5 do Florida for the 1st time - October 2018 - Day 16 - Seaworld

[Milpston]

Index

So after previously bailing out of our SeaWorld, today was our only trip there. I was looking forward to it as it is one the few parks I had been to a couple of times before and always enjoyed it. I had a couple of 'must rides' on my SeaWorld itinerary which were Infinity Falls, Journey to Atlantis and Mako. I had been on journey to Atlantis back in 2001 and had fond memories of it. It was down for refurbishment during my 2011 trip.

So as I opened my eyes this morning the first thing I could here was Sally shouting, "Chloe, Alligator! ", in her finest Essex twang. I think everybody in the greater Orlando area must have heard . Anyway I dragged myself out of bed and onto the pool deck where Sally and Chloe were standing watching an Alligator in the lake. This was at exactly 07:30. I have written in my notes that I'm not sure how good a picture I got. I can't find one at all so I guess that answers the question. It was nice to stand and watch the wildlife though. Sally and Chloe are massive animal lovers.

The kids had their usual cereals for breakfast and I didn't make a not of what the rest of us had. I would imagine Chloe and Sally would have had similar. I probably didn't have anything as I'm pretty much all or nothing when it comes to breakfast.

We headed out at a good time and had a fairly chilled out journey up the I4. No stress of forgetting tickets, cameras or anything! The only slight blip was the sat nav having a bit of a moment when we got near SeaWorld and began taking us in the opposite direction. I think I set it for the wrong address. Benjamin had a nap on the way.

Sally was in charge of photography and took this one of the wing mirror. I'm pretty sure this was to signify that it took me a few days to work out what the light was that kept coming on. Obviously it shows there is a vehicle at the side of you. Shows we obviously have low spec cars at home Damn handy in this car though with bling spots big enough for double decker busses!

The slight detour only cost us a few minutes and we arrived at Seaworld about 09:20.

Sally was clearly pleased to be back. Like me she is a bit of a rollercoaster junkie when given the opportunity.

The entry felt very familiar to us.

We made our way to Manta which was a roller coater we really enjoyed last time. It would be a first for Chloe. We asked at the entrance how the child swapped worked as it wasn't something I had looked into. They told us we just had to ask a member of staff for a child swap ticket when got off the ride.

Chloe and I went on first. It's great that Chloe now loves all these rides too.

I really love that feeling at the start of the ride when your feet go back and you are tilted facing the floor. A really good ride. When I got off I asked a member of staff for a child swap ticket which he happily handed me. Probably not needed as the ride was a wlak on at this time. I'm not sure if this is the way it usually works here but it's certainly open to abuse as he would have no idea if we had kids with us or not.

I came off and told Sally to take the ticket and go on with Chloe entering through the quick queue. Benjamin and Emma were happily running around and playing in the sun whilst they went on.

Sally and Chloe were soon back and she handed me back the child swap ticket as no-one asked her for it. I popped it in my pocket in case it came in handy later... awful behaviour

We decided now was the time to head off to Mako as there didn't appear to be much in the way of queues yet. We sopped to watch the Flamingos being taken for a walk. It was still only 10:00.

After having stopped for directions we arrived at Mako. Chloe was a little undecided about this one as I had stupidly mentioned that a work colleague had been on end said she was petrified as she felt like she was going to fall out. As such she happily volunteered to look after Emma and Benjamin whilst we went on first. The queue was pretty much a walk on.

I was a bit disappointed when I'd read about this opening when I heard it didn't go upside down at all. I know it's the longest, highest and fastest but how good could a roller coaster be if it doesn't go upside down. I was pleasantly surprised. The fact that the is just a lap bar and how open it is really makes it feel open to the elements. I have to say it's the first ride for decades that actually made me feel a bit nervous (other than ones at the tope of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas). It was really good. We loved it. We grabbed

The kids had been happy enough playing on some steps with Chloe.

Sally was ready to go back on Mako with Chloe but she couldn't be talked into it so I put the child swap ticket in my pocket again. This child swap was good for any ride except for infinity falls whereas the first one was only for Manta.

We carried on moving to find my next 'must do',

I was pleased to see that there didn't look to me much of a queue... but then I saw why.

It was true to form from what I had read since the ride had been open. I spoke to staff who said they had no idea when it would re-open.

As we weren't a million miles away we decided to go to Shamu stadium the 'One Ocean' show. On the way in we grabbed some popcorn and drinks after parking the stroller up.

