The Seven Seas Food Festival takes place annually at SeaWorld San Diego. The Seven Seas Food Festival offers an extensive outdoor dining event featuring international recipes and drinks along with local craft brews. Keep reading for all the tips on taking your family to this weekend event!
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SeaWorld San Diego Seven Seas Food Festival
The SeaWorld San Diego Seven Seas Food Festival is an excellent mix of dining, entertainment and beverages inspired by global dining from around the seven seas.
My family and I have attended the Seven Seas Food Festival events for many years and appreciate the energetic atmosphere and high-end dishes served during the festivities. This article about the Seven Seas Food Festival will share photos of some dining and beverage options from years’ past.
In 2021 the festival will feature 125 offerings, almost all of them completely new to the event. This will include an all new vegan-only station, as well as over 75 craft beers and 25+ cocktail & wine selections.
SeaWorld park tickets will only be sold online. Tickets will NOT be available for sale at the gates. Guests must purchase tickets and then book a separate day reservation in advance.
Details About SeaWorld Seven Seas Food Festival 2023
When does the Seven Seas Food Festival Happen?
March 3 – April 30, 2023. This open-air experience happens every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
What is the SeaWorld Seven Seas Food Festival?
This weekend event is offered in addition to the current SeaWorld San Diego park offerings.
9 outdoor dining kiosks and 2 restaurants participate in the festival food menu. Guests may purchase a separate dining lanyard to participate in the food/brew/wine portion. The added festival entertainment is included in the park admission.
How Does the Event Work?
The Seven Seas Food Festival dining is a separate purchase outside of the regular park admission. Guests may purchase a sampler lanyard online or inside the parks.
The sampler is basically a punch card with attached lanyard that can be used at any of the participating kiosks. One purchase equals one punch on the card.
What Other Experiences Take Place at SeaWorld San Diego?
SeaWorld is one of the top things to do outside in San Diego! In addition to the theme park rides, there are educational animal encounters and aquariums. With a large entertainment calendar of animal shows and musicians, there’s always something going on in the park.
Read my complete SeaWorld San Diego guide for extra family touring tips.
Tickets & Reservations Required
All tickets for SeaWorld San Diego Seven Seas Food Festival must be purchased online and ahead of visiting. Tickets are date specific to reserve a reservation. Annual Passholders must make a reservation online for the day they wish to visit. Single day tickets start at $59.99.
You’ll be able to purchase Annual Passes on the SeaWorld website as well, which include access to the park for the rest of 2021. Additional incentives include free parking, discounts on dining and merchandise. Annual passholders also receive a bonus of three additional tastings with the purchase of the sampler lanyard.
All guests with existing tickets, Fun Cards, or Annual Passes must make a reservation to visit in advance in order to manage park capacity and maintain physical distancing. Requiring reservations allows the park to limit the number of guests on property each day, further enhancing the park’s rigorous safety protocols.
Food Festival Sampler Lanyard
For those who wish to sip and snack through SeaWorld during the Seven Seas Food Festival event, the additional purchase of a sampler lanyard is encouraged. Save yourself time in line and purchase ahead through the SeaWorld website. The admission ticket is on top of the purchase of any dining purchases.
- 10-item Sampler Lanyard cost is $60 (equals out to $6 per item)
- 15-item Sampler Lanyard cost is $75 (equals out to $5 per item)
Each kiosk features a menu board that shows a photo and the price of each item if you want to purchase them without the sampler card. Generally, each item costs around $6-7 if you buy them separately. If you plan to purchase multiple items, the 15-item sample lanyard is definitely the best value.
Food & Dining Experience
SeaWorld San Diego is known for their annual Seven Seas Food Festival. Hopefully 2021 continues their high-quality dining tradition of offering gourmet dishes. SeaWorld has a commitment towards serving seafood with sustainable ingredients, something my fisherman husband appreciates.
The big question: Does the quick service style food served at the SeaWorld San Diego food festival deliver on quality and taste? It’s truly great to be able to dine well within an amusement park during the Seven Seas Food Festival and my family has always been delighted with the options. When was the last time you saw a spicy poke bowl, grilled lamb chop or jack fruit sloppy joes on any theme park menus?
- While SeaWorld may open earlier, the Festival food and dining kiosks don’t start serving until noon.
- Food is almost always prepared to order at each location. It can take a few minutes to get your order because it’s freshly made. The longest I waited for a dish to finish cooking at a previous event was 10 minutes.
- Offerings include vegetarian dishes, gluten-free, vegan, non-alcoholic beverages and kid-friendly dishes.
