It’s a “Wonder” I survived Trip Report: Day 9 – Seaworld & Yachtsmen Steakhouse

[Pinky166]

The cast:

Me – Disney obsessed, Shopaholic & extremely clumsy!
Lee (DH) – aka the Mad Hatter….


16th September 2009 = Day 9


We woke up at 7.30 this morning (thanks to the alarm ) had some cereals in the room, got ready & headed out to Seaworld.


We arrived at 9.15am and got parked right opposite the entrance. We entered the park using the E ticket & Lee decided to go straight on to Manta before the queue got too long, it was showing a 5 minute wait, he enjoyed it but still prefers Kraken. I was sad to miss out trying the ride but my left ankle & calf was so swollen I didn't want to risk the leg restraints on this ride.

Afterwards we walked through the new Manta aquarium.

This Octopus looked rather scary, I certainly wouldn’t want to meet him in the sea!

We then walked over to the Shark Underwater viewing tunnel…

We had decided to see the first Believe show of the day, so we walked towards the Shamu Stadium stopping on the way in the arcade where we continued our ongoing Basketball tournament! We played a few games all of which I won.


A few random pics…

We walked up to the stadium and grabbed a drink to share & a Churro each then found a seat in the middle section in the soak zone!!! Lee had made me promise to sit there as all the times we have seen the various Shamu shows I have never been in the soak zone, he has once or twice but I’ve always sat further back with the camera equipment & bag.

We used one of our poncho’s to cover the bag & I had the other one on my lap so I could quickly cover the camera if need be.

Continued below....

 

[Pinky166]

It was then time for the big SPLASH!!! I took these photos of the first one off to the side of where we were sitting….

Then it was our turn……here it comes!

Let’s just say Lee got drenched but I had more sense!


(Excuse the blur the camera had a drop of water on the lens)

Lee was not amused that I bottled it and dived under the poncho.


We decided to go & get some lunch so went over to Voyagers. Lee had the smoked chicken & ribs combo with fries but I didn’t fancy anything (I used to love the pizza slice you could get here but it’s not on the menu anymore) so I just had a drink & a couple of Lee’s fries.

After lunch we decided to hurry over to the Blue Horizion show that was starting soon, we managed to get a fairly good seat about half way down in the middle section. This is such a great show and didn’t disappoint as always. Sorry but we didn’t take any photos this time as we have so many from previous trips that we just sat & enjoyed it for a change.

Once the show had finished we walked across to the Penguin Encounter, desperate to get out of the heat! It was scorching today! We stood under the fans for a while whilst we shared a cherry flavoured frozen drink. Afterwards we went to do my favourite thing in Seaworld….feed the Sealions at Pacific Point Preserve.
I bought 4 trays of fish for $20 and walked over to the railing where there were three particularly keen Sealions waiting to be fed. I ended up nicknaming them Bobby, Slappy & Wavy as they battled to get my attention with their playful antics – one kept slapping the water, another was bobbing his head up & down & the last one was waving his flipper at me, they are always so entertaining & very vocal. I even managed to avoid feeding any of my gold plated fish (well they might as well be for the price they charge) to the large birds eagerly hovering nearby.

Here’s splashy….

Once I had washed my hands we decided to leave the park and make our way back to OKW. On the way out we bought some banana split flavoured Dippin Dots, we’ve never tried these before – they were yummy!! We got back to the room about 3pm and I made the fatal mistake of laying on the bed…..well lets just say an hour & a half later Lee woke me up to get ready for our dinner at the Yachtsmen Steakhouse.


We got showered and changed & I drove over to the Yacht Club, we arrived a little early of our 7.30pm ADR so got a drink in the Crew’s Cup Lounge whilst we waited, we were sat right next to the meat store and I think by the time we left it had drool running down the glass where Lee was salivating at the all the steaks on display.

We were soon called and seated at our table, we had a fantastic server named Bill he was so attentive but also hilarious. For starters I had Caeser salad & Lee Scallops, both were lovely.


Caesar Salad - Crisp Romaine Lettuce, Aged Parmesan Cheese and Garlic Sourdough Croutons:

Seared Maine Diver Scallops with roasted red peppers, spring onion, arugula & poblano-avocado sauce:

For Main course I had Filet Mignon & Lee had Rib Eye.


Yachtsman Filet Mignon - 8-ounce Filet and rather than the mash potato it is usually served with I asked to swap for fries, when dinner was bought out I thought they looked horrible & burn’t but they were absolutely scrummy, just delicious!

I am not sure if Lee’s Rib Eye is new to the menu as it’s not on AllEars but it was served with mash potato.

