Sunday, May 6th: SeaWorld, continued
While
@JaxDad knew what Steve and I both looked like (after following along on many, many previous trip reports here on the Dis), the same was not true in reverse……so he did a great job at giving us some physical descriptions of himself and his two kiddos to help us spot them among the other SeaWorld guests in the park that day. The Waterfront was our meeting point, so Steve and I wasted no time in hustling ourselves across the long wooden bridge for our eagerly-anticipated meet up.
It turns out that
@JaxDad actually spotted
us before we saw
him……one of the benefits of Steve’s size is that he’s hard to miss, even in a busy theme park
. A round of greetings ensued on both sides, with a flurry of hellos and handshakes and hugs
.
You know what’s so wonderful about the Dismeets that we have enjoyed over the course of the last several years? They’ve all been so “easy” …. no awkward or uncomfortable silences, no desperate moments of trying to come up with something to talk about, and no weirdness whatsoever. I can freely admit that poor Steve dreaded the first few meets that I arranged (and considering that the Disboards was my “thing” and not his, I can totally understand that he had reservations about meeting up with strangers I’d met on the internet
), but now looks forward to them as much as I do. We have been blessed to make the acquaintance of so many awesome and interesting people during our Orlando getaways that he now enjoys these opportunities and even looks forward to them. In fact, it’s become a bit of a running joke in our household……every time we officially set the date for our next adventure, he always asks me…..
”So, who will we be meeting up with on THIS trip?”.
He’s a keeper, my Steve
.
We chit-chatted and shot the breeze for a good amount of time (@JaxDad’s son and daughter are just as friendly and lovely as he is, and we loved hearing about their long weekend adventures at the parks prior to our meet-up), but eventually it was time for them to hit the rest of their must-do’s before they began their trek back to Jacksonville later that afternoon. After bidding them goodbye and wishing them a safe journey home, we opted to head over to the Dolphin Nursery to see if we could catch a glimpse of our friend T, who we knew was working at SeaWorld that day.
Our timing, as it turned out, was impeccable. Shortly after we found a good viewing spot along the side of the nursery pool, the animal care team [of which T is a part] arrived with buckets of fish in hand….much to the delight of some very spirited young dolphins and their mommas.
If there was ever a “perfect job” in this world, I swear that this would be it
. While I have no doubt that this career comes with it’s own bucketload of frustrations, irritations and disappointments (though those are likely more people-related than animal-related), I cannot imagine how wonderful it must be to work with these amazing creatures on a day to day basis. We could hardly tear our eyes away from those young dolphins and the carefully-chosen senior dolphins [a mix of mothers and “aunts”] who have been called upon to teach those babies how to do all the things adult dolphins will need to do. Their mimicry is incredible, and their innocent playfulness is enough to soften even the hardest heart. It doesn’t take long for a park guest to notice just how incredibly SMART they are, either…..and with all the positive reinforcement and love they receive from the care staff, they are happy to show just how much they know.
We seriously could have stayed in that spot, for the rest of the day, and watch those beautiful creatures swim
. Eventually, however, the care team wrapped up their time with their young “students”, the fish buckets were emptied, and T had to move on to the other tasks of her workday. We stayed a bit longer to enjoy the playful frolicking that continued in the dolphin nursery, then finally decided to address the rumblings that were making themselves known in our stomachs. Our big breakfast at Steak & Shake had finally wore off, and we were in need of some sustenance to carry us through the rest of the day.
SeaFire Grill was super close by, so we decided to just go there for lunch. We were both super thirsty, so as long as they had cold beverages at the ready, we’d be a happy pair. We perused their menu, and Steve opted for their “famous” fajitas, while I chose the chicken tenders platter.
We had the staff refill our SeaWorld souvenir cup (purchased on a previous trip) with cold water and ice, and Steve picked up a piece of chocolate cake (one of his SeaWorld favorites) for dessert. Total cost, with passmember discount: $27.67 (I thought that was awesome!!).
Everything was really good. The chicken tenders at SeaWorld are ALWAYS a win (whatever brand they use is great…..big, meaty pieces that are deliciously seasoned and always moist and juicy) and the portion was more than enough for an adult. Steve enjoyed every last bite of his fajitas (he was even more famished than I thought) and wasted no time in digging into his beloved cake…..though he graciously offered me a bite of the latter
.
