she, he and i go mad in orlando - day 12: Seaworld

[cathann]

I was up by 7.30 this morning and Katy and george joined mt at 8. We were off to Seaworld today, which had been on the agenda for the previous week but which we had postponed due to the rains. The downside of this was that we were hitting Seaworld on Memorial Day, so the crowds were likely to be big. We were going through the gates at 10ish and went straight to Believe. Cheesy and OTT in my opinion, but while the show was on I seemed to get sucked into it all and I was ooohing and aahing along with everyone else







Most importantly though, Katy oved it and wants to work with dolphins and whales now lol.

After the show we wandered to Shamus Happy Harbour, where Katy had fun on the rides.



We joined the queue for the Shamu Express but were told that we couldn't bring our (small) backpack onto the ride. There was nowhere to store bags so george had to leave the queue while Katy and I rode. By the time we got off, it was getting seriously hot.

So cold drinks in hand we walked to Wild Arctic and saw the animals there, and were slightly dumbstuck at the...er, manliness of the walrus who was showing off in front of the window. Answering Katy's questions were fun!

We walked around the lake and ended up back at the entrance area, so we stopped and had a look at Manta. The queue was 1.5 hours and the heat was intense, so I decided to skip it, and we went up to see Blue Horizons, stopping fot more cold bottles of water on the way.

Now, Blue Horizons I preferred, there was so much to look at and the acrobatics were great.









After this show we had a look at the Penguin Encounter, then stopped for lunch at Voyagers Smokehouse. The place was heaving and the sevice/queueing system seemed pretty chaotic, but we were hungry so muddled through and got our food -getting seating was another battle. George and I had a BBQ combo platter of I think ribs and chicken. the ribs were not good but the chicken was nice. Katy had a macaroni and cheese again. The platters were $11 and Katy's was $7.29. A soda was $2.69 and a coffee was $1.69.

Once we had finished lunch we looked around the other exhibits. Sadly as it was so busy, the lines for the big rides were long - around 1.5 hours, so we didn't get to do any of those, so we amused ourselves in the other areas. I think we saw all the animal areas, apart from Dolphin Cove, which was packed. We particularly liked the Shark Encounter.

We left Seaworld via the gift shops, where Katy bought a Seaworld Barbie dolphin trainer doll, and I bought her a t-shirt and a mug for us. More cold drinks and ice creams too.


We left Seaworld with mixed feelings. Katy had enjoyed it, especially the shows, but I think we'd need to give it another go on a quieter day to see what we really thought. George was the least keen on it, mainly because we only went for the one day it was quite expensive for what it was, and neither of us were sure it was worth the entrance fee. It felt hard to navigate, and I was constantly looking at maps, which I never needed to in the Disney parks. It definitely lacked the Disney level of service, but I won't rule out a future trip.

We made a quick detour to the Forida Mall, for george to buy a watch he'd had his eye on. We drove back to the villa and after a quick shower set off for Celebration and dinner. But 5 minutes into the journey it became clear that Katy was far too tired for a leisurley wander, so we changed plans, shelved Celebration for another trip, and went to Chillis at Champions Gate. It was quick, hot, and by this point I didn't care what they served, but to be fair it was nice enough for the cheap price. We had chips and salsa to sghare, then I had a cobb salad (8.79), george had chicken crispers (9.99) and Katy had a chicken sandwich (4.29). With two beers the bill came to a very healthy $36.43! And the portions were huge too.

We headed back down the 27 and decided to stop off in CVS on the way home. I spent a very happy half hour filling my basket with make up and medicine before we came home to bed.

[Guest]

Another great report with lovely photos.

[floridamo]

Another great report and photo's

[scotsprincess]

hi

another great day and pics

[luxorsun71]

another great read

[Fairy+4]

Another lovely day, what a shame Sea World was so busy, it's definately worth another visit.

[Reetser]

OOOhhhh that sounded a busy - hot day Hope you managed to get back to celebration another day as its so quent (sp) Seaworld has got so big and busy that we have allowed 2 days for our next visit. Great photos too.

Karen x

[orlandosgr8]

Great photos. Shame you found it to be busy though.

[summersun]

a great report

[Guest]

Great report & photos
I always find Seaworld hot
Thanks