It's all for Imogen, Saturday 24th May 2014, Day 8 - SeaWorld

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Trip Index

ADR’s:
All day dining plan ($79.47 pre-paid)

I'm affraid I'm low on photos for today, seems I took more video instead.

I wake at 6:20am. I’d put our first load of washing on last night before going to bed. So I sorted that out & put some in the tumble dryer. It’s great having these sorts of facilities in your room. We brought half the amount of clothes we usually would‘ve brought. I shower & have breakfast. I wake Deb & Imogen up at 7:30am. Before we go out we decide to quickly Skype my parents back home using my Nexus tablet, to tell them how it’s going. The Wi-Fi signal in the apartment was great. My brother & his family happened to be there too. It was great being able to show them round our apartment & show them the view from the balcony. Imogen was excited to see her Nanny & Granddad & Cousins. She gave them a tour of her bedroom & showed them the things she’s bought. Modern technology eh!

We leave at 8:30am on our way to SeaWorld. We notice that there is a lot more traffic about, but then it is Saturday on Memorial Day weekend. We have free entry to SeaWorld & Aquatica from our Discovery Cove tickets, which we have tomorrow. Deb & me had discussed ways in trying to free up some additional time to fit in more Disney parks & another trip to Blizzard Beach. On May 27th we had planned a day at Aquatica. Our new plan was to save that day by squeezing in a mid day trip to Aquatica today. Today was forecast to be another hot one. Aquatica was only next door to SeaWorld. So it would be a good way to break up the day & have a cool down. So our swim stuff went in the boot.


Flamingo's on the way in.


We used the printed Discovery Cove I Tickets to get into SeaWorld. They worked fine, no problems. I had also pre-ordered the All Day Dinning Plan so we went to guest services to pick up our wrist bands. Picked up a park map & headed straight to the big rides before the park got too busy.


First up was Manta, Deb waited with Imogen at the exit. It was very quiet & I walked straight onto the ride. I don’t remember riding this before. I really enjoyed it. I wasn‘t too keen on the bit were you go head first down into an inversion. The G force & the weird feeling I got wasn’t nice. After that it was great & the ride seem to go on for ages. When I got off I asked for a parent swap ticket. I then wobbled down the ramp to meet back up with Deb & Imogen. I gave Deb the ticket & she went on. Imogen spotted Deb as she went up the ramp to start the ride. Deb enjoyed it too.

Next we went on to Krakken, this we had done before. I walked straight on again. It is a great ride & you get a good view of the park from the top of the hill. When I got off I noticed the queue was building a bit so I collected a parent swap ticket for Deb to ride. I sat with Imogen at the exit & watched the little birds. Looking for food on the path. They seemed really tame as they came right up to us.


Imogen was great bless her having to wait around whilst the parents did the big rides. Didn‘t moan once. We did Atlantis next so Imogen got to do her first ride of the day. Another walk on. She loved it & wanted to ride it again. Luckily the queue was still really short so we went back on.



We go & check out the queue for Antarctica, but it wasn’t working. The queue that was waiting to go in was 40 minutes. I’d heard it was a bit rubbish so we didn’t bother waiting.


So we head up to the Spice Mill for a very early lunch. I had a burger, Deb had some sort of sandwich & Imogen had a hotdog in a nice Shamu box.

We also had cookies & Deb had some strawberry’s plus drinks. Just show your wristbands at the till & walk off with your food. Great!


Once fed we decide to go & feed some animals. First we go up to see the Sea lions. We buy two trays off fish. Imogen is a bit weary at first as she’s worried about the birds coming to steal the fish from her. We eventually get her to have a go & then she’s fine. Loving throwing the fish to them. Once all the fish had gone she wanted to get some more & do it again. We didn’t though as those fish aren’t cheap. Plus there are other animals to feed.

It was almost time for the Clyde & Seamore Take Pirate Island show.


