13 October 2016
When I learned that Manila Ocean Park recently offered a Birthday Madness promo that entitles the birthday celebrant to free entrance to the park provided he/she comes with 3 paying companions, I immediately went to their
website to find out more details. There were two packages available: Sea Breeze Express (P750 for 11 attractions) and "Marine Voyage" (P990 for 13 attractions). Trails to Antarctica - The Penguin Exhibit and the Christmas Village are the only two added attractions for the Marine Voyage package.
We chose the Sea Breeze Express Package and went on my actual birthdate, although according to the rules, I could have gone anytime during my birth month. How I wish I could use the privilege over and over instead of just one time :) hahaha All you have to do is go to the ticket counter and present your valid credentials (I used my birth certificate) and buy your tickets for either package (Sea Breeze or Marine Voyage).
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| At the Ticket Booth |
Anyway, here are the attractions that were part of the package:
Anytime Attractions: This means you can go anytime at your discretion. You can do them in any order, but will be limited to one entry per attraction only.
Outdoor Shows: These are live shows that are held outside. They follow a strict schedule although you may choose when to come depending on your time. Although, I suspect that if there are educational field trips scheduled, management tries to encourage you to stick to the schedule that they allot for you. For instance, when we got our list of attractions, they encircled 3PM for the Sea Lion Show, 4:15PM for the All-Star Bird Show and 7:15PM for the Symphony Evening Show. We actually missed the 3PM show and wanted to go into the 5PM show but the line was too long because of the students on a field trip. So we weren't able to see that show.
Penguin Talk Show: This is the only indoor show at the moment. Supposedly opens at 10AM and Last Show is at 6:30PM. But there's a note that you have to visit the venue for the actual schedule. We weren't able to go to this one as well. When we got there around 6PM, they said that the show was done.
Given that this was the first time we're going to set foot at the Manila Ocean Park, we really didn't have any idea what to do first or how long it will take for us to fully appreciate each attraction. So, in the next posts, I'll give you an idea of what to see or do in each attraction and how long it took us to go around. Hopefully, you'll get to plan your trip better than we did this first time :)
At the entrance, you'll find this Guide Map and Wrist Band Checker. I suggest you take a picture of the Guide Map so you know where to go. They didn't give us a brochure or a map to help us get around the place. There are signs though, but in our case, where we're planning as we go along, it was kind of hard to plan ahead.
The Wrist Band Checker is there to let you know if you're qualified for that particular attraction. However, the wrist band checkers that we've tried where either broken or offline. They do give you a list of attractions that you're qualified for when you pay for your tickets, so don't lose that.
There's also this huge photo standee where you can take a souvenir photo of your Manila Ocean Park adventure.
Now on to the Oceanarium! :)
By the time we arrived at the Birds of Prey Kingdom, it was already 5:00PM and most of the students on their field trip have gone home. That meant there were no more long lines at the entrance :) This attraction was actually the first thing you'll come across when you enter Manila Ocean Park so it's inevitable that people will start with this attraction. 
