9 Tips for Your First SeaWorld Halloween Spooktacular

SeaWorld is a great experience for kids any time of the year but even more so during the annual Halloween Spooktacular event. Trick or treating, meet and greets with colorful characters and live shows featuring Sesame Street’s Count Von Count and Elmo means there’s no shortage of things for kids to see and do. These SeaWorld Halloween Spooktacular tips will help you plan your trip and make sure that it’s an amazing day.

Planning a trip to SeaWorld’s Halloween Spectacular? From special character meetups to trick or treating, there’s no shortage of things to do. You’ll want to experience it all and these SeaWorld Halloween Spooktacular tips will help you plan your day and have an amazing time.

1. Arrive early

We were told that SeaWorld gets very busy during the Halloween Spooktacular and that we should arrive early. However, with my family that’s much easier said than done. We arrived around lunchtime and it took us about 30 minutes just to park. The lines for the most popular attractions were very long, too. Next time we’ll work harder to get there early so we can enjoy the smaller crowds in the morning.

2. Download the app

The SeaWorld app, listed as the SeaWorld Discovery Guide in Google Play, will help you stay on top of things and plan your day wisely. This is where you can find showtimes for Sesame Street’s Countdown To Halloween and other shows.  It also has a map to help find your way around the park, fun frames and filters for your photos, allows you to pay for things inside the park with your phone and more.

3. Bring a change of clothes

Orlando can be really hot, even in fall, so if you’re going in costume you’ll want to bring a change of clothes. We didn’t even wear costumes because we knew it was going to be really hot the day we were visiting. However, half the fun of attending events like this is to dress up. If that’s your plan, just be sure to bring extra clothes for when you need to cool off.

4. Find the Sesame Street characters

If you want to avoid waiting in line to meet the Sesame Street characters, you can dine with Sesame Street’s Count Von Count, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Rosita at Count Von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast. Starting at $19.99 for adults and $9.99 for kids, you’ll be able to start the day with a breakfast buffet and get your character meet and greets in early without a long wait.

Don’t feel like springing for breakfast? Elmo and Abby Cadabby also make an appearance after the Sesame Street Countdown To Halloween show. You may have to wait in line but you can’t beat free!

SheBuysTravel Tip: Head out the door and get in line as quickly as you can once the show ends. We were lucky enough to be seated near the exit so we were able to line up fast for a shorter wait.

5. Don’t miss Sesame Street’s Countdown To Halloween

While I grew up watching Sesame Street, there are so many choices these days that my girls never really started watching it. In fact, when we talked about going to the show, my 5-year-old asked if the “big, yellow chicken” was going to be there! While Big Bird doesn’t appear, the Count, Elmo and Abby Cadabby do. along with other Sesame Street Friends.

Since she didn’t know the characters, I wasn’t sure if my daughter would enjoy it. Not only did she love it, I enjoyed it too. It begins with interactive songs where the children can get up and participate. Once the actual show starts, there’s storytelling and lots of singing and dancing. I thought it was very well done and even if your child doesn’t watch Sesame Street, they can still enjoy the show.

SheBuysTravel Tip: You can buy tickets to guarantee that you get the best seats but we got in line 40 minutes early and our seats were great…and free!

6. Pick and choose your candy lines

There’s nothing worse than waiting in line for candy, only to find out it’s something you don’t even like. Check out the signs at each candy station first to see if it’s candy you want before hitting the line. I enjoyed seeing which ones made the cut. For Keira, Smarties were worth waiting in line for, Tootsie Rolls were not.

7. Keep your eyes peeled for fun characters

As you walk the path through all the trick or treat stations, you’ll find lots of fun characters (and great photo opps). Some are easy to spot right away, like this pretty princess.

Others are located closer to the lake so you’ll have to look a little harder to find them. Even though the park was crowded, there were enough characters that the lines to meet them were very short.

8. Relax at Penelope’s Garden Party

When you need to take a break, head over to Penelope’s Garden Party. Take a stroll through the garden where you’ll see fun, colorful fish and flowers.

After the stroll, you child can make crafts, decorate cookies or enjoy a story.

This is a great place to stop when you’ve been walking all day and just want to sit and rest your feet for a few minutes.

9. Check out the new dolphin nursery

Technically this isn’t part of the Halloween Spectacular but it’s an attraction that you won’t want to miss! Located just across from the trick-or-treating entrance, this is one of our new favorite attractions!

We’ve never seen dolphin up close and personal like this and it was mesmerizing. Clearly these dolphins love attention because they were flipping around and showing off while the children squealed with delight! They swam right up to the glass and my girls felt like they’d made some new best friends. We could have stayed and watched the dolphins for hours.

Overall, we had a lot of fun! Because of the focus on Sesame Street, some aspects of the Halloween Spooktacular are going to be more popular with younger kids but my 9-year-old still had a great time. It’s definitely something we’d do again!

SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular runs weekends through October 29th and admission is included with your regular SeaWorld ticket.