Deb & me love this show, it’s very entertaining. One of the best bits is before the shows even starts. That’s because of the Scurvy Pirate Mime. He’s very funny.


Imogen enjoyed the show. Her best bit was when Clyde & Seamore were waiting for their lunch. The pirate deals out the fish & when he isn‘t looking Clyde eats his fish. She was shouting out „Clyde ate it!“ Bless her. She liked the otter running around with the map too.

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After the show we go have a look at the turtles, manatee’s & Alligators.

Manatee's are great, I love watching them eat lettuce.



We check out the Dolphins at Dolphin Cove. The queue to feed them is massive. As we’re at Discovery Cove tomorrow we walk on by & head to the Ray Lagoon. Deb & me enjoy this area. Imogen was fascinated by them.

She was okay putting her hand in to touch them, but was a scared of feeding them the prawns. You have to lie your hand flat with the prawn between your fingers sticking up. The rays swim over your hand & take the prawn. To be fair it does take a lot of confidence to keep your hand flat. Even Deb was a little weary at first. Imogen would’ve been quite happy to stay here for hours. I dragged them away to catch the Shamu Show.

It was starting to get really hot again now. It’s a long walk from the Ray Lagoon to Shamu Stadium. When we arrive it’s very busy already. Imogen wanted to go into the soak zone.


As it was so hot I wouldn‘t mind a cooling soak. We snag seats right at the front to the left of the little landing area. The trouble with being this low is the top of the tank is at your eye level. So we move up a bit into row 6, but still in the soak zone.


We brought some little hand fans with us that have a squirty bottle attached. The time we needed it the most it decided to brake.

The show started & it was fantastic. Then it was time to get wet. The trainer shouted out „everyone ready to get wet?“ „Yes“ we shout. The whales moved around splashing all the sections of the stadium. Imogen was so excited she couldn‘t wait to get wet. Trouble was we must’ve had some sort of invisible shield around us. For all the times the whales came past jumping & splashing we didn’t get hit once, not even a little splash. I was expecting to get a good soaking. Imogen was really disappointed bless her. I told her that if we have time perhaps we could come & watch the show again & perhaps then you will get splashed by a killer whale.

After the show I could tell Imogen was feeling hot as her little face was red. So We decided to leave & go over to Aquatica for a few hours to cool off. We had a bit of trouble finding the car, we’d made the mistake of not having a look at the area we’d parked in. We wondered about for a few minutes trying to locate the car. Not ideal on a hot day with the heat come off the asphalt. Now the last time we were her Aquatica didn’t exist. I knew it was close but didn‘t exactly know where. We could’ve walked if we knew where to go. So to say wandering about in the heat we drove. Out of the car park & down the road & there was the entrance to Aquatica. Problem was there was a patrol car blocking the entrance with its lights on directing the traffic to the right. So we turned & followed the traffic. It looked like they were directing us to another entrance. At the next junction there was another entrance but again there was a patrol car across the entrance. This time we could see a sign up. Which as we got closer we could read. Aquatica closed due to reaching capacity! Doh.
I couldn’t believe it. I’d never read on the Dibb that Aquatica ever got that busy they closed it. All we could do is turn around & head back into SeaWorld. It was nobody’s fault but it had annoyed me. :angry: We had wasted valuable time. Parked up again, this time a lot further away from the entrance & walked back in.

It was 2:13pm when we get back inside. As that’s the time on the receipt for the SeaWorld Fan Squirty bottle we had to buy ($16.00). As we were all hot & bothered now. We should’ve bought one of these earlier. I know it was expensive & we could’ve got one from Wallmart a lot cheaper but it was so good. Really helped us get through the heat.

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We take a slow stroll through the park checking out shops & picking up bottles of water from our dinning plan.

Heading to the Shark Encounter. The trouble with SeaWorld is that there is no structure to the layout. It just seems to be sprinkled all over the place. Which results in lots of walking about.

We go to the Pets Ahoy show. We’re glad to find out that this is an indoor show with air conditioning. It’s was a nice show using well trained animals like cats & dogs (the clues in the title PETS ahoy).

