No Weddings, No Engagements, just a Holiday - Day 7

Guest · 20 Apr 13, 03:59 PM

Good afternoon all,

Before we get back to Florida let me welcome you with a picture of todays efforts so far.

Coconut macaroons, they are not like the ones you buy in a shop but they are nice none the less.

And a very muddy dog

Reasonably successful day so far

Onwards with the report. Today we were headed for Seaworld for the first time since our engagement trip, we love Seaworld but had to sacrifice it for other things on the wedding trip, like the Reverand.

Before gettting to the details of the day I need to take you back to Christmas when I was given a small box with the following contents:

Once the pieces were put together my real present was revealed

A most excellent gift and much better than a small box with a puzzle in it, although of course it is the thought that counts. This was the main purpose of the day and once again it was all about me, I assure you this is not normally the case and refer you to my previous reports as evidence of this.

I have no details of when we got up or what we ate, so lets stick with early and pastries. I do know we arrived at Seaworld before it opened and queued for the priviledge of paying for parking. Once in we headed to the park and were soon in.

The first job of the day was dolphin feeding, Caley was having withdrawal symptons having seen no dolphins on our last trip. The usual fun ensued, with the results smelly hands, happy people and a large number of photos.

Annoyingly some people who seem unable to understand simple instructions left their white tray in view of a dolphin and lo and behold in a flash a mischevious dolphin had half inched it.

One of the trainers summoned said dolphin and told him to give up his prize, which he did. The rest of us gave disapproving looks to the foolish person who was unable to follow simple rules. The photo taking then continued.

I have written in my notes that we then went back to the car to get my, bug or it might be bag I'm not sure and I dont really remember but I don't think I own a bug so will go with bag, although I also don't own a bag so who knows what this was. All I know is we went back to the car.

Once back in the park we headed to watch Shamu (wait, it was bag as I needed my swimming trunks, mystery solved). The new show was good, this is the first time we have seen it without the trainers in the water and I don't think it lost much because of this and we both enjoyed the show, pictures to follow...

Guest · 20 Apr 13, 04:21 PM

As usual watching people try to out run the splash with their expensive cameras is highly amusing.

After Shamu we headed over to the Wild Artic shop to wait for my tour to start. I was picked up and Caley headed off to Wild Artic to watch from the baclony. My group was 4 people a lady and her daughter and another man who was also English. We headed round behind the scenes and taken to a porta cabin to get changed into our wet suits. We were soon wearing our snug and revealing suits and ready for our tour.

We walked into the tank area and there were the whales, they have 4 whales, 2 of which are on show and 2 behind the scenes. We were given a lot of information on the whales which I won't give here as I will not do it justice but it wa s very intersting tour. We were then taken through a few rules and it was time for the swim, although not before this mugshot was taken, this is the closest I have been to a Police mugshot I suspect it is not quite the same.

Then it was into the tank, it was a bot odd and you almost feel on parade as you walk out with all the people looking but to be honest once you see the Whales you forget them all and as soon as you get in the water you forget most everything as your bidy tries to deal with the cold. It really was very cold, you warmed up quite fast though, however before going in the pool they told us not to leave our hands in the water for long as they were not in a wetsuit. This was very good advice, the wetsuit keep you warm but anything uncovered like your hands got very cold very quickly.

The whales really are amazing and up close they are huge, I mean huge. You soon understand the warnings about doing as you are told because if the whales chose to take umbrage to you, there would be little you could so to resist them. Having said that they were unbelievably gentle and patient, this tour was the highlight of the trip for me and one I will talk about well into my dottage, if I manage to keep all my wits. The photos to follow tell part of the tale but you need to experience this yourself and I recommend you all do so.

Cont...

Guest · 20 Apr 13, 04:35 PM

See what I mean about size, this is just its head and it's as big as half of me

Note me keeping my hands crossed and out of the water, I am not kidding it took seconds of exposure for your hands to start hurting from the cold.

The trainer was mpst perturbed that despite her best efforts our whale would not get me wet and focused on her and the other guy (I think his name was Mark, he was a really nice guy). Clearly the whale liked me, the trainer resolved this by getting the other whale over who had no problem soaking me

As you can see the other 2 found this hilarious.

