Adventures of a DisneyWORLDholic! Updated1/24 I was an unofficial WDW tour guide.

[SimmerBaggins]

Great pics of those dolphins, Melissa. We went on a "dolphin encounter" once, and when I hugged that dolphin, I realized they are just one HUMONGOUS MUSCLE!!! Those things are amazing.

I had to laugh about you wanting to take the walrus home though -- you've always been a sucker for a pretty face! Then I was imagining the mess... yeah, too much of a visual!!

 

[DFD]

awesome pictures Mel!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Joey wants to go to Sea World to see the Dolphins do tricks.

What a fun day you all are having.

Oh and the pirates show, he loved that. If I could predict right now what Joey would be when he grows up I would say a zoologist or Vet or just anything that has to do with animals.

Where were the food pictures? And pictures from around the restaurant?

I could see Disney in the background, how cool

Can't wait to see which splash zone you entered.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Melissa!

Have just read through the TR so far and am really enjoying it all! The Star Wars convention was amazing, I'd love to see that.

Unfortunately you have now given Gordon ideas for a new hobby - SW lego , I have managed to persuade him that the Death Star would be too big to fit in our suitcases.

Ben has got a clone trooper outfit to wear at MNSSHP, he has a whole backstory worked out to it, as he wants to get a lightsaber to wear with it. He will be a clone to fought General Grevious and took the lightsaber off him!

Di x

 

[Luvmepluto]

Hey Melissa,

I had a lot of catching up to do. I have been a little under the weather myself. I hope you are feeling better.

I haven't been to Sea World in at least 10 years. I am not sure why. It is still like I remember it! Dolphins are so amazing...

Okay....please don't flog me......I am not a big Star Wars enthusiast, but where was Chewbacca? Did I miss him?

Vivian

 

[natebenma]

Your Sea World pictures are great!!! We always say we should go back there, there is so much to see and Ben is a really marine animal freak, but we still have so much to experience at Disney!!!

We went to Atlantis (Bahamas) for 5 days in 2009 and that was a fantastic way to get our fish fix and waterpark fun, but no rides or shows!

 

[jmskinner]

That looks so cool! It's like you had your own private show! At least it looks like there aren't many people around.

It felt like a private show. We were very close to the dolphins and you are right, not a lot of people. We had room to move around while we watched them.

It was hard coming out of lurkdom but I felt like a stalker...reading about people's lives and they do not know you exist!!

He is loving retirement! He misses it sometimes but then he thinks about hos things were changing and is glad he made the decision to retire. He likes the memories from the 80s and 90s. He still keeps in touch with friends he amde though and they ahve all moved on as well, so it makes it easier!

Jonas is hoping to get away from the military/government when he retires, but I'm not sure it will happen.

Man! Now I am really wishing we had gone to Sea World! We went to the one in San Antoino a few years back and used the free military entrance...it was awesome! We had the best time and I think it being free added to the excitement! If we had had that option this time (or better military rates) I know we would have gone to Sea World! I just love watching dolphins!

Everytime I see a walrus, it makes me think of the movie 50 First Dates...that walrus is hilarious!! But the upset stomach is not!!

Oh, and I think I found your silver car in that pic!!

Actually, looking at that pic, finding the silver car is a lot easier than finding a white one. I forgot about 50 First Dates. Loved that Walrus.

And the Sea World in San Antonio was the only one we had previously been too. Really enjoyed it.

Great pics of those dolphins, Melissa. We went on a "dolphin encounter" once, and when I hugged that dolphin, I realized they are just one HUMONGOUS MUSCLE!!! Those things are amazing.

I had to laugh about you wanting to take the walrus home though -- you've always been a sucker for a pretty face! Then I was imagining the mess... yeah, too much of a visual!!

You know me, I love those smashed faces.

awesome pictures Mel!

Thank you!

Joey wants to go to Sea World to see the Dolphins do tricks.

What a fun day you all are having.

Oh and the pirates show, he loved that. If I could predict right now what Joey would be when he grows up I would say a zoologist or Vet or just anything that has to do with animals.

Where were the food pictures? And pictures from around the restaurant?

I could see Disney in the background, how cool

Can't wait to see which splash zone you entered.

Jacob loves animals also, really likes birds. Its hard to get him out of the exhibits at AK.

I took pics of the food in that restaurant but they didn't come out very well. But here ya go





And totally forgot about taking them of the restaurant.

Let's just hope the camera survived the splash zone!

Hi Melissa!

Have just read through the TR so far and am really enjoying it all! The Star Wars convention was amazing, I'd love to see that.

Unfortunately you have now given Gordon ideas for a new hobby - SW lego , I have managed to persuade him that the Death Star would be too big to fit in our suitcases.

Ben has got a clone trooper outfit to wear at MNSSHP, he has a whole backstory worked out to it, as he wants to get a lightsaber to wear with it. He will be a clone to fought General Grevious and took the lightsaber off him!

Di x

Glad you made it over. I know you have your hands full with Gordon. My boys want the Death Star also. Can't wait to see the pics of Ben at the party. Not long now!