We go off in search of some more food. This time trying out the Seafire Inn. Deb & me both have fish & chips, Imogen has nugget & chips. Imogen & me both get big chunks of chocolate fudge cake too. This Dinning Plan is great!

After lunch we go & watch another show, this one called Blue Horizons. Which is a mixture of dolphins jumping about & acrobats. We enjoyed the bits with the dolphins, the acrobatic bits not so much. The performers are very skilled, but I’d rather see more of a dolphin focused show.

On the way out of the show we go across to see what the queue is like at Antarctica.

It was working again but the wait time is posted at 50 minutes! We ask a CM if there is a way to just get into see the penguins. She smiles liked it’s the same question she’s been asked all day. If you want to see the penguins you have to wait. We don’t bother. Imogen wants to feed the Rays again so we go over & spend more money on prawns. On the way we have some more retail therapy. Imogen buys herself a plush Ray that she spotted earlier ($18.05).



I buy myself an inexpensive 50th anniversary watch ($27.25) which I thought would remind me of our holiday everytime I check the time on it.


Plus we buy her a SeaWorld Barbie ($26.96).


Once Imogen had finally had her fill of feeding & touching the rays we head across the park to Wild Arctic section. Here you can either wait in the walking line at 15 minutes or take the helicopter at 25 minutes. Deb doesn’t like motion simulators & didn’t have a travel sickness tablet today so we wait in the walking queue. We are getting tired now. The heat is draining our energy. Deb & my feet are aching. Imogen’s feet are fine. Once we get through having to watch the simulator film arrival at the arctic we are allowed in.


It’s lovely & cool in here. Great theming. There was a wall of ice on the one side of the room. Imogen loved touching it. There were hand prints in it where people must've stood for ages to melt their hand shape into the ice.


The polar bear seemed to be fast asleep, but we arrived as the Beluga Whales were being fed. The Walrus was pretty active too. He liked lying upside down against the window watching the children.
Imogen tries out the Polar Bear den.


When we come out, we're already to call it a day here. Before we go we make the most of our all day dinning plan & go for some dinner. We head over to Seaport Pizza. Not surprisingly we all have a pizza. Plus deserts & drinks. The dinning plan has been well worth the money for us today. We’ve had loads of bottles of water throughout the day & three meals. All of which were very nice. By the time we get back to the car it’s just before 7pm. We make our back to the apartment. On the way we notice the traffic around the mall. It’s bumper to bumper & looks like nothing is moving! We had planned to go to that mall after Discovery Cove but if the traffic is like that today what’s it going to be like tomorrow! We might need a re-think on that plan.

We have a relaxing evening. We all get in the Jacuzzi to relax for a bit. Imogen watches a bit of TV whilst Deb & me discuss the plan for the next few days. Then it’s all early to bed. We have an early start again, but it should be a relaxing day.

Weather:
Dry , sunny , partly cloudy, top temperature 35˚


Food Spends:
Planned food spend $25.00
Actual food spend $0.00
Money saved into joint spending budget = $25.00


Planned Spends:
Car Parking $17.00


Purchases:
Adam = $27.25 from $322.50
Imogen = $18.05 from $13.75 (That’s all Imogen’s money gone & were only half way through the holiday!).
Deb = $0.00 from $681.06
Joint = $42.96 (Seaworld Barbie & Spray Fan) from $8.47

Link to Day 9 - Discovery Cove

[Guest]

Another great read thanks for posting

[disney owl]

another good day

[smedley]

Another great day

[sunraydb]

Another great day.

[miss_mouse]

We had exactly the same thing. We sat in row 6 expecting to get drenched and didn't get a drop.
Shame about Aquatica.
Glad you enjoyed the food.

Thanks for sharing.

[miss_bell]

Great day, you made good use of the dinning plan.

[Guest]

Great day, the dining plan sounds like a good deal, might consider this