Christmas Day, part 4 
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After the Clyde & Seamore show concluded, the guys were eager to give Journey to Atlantis another go, so that’s where we headed next. Now mid-afternoon, crowds had picked up enough that we were very grateful for Quick Queue and the ability to bypass the lengthy standby line.
While the guys rode the ride, I checked out the Jewel of the Sea Aquarium which is located immediately beside the big drop on Atlantis. I absolutely love that SeaWorld has tucked some of these awesome little gems away adjacent to some of their bigger rides, so non thrill seekers have something fun to do while their wilder counterparts are otherwise occupied.
The glass floor in here is one of my favourite features of the aquarium. While it’s difficult to see in the photo, the fish are easily visible through the glass, swimming away happily beneath your feet
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Emerging back out into the sunshine, my timing was impeccable….I caught the boys big splashdown within seconds of securing a spot along the railing.
I think I must have startled Steve when I called out his name
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I met the guys over at the photo kiosk to get their ride picture added to our Photokey. They were giggling like a pair of little girls as they made their way over to the photo screens:
They had conspired to “pose” on this ride…..Jake poking Steve’s belly and Steve pretending to retaliate. What a pair of meat-heads
. They were quite proud of their foolishness, though, and were still laughing at their silliness as we made our way into an empty bench to rehydrate and check the time. There was an “engagement” we had to be mindful of….and we didn’t want to miss it
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A little backstory to tie everything together: a wonderful poster here on the Dis is actually an employee of SeaWorld (I will not name them in case they wish to remain anonymous….though when they are reading, if they would like to chime in and wave to everyone so we know who they are, they are most welcome to do so!). When this individual read in my pre-trip report that we would be at SeaWorld on Christmas, they private messaged me to invite us backstage for a sneak peek at what goes on behind the scenes on a typical day. We were very, very grateful for such a cool opportunity, so we readily accepted the offer and agreed on a time and place to meet up with them at the park. They cautioned us that if we were late for our meet up, we might miss a rather special thing that they wanted to show us around 3 pm, so after stopping at the restrooms that’s where we headed.
There were shaded benches on which to wait just across from our meeting spot near Turtle Trek and the dolphin feeding area. We were grateful for the chance to sit down for a few minutes and get out of the stifling sun
. It was hot, hot, HOT and we were definitely feeling the humidity! We only had a few moments to wait before we had the awesome opportunity to meet this Diser in person and after quick introductions we were ushered back to the employees only area.
I simply cannot adequately describe how cool this experience was
. First of all, it was
so nice to finally meet this individual in person, as we have chatted multiple times over private message and they share our deep love of SeaWorld and all the park stands for. That, in itself, was super awesome (especially that they took time out of their Christmas Day for us…..that just made our hearts sing!
).
Secondly, seeing the behind the scenes areas was incredibly interesting. We got to meet five little male dolphins who were frolicking about in their own private pool.
I hope I am remembering correctly, but I’m pretty sure these little fellows were not deemed a good personality fits for either Discovery Cove or Dolphin Cove, so they were in a large backstage pool for their own comfort and safety. As they splashed and played, this little guy even came over (repeatedly!) to give us a wave. He was quite the ham
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We got a chance to see the beautiful boats that are utilized by SeaWorld animal care staff for rescue and release missions, and a tour of the large trailers used to transport the marine animals. We were also allowed to peek inside the backs of the trucks and trailers to see all the different equipment that they have on hand to ensure the safety and well-being of the marine life they care for.
We were taken through the areas that house the sea turtles that are in need of specialized medical care and rehabilitation:
….as well as the large pool where injured manatees are nursed back to health.
Not only did we get a chance to see some of these incredible inner workings with the animals, our friend was able to explain a lot of the stuff that a guest would never think of…..like these manatees, for example. Part of their rehabilitation is to ensure they are not only able to feed from the surface (as you saw in the above photo), but that they are also capable of eating while submerged (as they would have to do in their natural habitats). SeaWorld has designed and installed special feeders on the bottom of the pool that the manatees must consistently demonstrate they are able to eat from before they are considered fit to return to the wild (among other factors, of course).
This individual very kindly took the time to fill us in on all sorts of interesting little tidbits, from how large the manatees have to be before re-release and how many cases of lettuce these gentle beasts consume in a single day. We heard about their history (the circumstances they had been rescued from) and a little about their individual personalities as well…..one of them, apparently, doesn’t like to eat during the day but is a snacker all night long.
The coolest thing of all, though, was the chance to meet three tiny manatees (weighing only about 100 pounds a piece) who had been rescued separately and brought to SeaWorld for some tender loving care (and a second chance at life):
THIS was quite possibly the most special thing we could have witnessed on Christmas Day: those tiny little faces poking trustingly out of the water…..
….and being bottle fed by young SeaWorld staff who not only cared for the physical needs of these little creatures, but for whom their absolute love was obvious
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At this point in my report, I want to give the hugest thanks (and a big virtual hug from all three of us
) to the very special Dis-er who made this experience possible…..as we waited at our gate at the airport, I asked the guys what their favourite part of the trip had been. Jake, without hesitation, said “going behind the scenes at SeaWorld!”. The fact that they gave up part of their Christmas Day, after fulfilling a long and busy work day of their own, to give us this unique opportunity was very touching indeed. I hope someday we can return the favour to this person in some small way. Please know how much we enjoyed ourselves, and how much we valued this opportunity!!
Eventually it was time for us all to move on, so we said goodbyes and heartfelt thank you’s and made our way back into the park. Since we hadn’t had dessert at lunch time, I asked the fellows if they were interested in a cool snack to help beat the heat….and not surprisingly, the jumped at the suggestion. Manta Soft Serve was just a short stroll away, so we meandered over to peruse their menu. The guys chose to each have a float (Fanta Orange for Steve, root beer for Jake) and I opted for a waffle bowl sundae (vanilla soft serve with caramel sauce).
The size of the snacks here were MASSIVE
. Everything only came in one size (no smalls or larges, though I think they may have offered child portions), with the floats being 20 ounce and the sundae being……
mountainous. Easily sharable between two people (we will remember that for next time). We thought prices were very reasonable for a theme park, and even more so considering the sheer quantities doled out. On a hot day, we could not have selected a more perfect snack……except Jake forgot to sip it slowly.
This is the face a brainfreeze makes
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Each float was $4.99, and my sundae was $5.99. We were given a 10% discount as passmembers, so our total price for the three items, with tax, was $15.31.
To be continued! 
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. If the boys are nice to me, I may even share a couple of them with them, too 
.So I definitely want to get to SW but it may not be in April
I would say you showed some impressive self control. Especially when there were no cookies 
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we would get the SW 3 park pass probably and DD has already said she would like to do a Christmas party at M K (if we go.......)
