wilma-bride
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
- Messages
- 22,681
Fred and Wilma Second Time Around 19-26 Sep 05
CAST
Me Joh (32) Chief (well, only) planner, lover of thrill rides, impatient and exciteable
DH Gary (38) Chief photographer, also lover of thrill rides and mad about Tigger!
Day 6 25 Sep 05 Sea World and Skull Kingdom
We woke early this morning, all geared up for a trip to Sea World. This is one of our favourite non-Disney parks as it never seems to be too busy and its quite a relaxing day out. We catch the I-Ride trolley down to Sea World at 9 am and arrive at Sea World, where we head to the ticket booth. I had read on the DIS about the Heres to the Heroes programme, being run by Anheuser-Busch, for members of the Forces so had printed the forms off the website and filled them in. We presented the form at the ticket booth, together with DHs ID card, and were given a one-day entry ticket each, together with some Anheuser-Busch Heres to the Heroes dog-tags.
We entered the park and headed straight to Kraken, for our first thrill ride of the day. It was a walk-on but we decided to wait and ride the front. This is such a great ride, especially at the front, as it looks as though youre going straight over the edge at the first drop fantastic! After riding twice more, we head over to Journey to Atlantis, which is also a walk-on. Also a great ride.
Leaving Journey to Atlantis, we walk over to the Shamu Stadium for the first Shamu show of the day. At the start of the show, a short film was shown of the Coalition Forces in Iraq and afterwards, all members of the Forces, both US and English, were asked to stand and received a round of applause. DH stood up (somewhat embarrassed) and I felt so proud of him it really brought tears to my eyes. The Shamu show was great and I really love to see the tricks performed by the whales. However, it always makes me quite sad/angry at the end, when Shamu (OK, so I know its not really Shamu but the massive Orca they bring out at the end) goes round splashing the audience the cameras always show kids crying and being carried away by their parents, because theyve got soaked. Do these parents really think their toddlers are gonna enjoy getting drenched?
After Shamu, we follow the masses round to the Nautilus Theatre, where we want to see the Odyssea show. However, the next one is not for another hour so we decide to come back (un fortunately, we didnt get round to it so will have to see this next year). We carry on to the Dolphin stadium to watch Blue Horizons, the new dolphin show. We really enjoyed this show, although there is so much going on at times its hard to take in everything. Its very different to the old show and, to be honest, I think on balance I actually preferred the old show. But it is very good and the gymnasts are very talented.
We had lunch at the Seafire Inn and watched the piano players, who were very good. They took requests one of which was God Bless America although my request for Rule Britannia didnt go down very well (the guy said he didnt know it can you believe it). We then strolled round the park again, stopping to watch the dolphins at Dolphin Cove before heading out of the park and onto the I-Ride trolley back to the hotel.
We had really wanted to visit Skull Kingdom this year but, up till now, we hadn't had the time/inclination so tonight was to be the night. We caught the I-Ride trolley up and disembarked at the huge, grey castle.
After paying our entrance fee, we were beckoned inside by a woman dressed in black, who stood us against a wall and told us the rules. 'The leader must always lead, you must only move forward, the monsters won't touch you and you mustn't touch them (unless you like that sort of thing, in which case it's extra up front
)'. Strong blasts of air then blew out of the wall behind us, making us both jump - and that set the precedence for the next 30 minutes. I won't give too much away in case anyone wants to experience it themselves but, basically, it was the most terrifying half hour of my life. I screamed from start to finish. At the end, we were going down a dark staircase and I was whispering to DH that someone was following us, go faster! As we got to the bottom and entered a dark corridor, a guy ran out of the shadows with a chainsaw. At that point, the 'Leader must always lead' rule went straight out of the window as I let go of DH's hand and shot down the corridor, towards a door marked 'Exit'. I shot through the door, screaming my head off and nearly falling over, much to the shock/amusement of a woman waiting outside for her family 
I was still shaking as we walked back down I-Drive. As we passed SkyVenture, DH said he wanted to go and have a look. The lady on the reception told us that the training takes about an hour (which DH decided we didn't have as we were both hungry by now) but we could go up to the Observation Deck and watch for a while, which we chose to do. To be honest, I think it is a lot harder to do than it looks. When we got up there, one of the instructors was in there and he was doing all sorts of jumps and somersaults. But, during the time we were there, some of the 'rookies' had their goes and hte instructor had to stay with them most of the time as they could barely stay off the ground by themselves. To me it seems a waste of money - you get the hour's training and 3 one-minute 'flights' but, like I say, the instructor is holding you most of the time so you're not getting the true experience, in my opinion. I think DH still fancies trying it, though, so I suspect we might be back here next year.
Dinner tonight was at Tony Romas. We had eaten here last year and it was lovely so we decided our last evening meal of the holiday should be here. DH had ribs and I had steak (no chicken for once!). Again, it was lovely but we didnt have room for dessert. Feeling stuffed, we decided to walk back to the hotel and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for ice-cream. DH had a 2 scoop sundae, with Pistachio and Rainbow (tasted like fruit salad lovely) and I had a 2 scoop sundae, with Chocolate Mousse and Oreo Cookie Crumb. We ate them while wandering up the road and this filled us up again.
Unfortunately, tomorrow is our last day so, when we returned to the hotel, I had to do the dreaded P word (yep, packing!!!). I somehow managed to squeeze everything in to our two suitcases, before realising that I had left the giant Dora out so I had to squeeze her in to the last case by folding her in half. I felt very guilty for that.