The clan followed me to seats and I decided on the Splash zone but near the back. Chloe and Sally were already a bit unsure saying they didn't want to get wet which lead Emma join in. I managed to persuade them that we were far enough back not to get wet. I think we were about 12 rows back. They didn't look convinced.

I still remember when the trainers used to go in with the Orcas and miss that spectacle. We really enjoyed the show though and the kids were transfixed. They gave out a warning part way through re-iterating that if you are in the splash zone you will get very wet. I stood firm and told Sally and the kids we would be fine where we were …. they'd soon dry

Well... when the Orcas decided it was time to get people wet it was basically walls of water coming at the audience. it was hilarious to see everyone jumping up and running for dry land. How was my prediction? One of my shins got a bit of a splash but other than that we remained dry so we got very lucky and I wasn't in the doghouse... #Hero

As it was a Saturday in October we decided to let the kids do a bit of trick or treating that was laid on. It was OK and they were happy enough. It was just a very poor impression of the MNSSHP ones really. Cheaper sweets etc but then SeaWorld didn't charge £100 each to go and do it. The kids enjoyed it so we were more than happy with that. Emma could have spent the whole afternoon chasing the bubbles around the area!

By about 11:45 we were had a little look at the Dolphin nursery which is new since we had last been.

We then moved on to the old favourite ray pool. Emma was undecided between wanting to touch them and pulling away as quick as possible.

We then all washed our hands before having lunch nearby. I had a hot dog. Sally and Chloe had whatever it is pictured whilst the kids had some chicken tenders--- there's a shock. We didn't buy drinks as we had some cans of coke in the bottom of the stroller from the villa. they didn't look in there on entrance this morning so I've no idea if they'd have taken them off us.

We had a look at some of the animals as we moved on.

We made our way round towards Journey to Atlantis. On arrival it didn't look good.

Despite it running all morning it had just gone down on our arrival and people were being rescued from the boats. Unfortunately we soon found out it would be down for the rest of the day

We moved straight on to Kraken to find that that had also gone down so it wasn't going very well at this point! Fortunately after a little bit of pondering we heard that Kraken was re-opening. Both the kids were asleep at that point and I wanted to visit a smoking area.

It was just as Sally and Chloe were heading on Kraken that an epiphany came to Sally as she realised she had left the 'keep 'em quiet' packs for outward and homeward flights in the drawers in the master bedroom of Hibiscus Ridge when we checked out of there. I was obviously amused by this and didn't mention that I'd asked her to check all the drawers

I walked to the other side of Journey to Atlantis and had a sit down in the smoking area. I sent a quick email to Debra (owner of Hibiscus Ridge' informing her that we thought we had left some things behind and where and asking if there was anything she could do. Just after I sent the email my battery died on my phone.

Chloe and Sally were gone for a little while and I sat and enjoyed a smoke whilst both the kids were having a nap in their stroller. It was all very pleasant. Sally and Chloe grabbed a child swap ticket on the way out so Chloe and I were able to go back on as a walk on through the quick queue entry. I enjoyed Kraken and kind of wish I'd managed to have a go when the VR was on it to see the difference.

Next we headed into the Clyde and Seamore show. I remember this really well from when we went in 2011 with my parents. I remember a guy entertaining the crowd at the front by basically making fun of everyone walking in without them knowing. This must have stopped as it was missing this time. I remember it being really funny.

It was a good show. Sally and the kids really enjoyed it. I just didn't find it as interesting or funny as I did years ago. According to Sally that's just because I'm now a miserable **** ow and the show was actually really good.

[APP]https://www.thedibb.co.uk/postImages/103714/5cff36f237d6d1.jpg /APP]

Straight after this we continued trying to talk Chloe in to going on Mako with Sally using the child swap ticket. The kids were still asleep so Sally and I went on again. The queue was minutes now but we were straight on with the child swap ticket. Thoroughly enjoyed the ride again. We decided that we would try and go round with our arms in the air this time. This is pretty much the only ride I fund impossible to do this as it just felt like you would fall straight out of your seat if you didn't hold on.

Benjamin woke from his nap whilst we were gone. By now it was 15:30.

Once both kids were awake we looked around some more of the marine exhibits. The kids enjoyed the shark exhibit with the predator tunnel.

We walked to Infinity Falls which was now open but the queue was sitting at 85 minutes. Chloe didn't want to go on but I wasn't willing to have them waiting around for that long just so Sally and I could go on it. I went on a little hunt to see if I could by a quick queue for it from somewhere. If I had to buy two quick queues for a whole day just to go on it then that's what I would do. I got directed from shop to shop in my quest and the staff were the best part of useless in all honesty. I eventually gave up thinking it wasn't meant to be and if it was this hard to give my money to them then I'll keep it. I was a bot disappointed I didn't get to ride it but it's always nice to have a reason to go back.