We also ordered side portions of creamy spinach & mushroom risotto:

This was all washed down with a couple of bottles of Corona for Lee & a few glasses of Kings Estate Pinot Grigio for me.

We were both really full but I had already decided on what I was having for dessert when we first sat down & looked at the menu so I ordered Banana Neapolitan & Lee predictably went with Crème Brulee.

Once we had ordered the desserts and were sat chatting, our waiter Bill hid behind the pillar behind Lee and popped his head around & mimed to me to take a photo of Lee, so I rather confusingly held the camera up and told Lee to smile whilst Bill reappeared behind him with two plate and well here’s the result.

Shortly after the desserts arrived along with two latte’s.



Banana Neapolitian:

Crème Brulee:

We eventually paid the bill out of pocket $175 + tip. I would like to add that although it was quite expensive it was worth every penny & definitely our best meal at Disney ever! I also add that we decided to give the Yachtsmen a second chance as we first went last December and it could not have been more different, we had a really bad server, Lee had bad scallops & a terrible steak, also we had some weird couple on the table next to us that stared at us the whole time.


We drove back to OKW about 10pm and relaxed watching tv for a while or at least Lee did, me on the other hand fell asleep straight away.


Coming up: Animal Kingdom & our worst dining experience of the trip!

 

[natalielongstaff]

Wow, great day Manta looks like a great ride

 

[CustardTart]

Great day and as flippin' usual OMG I LOVE YOUR PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just as a heads up, in June I'm expecting:

1. A photography Masterclass - or two... Or three...

2. A Yachtsman steak dinner...

3. Not to go anywhere near anything that requires leg restraints....

BTW the way I love that cheeky pic of you hiding behind the poncho!!!

 

[Jets fan]

Loved the report and the pics. Do you have any pics of your injured foot as I can only imagine the pain you must have been in.

Tina

 

[darthtatty]

great report, fab pics as always.
your meal looked very yummy, might try to add that to our list of places to eat

 

[Pinky166]

Thanks for all your comments.

Great day and as flippin' usual OMG I LOVE YOUR PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just as a heads up, in June I'm expecting:

1. A photography Masterclass - or two... Or three...
I'm really no expert, it's all down to the camera!


2. A Yachtsman steak dinner...

We need to go over the adr's again then hun as we already have too many!


3. Not to go anywhere near anything that requires leg restraints....

Ok I can agree to that one.


BTW the way I love that cheeky pic of you hiding behind the poncho!!!

Loved the report and the pics. Do you have any pics of your injured foot as I can only imagine the pain you must have been in.

Tina

Thanks.

No I never took a picture of my foot, TBH I tried to cover it up as much as possible as it was a horrid purple colour by the end of the trip.

 

[mandymouse]

Another great day and fab photos too Claire. I love all the Shamu splash photos, I wish my camera was as good as yours or I was as good a photographer as you

I look forward to your next installment

 

[Ware Bears]

Wow ~ fantastic photos of SeaWorld and the food is looking good too, especially that creme brulee.

 

[Chilly]

Those steaks looked good.

 

[Muscateer]

Excellent photos of Seaworld.

I loved Kraken too but not sure if I fancy Manta but I always say that about all the coasters and always end up doing them.

Sounds like you had a fab day even with your sore ankle. Food looked great too.

 

[Pinky166]

Thank you all.

Another great day and fab photos too Claire. I love all the Shamu splash photos, I wish my camera was as good as yours or I was as good a photographer as you

I look forward to your next installment

Aww thanks Mandy.

Excellent photos of Seaworld.

I loved Kraken too but not sure if I fancy Manta but I always say that about all the coasters and always end up doing them.

Sounds like you had a fab day even with your sore ankle. Food looked great too.

Thanks Sadie, I really wanted to go on it but didn't want to take any risks.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Love the photos Claire, what camera do you have?

 

[CustardTart]

Love the photos Claire, what camera do you have?

I'm pretty sure it's this one, Emma...

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

I'm pretty sure it's this one, Emma...

 

[Pinky166]

I'm pretty sure it's this one, Emma...

OMG thats too funny!



That's actually my pocket point & shoot camera. My DSLR is a bit bigger......

 

[saratogagirl]

I'm so pleased the Yachtsman was better for you this year, we had a wonderful meal there the first time and an awful one last year, it goes to show that you have to try places again. Brilliant pictures as ever hon x

 

[irongirlof12]

brilliant day- food at Yachtsman looks delish

 

[suzycute]

We haven't been to Sea World for ages - your photos really make me want to go again!

 

[tennisfan]

Awesome photos. The food looks yummy