Daysleeper40
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
- Messages
- 526
Wednesday 26th September: SHAMU SHAMU
HURRAY
HURRAY
And
HOOOOOOOOORAAAAY!!
We were on our way to Seaworld again - which incidentally has been officially crowned my happy place until further notice.
Usual routine for the morning ensued. Up, washed, I Ride Trolly, arrived at park in good time. No problems getting into the park - the only issue we had was deciding what to do first. We did have a vague plan of action in that we definitely wanted to see Believe and were going to be dining with Shamu in the afternoon it was to be our official Orca day!
Everyone else was heading for Dolphin Cove to feed the dolphins but having done this on day 1, and also having been to Discovery Cove since then, we opted out and headed for the Sting Ray area instead. Purchased four trays of little fish for $10 and spent quite a long time feeding the rays and taking vidoes & pictures of each other. The rays were WAY more hungry than on our first visit and were quite frantic to begin with. They settled down after a while though and we had a great time letting them swim over our hands a hoovering the fish up. There was a fairly annoying staff member on duty who had an issue with anyone above 4ft tall standing on the kids step - regardless of the fact all the kids were busy feeding Flipper over at Dolphin Cove and at that precise moment couldnt give a monkeys about the rays. Not that I am above shoving small children out of the way - I will if I have to - but this woman would not leave people alone. It was all Sir, it would be easier for you if you didnt stand on the step and Mam, if you stand here you wont have to use the step etc etc. Its quite difficult concentrating on the picture or video you are trying to take with someone like this wittering on in the background so I told her to go away, as did a number of other people. Politely of course. What she had failed to notice was that everyone was trying out different spots all around the pool and were quite happy deciding for themselves if they wanted to risk using the step or not.
Our intention was to go straight to Wild Arctic but for whatever reason this area of the park didnt open till 10am. Still, we were keen to do as much as we could at each park and this gave us the opportunity to try out the Sky Tower. It wasnt busy at all and we paid our $3 each and were on the next ride. Both really enjoyed this - we could see the Orcas in their pools and took a good look at how Aquatica was coming along. Once back on terra firma we couldnt resist the dolphins any longer and headed over to the Nursery area. Most of the dolphins were docked round the side of the pool and seemed very chilled out which was nice to see.
We were feeling quite relaxed ourselves - the sun was shining and it seemed like a good idea to sit out and have ourselves a lovely breakfast. We chose the Cyprus Bakery and opted of a dipped croissant, cheese danish and an OJ. All was lovely and Ive got to be honest - the whole pace and atmosphere of SeaWorld really suited us more than the Disney parks we had been to so we were pretty much revelling in it!
During our trip the Clyde and Seamore show was closed for rehab which was a real shame but did leave an opening for Pets Ahoy. We made the 10.45am showing a little early so got to watch the Mime (who I believe would be working the C&S show had it been on) torture the late comers - very funny!
We both loved the show and loved the fact all the animals are rescues even more. I have had numerous rescue pets myself and know how great it is to build up an animals confidence and see them actually start to enjoy life! Hats off to the trainers and the very talented stars of the show.
Obviously Wild Arctic had opened by this point so we headed over, stopping briefly to watch the Pearl Divers do their thing on route, and also having a quick sqiz at Shamus Happy Harbour. We took the simulator route through Wild Arctic this time which was fun but I prefer the main attractions - the animals! We spent quite a long time wandering around and watching them. I particularly enjoyed seeing the young Belugas playing together.
The Shamu show was due to start at 13.00 and we were keen to get good seats as this was really our only opportunity to see it.
We hightailed it over to the stadium for midday and got a good spot for queuing. We did well to arrive early as although the park was quiet obviously EVERYONE wanted to see the show. We got great seats smack bang in the middle of the first row behind the splash zone and then proceeded to marvel at the amount of people who turn up with 5 minutes to go and seem surprised that there arent any seats!
I really enjoyed the show - the orcas are beautiful and so was the music. The whole storyline is very cheesy but that, I think, is to be expected. Shamu was more than impressive and the trainers had a lot of energy! I preferred the Blue Horizons show but still enjoyed Believe and it was great to see the Orcas do their thing.
We went straight to Pacific Point Preserve after Believe and bought some more fish to feed to the seals and sealions. These guys have such great personalities that I could watch them all day! I tried my best to get fish to the seals but the problem is that if you have to throw the fish too far the birds will fly in and steal it. Still, I think I managed to get them a fair share. We had riden Kraken on our first trip to Seaworld so our ride for today was to be Journey to Atlantis. Now, I would like to say at this point that I was right the sitting at the front is a good ploy as most of the wave goes over your head at the bottom of the drop. Unfortunately I was not aware of the little dip round the corner which sends some kind of tidal wave over the front of the boat. I was not at all impressed and had to wring out my trousers not much I could do about my trainers though! We did buy the ride photo which in retrospect I am happy about - but at the time I was in a bit of a boo!!
