Award-winning holiday season at SeaWorld San Diego with more than one million lights, nightly snowfall, holiday shows, a Christmas parade and photos with Santa.
SeaWorld San Diego brings back its Christmas Celebration starting November 13, and it runs all the way through January 3. It's one of those events that takes over the whole park, so you've got a good window to fit it in whenever works for you over the holidays.
The atmosphere is built around more than a million twinkling lights and acres of festive decorations, with nightly snowfall at the SkyTower Lawn and Wild Arctic. There's a lot of the usual holiday stuff—photos with Santa and his reindeer, the Snowflake Seeker's: A Christmas Quest! scavenger hunt, and Rudolph's Christmastown. For the kids, there's Baby Shark's Christmas Adventure, North Pole Storytime, Clyde & Seamore's Christmas Special, and Toymaker Trouble with Mrs. Claus and the elves. A Stocking Full of Soul and Donner and Blitzen's Laser Light Show round out the entertainment, and the Rock the Holiday Christmas Parade runs through the park.
There are a few things that lean into the animals, too. Miracles is a nighttime orca presentation set to a holiday soundtrack, and O Wondrous Night retells the first Christmas with more than 30 carols, life-size puppets, and live animals. This year, Dolphin Island Christmas is reimagined with the park's newest dolphin family member, Solstice. If you're looking for fireworks, the A Christmas Wish shows run on Saturday, December 12, and Thursday, December 31.
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Beyond the main celebration, the park holds a Hanukkah menorah lighting starting December 1 and a Kwanzaa kinara lighting. All the holiday entertainment is included with park admission, so you don't need a separate ticket for the shows and lights—just your regular entry. The celebration runs from November 13 through January 3, so you can pick a date that fits your schedule.
