Welcome to SeaWorld San Diego

We'll get back to you in a bit Howl-O-Scream

This was also our first time seeing the updated park entry. I do miss the waves, but it looks better than the concept art did.

For those who may not be into Howl-O-Scream they also have a fantastic family friendly event during the day

After a quick ride on Manta and a visit to my wife's favorite Flaming-O's it was time to check out the all new Shark Encounter

Well, updated Shark Encounter

This really is a great refresh of this amazing exhibit

After a quick break with the Penguins to beat the heat it was time to check out Jewels of the Sea: The Jellyfish Experience

For a rather small exhibit there was so much to see, and I love the way they used the space inside

Had to try a Mike Hess Jewel of the Sea Kölsch. Very tasty. So glad it wasn't another IPA.

Some of you may remember that my sister who passed away a few years ago lived in nearby Ocean Beach (part of the reason we have been kind of avoiding San Diego for awhile). We took a bit of a break before Howl-O-Scream to spend a few minutes saying hi.

The waves on the cliffs of Ocean Beach came up right as I was about to throw in the flowers. Because of course they did.

We made our way back to the park about 5:30 just in time for Howl-O-Scream and their early entry at 6:00pm

It's a good thing we got there early because the line to get our Front of the Line passes moved excruciatingly slow before the event officially opened at 7:00

Our first maze of the night was Circus of the Damned: 3D. We really enjoyed this. I mean if you've done one Clown 3D maze you've pretty much done them all, but they're all still fun.

A tribute to our good friend Barry Under Your Bed?

Each of the Scare Zones at the event features vignette shows that really brings everything to life. I wish we could have seen more but with the heat it was just too much TBH.

Next up was Death Water Bayou: Awakening. This is where the "Old School Theme Park Haunt" feeling really came into play. Some stuff in here that wouldn't fly at other haunts. You'll see in the video. =)

One of our absolute favorites of Howl-O-Scream was Area 64: Mothership. We always love a good alien maze and this was one of the better ones.

We love when there are mazes so close to each other! One thing I'll say about this area is they definitely needed some big fans back here with all the heat.

This one did seem a bit short on talent, but wow was it well done. The sets were absolutely stellar and the talent that was there crushed it. Looking forward to checking out the Orlando version of this in a few weeks.

The show Monster Stomp was highly recommended so we definitely took a chance to chill for a bit to watch the show with our new friend

The show is great, a lot of fun. A bit too long for us at about 35 minutes. We're of the belief that theme park shows should be about 20 minutes max. Still, the talent in here was absolutely stellar and gave it their all despite the heat.

We had to introduce our new buddy to his family

Really liked the way this pic of the Magellanic Penguins at night turned out

Simon's Slaughterhouse (S-Laughterhouse?) is near the Penguin Encounter. Just like with the Clowns 3D maze, if you've done a Slaughterhouse maze you know what to expect. But having a bit of "Simon Says" in the maze was a unique turn that we enjoyed.

The last maze of the night was Nightmare Experient: Sweet DreamzZz which was definitely the most unique maze of the night. I absolutely mean that in a good way.

Overall we had an absolutely killer time at Howl-O-Scream San Diego. If the weather had been about 25 degrees cooler and we didn't have a 2 1/2 hour drive home we definitely would have stayed to check out the vignettes in the scare zones. Next year for sure.