Dining at theme parks can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, with restaurant choices, reservations, and menu options seeming endless. On top of that, the concept of dining plans — and whether they’re worth it — can prove impenetrable for those planning a first time trip.
However, fear not if you’re heading to SeaWorld Orlando — we’ll tell you everything you need to know about SeaWorld’s All-Day Dining Plan and whether it’s truly worth it.
Before breaking down whether SeaWorld’s Dining Plan is worth it’s cost, it probably best to start breaking down what it is and how it works. As generally explained by SeaWorld, the “convenient dining deal allows you to eat around SeaWorld at participating restaurant locations as often as once every 90 minutes until the published closing time.”
More specifically, the park explains the process like this: “Adults can redeem 1 entree, 1 side OR 1 dessert & 1 regular sized non-alcoholic beverage & Children (Ages 3-9) can redeem Kids meals once per 90 minutes in the park.”
The in-park restaurants included in the dining plan include Voyager’s Smokehouse, Expedition Café, Captain Pete’s Island Hot Dogs, Seafire Grill, Lakeside Grill, Altitude Burger, Panini Shore Café, and the Waterway Grill.
To use the dining plan, guests are required to wear a special wristband throughout their day at the park. According to SeaWorld, the wristband “is valid for 1 entrée platter, 1 additional side item and 1 soft beverage or iced tea. Wristbands MUST be worn at all times and shown at each redemption.”
However, it does need to be noted that there are numerous dining experiences that are not included in the plan. These include, water bottles, souvenir items, alcoholic beverages. And “equity dines such as Character Dining, Dine with Orcas, or Sharks Underwater Grill.” In addition, it’s best to keep in mind that the All-Day Dining Deal is non-refundable, and theme park admission is required for entry.
So, now that we’ve broken down how and where SeaWorld’s All-Day Dining Deal works, in addition to what is — and isn’t — included, the next question to tackle is whether it’s “worth” it. Like many theme park dining plans, the answer to that question lies in how much a given family is planning to eat during a theme park day.
As of October 2023, SeaWorld’s All-Day Dining Deal costs $49.99 per adult (classified by SeaWorld as anyone 10 years old or older) and $24.99 for children ages 3-9. Given the fact that an adult meal at SeaWorld is going to average around $20, and children’s meal around $15, mathematically, the Dining Plan financially makes sense anyone planning to eat at least two meals in a given day, and actually becomes a massive value for any family planning to add a third meal or some snacks to their day.
On the other hand, if your family is only planning to eat one meal during a SeaWorld visit, it may be best to skip the All-Day Dining Deal. However, it’s important to bear in mind here that the park has somewhat strict rules about what they’ll allow guests to bring into the park with them, writing on their official website that, “No outside food, beverages, or coolers are allowed to be brought into SeaWorld Orlando, except you may bring a bottle of water or a refillable water bottle.”
Have you ever tried SeaWorld’s All-Day Dining Deal? Did you find it worth it or a “waste” of money in the end? Let us know in the comments below.
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We find that we just aren’t there long enough to make it work for us.
We used it in September 2022. Two couples, each couple bought it for one person and we just split the meals. We ate four times and by the fourth everyone was so full we didn’t even need to eat again. But we did for the extra benefit. Totally worth it to us!