We had already decided we wanted to see the dolphin show before we went and there was only one more showing. On the way round I talked Chloe and Sally into using the child swap we still had for Manta. It was a 45 minute queue by this time but it didn't take them long to ride whilst I waited with the kids outside the dolphin stadium. I actually spotted them going up the first climb so I knew they would soon be off and met them at the exit.

I love dolphins so always enjoy the show. I secretly can't wait until the kids are old enough to do the dolphin swim at Discovery Cove so we can do that again.

I did miss the last few minutes of the show as Emma was desperate for the toilet. We all really enjoyed it though. Afterwards we took a steady walk out of SeaWorld as it was 17:00 by now and we had done everything we wanted/were able to do.

I still really love SeaWorld and the kids really enjoyed it too. I don't get into the whole rights/wrongs of the parks. I love all the marine exhibits. Sally and I love scuba diving and having the kids with us now this is about as close as we can get. I was disappointed that rides went down with such regularity but I suppose that can happen anywhere. The Wifi was also really patchy compared to that of the Disney parks which became a little annoying. The rides are up there with the best though. It was a shame that Shamu's Happy Harbour had closed down before we went but we will definitely be back one day. The tickets are also relatively good value when you compare to that of Universal and Disney.

We took a steady ride back to Sunset Lakes having all had a really good day.

It was clearly all a little tiring for Chloe so it was time for her nap

On arrival back at the villa re made use of a takeway menu we had picked up at some point and ordered a Chinese takeaway from A taste of China at Formosa Gardens.

We called for a delivery just after 18:00 and the food arrived around
18:35.

We do love a Chinese. This was ok. Nothing wrong with it at all but I have to say it wasn't a patch on Bamboo Wok last week.

After dinner we had a chilled out evening and enjoyed a couple of beers by the pool.

We then got a reasonably early night as we were on the move again tomorrow for a couple of nights away from the villa. The holiday is progressing far too quickly now

[DisneyDaffodil]

Love your photos of the animals at SeaWorld. Isn’t it funny how children love bubbles? Even with all the attractions in Florida, Emma seems to be quite happy chasing the bubbles. I must admit the photo of the Bud by the pool with the sun setting behind looks so good, our holiday seems so long ago now 😂

[Eccle]

Glad you enjoyed your day at Seaworld, although a shame you couldn’t do Infinity Falls in the end. I’m with you on the Clyde and Seamore show, we saw the pirate one in 2011 and the High school one this year, and didn’t think it was as good as the pirate one

[Ball81]

Missing that sunset , we stayed a few villas down on the right side. Loved a few beers and fishing in the evening. Great place

[caitlinsmummy]

What another fab day. Such a shame about the rides though, as you say it could have happened anywhere, but I haven't heard good things about Infinity Falls.

Chinese looks lovely xx

[Goldia]

Your Chinese take out dinner looks yummy. Everyone seemed wiped out from the day at Sea World, shame about all the rides going down.

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

Love your photos of the animals at SeaWorld. Isn’t it funny how children love bubbles? Even with all the attractions in Florida, Emma seems to be quite happy chasing the bubbles. I must admit the photo of the Bud by the pool with the sun setting behind looks so good, our holiday seems so long ago now 😂

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yep Bubbles are a sure fire with Emma every time! Seems daft spending $$$$ on Disney tickets when you really thing about it!
Our holiday seems the same. I have to say doing this trip has made it feel like it is living on a bit longer.

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Eccle

Glad you enjoyed your day at Seaworld, although a shame you couldn’t do Infinity Falls in the end. I’m with you on the Clyde and Seamore show, we saw the pirate one in 2011 and the High school one this year, and didn’t think it was as good as the pirate one

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I have enjoyed every day I've ever spent at SeaWorld. I'm glad it wasn't just me. I just don't think I really got it!

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Ball81

Missing that sunset , we stayed a few villas down on the right side. Loved a few beers and fishing in the evening. Great place

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It is really nice to escape to a nice villa in the evening. We really enjoyed the location of Sunset Lakes.

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

What another fab day. Such a shame about the rides though, as you say it could have happened anywhere, but I haven't heard good things about Infinity Falls.

Chinese looks lovely xx

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The rides going down did start to grate on me a bit. It seemed that Infinity falls was closed more than it was open in it's first month or two. I haven't kept up but I hope it has got better ad the vertical lift looked really cool.