We attended this event a week ago on Sunday, September 20th. We had been planning a trip to SD from Phoenix for the 20th through the 25th and didn’t realize that it was only running Friday-Sunday. So we got to super early on Sunday and left Phoenix around 7am.
We arrived around 1pm or so. There was only a single person manning a single booth for parking but the lines weren’t too bad. We had prepaid for normal parking and there was plenty of it. They told us to only park every other spot but no one was enforcing that and everyone was clustered together. It didn’t matter much to us since when we parked, no one was arriving near us anyway. I would not recommend upgraded parking because you will only get a tiny bit closer.
The entrance to the whole thing is off to the right from the main entrance. We waited only a minute or so to get “screened”. We saw them check temps of people in front of us but for whatever reason we didn’t get checked. Again, didn’t bother us as I have heard temperature screenings aren’t that effective anyway.
After getting through that area, you get dumped back into the main plaza. Not much like for us to get through and we are assigned our punchcard that hangs around our necks.
Because we knew we were not getting there right at opening we splurged $15 a person for the priority seating. I am glad we did. We attended all 3 shows (Orca, Dolphin, Sea Lion) and arrived with maybe 15 minutes and got our seating). The Orca show was especially nice since the reserved seating is mainly the one shaded area. The seating in general is very well done: every other row, marked spacing for groups and employees doing a pretty good job at enforcement. At the end, they dismiss folks in groups so you don’t get your usual stampede. Most people seemed to be compliant.
Exiting was probably one of the few times we’d get within 6-feet of other folks. There was normally plenty of room and you can tell they are operating well under capacity. Beyond the shows, several other exhibits were open including the “petting” area at the front, Shark Encounter, the penguins and Turtle Reef. The only thing we didn’t end up going was the last one because the line was fairly long and slow going
Masking was generally honored although still saw a few folks with their masks pulled down because they were drinking while walking. Again though: you could keep your distance without much effort and we were outside. We felt pretty good about the whole thing.
The food wasn’t amazing but not bad either. It had the feel of mass produced cafeteria food you might get at a big company. All of the places had different main options but the sides, non-alcoholic drinks and desserts were pretty much the same. The 6 punches were plenty for us because none of us drink alcohol (which takes a punch). We ended up using a few punches at the end to get some sodas (the non-alcoholic drinks are two for one punch) to take with us to our rented beach condo.
Overall, it was an absolutely fantastic experience, especially after being stuck at home for six months! And mostly inside since we are in Phoenix. I am really glad we started our get-away with this visit.