Years ago when I lived in the Orlando area I was disappointed that I was unable to see the Orca's jumping for one reason or another. That was the signature image of SeaWorld, I felt I was missing something by not seeing that. It was only later, when I returned with my wife and saw the evening Shamu show that paired a single whale and trainer in a routine choreographed to music that I understood the real potential that SeaWorld offered as entertainment.

When we moved to San Diego one of the first things we did was to get SeaWorld passes. Throughout the last few years we have visited the park often and each member of the family has their favorite activities. Below I will highlight the not to miss features and provide a review of the new dolphin stadium show "Blue Horizons".

There are two shows in SeaWorld that seem not to fit. The first is Cirque de la Mer, a Cirque de Soleil style acrobatics show featuring spectacular dives from trapezes into a cove of Mission Bay. The second is Pets Rule! a show primarily featuring cats and dogs performing agility show tricks. While Cirque de la Mer is nice, if you have to skip something it is a good choice. On the other hand don't skip Pets Rule! It is the favorite show of my 8 and 6 year old boys and a must visit each trip. This continues to amaze me as the show does not change, but it is high energy and the kids really enjoy it.

Next up on the schedule are my favorite two shows. Sea Lions Live is the current daytime sea lion and otter show and is a spoof of Saturday Night Live. An even better show is Sea Lions Tonight which features the sea lions and otters spoofing every other show at SeaWorld. It combines comic genius seamlessly with a demonstration of animal behaviors. These two shows really demonstrate trainers and animals working together. Don't arrive late to these shows however, prior to the arrival onstage of the main act Biff, the stage hand, opens with an interactive, ever changing and hilarious comedy routine that gets the audience pumped up for the show.

What would SeaWorld be without Shamu? The night time show Shamu Rocks is contrasts a colorful and cacophonous assault of the senses from a rock music backed lights and video show with the elegance and beauty of the black and white orcas. The new rules improve the show by keeping the trainers in the background and focusing more fully on the true stars.

Believe is Shamu's daytime show. You can not visit SeaWorld without seeing this show. That being said, as a frequent visitor I almost never see this show. The stadium is enormous forcing you to either sit in the soak zone or use binoculars and the shows premise is sappy and preachy. I have not seen the show since the new rules were implemented, but I suspect that unlike Shamu Rocks this show, which focused on animal/trainer interaction, has probably less entertaining than it was previously.

Finally, Blue Horizons, SeaWorld's latest show in Dolphin Stadium. First some technicalities, currently in order to get into the show you will need a wristband at the gate. All of the shows are currently filling up so look to see if they are using wristbands and pick them up before you enter the park.

It seems that with Blue Horizons SeaWorld went to every other show in the park and stole something. They have birds flying across the stage (Pets Rule!), costumed acrobats and divers (Cirque de la Mer), a plot line (every sea lion show ever done), whales splashing people, lights, music, singing, fancy water fountains and I think I even saw a kitchen sink.

Hopefully you can tell from my tone that I didn't like this show however both my sons both fully enjoyed it. I would encourage you to go see this show, and fortunately for you, I won't be standing in line again.

The show opens with the host explaining that the show has a plot, and giving a synopsis. This, in my mind, is always a bad sign. Having to explain a show is a lot like explaining a joke, it means you're doing it wrong.

Birds whiz across the stage so fast they are a distraction. People are diving into the water and getting pulled out so fast you lose track. People in bird costumes are bouncing up and down. At this point you may have noticed that I keep calling this the new show in dolphin stadium. I am certain that somewhere in all of this chaos there was a dolphin, but I would be hard pressed to tell you if it did anything.

Perhaps this is my greatest disappointment. For me the dolphin show was always the most pure demonstration of animal talent. The previous show demonstrated flips and jumping height and had audience members interacting with the animals. The current show is more what you would get if the sprinklers went on during a performance of "The Lion King" on Broadway.

As I tweeted immediately after seeing the show, Blue Horizons: SeaWorld has jumped the shark.