which tour

[nancyL]

Hi!
We only have time to do one MAYBE two tours on our upcoming visit. In what order of preference would you do the following:
Predator tour, Polar tour, Rescue tour. We have 6 adults (2 "kind of can be cranky" seniors, one of which will be in an ECV, 4 "youthful 30s/40s" and 4 kids- ages 8 months, 4 years, 8 years (boys) and 10 years (girl).
Can anyone also confirm what animals you get to touch in each?
Thanks!
nancy

 

[CatLady]

Keep in mind that you aren't 100% guaranteed touching an animal. If they're not behaving themselves, the staff will use their own judgment about whether it's safe for you. I believe the way the animal services folks insist that it be phrased in tour materials is that you get to "meet" the animals.

Have you seen the descriptions of the tours at http://www.seaworld.org/education-programs/swf/tour/index.htm? That will help. I can see the ECVs being an issue, since the polar tour, for example, has a shuttle bus ride as part of it. Call ahead and ask, just in case.

My favorite tour is the Polar tour. Lots of interesting stuff, and you never know who or what you might see in those particular back areas, since sometimes they are moving animals from one enclosure to another. On that tour, I have touched a penguin. They're very soft, but don't stand behind them, since they projectile-poop!

I have never done the Predator tour, but I understand that the most likely touch is of a baby shark.

The last time I did the rescue tour was literally the first week they were offering it, so I suspect it has changed substantially since then. It was really interesting to see the rescued manatees, etc., but I think the only thing we were able to touch was a snake. The current description (and name!) of this tour sounds a lot different from what I saw, so you'll have to get an opinion from someone who took the tour more recently.

 

[robvia]

I did Polar Bear tour and it was cool. You start by walking thru the holding areas behind the Polar Bear exhibit. Then you walk past the huge pumps and filters into another building that holds more Polar Bears. They're usually sleeping if they are even there. The handler gives you tons of info, showing how big their paws are. Then it's over to another building where you enter a freezing cold room with penguins. The handler sits and you get to pet one. The other penguins in the room walk around on ice, and make funny noises. They come right up to the edge and look at the people. You could reach out and touch one, but they tell you not too.