Going back to do what we missed last time Day 3 Seaworld

[Emma Y]

Cast : Me Emma 40 Now fully recovered yipee
DH Jim 43 Going to ride Kraken
DD Kirsty 8 Hoping she has grown 2 inches in the night so she
can ride Kraken (not a chance)
DS James 4 Hoping for an ice cream

Day 3 Friday 4th April 2008

Can't remember what time we all woke up this morning but it was another early one. Today it was Seaworld and our must do's were feeding the dolphins, Blue Horizons, Wild Arctic and the Shamu Rollercoaster. I had also booked Dine with Shamu after talking to Mary (Pixie Family), it sounded great. I had also managed to keep it a secret from the kids which was a flaming miracle as I cannot keep secrets to save my life - I bought Jim a Wii fit for his birthday, swore the kids to secrecy and then told him because I was so pleased with myself for managing to get one.
Anyway, back to the holiday, we got ourselves organised and reported our blown electricity to the reception, they said they would get someone to have a look. We then decided to try Friendly's for brekkie (another first)and just a short walk up I Drive. We were one of the first there but it was still only 7am. The kids had an M&M pancake each with sausage. Jim had cheese and ham omlette with home fried potatoes and I had french toast with strawberries and sausage. The breakfast was lovely, especially jims potatoes.
After breakfast we waddled over to the nearest trolley stop which was conveniently just outside Friendly's and caught a trolley to Seaworld. I love the trolley buses with their smiley faces ( Jim and Kirsty think I'm sad).

We arrived at Seaworld at 8.40 and got through the bag check quite quickly, we didn't bother with a stroller today as we knew we would be sitting down for shows etc.

First stop was Dining reservations where they confirmed the time for Dine with Shamu was 4.45 we walked towards the Dolphin Cove, we had to wait for rope drop and once it was we made our way to the queue for Dolphin food. We got 2 trays with 3 fish on each tray and Jim had the job of photographer.



Unfortunately he didn't manage to get photos of any of us actually feeding the dolphins, Kirsty was very reluctant to hold the fish, James was a lot braver which surprised me.

It was about 1/4 to 10 by the time we'd finished with the dolphins and we wanted to see Clyde & Seamore and be in the stadium before the mime artist came out, so we power walked over there, we saw some flamingos being walked through the park, were walking alongside them at one point and would have loved a photo but didn't have the camera handy.

The Clyde and Seamore show was great, kids particularly loved it. Next Jim got his go on Kraken, we knew Kirsty wouldn't be tall enough as Jim measured them both before we left home, but she still had to measure herself on the offchance she had grown 2 inches - amazingly she hadn't. While we waited for Jim, the kids tried on some hats



Then we went to see the penguins and puffins, we also checked out Kraken's lair and admired the eggs there. It wasn't too long before Jim came off with a lovely bouffant hairdo, we laughed at his ride photo then decided to ride Journey to Atlantis despite the 30 minute wait posted - it turned out to be less and I discovered a new way of passing the time in a queue which was to read people's T shirts. For some reason the people in the queue had lots of writing on their T shirts. I know I'm cracking up.. Really like this ride, it was nice to ride all together as James was too small last time, he enjoyed the drop ! Kirsty got quite wet so she changed and then we went into a shop to get a few souvenirs and some popcorn and candy floss.



We then went to look at the manatees, I really love them.


The kids started fighting about something and carried on after being warned, so Jim took them aside and told them that we were going to Dine with Shamu and they'd better behave themselves if they wanted to go. That seemed to work and we went off to see Blue Horizons, we scoffed the popcorn and candy floss while waiting for it to start and spotted this chap in the front row,



He obviously didn't want to get wet, but this was a blisteringly hot day and he was draped head to foot in plastic !

We enjoyed the Blue Horizons show particularly Kirsty who loves dolphins


We had a quick look in the dolphin nursery and then Jim expressed a need to get his free beer, so we did and had a look round the Budweiser shop before going to see the horses


This one is Kelly

Next up was Shamu's happy Harbour which had changed a bit since we last were here, I went on the Carousel with the kids and then they vanished into the nets, after a bit, Jim went up and got them and we went on Shamu's express, a 30 minute wait, James wanted to go on again but we didn't have another 30 minutes to wait.

We just had time for a quick look at Wild Arctic, didn't have time to queue up for the helicopter,



Polar bear was asleep


We quite enjoyed cooling down and then we were off to the Cove for 4.15 for Dine with Shamu. We got a poolside table



Jim looks a bit grumpy in this, I had reached for the camera and spilled his beer into his lap !


Continued ...

[Emma Y]

The whale in the pool was called Tillikum or Tilly for short, he was lovely







We had a talk from one of the trainers and then the trainers came round the tables to see if anyone had any questions.

The food was lovely, an all you can eat buffet, banana fosters pudding was particularly scrumptious
We would definately do Dine with Shamu again, it was good value for money, we have to wait until they forget us though as apart from the beer incident, Kirsty dropped her pudding all over the floor.
We left at 1/4 to 6 and headed for home, I took some photos on the way






my handsome boy


Kirsty is hiding because she spilled pudding all down her dress


This is the version from 2006 !

We got the trolley back to the hotel, booked the shuttle for Universal for the following day and went back to the room, the electricity had been fixed yay ! Jim plugged in the camera battery to charge it up and it blew again boo ! We went down to reception who said they would sent someone up. Jim went back to the room to wait for them and I went to Walgreens with the kids to buy goodies, Waterfans and breakfast for the morning, when we got back the electricity had been fixed again, got the kids bathed and pj's on then I had a shower followed by Jim, while Jim was in the shower, Kirsty complained of a sore tummy and just made it to the bathroom in time. I kept her in bed with me for the night in case she felt sick in the night and the boys shared the other bed. Before too long, they were both snoring and Kirsty and I watched Deal or no Deal before falling asleep too.

Tomorrow - Islands of Adventure

Emma

[Tartan Tigger]

Great photos. I love feeding the dolphins. Dine with Shamu sounds good.

[ely3857]

Shamu looks lively!



Jodie

[Guest]

Another great day Emma Love the Dine with Shamu photo's & nice to hear you liked it...I quite fancy it!

[jeanwales]

Love the dolphin cove photo

[Guest]

Love the photos!

[Iloveflorida]

Lovely pictures, looks like you had a great day and what a difference 2 years make

[Jools]

Aw poor Kirsty not growing 2 inches in such a short time. You'll just have to take her back when she has grown to the required height

[Emma Y]

We will Jools, but she's going on with her Dad

Emma