Hey Melissa,

I had a lot of catching up to do. I have been a little under the weather myself. I hope you are feeling better.

I haven't been to Sea World in at least 10 years. I am not sure why. It is still like I remember it! Dolphins are so amazing...

Okay....please don't flog me......I am not a big Star Wars enthusiast, but where was Chewbacca? Did I miss him?

Vivian

Chewy was there as you can see, just didn't get a good pic of him. Hope you are feeling better, I'm still not, which is the reason I haven't posted until now.

Your Sea World pictures are great!!! We always say we should go back there, there is so much to see and Ben is a really marine animal freak, but we still have so much to experience at Disney!!!

We went to Atlantis (Bahamas) for 5 days in 2009 and that was a fantastic way to get our fish fix and waterpark fun, but no rides or shows!

I really enjoyed SeaWorld, maybe next year we can do it again. Have wanted to go to Atlantis, looks like a great resort.

 

[CreightonsMomma]

Seaworld is great. I had never seen anything like it when I first went as a child. I was amazed.

Do they swim with the dolphins in the show? As far as I know they no longer swim with the whales, right?

Your pictures turned out great so far. I cant wait to see more.

 

[jmskinner]

Seaworld is great. I had never seen anything like it when I first went as a child. I was amazed.

Do they swim with the dolphins in the show? As far as I know they no longer swim with the whales, right?

Your pictures turned out great so far. I cant wait to see more.

We actually missed the dolphin "show", this was just a training session that we caught. Felt more one on one than a show would, but I'm still we didn't make it to the show.

As you will see in my next post, they do not swim with the whales anymore.

 

[jmskinner]

After the training session, we ended up in an Aquarium. Saw an Octopus, which freak me out for some reason:


And other sea life:




I just think these are cool:




Jacob spotted something:




I liked this guys nose:


Jacob had some fun:




And a fish decided to check him out, he is right at Jacob's nose:


From here we went into the underwater tunnel, none of my pics came out very well:


I know, where is Shamu? I promised Shamu. Well, I had 36 images, so Shamu is coming right up in the next post.

 

[jmskinner]

Now it was time for Shamu. I was very excited. Here is a pic of the stadium:


Now we sat in the Soaked zone. Everyone tells you not to sit here, but the row we were on, the concrete floor was dry, the row in front of us wasn't, so we thought we were at the very back of the Soaked Zone, but they still had to label it that way. We really thought we would just get a little splash.

Finally the whales came out:














Looking at the above pic, you can see how we were thinking we wouldn't get that wet.



As I was taking this I thought it might be a great pic:

And then thought, oh video would be cool also, so I was in the middle of switching which was a BIG MISTAKE!!! We didn't get splashed by one whale, or by two, we got splashed by all three of those whales.

Just to show you the splash, this is what had happened to us:






Notice the water on my lens, and also that mans hat in front of us. Now, he had a much nicer camera than mine and he wasn't freaking out, so I figured my camera would be ok. I was more worried about the phone.

This really was a great show and it did seem shorter than I remembered in San Antonio. It is sad that the trainers can no longer be in the water with the whales, but I understand that. Still a great opportunity to see these wonderful animals. At the very end the trainers did swim across the pool to get to us and that is how the show ended, but the whales were already in their area.

After the show we wanted some sun and so off we went

There won't be an update tomorrow, Jacob and I have to be on the road by 7:00am to get to the Magic Kingdom for the Youth Education Series. I signed Jacob up, and myself since he isn't 12 yet, for the Disney World of Physics: Energy and Waves. The class starts at 9:00am. Suppose to be over at Noon and we are hoping to make it back to town in time for Jacob's 1:30 Occupational Therapy appointment. Going to be a crazy day. And then he starts school Tuesday.

Hope you are all having a great weekend and have a great week.

 

[dismagiclover]

Great updates! Love all of the pictures! You are really making me want to go to Sea World. Have a great time at the class tomorrow! Definitely one of the advantages of living in FL

 

[DFD]

I dont think I am coming near you anymore where there is water!!!!

 

[natebenma]

Wow! Have a great time at the Y.E.S class!!! Have you done one before? The topics look phenomenal! Let us all know how it was when you get a chance!

 

[jmskinner]

Great updates! Love all of the pictures! You are really making me want to go to Sea World. Have a great time at the class tomorrow! Definitely one of the advantages of living in FL

I highly recommend at least one day at Seaworld, it was a blast.

I dont think I am coming near you anymore where there is water!!!!

Maybe it is my fault, so I'm not a lucky charm when it comes to water.

Wow! Have a great time at the Y.E.S class!!! Have you done one before? The topics look phenomenal! Let us all know how it was when you get a chance!

Class was very interesting. Our cast member/instructor, Ralph, was very nice. Also very cool that he is involved in Drum Corp International, use to be a director of one group. We were grouped with several other families, all from up North I believe, Boston and PA. We did get to go behind scenes of HM. That was well worth the money. We rode Stitch, HM, and Mickey's Philharmagic with little science listens inbetween each ride. If you want to know what I saw when going behind the scenes of HM, please let me know, I'll PM the info. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, because I know I will never view this ride the same way again.