Once the interaction was over we headed back to the porta cabin where we had a nice shower. I forgot to mention that we were given lockers and those padlocks you see in all the american TV shows about schools. With codes in hand neither of us could get the things open and I had to get the trainer to come and do it for us. There is clearly a knack that you learn in high school for this.

Once showered and changed we headed back to the park and I met up with Caley. By this point in the day we were both very hungry and stopped for a snack. Once refueled we went to feed the sea lions, this again was very enjoyable and they are extremely noisy.

Once again, many photos, happy people and smelly hands.

Guest · 20 Apr 13, 04:48 PM

We then took our leave from Seaworld. We headed to city walk, we were not doing Universal this year but still wanted a few things like wands and other Potter related paraphenalia. We treated ourselves to a delicious Cinnabon, these are healthy right?

On return to the hotel we found this

It's these touches that make the difference and are why we like to stay on site.

After a couple of hours rest we headed over to Whispering Canyon for dinner. Firstly wow what a hotel, this is now on our list of places to stay. Secondly what a restaurant, everything is great, especially the atmosphere. The funiest moment of the night was watching a kid who just would not sit at the table and kept running around, despite the best efforts of it's parents. The server dealt with this by moving his chair, with him in it to another families table. The child then burst in to tears, I know you should not laugh at this but it was funny none the less, he went running back to his mum and then happily sat at his table the rest of the evening.

We were utterly stuffed by the end of the main course, we had the skillet and had it re-filled twice, we ate so much delicious meat, mash and beans that we could not have any dessert and had to tell our server not to bring them. Thanks again to Oh_Darling for this meal.

I don't think I have ever been so full and my expanded stomach attested to this, we headed home but not after buying our favourite souvenir of the holiday

Then it was off to bed very satisfied and not entirely sure we would not burst if we rolled over in our sleep.

**yellowrose78** · 21 Apr 13, 07:07 PM

Loving your report, thanks for sharing

miss_mouse · 21 Apr 13, 08:59 PM

That's another restaurant we are considering for next time.
Great report.

disney owl · 21 Apr 13, 11:15 PM

what a fantastic present

**Redrach1903** · 22 Apr 13, 07:44 AM

Another great day, what a fab present - that looked amazing!

Glad to hear you still enjoyed One Ocean without the trainers in the water as i was a bit worried i wouldn't!

Great pics today too

**WileyCoyote** · 28 Jun 13, 08:25 PM

Such a fabulous day, you two get the most amazing surprises for each other - what a great day and fab pics
Love the antics at dinner and good on the server for dealing with the errant child
Your holiday is so perfect , I am well jealous !

20 Apr 13, 03:59 PM	#1
	20 Apr 13, 03:59 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	No Weddings, No Engagements, just a Holiday - Day 7 Good afternoon all, Before we get back to Florida let me welcome you with a picture of todays efforts so far. Coconut macaroons, they are not like the ones you buy in a shop but they are nice none the less. And a very muddy dog Reasonably successful day so far Onwards with the report. Today we were headed for Seaworld for the first time since our engagement trip, we love Seaworld but had to sacrifice it for other things on the wedding trip, like the Reverand. Before gettting to the details of the day I need to take you back to Christmas when I was given a small box with the following contents: Once the pieces were put together my real present was revealed A most excellent gift and much better than a small box with a puzzle in it, although of course it is the thought that counts. This was the main purpose of the day and once again it was all about me, I assure you this is not normally the case and refer you to my previous reports as evidence of this. I have no details of when we got up or what we ate, so lets stick with early and pastries. I do know we arrived at Seaworld before it opened and queued for the priviledge of paying for parking. Once in we headed to the park and were soon in. The first job of the day was dolphin feeding, Caley was having withdrawal symptons having seen no dolphins on our last trip. The usual fun ensued, with the results smelly hands, happy people and a large number of photos. Annoyingly some people who seem unable to understand simple instructions left their white tray in view of a dolphin and lo and behold in a flash a mischevious dolphin had half inched it. One of the trainers summoned said dolphin and told him to give up his prize, which he did. The rest of us gave disapproving looks to the foolish person who was unable to follow simple rules. The photo taking then continued. I have written in my notes that we then went back to the car to get my, bug or it might be bag I'm not sure and I dont really remember but I don't think I own a bug so will go with bag, although I also don't own a bag so who knows what this was. All I know is we went back to the car. Once back in the park we headed to watch Shamu (wait, it was bag as I needed my swimming trunks, mystery solved). The new show was good, this is the first time we have seen it without the trainers in the water and I don't think it lost much because of this and we both enjoyed the show, pictures to follow...

