For most of us, we are just starting to think about the holiday season. But for Steve Welch, Christmas has been top of mind all year. Steve is one of the creative forces behind SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration.

 Everything is bigger in Texas, and SeaWorld doesn't disappoint, especially when it comes to patriotism. Every morning at 10 a.m. time stops as we honor our country with the playing of the National Anthem. It's an amazing spectacle to behold: nearly every man, woman and child (team member and guest alike) falls still in revered silence with a hand over their heart to face the flag. It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it now...

Want to see this cute kiss in person? Experience SeaWorld Orlando's all-new show, One Ocean.

My favorite event of the whole year at SeaWorld San Antonio is “All Can Ski”. Held in mid-August this annual event is sponsored by the non-profit organization San Antonio Sports. We have been honored to play host for this incredible event for the last 16 years.

 We’re gearing up for the 2nd annual Run for the Fund, and all this talk about physical fitness and ability got us thinking about some of the incredible athletic adaptations animals have that help them compete in the everyday “game” of survival. They rely on these adaptations to help them find food, reproduce, move, and communicate with other animals.

We are so excited to finally share our plans for SeaWorld's newest park, Aquatica Texas! So much so that we're giving away Aquatica goodies to you, our loyal fans. Check out this Aquatica beach hat and towel that we're giving away. To enter the contest, simply post the answer to this question at the bottom of the blog, and your name will be in the drawing.

Let's give away some more free Aquatica swag! Here's another question: 

What are you most looking forward to about the new Aquatica park, coming May 2012?

Post the answer in the comments section below to be entered in the drawing. Get all the Aquatica details at www.AquaticaTexas.com to determine your answer.

More than 400 brave souls experienced the “thrill of the chill” at Aquatica on Saturday, January 22, during the second annual Polar Plunge benefiting Special Olympics Florida.

Designing and building a new waterpark is a little, no a lot, like making a Christmas list.  As we planned Aquatica we looked at attractions at all of our sister parks, but especially Aquatica Florida.  We met with ride manufacturers to see what new ideas they were working on and we even created our own ideas using SeaWorld experience with animals.  Once we had all the components to make this amazing new waterpark we knew right away we were going to need an image for our guest to convey this great concept.