Georgia Aquarium’s Festival of the SEAson

Red loves the aquarium.  And Whale Sharks.  And Dolphins… and penguins.. and just about everything else we can find with our membership passes to the Georgia Aquarium.  This special, seasonal time of the year, we were welcomed to the Wake Up Santa event on November 21st for Georgia Aquarium’s Festival of the SEAson.  All the children giggled as Mrs. Clause tried to entice Santa awake with the smell of fresh cookies, Rudolph tried to jingle him awake with sleigh bells and lastly the kids pelted styrofoam snow balls at Santa Claus himself to wake him up!  

Can you see Red at the FRONT of the rug area? He kept shouting to a sleeping Santa with his Christmas request…. I was partially mortified… but I did see a sleeping Santa giggle.  Or at least I think I did 🙂

If you didn’t catch this wonderful experience this year, I am really hoping they bring it back for following holiday seasons; Red was wide-eyed for each page of The Polar Express as Santa read to the crowd, and munching on Santa’s chocolate chip cookies and sipping milk while coloring pages was part of the fun!  After the hour’s event, we raced into the aquarium’s exhibits to the Aquanaut Adventure and down to see the Belugas and wait (impatiently) for the Sea Lion’s arrival in 2016.  

Each time we leave the aquarium, we make sure to peruse the gift shop, and there are TONS of things I would love to Santa to consider dropping down my chimney.  If you have an aquatic member of the family, consider including the some of the great gifts from the aquarium gift shop!   If giving of goods aren’t your style, you can always give an animal encounter or interaction or an adoption of a penguin!! 

Additional Festival of the SEAson highlights include:

• SCUBA Claus – For the tenth year in a row, guests can catch sight of SCUBA Claus diving into Ocean Voyager Built by The Home Depot and swimming among the whale sharks, manta rays and thousands of fish during the dive shows at 12 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. every Thursday through Sunday until December 25.
• Holiday Tree Lightings – At 10:30 a.m. daily, Georgia Aquarium will host a festive Tree Lighting in the Atrium, complete with carols sung by the attraction’s own Holiday Singers. Visitors of all ages are encouraged to sing along!
• Holidazzle – The choreographed Holidazzle light and music show shines and sparkles to the rhythms of classic holiday tunes in the Georgia Aquarium’s Atrium at the top of every hour.
• Underwater Menorah – See the amazing underwater menorah in the world’s largest aquatic habitat, Ocean Voyager Built by The Home Depot. In celebration of Hanukkah and in accordance with tradition, another candle will be magically lit under water each evening of the holiday, beginning December 6 and running through December 14. 
• Symphony of Snow – Back for its second year, Symphony of Snow is Georgia Aquarium’s popular Broadway-style live musical, which includes holiday classics and culminates with the entrance of Santa Claus. Symphony of Snow takes place every weekend beginning November 21.
• Breakfast with Santa – December 12th at 9am, have breakfast with Santa while also taking in majestic aquatic animals. Guests will have time with Santa and enjoy holiday crafts. Tickets are $19.95 for non-members and $14.95 for members. 

Festival of the SEAson runs from November 21 through December 25. General aquarium admission is required for all Festival of the SEAson activities. Admission tickets are $32.95 for children, $38.95 for adults and $34.95 for seniors. Some Festival of the SEAson activities (like Wake UP Santa) require a separate activity ticket purchase. To learn more about Festival of the SEAson visit georgiaaquarium.org.