Georgemac and Crew – Last Minute Tour 07 – Day 3

[georgemac]

Georgemac and Crew – July 2007

20th July – 3rd August - Last Minute Tour – BIL came too!

Day 3 – Monday 23rd July – Seaworld, washout and Florida Mall

Weather – Sunny start, then rain rain rain!

Again I am up first, loading yesterday’s photos to the laptop and watching the news. I do a hard reset on the cable modem and hey presto we have internet access, not sure if the management co had contacted the cable company, so sent them an email saying it was now working, and caught up on my emails and emailed DD and friends some photos.

We have breakfast then I have a few games of pool in the games room with DS, he said I was lucky to win. The boys then caught up on their internet stuff, and headed into the pool, weather was nice, few clouds but sunny. DW caught up with some laundry, then we left around 11.15 am and headed up the I4 to seaworld, took about 20 minutes. We were parked in row G, so knew the park would be busy, and much busier than our Oct visits when we have been parked in row B.

Headed round to Key West, looking at the turtles and rays on the way, when we got to the Dolphin viewing area, there was a huge line to buy food for the Dolphins, and this was the only way to get in to the viewing area, which to be fair was not jam packed with people as it has been on our previous visits. We watched from the viewing area at the back for a while, noticing the dark clouds starting to gather in the North. We went down to the underwater viewing area, and were fascinated by a young dolphin who blew air circles underwater from it’s blowhole, then touched the circle with it’s nose making it a smaller circle. It loved doing this, but if another dolphin came along it would always immediately break the circle – not sure why. We then headed out just after 12.30 hoping to see the 1 PM Blue Horizons show but the stadium was already full and closed. We had a look at the alligators then headed over to Shark encounter, planning now to be at Shamu stadium at 2 pm for the 2.30 show. Before we got into Shark encounter the tannoy was made saying Blue Horizons was delayed due to approaching inclement weather, and advising guests to seek shelter. Shark encounter was busy, and when we came out the weather was looking like it would definitely rain. We quickly made our way to Mango Joe’s café beside Shamu Stadium which was also busy, but we got a table and had some lunch, fajita salad was lovely but not now in a basket. Food was good and the chicken strip (DS) was back on his normal diet! The rain started lashing down just after we got under cover and lasted for an hour, when it eased off a little. We headed off to Shamu stadium, and watched the 2.30 Believe show, the rain continuing during the very enjoyable show which BIL loved. We came out of the show, and it is still raining with no sign of a let up, so we decided to leave the park, get our re-entry hand stamps and head for the Florida Mall. I went and got the car, getting wet on the way and went back to collect the others. A small brolly would be a good idea I think.

Fifteen minutes later we are at the Florida Mall, still raining, so dropped the gang off at the door then went and got parked. Again I get a soaking getting from the car to the Mall! We head into the shops, and the boys have a good day, DS doing well in Abercrombie and Fitch, BIL got Levi’s from Dillards for just over $30. I get a pair of Diesel trainers for $67, would not get them for £67 in the UK. The boys watch the surfers at Adreinila for a while, but are not having a go today. BIL then heads into Saks, and gets some very good bargains on the sale rail, a jacket that is marked $300 sale price is only $200 when he gets to the till, and a $200 pair of jeans not on the sale rail is $100 when he gets to the till – he is delighted! We stay in the mall until just after 7 PM, and meet a guy from our village on the way out, so we have a chat, this is their last day and they have hardly had any rain until now. It has been raining almost all the time we are in the very busy Mall, but is dry at 7 PM.

[georgemac]

We head back to Seaworld, Mrs Garmin taking us there very quickly on a route I would have been unable to take. We head to Shamu stadium via the Cypress bakery for a snack for the show, and we are in the stadium about 20 minutes before the 20.15 show, Shamu Rocks. The show was absolutely brilliant, enjoyed by everyone, and those beautiful creatures seem even more so in the dark with the lights shining on them. Think we may be back to see this again. We then head to Kraken, and ride it twice in the dark, 10 minute wait both times, before the inclement weather approaching announcement is made. BIL has not been on this before and now loves this coaster. We decide to head out of the park and also hear Kraken is now suspended due to technical problems so we are lucky. We stop at Champions gate for fuel, chicken nuggets for the chicken strip and a pizza for BIL and head back to the villa. Think we made the best of a difficult day weatherwise, and think we will have more days like this during the week according to the forecast. Our Seaworld passes have become wet, and I just hope they work OK for our next park entry there or at Busch, as I never printed backups and don’t have a printer!

As you can imagine I have a lot of photos from Seaworld so am going to post most of these on a separate thread – managed to get some good photos of the dolphin blowing air circles underwater. Will post a couple of my favourites on here.

[georgemac]

[Jools]

Another good day despite the rain. I hope Shamu Rocks is still showing when we go in September. It's a fantastic show.

[orlandosgr8]

Sounds like you had a great day, I love shopping at the Florida Mall.

[Guest]

Love seaworld my fav, another great report.

[Guest]

Sounds as though you had a great day despite the rain. I love the Florida Mall

[Strommie]

Great day, I love the Shamu Rocks show

[Guest]

shame about the rain but shoppingcan be done when its raining

[highlander447]

Some serious shopping there George