Sorry, I haven't posted this week, been a little crazy with Jacob starting school and also me still not feeling well. So far things at school have gone well for Jacob, but he always has a great first two weeks. Just ask all of his previous teachers, its very weird.

On to the TR in the next post.

 

[jmskinner]

After getting splashed by Shamu x3, we decided we wanted some sun and Jacob saw a huge playarea and wanted to check it out.

First thing we decided to do was ride this little boat, which I have never been able to get Jacob to ride one so I was super excited...I excite easily.



Notice how wet they are?

Turns out only one adult can ride with a child and then only one adult per row. Took forever to load because we were all confused and then we couldn't take our bags on. I wanted to get a pic of everyone, but of course I had other people in the way:


I was trying to get Jacob's picture, but these two boys were enjoying me taking their pics also, they even asked me to.


After our boat ride, Jacob decided he wasn't wet enough:


And now some pics of this kids area:








After letting Jacob burn off some steam, oh and we had some ice cream, we headed over to the Wild Arctic. Earlier I had heard a page that you should ride it while the Shamu show is going on to avoid long lines. We got there and there was no line. There were two queue's, one you rode a helicopter, can't remember what the other was, but we took the helicopter.

Before entering we were placed in a holding area and we were all to find a "dot" to stand on, I don't remember if there were monitors or something to watch, I was busy watching these two kids try to find dots to stand on. I was about to give up my spot when the boy finally found one. Finally we entered the room that was like a great big Star Tours vehicle.

Here is Jonas and Kara waiting for it to start:


Afraid I don't remember much about this ride, but we had traveled to the Arctic. Here is Jacob touching some ice:


This is where the polar bears, walrus' and others hang out.

First up, Beluga Whales


The polar bear was having a nap:


And Walrus'




This place was huge


I guess by the size of it, it can be really crowded, but as you can see, not on this day..

Now we decided to see if my plan to wait for Manta worked, would the line be shorter?

 

[TinksThree]

Wow! I managed to get way behind!

I love the whales! I think they are so beautiful even though they have a bad rep! That is too funny getting soaked like that! My kids clamor for the soaked section!

I really like the Artic area....I think it would eb one area I would really want to spend some time in!!

 

[jmskinner]

Wow! I managed to get way behind!

I love the whales! I think they are so beautiful even though they have a bad rep! That is too funny getting soaked like that! My kids clamor for the soaked section!

I really like the Artic area....I think it would eb one area I would really want to spend some time in!!

I love the whales also. And I'm for a little splashing, but not like that.

The Artic area was great. We spent a lot of time there, lots to see.

 

[jmskinner]

We were off to check out Manta.



See that blue rollercoaster, that is where we needed to be. We had a long walk ahead of us. Jacob was hot and miserable, letting all of us know. And had started to complain about being wet.

We finally made it:


It was a 35 minute wait, but much better than when we first got there. I went and put everything in the locker and we planned on letting Jacob stand in line with us and then exiting as we left. The employee said we couldn't do that, but he was tall enough that he could wait there for us. For some stupid reason, I listened to "Dad" and left Jacob there with his DS. Told him we would be back.

Line wasn't too long and they have fish tanks for you to look at while in the line. While waiting we get on the subject of rollercoaster accidents. Probably not the best time for this conversation. I mentioned how most harnesses had a belt they attach to. It was finally our time to ride. Watching the loading process of this coaster was really cool. Most flying coasters, you start out sitting upright. This one, once you are in your seat, it lifts up at your feet, so you start out facing the ground. About this time I realize, there is no belt connecting to the harness. You do have these bars that rest on the front of your legs. Jonas said he had a firm grip on that harness, it scared him a little bit. I tell ya, once you were in, you were in.



It was a great ride! I would love to go again. At one point, I let go and really felt like I was flying. Kara screamed her head off the whole time.

After our ride, I went to the locker to get our stuff, Jonas and Kara headed over to get Jacob. They come around the corner, and Jacob has obviously been crying. The employee said he was fine and then all of the sudden got scared, as Jonas walked up she was trying to radio someone to come find us. I felt sooooo bad.

From there we wanted to ride Atlantis. We made the walk all the way to the back and the wait was 45 minutes. Poor Kara's feet hurt, she could barely walk. I was tired and I know Jonas and Jacob were, so we decided not to ride. Laying by the pool sounded like a much better plan, so we made our way out of the park.


Doesn't that one have some really long legs, even for a Flamingo?



We found our car and made it back to the hotel, where we found this:


We spent the evening at the hotel pool. Jacob played and played. Jonas and I had a drink. Kara just relaxed.

So that was our day at Seaworld. I really did enjoy this park and would love to go back again. Highly recommend everyone go at least once.

 

[DFD]

love the updates... had wanted to try Manta from day one but really dont need to do the whole park thing and not to crazy to buy a ticket just to ride it... thanks for sharing that part...