I always enjoy celebrating my Latino culture and love hearing the music I grew up listening to, eating food I love, and seeing others celebrate the beauty of our culture. It’s not often I do this outside of our own home, but a couple weekends ago, I attended the Viva la Música festival at SeaWorld Orlando and shared in the joy of our culture with park attendees.

Viva la Música at SeaWorld Orlando is an annual event which honors Latino culture through food, music, and art, all included with park admission to SeaWorld. Isn’t that great?! Here’s more of what you can find at SeaWorld’s Viva la Música festival.

5 Reasons to Love Viva la Música at SeaWorld Orlando

1. Weekly concerts from popular Latino artists – we saw reggaeton star Daddy Yankee the day we attended.
2. Delicious Latin and Caribbean food spear-headed by SeaWorld Orlando’s Executive Chef, Héctor Colón. I love that the Executive Chef for the park has first-hand knowledge and experience with the Latin food he’s serving, having grown up eating it before becoming a professional chef.
3. Cultural art and merchandise available for purchase. There is plenty of beautiful artwork on display, plus cultural merchandise available to celebrate each individual Latin American country.
4. Domino tables set-up throughout the Viva la Música festival area, ready for you to sit down and play a fun game.
5. Lots of music! Plus, a dance area near a second stage where local bands play salsa, merengue, and bachata.

You still have time to catch the fun of Viva la Música at SeaWorld Orlando as there are two more Saturdays left before this annual festival ends for the year. This coming Saturday, April 27, you can catch merengue group Grupománia live in concert, and the following Saturday, May 4, you’ll be able to see classic salsa band El Gran Combo. I noticed that folks line up 2-3 hours before the concert begins in order to get good seats at the stadium, so you may want to consider upgrading your concert seating by purchasing VIP seating (starting at $14) or the Viva la Música VIP Package, which offers reserved seating plus a meal (starting at $24).

As I mentioned, all the fun of the Viva la Música festival at SeaWorld is included with daily park admission or if you have a Fun Card or annual pass. In fact, with a SeaWorld Fun Card, you can pay for a day and then enjoy unlimited admission to the park for the rest of 2013! That’s perfect for you and the kids to go back when Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin opens up on May 24.

What do you enjoy most at SeaWorld Orlando?

Disclosure: Our family was provided a complimentary 1-day visit to SeaWorld Orlando to experience Viva la Música. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

All photos © Melanie Edwards/modernmami™

Image courtesy of nickmasuda.photoshelter.com

It’s not often I go out for a mom’s night out, much less enjoy a fun concert – but, last week I got to do both! In fact, I was able to enjoy a fun mommy-daughter night out, except that it wasn’t with my daughter, it was with my own mami! As guests of the Amway Center, we were able to see bachata singer Romeo Santos here in Orlando and had a blast staying up way past our normal bedtime.

Getting out every once in a while without the kids is super important in my opinion. Though we do plenty with the kids and are constantly engaging in fun family activities and outings, sometimes it’s nice to have a little adult time (whether with your spouse, friend, or another family member). In my case, I like to take my mami with me when I’m able. I know she also doesn’t get to go out very much since she cares for my dad who has dementia. Since my husband is not a fan of bachata, this was the perfect opportunity to take mami instead of having a date-night with him. My husband also offered to hang out with my dad so that my mami could attend the concert with me – isn’t he the best?!

Image courtesy of nickmasuda.photoshelter.com

Romeo Santos definitely entertained the audience; it was great to hear well-known bachata hits and see everyone dancing along. He engaged quite a bit with the audience throughout the concert and even had a mini-competition to see which man could sing one of his songs the best – for a prize of $1,000 cash! You can imagine the hilarity in having these men come up to the stage and sing along with Romeo Santos.

I can’t remember the last time I attended a concert; it’s probably been over 7 years. Having seen Romeo Santos perform at the Amway Center reminded me how much fun it can be! It was also nice that we were provided club-level suite seats, something I didn’t even know the Amway Center had. A club-level suite provides an open room with about 22 in-line seats at the edge of the suite. But, the room also has lounge chairs and plenty of standing-room, which is perfect for dancing along. I can imagine this space being great for a group of friends to get together and enjoy a night out, with the benefit of plenty of space for dancing while enjoying a concert. In fact, there are plenty of events coming up at the Amway Center, including various sporting events and concerts. One I have my eye on is the Bruno Mars concert – I may just try to convince the husband to attend with me this time!