Then, there was just enough time to watch some television before retiring for the night. I dream of men chasing me with chain saws and bowls of ice-cream
CAST
Me Joh (32) Chief (well, only) planner, lover of thrill rides, impatient and exciteable
DH Gary (38) Chief photographer, also lover of thrill rides and mad about Tigger!
Day 6 25 Sep 05 Sea World and Skull Kingdom
We woke early this morning, all geared up for a trip to Sea World. This is one of our favourite non-Disney parks as it never seems to be too busy and its quite a relaxing day out. We catch the I-Ride trolley down to Sea World at 9 am and arrive at Sea World, where we head to the ticket booth. I had read on the DIS about the Heres to the Heroes programme, being run by Anheuser-Busch, for members of the Forces so had printed the forms off the website and filled them in. We presented the form at the ticket booth, together with DHs ID card, and were given a one-day entry ticket each, together with some Anheuser-Busch Heres to the Heroes dog-tags.
We entered the park and headed straight to Kraken, for our first thrill ride of the day. It was a walk-on but we decided to wait and ride the front. This is such a great ride, especially at the front, as it looks as though youre going straight over the edge at the first drop fantastic! After riding twice more, we head over to Journey to Atlantis, which is also a walk-on. Also a great ride.
Leaving Journey to Atlantis, we walk over to the Shamu Stadium for the first Shamu show of the day. At the start of the show, a short film was shown of the Coalition Forces in Iraq and afterwards, all members of the Forces, both US and English, were asked to stand and received a round of applause. DH stood up (somewhat embarrassed) and I felt so proud of him it really brought tears to my eyes. The Shamu show was great and I really love to see the tricks performed by the whales. However, it always makes me quite sad/angry at the end, when Shamu (OK, so I know its not really Shamu but the massive Orca they bring out at the end) goes round splashing the audience the cameras always show kids crying and being carried away by their parents, because theyve got soaked. Do these parents really think their toddlers are gonna enjoy getting drenched?
After Shamu, we follow the masses round to the Nautilus Theatre, where we want to see the Odyssea show. However, the next one is not for another hour so we decide to come back (un fortunately, we didnt get round to it so will have to see this next year). We carry on to the Dolphin stadium to watch Blue Horizons, the new dolphin show. We really enjoyed this show, although there is so much going on at times its hard to take in everything. Its very different to the old show and, to be honest, I think on balance I actually preferred the old show. But it is very good and the gymnasts are very talented.
We had lunch at the Seafire Inn and watched the piano players, who were very good. They took requests one of which was God Bless America although my request for Rule Britannia didnt go down very well (the guy said he didnt know it can you believe it). We then strolled round the park again, stopping to watch the dolphins at Dolphin Cove before heading out of the park and onto the I-Ride trolley back to the hotel.
We had really wanted to visit Skull Kingdom this year but, up till now, we hadn't had the time/inclination so tonight was to be the night. We caught the I-Ride trolley up and disembarked at the huge, grey castle.
After paying our entrance fee, we were beckoned inside by a woman dressed in black, who stood us against a wall and told us the rules. 'The leader must always lead, you must only move forward, the monsters won't touch you and you mustn't touch them (unless you like that sort of thing, in which case it's extra up front
)'. Strong blasts of air then blew out of the wall behind us, making us both jump - and that set the precedence for the next 30 minutes. I won't give too much away in case anyone wants to experience it themselves but, basically, it was the most terrifying half hour of my life. I screamed from start to finish. At the end, we were going down a dark staircase and I was whispering to DH that someone was following us, go faster! As we got to the bottom and entered a dark corridor, a guy ran out of the shadows with a chainsaw. At that point, the 'Leader must always lead' rule went straight out of the window as I let go of DH's hand and shot down the corridor, towards a door marked 'Exit'. I shot through the door, screaming my head off and nearly falling over, much to the shock/amusement of a woman waiting outside for her family I was still shaking as we walked back down I-Drive. As we passed SkyVenture, DH said he wanted to go and have a look. The lady on the reception told us that the training takes about an hour (which DH decided we didn't have as we were both hungry by now) but we could go up to the Observation Deck and watch for a while, which we chose to do. To be honest, I think it is a lot harder to do than it looks. When we got up there, one of the instructors was in there and he was doing all sorts of jumps and somersaults. But, during the time we were there, some of the 'rookies' had their goes and hte instructor had to stay with them most of the time as they could barely stay off the ground by themselves. To me it seems a waste of money - you get the hour's training and 3 one-minute 'flights' but, like I say, the instructor is holding you most of the time so you're not getting the true experience, in my opinion. I think DH still fancies trying it, though, so I suspect we might be back here next year.
Dinner tonight was at Tony Romas. We had eaten here last year and it was lovely so we decided our last evening meal of the holiday should be here. DH had ribs and I had steak (no chicken for once!). Again, it was lovely but we didnt have room for dessert. Feeling stuffed, we decided to walk back to the hotel and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for ice-cream. DH had a 2 scoop sundae, with Pistachio and Rainbow (tasted like fruit salad lovely) and I had a 2 scoop sundae, with Chocolate Mousse and Oreo Cookie Crumb. We ate them while wandering up the road and this filled us up again.
Unfortunately, tomorrow is our last day so, when we returned to the hotel, I had to do the dreaded P word (yep, packing!!!). I somehow managed to squeeze everything in to our two suitcases, before realising that I had left the giant Dora out so I had to squeeze her in to the last case by folding her in half. I felt very guilty for that.
Then, there was just enough time to watch some television before retiring for the night. I dream of men chasing me with chain saws and bowls of ice-cream
i hope she survived being squished like that 
thanks for a great report 
