SeaWorld Orlando “Dinner with Rudolph” Character Meal Review (and More Rudolph & Friends in Park for SeaWorld Christmas)

Hi everyone!

SeaWorld Orlando invited us to its new holiday offering Dinner with Rudolph. Last year, Rudolph and friends Clarice, Bumble and Yukon Cornelius became part of the SeaWorld Christmas offerings. Dinner with Rudolph is strictly Rudolph – I hope that changes for next year. I am a big fan of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and the other characters. SeaWorld Orlando is a fantastic Christmas park, with a variety of different offerings – shows, lots of decorations, and the wonderful meet and greet location with the Rudolph characters. Dinner with Rudolph is another addition for this seasonal event. Dinner with Rudolph can be booked here. The cost is adults 10+ $32.00 plus tax and gratuity, $15.00 for kids 3-9 plus tax and gratuity. The dinner experience lasts about one hour. Here is my review.

I simply think SeaWorld is the best Christmas themed park in the Orlando area. Most of the parks here have terrific offerings, but SeaWorld has a variety of shows including the lovely “O Wondrous Night” and my other favorite, “Winter Wonderland on Ice”. The park does not have the celebration every day, so check the calendar here. By the time I am posting this, most days through December will be included and the last day is December 31st for most offerings.

The Christmas Village Pathway was opening at 5:00 p.m., which was the time of the dinner as well.

Decorations are all over the park, and these archways are some of my favorites after dark.

Dinner with Rudolph is located at the Seafire Grill.

The official information about Dinner with Rudolph says:, “Your exclusive dining experience features a taste-tempting menu of traditional holiday favorites and delicious desserts, all shared family-style.” My favorite part of the meal actually ended up being the food. SeaWorld is a cut above other parks in some of their food offerings, and this feels like a catered meal – which it is, as this isn’t the Seafire Grill’s usual fare. While the website says it is a family style food offering, it is a buffet.

Turkey and ham were being carved.

The dessert table has a lot of excellent choices – cupcakes, brownies, delicious fudge, blueberry cobbler and more. I didn’t try everything, but the fudge in itself was addictive as were the cupcakes.

Here is a closer look on the cupcakes.

The blueberry cobbler looked really good, but I didn’t end up trying it.

Coffee is available, and Coca-Cola beverages and hot chocolate are brought to the table.

I didn’t try the holiday punch.

Mashed potatoes, gravy and a number of other homestyle items are offered.

There is stuffing, macaroni and cheese, and other comfort food style holiday offerings.

Chicken tenders are part of the kids buffet area, which is where I like to go too.

Fries as part of the kids buffet.

Green beans.

Field green salad and some cut fruit.

Two team members were carving up the meats.

The turkey is excellent.

The ham was a favorite at our table.

This was my first plate, with some turkey, mashed potatoes, a roll, salad and a chicken tender.

Guests sitting near the stage are in the “Snow Zone”. And even though we didn’t sit up at the stage, our table also had snow in the form of soap bubbles.

There is a show, it is cute though I would like to see more done that would include Rudolph characters. There really isn’t a reason to be close to the stage.

Rudolph does appear.

And after the show, Rudolph walked around to all the tables. It is kind of a lot of tables for one character, so I hope more are added in the future.

Everything but our gratuity was covered. I wouldn’t recommend it for all guests, but it is a nice way to see Rudolph and the food was terrific. The buffet had a decent amount of choices for a restaurant that normally would not be a buffet. After dinner, we walked around the park a little and met up with Rudolph again – along with a couple of other characters. Early that morning I had outpatient surgery, so other shows and more walking weren’t on the agenda – we are passholders and will be back. Here are a few photos.

We went to Rudolph’s Christmastown.

There are a number of backdrops on the way in that tell the story of Rudolph.

Rudolph and Clarice are part of the story.

But the highlight was getting to see Bumble! We did meet him last year along with Yukon Cornelius. Yukon was not there during our visit, though he usually should be.

Bumble has to be my favorite character meet and greet of the year.

We then met Rudolph with Clarice. The line was much longer than the one for Bumble, but not too bad on this evening.

There is quite a lot of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer merchandise this year for SeaWorld (and Busch Gardens). This mug is just one item, and maybe my favorite.

There are four mugs here lined up, including Bumble and Rudolph. SeaWorld also sells shirts, ornaments and some other items – much of it branded to SeaWorld parks.

Whether or not you experience Dinner with Rudolph, I do recommend SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration! It is a must-do for us each year.