Just after we had brought our tray to the table, we received a text from T asking if we would still be at the park by late afternoon. We didn’t really have any firm plans either way, so we replied that sure, we could be. She told us to meet her at Dolphin Cove at 3:45, so we made a mental note of the time and promised we’d see her later on. We had hoped maybe we’d get the chance to see her interacting with the dolphins again during this trip (it is SO fun to watch!), and this sounded like it would be just that exact opportunity
.
It was super quiet in SeaFire, so we didn’t feel guilty about lingering a while after our lunch was consumed…..there were plenty of open tables so we weren’t holding up any other dining patrons. We made a conscious effort to drink LOTS of water throughout the day, and this mid-day sit-down was the perfect opportunity to rehydrate. After my migraine the day before, we didn’t want any avoidable circumstances playing a negative role in the balance of our vacation time.
Once our meals had settled a bit, we decided to continue meandering through the park. Crowds were still crazy quiet, even at that busiest mid-day point, and we soaked up the peaceful serenity of the leisurely day.
Our stroll took us past Sea Lion theater, and we found ourselves at the “Bottom of the World”.
Posted waits for Antartica: Empire of the Penguin were 10 minutes, so we hopped on that without any further thought. Actual wait times turned out to be even less, and we were tucked inside within five minutes of hopping into line.
While we have done both the “Wild” and “Mild” versions of Antartica on previous trips, our preference remains the mild version. The “wild” version is more just a bunch of herky-jerky jarring that neither of us feels adds anything to the experience, and as an added bonus, the “mild” side always has less of a wait. Once we had viewed the movie that precedes the ride, we were ushered immediately into the queue for the mild ride vehicles and were boarded almost instantly.
I know the critics were disappointed in Antartica when it opened (perhaps the advance fanfare was just more than the ride deserved), but we always enjoy this attraction regardless. The ice cave has some stunning features and following little Puck the Penguin’s journey is fun for any age.
As the old saying goes, though, they save the best for last when it comes to the Antarctica attraction. I am always delighted by the chorus of “oooohhhh’s” that dance on the air as the ride vehicles turn and guests capture that first look at the penguins in the frosty exhibit. The ride is a fun prelude, but it’s the animals that really make the experience.
It always takes a minute to adjust to the unbelievable cold of the penguin habitat, but thankfully there’s so much to look at that it makes it a tad bit less noticeable (at least until you’re in there long enough that your teeth start to chatter
).
The penguins were super active that afternoon, and more than one went swimming by with wings a flappin’, splashing their way along the clear glass edge of the exhibit to the delight of the wide-eyed visitors.
We stayed and enjoyed their crazy antics as long as we could stand the cold. The staff working alongside the exhibit were super knowledgeable, and were filled with all sorts of tidbits of knowledge that they passed along to the park-goers who paused to ask questions about the various species showcased within the habitat. We both always enjoy leaving the park a little smarter than when we arrived…..no matter how many times we visit the park or experience the various attractions, we always find there’s something new that we learn each trip.
More SeaWorld to come!
That's great!
)
. We always enjoy it, too. I think maybe it just got SO much hype before it opened, people just expected too much.
. 
. We both loved the fact that they removed the artistic acrobatics and focused almost solely on the abilities of the dolphins…..though the beautiful birds were happily still featured. It would have been a shame if they had not made the transition to the new format.
. We’ll leave the soakings to the young and adventurous 
.
.
......we must have been suffering from a bad case of Vacation Brain by that point in the day, because somewhere in all the fun we managed to mix up where she had instructed us to meet her 
. While we know she said Dolphin Cove, we were stupidly still thinking Dolphin Nursery, so we ended up getting the dreaded “Where Are You??” text and feeling mighty, mighty foolish 
. We immediately headed in the direction of Dolphin Cove, sending up multiple prayers of thanks that the park was so quiet and our less-than-graceful sprint was witnessed by as few people as possible. We managed to avoid any painful collisions with baby strollers and ECV’s as we dashed across the park, and arrived with sincere apologies to T for our silly error.
. We deserved a good scolding but instead, she had the most wonderful (and unexpected) surprise for us 
.
.