When was the last time you attended a live concert and had a night out?

Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary concert tickets in order to experience the Romeo Santos concert and facilitate this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

We had fun at SeaWorld Orlando’s Halloween Spooktacular earlier this month! Check out a bit of our day!

The park is decorated with fun, whimsical, nautical decorations. There are bubbles just about everywhere along the path way, which the kids love of course!

Trick-or-treating is included with various stations set up throughout the park. Bags are provided too for the kids to collect their candy.

My baby girl wore her Scary Scarlet costume from Walmart and met up with a local blogger’s daughter for some trick-or-treating fun!

We also got to experience the new TurtleTrek attraction for the first time since it opened earlier this year.

SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular is included with park admission and is going on for two more weekends in October, so if you’re in the area you still have a chance to check it out with your family!

What do you like the most about SeaWorld?

Disclosure: We were provided with complimentary park admission in order to experience SeaWorld Orlando’s Halloween Spooktacular. No compensation received.

Photos © ModernMami.com
SeaWorld Halloween Spooktacular logo provided by SeaWorld Orlando.

Video by John Frost. Used with permission.

Editor’s Note: Please welcome Kristen, a new contributor to ModernMami.com, who will be sharing occasional book reviews/giveaways, as well as local Orlando events and attractions.

A wonderful new experience just opened at Discovery Cove – SeaVenture! It’s an add-on to the Grand Reef area which opened in June. SeaVenture is a light version of scuba diving, and easier than snorkeling! Guests participate in an underwater reef walk without all the heavy equipment. It is one of the most fun, memorable experiences EVER!!!!!

When I arrived, I was greeted by a concierge in a beautiful lobby! A small group of us were escorted to the Grand Reef area where the SeaVenture experience takes place. The walk to get to this area is serene, loaded with flowers and surprisingly enough, not a lot of people! A private cabana awaits the group filled with soft drinks, water, and snacks. We were fitted with wetsuits (not my favorite part, since you can’t hide much in them) and then we went through a short orientation and safety presentation which was informative, and would help an apprehensive person feel at ease. That would not be me; I could not wait to get in the water!

Normally, four people at a time experience the “walk” together. However, for our trip, there were only two of us. It would be perfect for a family of four, though. Here’s the cool part: you climb down a ladder until everything is submerged but your head. The water temperature is 72 degrees, which is the reason for the tight-fitting wet suit. You then wait for a white helmet to be placed on your head (it feels very underwater-astronaut-like). There is an endless supply of oxygen provided and the weight of the helmet is what keeps you on the sandy bottom. Three divers are with you at all times and we were taught hand signals so we could communicate. A doodle board was also around so we could write underwater and share species’ names. Kids will love this part!

Finally, we were underwater – it was so clear and easy to see everything around us. Immediately, a huge spotted ray swam over my head followed by schools of yellow and blue fish. The guide showed us various beautiful marine animals; I even got to hold a Cowrie which looks and feels like a huge slimy snail. My boys loved hearing about that part! We also saw sharks and a lion fish separated only by underwater glass. Our guide, Steve, brought fish food with him and he fed fish so we could see all the different varieties.

The whole time I was underwater, I wanted my kids to be part of the fun, as well. As a parent, I would be perfectly comfortable allowing my kids the chance to experience the up-close undersea wonders that are offered with SeaVenture. Guests must be at least 10 years old to participate, which seems like the perfect age to get the most out of the experience, since the helmet might be too heavy for smaller children. My daughter is eight, an excellent swimmer and would love the experience, but the helmet on her might be overwhelming. If you have children that are younger than ten, they can experience the Grand Reef which is connected to the SeaVenture lagoon. There are also viewing bridges and very shallow tidal pools where you can see some of the action.

I recommend booking the experience in advance or immediately upon entering Discovery Cove. SeaVenture is being limited to only 100 people a day. Once word gets out about how special this add-on is, I’m sure it will completely book every day.

The experience lasts about 20-25 minutes. Truthfully, I didn’t want the experience to end. I can’t wait to go back and take my family. Discovery Cove is great for couples, families and anyone who wants up-close encounters with sea life. Unlimited food and drinks are provided with each admission. The SeaVenture experience is one I won’t ever forget. I plan for my next trip to also include a swim with dolphins!

Disclosure: Kristen was provided a complimentary visit to Discovery Cove to experience SeaVenture. No compensation received.

Photos by Kristen