5-week Split Stay in Florida, Feb/March 2020 - Day 06: SeaWorld

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Day 06: SeaWorld
February 15, 2020
[-- Trip Index --]

Myla woke up at 6 this morning because one of her teddies had fallen out of her bed. She sat up straight and whispered really loudly, “daddy! ” It's so funny the way she won't get out of bed for any reason during the night, never, not until one of us comes to get her! He got up, retrieved the teddy for her, she grabbed it, snuggled back under the covers and rolled over. He asked if she wanted to get up and have breakfast, and she said no, told him to go away, and closed her eyes lol. Ok then haha - definitely my child! My husband is an early rising and I am SO not a morning person.

I was awake by then so I actually had a coffee in bed and read on my phone for a bit - Myla ended up sleeping for another hour!

This was one of the coldest mornings we’d had so far, only around 17 degrees so I layered Myla and myself up with leggings and jean jackets alongside our dresses - it was due to be 25+ again by the afternoon so layers were definitely key.


We got up around 7 as we wanted to get away early. We were heading back to SeaWorld, and because it’s a Saturday, we figured the car park would be even busier than during the week so we wanted to be there for park opening at 9. We had an easy breakfast of cereals and fruit in the villa.


We left the house at 8:22AM, parked up at 8:45AM, and were in the park shortly after 9 (bit of a queue at bag check). The getting-there-early plan worked well - there was no queue for the parking lot so we were in a lot quicker this time!


Nearly everyone was rushing towards the big roller coasters, so that suited us well as we were headed for various exhibits and it was lovely and quiet everywhere!

We stopped at the flamingos first - nearly all of them were still asleep, they musn't be early risers either lol!


Next we headed to Antartica, to do the Penguin ride.


There was no queue so we walked right in to the first pre-show. This was all really cute, introducing us to a baby called Puck. The ride itself is a trackless dark ride, where you go through various 'rooms' or environments, following Puck as he grows up.


It was really cute and well done, and Myla enjoyed it! Only the bit where he's nearly eaten by the leopard seal scared her a bit, but she sorted herself out by covering her own eyes lol!


The ride exists in the penguin exhibit- very cool to see them so close but it’s absolutely freezing in there, temperatures close to 3 degrees Celcius! So we didn’t stay in there for very long, and walked on to the other side, where you can view the penguins under water without being so cold lol.

This was all very cool - Myla loves penguins and it was really awesome to see them so up close! She observed that they can swim really well haha!

Next up we walked back to the rest rooms for a pee stop. Following on from the toilet stories I told in the previous days, Myla did again refuse to pee. But - we had the first signs of progress, I convinced her to go into the stall with me as I peed, and she 'helped' me by holding my phone for me. I didn't ask her to pee herself, but was hoping that some gentle exposure to the noise this way, plus seeing me use the toilet without being scared, would de-sensitive her a bit. Michael and I both praised her for going in and 'helping' me which she was very proud of!

Myla is too small to ride the Journey To Atlantis ride, so we walked into the exit gift shop and checked out the aquarium there. It's done in a really cool way, with the aquarium being above and beneath you! Myla was amazed, although I did have to tell her not to stomp her feet on top of the fishes!


We walked through Antartica on to our next destination: the sea lions! It was still really peaceful and quiet everywhere, so relaxing!

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The sea lions were awesome, really chatty and vocal, and so funny! Some kept climbing out of the tank onto the rocks, and then acting like they couldn't get back in, although the castmember there ensured us they did know! We were able to see them SO up close, again this was really awesome and we stood here watching them for ages, must have been well over half an hour! Which, if you have a toddler, you know is quite the eternity for their attention span!


When Myla finally had enough of the sea lions, we kept walking straight on and made our way to the Shark Encounter aquarium. Again some really cool tanks here with amazing fish!


Myla spotted the big shark jaw and of course had to have a go at a photo!

This looks to me like an iconic photo spot, and I remember thinking, we'll have to come back to this spot when we return to SeaWorld in future years, it'll be fun to recreate this photo with Myla lol!

The big shark tunnel itself was really awesome too. The moving walkway bit wasn't turned on, probably because there was hardly anyone else in there, so we could take as long as we wanted looking around. Some of the sharks in here are massive! We were really impressed, it was really fun to see all these so close.


We also checked out the smaller sharks outside, and Myla played with the puzzle at the Afraid For Sharks exhibition for a bit. I have to say, I never visited SeaWorld before this trip, so I can't compare to what it used to be. But Michael and I both felt the educational aspect of the park was really strong, with so much emphasis on rehabilitation and restoration of habitats and species in the wild! This little exhibit with the puzzle was just one of many such examples - they genuinely seemed really invested in educating people & kids. Which is more than I expected, based on SeaWorld's reputation after Blackfish, we were pleasantly surprised!


