Team Groves are Florida Bound - Day 14

[berniegroves]

Team Groves are Florida Bound - Day 14

19th October 2017:

Cracker Barrel, seaworld and Saana.

Today was a more relaxed day as we were planning on visiting SeaWorld again to do some of the things that we missed last time. So first up we decided that we would go for breakfast at Cracker Barrel as we really love that place and had only been there once during the trip so far. We got there at about 9 am and were seated really quickly I can’t remember our servers name but they were lovely as they always are in here.

We got a selection of different breakfasts and whilst I can’t remember exactly what it is we had every breakfast we’ve had there has always been amazing. The kids did some colouring to fill the time and they love looking at all the knickknacks that are on the walls and shelves.
When we finished breakfast we had a look in the gift shop I could literally spend hours in here looking at everything some of it is not really to my taste but there is so much lovely stuff to find in there and the kids absolutely adore it.

We let the kids choose a couple of little bits each from the kids section and then we left Cracker Barrel for the last time of this holiday. Sad!
I had to get a picture of the kids sat on the porch because I had one from our trip back in 2016 and I’d like this to become a tradition. it’s crazy how much they’ve grown in just 18 months. I know it’s a cliche but they grow up SO quickly!
2016:

2017:

Miley was in a super good mood today I think she enjoyed her breakfast and she loved looking around the shop and was looking forward to visiting SeaWorld so she was doing a little dance in the porch outside Cracker Barrel.

We arrived at SeaWorld in the car park at about 1045 in the morning. The car park wasn’t that busy and as we went to get the kids out of the car we realised that Miley have decided not to put stickers in her sticker book but to put them all over Grayson instead. He was literally covered in them!

Luckily he seem to find it funny and it was so amusing that we couldn’t be irritated with them! although it did take us quite a while to get all of the stickers off!

Once the stickers were removed we loaded up the stroller and headed over to the gates.
It wasn’t too slow to get in today which made a nice change. And a few minutes later we were at the Stingray Lagoon listening to a staff member give a little talk. We also purchased trays of fish to feed to the stingray.

This has always been something Simon and I have enjoyed and the kids both loved it as well. They found the stingray fascinating to watch.

We were in this area for quite a while before moving around to the underwater viewing area for the dolphins.
I could sit in that room for ages I think, I love the light in the room and how the water seems to muffle sound from outside.

We stayed and relaxed for around ten minutes before it started to get busier and so we moved along.

Both kids decided to get some pressed pennies from the machine just outside.

Up next was my favourites, the manatees and turtles. Love these guys!

I just think manatees are amazing! Although I’m always so sad to see all the injuries they’ve had inflicted on them by humans. And who doesn’t love turtles!
Although this area was pretty hot today so we didn’t stay as long as I would have liked.

Seaworld always feels like a slower paced kind of day. Walking from place to place always feels more relaxed.
We strolled around to the top of the park and visited the penguins next. I’m not a fan of this area but the kids enjoyed it and Miley likes learning about the different types of penguin.

Then we walked around to Pacific Point Preserve and saw the seals and sea lions.

Simon bought some fish so that the kids could try and feed the sea lions.

Although it’s hard to do it without the birds stealing the fish!
We were here for about 20 minutes and spent some time talking to a staff member with the kids as they really like asking questions. The staff gave them some cards with different facts on for asking the questions.

Now usually it’s the sealions who are at the glass fence trying to get the fish, they are naturally more sociable and playful, whereas the seals normally hang around at the back by the rocks. But today there was one little seal who swam up to us and was in front of us for ages.

He was such a cutie and we were trying to get fish to him but the birds and sealions were often faster than he was. But as we liked him so much he definitely ended up with more than his fair share as he was our favourite. I was actually sad to leave as he was just so adorable.

We were going to watch the One Ocean show next but had a bit of time to spare, we watched the Journey to Atlantis ride for a little while, but Miley didn’t want to go on as the big drop made her nervous.

We bought some snacks from a cart just by the ride and the sweetest elderly ladies were working, they loved the kids and talked to them for quite a while.

We went through to watch the One Ocean show and both kids loved it. It’s a beautiful show and all the animals involved are amazing.

We spoke to some of the trainers after the show and you could see how passionate they were and how much they loved the animals they worked with.

We were done for the day now as we had a dinner reservation earlier and wanted to give the kids a few hours at the villa beforehand.

We’d had a really lovely relaxed day at Seaworld, we love the slower pace at this park and the kids always learn so much every time we visit.
I’d like to do one of the behind the scenes tours so I can learn and see more about their conservation and rescue work.

We went back to the villa and relaxed for a few hours, we had a small snack type lunch and chilled.
After a few hours we all got ready (i.e. we chased Grayson around the villa and tried to pry some clean clothes onto him! ) and headed out.
We were having dinner at Saana at Animal Kingdom Lodge, but on the way there we went in to Publix to order Miley a birthday cake.
This was an AMAZING service! I really wish we had stuff like this in the UK! We went to the bakery counter and they gave us two huge books of cake photos to look through.

Miley chose a Disney princess cake. They then asked what flvour cake we wanted and what flavour buttercream we wanted in the cake and lots of other questions. We filled out the form, paid the deposit and the cake would be ready for collection in two days time.
Amazing!

So we were quickly on our way to Animal Kingdom Lodge and we got there at 4.50pm, and our reservation was at 5.10pm so we were in good time.

We found the restaurant easily enough and really enjoyed taking in the theming of the hotel. It really is a beautiful resort, I can see why people like staying here so much.

We only waited around 5 minutes before we were called for our table and then we were taken through.

The restaurant was fab, the decoration was great and we loved looking at everything. We were sat close to a window so could see animals occasionally too if they came by.

This meal was one of the highlights of our trip and Simon and I loved the food and the kids ate a lot too. We had the bread plate with naan bread and all of the different dips, this was amazing!

And we all had butter chicken for our main course. It was really good food.

We are really looking forward to going here again on our next trip.
After the meal we went outside by their firepit and spent some time looking at the animals, the kids in particular loved the rocking chairs.

And I feel I should note that the bathrooms here were the fanciest ones I have seen at Disney! Even Miley commented on them when we went in! lol.

We were walking back to the car at 7.30 and the kids were excited to see a millipede (or centipede maybe?) on the path, we picked it up on a leaf to have a closer look.

I promise we were very gentle and put the little guy back down carefully. Unfortunately at this point Miley fell over and scraped her back, I’m not quite sure how she managed it but she was quite upset. A Disney guard driving past in his golf cart pulled over and gave them some stickers so that managed to save the day.

After that we headed home and the kids were in bed asleep by 9pm and Simon and I did our usual thing of watching tv and eating ice-cream after another fun day.

[Mamie Baldwin]

Aww, Miley looks so pleased with herself having covered her brother in stickers!

[berniegroves]

Originally Posted by Mamie Baldwin

Aww, Miley looks so pleased with herself having covered her brother in stickers!

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Haha! She was very pleased! And to be fair Grayson was pretty happy about it too!