A Plan is only the basis for change – Day 3: We're Not Following the Plan!!

[WiganTony]

Day 3 (02 Aug 12) - We’re Not Following The Plan!!!

Trip Intro/Index here.

Today’s plan was to return to Seaworld for the afternoon and evening, following a morning’s shopping. However, as we were all awake by 7:30 and the sun was shining, we decided to take advantage of the addition of Aquatica to our DC ticket and visit for half a day.

We arrived at Aqautica around 15 minutes before opening via McDs for a breakfast stop. We were let into the park 10 minutes early, but held back from invading the beach and seating areas until 9. We managed to secure three beds under one of the large umbrellas, then set forth to partake of the rides.

We were pleasantly surprised at how much we managed to do in the first couple of hours – we had 8 goes on various rides (including Walhalla Wave & HooRoo Run, Whanau Way and Omaka Rocka), at which point Alex, who had only had a couple of cookies at McDs, felt hungry, so I needed no second invitation to call into one of the restaurants for some chicken tenders and fries, with a side of a kids chicken nugget meal for Joanne and myself (hungry work these water parks!!).

Following a suitable rest period, we then ventured onto Roa's Rapids and Loggerhead Lane, followed by another couple of goes on the Whanau Way. It was now around 1:30 and the sun was getting extremely hot, so we decided to call it a day and use our parking ticket to return to Seaworld in the evening.

We (Joanne and Alex!!) were planning on doing some shopping this afternoon, but I reasoned it would be a better use of time to get ourselves packed up ready for the move to OKW the following day, and use Friday for shopping – and packing won!!!

Alex had also asked that we visit Olive Garden for dinner tonight, so we arrived at 5pm to be seated straight away. Having learned from previous visits to OG, we managed to resist any of the starters, and all ordered “sensible” main courses, and still didn’t have room for dessert after filling ourselves on the breadsticks and soup.

We then made our way over to Seaworld, arriving at 6:30pm, and we made for the Sea Lion and Otter Stadium to catch Sealions Tonight. Even at 7pm, the stadium was getting to be full. The show kicked off at 7:30 and as ever, it was hilarious, especially the mime artist who played the role to perfection – this show is a firm favourite of all three of us.

Following the show, we then moved over to have a few rides on Atlantis which was, as usual at this time, almost walk-on. On our third ride, we noticed some lightning that appeared to be very close, and indeed when we had disembarked the ride, it seemed even nearer. Strangely, given it’s proximity, the rides were still operational, but we took the less risky option and decided that it would be a good time to return to the Sheraton. We called in for an ice cream for Alex on the way out, which was so big we grabbed two spoons for Joanne and myself to help Alex out.

[wilma-bride]

You should have listened for the thunder to work out how close it was. I think the rides usually stop operating if lightning is within 5 miles.

Is Sealions tonight different to Clyde and Seamore take Pirate Island? We have never been to Sea World in the evening but it sounds like it's worth a visit if there are some different shows and there aren't many lines.

[WiganTony]

Yes - it's a completely different show and well worth watching. As I mentioned, quite often you find that the rides have very little queuing as everyone is off to watch the evening Shamu Show.

[wilma-bride]

Will definitely bear that in mind, in the future then

[dixonsontour]

We went to aquatica last Oct for the first time and enjoyed it - sounds like a great day again

[WiganTony]

Have to admit that we hadn't visited Aquatica since 2008, but really enjoyed it - it was certainly a lot quieter when we first visited, and the ride queues seemed to move pretty quickly.