20 Apr 13, 04:21 PM	#2
	20 Apr 13, 04:21 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Cont... As usual watching people try to out run the splash with their expensive cameras is highly amusing. After Shamu we headed over to the Wild Artic shop to wait for my tour to start. I was picked up and Caley headed off to Wild Artic to watch from the baclony. My group was 4 people a lady and her daughter and another man who was also English. We headed round behind the scenes and taken to a porta cabin to get changed into our wet suits. We were soon wearing our snug and revealing suits and ready for our tour. We walked into the tank area and there were the whales, they have 4 whales, 2 of which are on show and 2 behind the scenes. We were given a lot of information on the whales which I won't give here as I will not do it justice but it wa s very intersting tour. We were then taken through a few rules and it was time for the swim, although not before this mugshot was taken, this is the closest I have been to a Police mugshot I suspect it is not quite the same. Then it was into the tank, it was a bot odd and you almost feel on parade as you walk out with all the people looking but to be honest once you see the Whales you forget them all and as soon as you get in the water you forget most everything as your bidy tries to deal with the cold. It really was very cold, you warmed up quite fast though, however before going in the pool they told us not to leave our hands in the water for long as they were not in a wetsuit. This was very good advice, the wetsuit keep you warm but anything uncovered like your hands got very cold very quickly. The whales really are amazing and up close they are huge, I mean huge. You soon understand the warnings about doing as you are told because if the whales chose to take umbrage to you, there would be little you could so to resist them. Having said that they were unbelievably gentle and patient, this tour was the highlight of the trip for me and one I will talk about well into my dottage, if I manage to keep all my wits. The photos to follow tell part of the tale but you need to experience this yourself and I recommend you all do so. Cont...

20 Apr 13, 04:35 PM	#3
	20 Apr 13, 04:35 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Cont... See what I mean about size, this is just its head and it's as big as half of me Note me keeping my hands crossed and out of the water, I am not kidding it took seconds of exposure for your hands to start hurting from the cold. The trainer was mpst perturbed that despite her best efforts our whale would not get me wet and focused on her and the other guy (I think his name was Mark, he was a really nice guy). Clearly the whale liked me, the trainer resolved this by getting the other whale over who had no problem soaking me As you can see the other 2 found this hilarious. Once the interaction was over we headed back to the porta cabin where we had a nice shower. I forgot to mention that we were given lockers and those padlocks you see in all the american TV shows about schools. With codes in hand neither of us could get the things open and I had to get the trainer to come and do it for us. There is clearly a knack that you learn in high school for this. Once showered and changed we headed back to the park and I met up with Caley. By this point in the day we were both very hungry and stopped for a snack. Once refueled we went to feed the sea lions, this again was very enjoyable and they are extremely noisy. Once again, many photos, happy people and smelly hands.

20 Apr 13, 04:48 PM	#4
	20 Apr 13, 04:48 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Cont... We then took our leave from Seaworld. We headed to city walk, we were not doing Universal this year but still wanted a few things like wands and other Potter related paraphenalia. We treated ourselves to a delicious Cinnabon, these are healthy right? On return to the hotel we found this It's these touches that make the difference and are why we like to stay on site. After a couple of hours rest we headed over to Whispering Canyon for dinner. Firstly wow what a hotel, this is now on our list of places to stay. Secondly what a restaurant, everything is great, especially the atmosphere. The funiest moment of the night was watching a kid who just would not sit at the table and kept running around, despite the best efforts of it's parents. The server dealt with this by moving his chair, with him in it to another families table. The child then burst in to tears, I know you should not laugh at this but it was funny none the less, he went running back to his mum and then happily sat at his table the rest of the evening. We were utterly stuffed by the end of the main course, we had the skillet and had it re-filled twice, we ate so much delicious meat, mash and beans that we could not have any dessert and had to tell our server not to bring them. Thanks again to Oh_Darling for this meal. I don't think I have ever been so full and my expanded stomach attested to this, we headed home but not after buying our favourite souvenir of the holiday Then it was off to bed very satisfied and not entirely sure we would not burst if we rolled over in our sleep.