Since we'd be there all day, we opted again to buy the SeaWorld all day eating pass. See my previous post on how to discover, is the SeaWorld all-day eating worth it? There, I discuss price and food options and how to best make use of the eating pass.
For today's visit, I'll just share a review of the food we sampled:
Breakfast Entree - first meal of the day and we're already disappointed. Breakfast is served until 10:30 AM. We arrived shortly after 10:00 AM only to find out that they no longer had any bacon (and just one sad little link of sausage left). They had an overabundance of eggs, and placed huge piles on our plate. SeaWorld really needs to get better at estimating the egg to meat ratios and start cooking more as they begin to run out. My Big Shamu Breakfast was missing the bacon and sausage. Glad I was on the plan and not buying ala carte. On the plus side, orange juice was included and the breakfast potatoes were yummy. The big muffins were delicious as always. I had the the chocolate chip and my husband had the blueberry.
Early Lunch Entree - another disappointment I'm afraid. We had lunch at the Spice Mill. I chose the steak burger which was cold. The burgers must have been sitting out for at least 30 minutes (I almost think they were being held in a chiller rather than a warmer). The fries were fresh out of the fryer and great. My husband's chicken entree salad was small. For the price they charge, SeaWorld should be embarrassed to call this an "entree salad". There is about a tablespoon of chicken. A similar entree salad at Voyagers Smokehouse from our last visit was equally small and lacking in chicken. The pickle counts as a side item. The chocolate cake is by far our favorite.
Late Lunch Entrees - We just finished sitting through a performance of Blue Horizons in the blistering heat at this outdoor seating dolphin show and needed to cool off fast. We headed straight to the Seafire Inn for their abundance of cool dark seating. After ordering our meals, we found out that the air conditioned indoor seating had been closed off to guests due to early preparations forthe nighttime luau. They were a handful of tables indoors near the condiment station and another set of tables outside. Both sets of tables were full.
I politely asked the manager on duty if additional seating was available indoors. He wouldn't make eye contact and then pointed to the full tables and said, "this is all we've got". He was unapologetic and it was obvious that he was not about to go out of his way to help a guest. A few moments later, a SeaWorld team member listening in pointed out that a table outside had opened up and suggested it "wasn't too bad out there" because they were running fans. The manger should have applied some common sense and opened a portion of indoor seating. There were more people than tables and it was 95 degrees outside! Unfortunately, we had no choice but to go outdoors. Let me tell you, it is no fun eating a hot meal (I had the chicken parmesan, which was tasty) out in the heat. My husband made a better choice by selecting a sandwich. I mostly had to walk away from lunch. Lesson learned...
A Place to Cool Off - we remembered that the Terrace Garden Pizza and Pasta Buffet at SeaWorld was quite cool. We had only eaten there once before (it was pretty bad) and decided that since it was included in the all-day eating pass, we see if things had improved. We didn't stay long because it was too warm inside the dining area, but we took a look around and sampled a slice of pizza. The pizza is still soggy, unattended children were still sticking their fingers into everything and the salad tongs were buried in the salad. On the plus side, there was now a white bowtie pasta. Previously, there was only whole wheat penne. I'm so glad we didn't pay ala carte to enter the buffet.
Early Dinner Entree - after suffering in the heat outdoors at the SeaFire Inn and no luck at the Pizza Buffet, we decided we should try to cool off at Voyagers smokehouse. Wrong... there was indoor seating, but is not very cool inside. We shared the brisket (moist and tender, but lacking in flavor) and my usual go-to favorite chicken. The chicken looked super pink inside and there was hardly any meat. I swapped it for ribs. The ribs were dry and chewy, just like many times in the past. My husband loved the carrot cake.
Late Dinner Entree - we finished off the day with a steak and chicken fajita sub combo and Mango Joes and an order of chicken fingers. Not bad, but the only seating option is outdoors. As usual, dessert was better than the entree (chocolate pudding and cookies). But, I have to give SeaWorld props for the fries. Every serving we received today was piping hot and terrific.
We once enjoyed SeaWorld for their dining options. We used to be impressed and thought they did a much better job than Disney. That is no longer the case. Unless something changes, we likely won't be back to SeaWorld Orlando for a long time.