and we have participated in family programs there too. We love things like this, and the Busch Gardens / SeaWorld camps are leaders in education and provide world class experiences for campers.

 

[ctc917]

Thanks Kathy884 for answering all my questions...

ctc917

 

[preciouspups]

Hi all! We are thinking about sending my son to the Sea World camps next summer. Even though we live close enough to drive to Orlando, I think we may choose San Diego (I don't really want another vacation in Orlando!) because he will have the option of the resident camp there. He is going into sixth grade next year and Orlando doesn't start the overnight until 7th. Do you think the experience would be fun for a rising sixth grader?

 

[kathy884]

Hi all! We are thinking about sending my son to the Sea World camps next summer. Even though we live close enough to drive to Orlando, I think we may choose San Diego (I don't really want another vacation in Orlando!) because he will have the option of the resident camp there. He is going into sixth grade next year and Orlando doesn't start the overnight until 7th. Do you think the experience would be fun for a rising sixth grader?

Absolutely -- If your rising sixth grader is ready for a resident camp, doing any camp in the SeaWorld/Busch Gardens family of camps I think would be a wonderful choice and really fun for your son, especially if he likes marine mammals. I like the climate in the summer in San Diego best too of the three options and that would definitely be my top pick of the three for a summer family vacation (I'm not a fan of heat and humidity). When my son went to San Diego, for their one out of park experience the kids got to take a surfing lesson (harder than it looks for sure, but still fun).