Next up it was time for one of the shows we hadn't seen yet, Pets Ahoy! This is a really cute show featuring cats, dogs, ducks, a rat, pigeons, and a pig! These are all rescue animals from pounds, and SeaWorld wants to highlight with it that if you’re looking for a new pet, check out your local shelter first. They do a lot of fun tricks, and the story is actually quite funny. Myla absolutely loved this, it was so hilarious and really cleverly done. She also loved getting to pet one of the dogs after the show - it was such a highlight that she asked to do this several times while we were in Disney too.



It was around 11:30 by now and we were starting to get hungry. Myla had been snacking away all morning on fresh fruit and Goldfish, but we hadn't! Luckily, this weekend there was a food festival on in SeaWorld and they had a vegan stand that I read about online before we went. We got 2 vegan burgers there and a side dish called a ceviche - all yummy! I meant to take a photo but only remembered when we were nearly done lol:


They were delicious though, they should definitely add those burgers to the regular menu somewhere!

I really wanted some coffee now so we walked back to the Starbucks near the park entrance and sat for a while having our coffees. It was so relaxing, the weather had warmed up nicely and Myla was dancing away to the music playing while we let our food settle and enjoyed our frappuchinos!


We had a little bit of time before the dolphin show that we wanted to do next, so we asked Myla if she wanted to do or see anything again. She asked to pet the stingrays again, so we made our way back over there, stopping at the flamingos on the way again. They were finally awake!


Michael was holding on to Myla while she was petting them to make sure she didn't fall in - she was sticking her arm into the water so far that she easily could have lost her balance lol! The stingrays are so soft and slimy, really unusual, but she loved the experience.


By then it was nearly 12:30PM so we made our way to the dolphin show which was starting at 1PM. Myla was again being very good with walking a lot today, this is definitely making us hopeful for trips or days without the stroller in our future soon!

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We sat down and ate some more snacks waiting for the show to start.


Myla loved it once it started, the dolphins were very entertaining indeed!


However, she was very tired by now after everything we'd seen and done this morning, and about halfway through the show she turned around on my lap, her back to the dolphins, and was falling asleep with her head on my chest.

Time to call it a day, even though Myla protested half asleep that she wasn’t tired and didn’t want to go! 😂 It was getting a lot busier now too, we noticed after we left the dolphin show, so it suited us fine to head home for some swimming after a lovely morning.



Michael carried her to the car as she woke up and started protesting when we tried to put her in the stroller, and she was completely out before we’d even reversed out of our parking spot!


We needed a few more groceries to keep us going, so Michael drove to Publix instead of straight home, and I stayed in the car with Myla while he got some stuff. Altogether she slept around 70-80 minutes this day and woke up as Michael got back with the groceries, immediately asking to go to the pool lol.

We were back at the villa for around 3, quickly got changed and were down at the pool for 3:30, Myla completely refreshed and raring to go. Michael went into the gym for a workout while Myla and I went into the pool. She made friends with a little girl called Lyla, pronounced just like Myla but with an L! This caused some initial confusion by both girls, as it really did sound like her dad said Myla when he called Lyla and vice versa lol! They were from Manchester, and this was the second-last day of their 2-week trip - too bad because the girls got on like a house on fire, and I'm sure Myla would have loved playing with her another time!

She was done swimming by 4:30, and we sat wrapped in towels on the chairs for a few minutes waiting for Michael. He was supposed to only have been half an hour in the gym, but of course he got chatting to someone lol. 🙄 That man will talk to anyone about anything for any length of time!

Back at the villa I gave Myla a bath and had a quick shower myself, and started my work for the day while Michael cooked a pasta bake for dinner. After dinner, we just relaxed and played in the villa. Myla discovered that this house was really great to play hide-and-seek in - with so many rooms, it's a lot better for this than our own house! Myla ended up going to bed around 7:30 and we got comfy in our bed again to watch HGTV. We attempted to stay up till 9PM to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition - and we did manage to stay awake for the start of the show, but hilariously we fell asleep about 5 minutes into it so still didn't see it haha!

[4fromsuffolk]

Really enjoying reading along, thank you for posting. Loving Myla’s sunglasses 😎.

[Palm trees]

Sounds like another lovely day

[flo-tinka]

Loving your Myla led day at Seaworld

[mick]

A lovely day at Seaworld


Joan

[Rob & Jan]

A lovely day your photos are so good-really enjoying your report.-Thank you

[Michyloulou]

Sounds just lovely- so nice to be in a quiet area of the park while everyone else rushes off to the rollercoasters! So many beautiful photos of Myla that you’ll be able to compare again at some point in the future (&#129310

[jothp]

I'm really enjoying your trip report. Another great day at Seaworld - you are really making me want to spend more time there on our next trip.