- Yes, you can use your sampler lanyards for alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and cocktails from locations that are participating in the festival.
Seven Seas Food and Dining Kiosks & Menus
Flavors of SoCal – California Hand Roll, Lobster, White Cheddar Kraft Heinz Mac n Cheese, San Diego Craft Brews and Stone Fruit Frosé
Vegan Market – Impossible™ Meat Slider, Jack Fruit Sloppy Joes, Cutwater Frozen Margarita Popsicles and Main & Vine Wine Spritzers
Mexico – Beef Barbacoa Taco, Brisket Nachos, Mexican Roasted Corn, Frozen Margarita, Micheladas, Chamangorita, SeaGlass Chardonnay, CA and SeaGlass Cabernet, CA
Polynesia – Spicy Poke Bowl, Kalua Pork Sandwich, Tropical Cheesecake, Hawaiian Hard Seltzer, Cutwater Frozen Margarita Popsicles, Hawaiian Pineapple Express cocktail and Blue Hawaiian cocktail
Italy – Caprese Salad, Fontina Cheese Meatballs, Mama’s Rigatoni, and Tiramisu
Mediterranean – Lamb Slider, Hummus & Parmesan Garlic Fries, Greek Yogurt & Honey, Sweet Beignets and Santorini POM Cocktail
France – Goat Cheese Croquettes, Grilled Lamb Chop, Golden Dusted Chocolate Mousse and Macaroon, French Kiss Cocktail and Sparkling St Tropez
Caribbean – Jerk Chicken Slider, Smoked Jamaican Ribs, Key Lime Pie, Caribbean Sunrise
Bahama’s Bar – Tropical Hurricane, Bay Magic Cocktail, Benziger Sauvignon Blanc and Benziger Pinot Noir
Shipwreck Reef Café Restaurant – Grilled Bacon Cheeseburger, Kickin’ Fried Shrimp, Hot Honeyracha Chicken Wings, Honey-Hoisin Glazed Salmon, and Kids Meals (Mac & Cheese or Tenders & Fries)
Calypso Bay Smokehouse – St. Louis BBQ Ribs, Fried Green Tomato Slider, Quartered BBQ Chicken, BBQ Brisket Tacos and Kids Meals (Mac & Cheese or Tenders & Fries)
Entertaining Music and Dance
As in years past, SeaWorld San Diego Seven Seas Food Festival will once again feature live Polynesian dance presentations in 2021. We’ve loved watching the hula dancers and listening to the traditional Hawaiian music! Local talent will offer socially distanced performances on 4 different stages throughout the day. This includes live acoustic guitar and jazz music, spaced out around the theme park.
What Animal Exhibits Are Available?
With the purchase of a regular day at SeaWorld, you’ll have access to the usual animal exhibits available during “zoo” operations. The following exhibits are open, including touch pools:
- Orcas
- Sharks
- Sea Turtles
- Explorer’s Reef with Bamboo Sharks
- Cleaner Fish and Horseshoe Crabs and Rays
- Sea Lions
- Otters
- Penguins
- Dolphins
- Flamingos
Favorite SeaWorld Shows
The following shows are operational during the SeaWorld Seven Seas Food Festival (and other days of the week).
- Dolphin Days
- Sea Lion Show
- Orca Encounter live educational presentation
Rescue Tails is a new show premiering at SeaWorld San Diego, that features some the park’s rescued animals including birds of prey, primates and reptiles. Guests will learn the stories behind each animal as well as SeaWorld’s commitment to animal rescue and care. This educational presentation will take place in the Nautilus Amphitheater.
Socially Distanced Sesame Street Meet-and-Greets
While the Sesame Street Bay of Play is still closed at SeaWorld San Diego, young fans of Sesame Street can still greet popular characters. Kids and parents can wave hello and take pictures with these furry friends as they are perched on physically distanced parade floats. We were able to see a few of the characters during our fall visit (see photo from that trip below).
Check the daily show schedule for dates and times that each character will appear.
- Elmo
- Cookie Monster
- Abby
- Oscar the Grouch
- Grover
- Zoe
- Bert & Ernie
- Rosita
- Count von Count
- Telly
- Prairie Dawn
Looking for more Spring Events in Southern California?
- Knott’s Berry Farm is hosting the Knott’s Taste of Boysenberry Festival in 2021, another in their series of recent food and outdoor dining events while the theme park portion remains closed.
- Disneyland Resort offers A Touch of Disney, a specially ticketed event that takes place inside Disney California Adventure park.
- The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are both open and operating.