I soon cheered up though as our next stop was the underwater viewing area at Key West. Youve got to love the dolphins and there was also a random man outside with an alligator that I got to touch very cool! He was softer than I thought he would be. Whilst in the area we also visited the manatees and then headed back through the park via Turtle point and the Dolphin Nursery (again!). The sky had started to look a little ominous and we took shelter in an arcade just in time. It was only a shower really and as soon as it looked a bit brighter we ran over to the underwater Orca viewing area. There were four orcas swimming around plus a couple who were coming in and out of the pool. The two youngsters were very playful and seemed interested in the people. I got some pictures and also a bit of video before it was time for our dinner date.
Thankfully the weather had cleared and at 3.55pm we were handed out lanyards and welcomed to Dine with Shamu.
We had a cracking table - in the middle right next to the pool edge! The food was yummy although it was a bit of a queue to get to the buffet and we also had ourselves a couple of beers. It was fantastic to see the orcas up so close. We had a mother and calf - who was so cute trying to copy mum and the trainers seemed really pleased by the little ones behaviour. We got a talk about their training methods and saw some impressive up close tricks. The trainers also came round at the end to sign cards and answer any questions. The whole experience was great - the only negative I can come up with is that it was a little rushed to get food and sit down to make sure you didnt miss any of the session. Obviously you were free to head back to the buffet at any point - and we did for dessert which was lush by the way - but I was more interested in watching what was going on in the pool!
The weather broke again after we had left our dinner date and we had to take shelter next to the Shamu Stadium. We felt very lucky that the rain came when it did this day. It could easily have ruined our plans by stopping the 13.00 Believe show or our Dine with Shamu but it didnt! I felt badly for those who had gone for the later Believe show as we heard the announcement saying it was either cancelled or postponed because of the weather. Still, I didnt feel too bad as we had done everything we wanted to do, and again had a fantastic day at Seaworld... and here are our happy faces to prove it!
Last job was to get over to the shop and buy our magnet and a couple of other souvenirs before hopping on the Trolly back to the hotel. Having had our dinner early we just popped into the the 7/11 for Slurpees and snacks and spent the evening at the hotel playing pinball and watching the season premier of Criminal Minds (which I love!)
I have made a little video of Blue Horizons and Believe:
http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Daysleeper40/Florida%20-%20General/SeaWorld/?action=view¤t=c47a7e94.flv
HURRAY
HURRAY
And
HOOOOOOOOORAAAAY!!
We were on our way to Seaworld again - which incidentally has been officially crowned my happy place until further notice.
Usual routine for the morning ensued. Up, washed, I Ride Trolly, arrived at park in good time. No problems getting into the park - the only issue we had was deciding what to do first. We did have a vague plan of action in that we definitely wanted to see Believe and were going to be dining with Shamu in the afternoon it was to be our official Orca day!
Everyone else was heading for Dolphin Cove to feed the dolphins but having done this on day 1, and also having been to Discovery Cove since then, we opted out and headed for the Sting Ray area instead. Purchased four trays of little fish for $10 and spent quite a long time feeding the rays and taking vidoes & pictures of each other. The rays were WAY more hungry than on our first visit and were quite frantic to begin with. They settled down after a while though and we had a great time letting them swim over our hands a hoovering the fish up. There was a fairly annoying staff member on duty who had an issue with anyone above 4ft tall standing on the kids step - regardless of the fact all the kids were busy feeding Flipper over at Dolphin Cove and at that precise moment couldnt give a monkeys about the rays. Not that I am above shoving small children out of the way - I will if I have to - but this woman would not leave people alone. It was all Sir, it would be easier for you if you didnt stand on the step and Mam, if you stand here you wont have to use the step etc etc. Its quite difficult concentrating on the picture or video you are trying to take with someone like this wittering on in the background so I told her to go away, as did a number of other people. Politely of course. What she had failed to notice was that everyone was trying out different spots all around the pool and were quite happy deciding for themselves if they wanted to risk using the step or not.
Our intention was to go straight to Wild Arctic but for whatever reason this area of the park didnt open till 10am. Still, we were keen to do as much as we could at each park and this gave us the opportunity to try out the Sky Tower. It wasnt busy at all and we paid our $3 each and were on the next ride. Both really enjoyed this - we could see the Orcas in their pools and took a good look at how Aquatica was coming along. Once back on terra firma we couldnt resist the dolphins any longer and headed over to the Nursery area. Most of the dolphins were docked round the side of the pool and seemed very chilled out which was nice to see.
We were feeling quite relaxed ourselves - the sun was shining and it seemed like a good idea to sit out and have ourselves a lovely breakfast. We chose the Cyprus Bakery and opted of a dipped croissant, cheese danish and an OJ. All was lovely and Ive got to be honest - the whole pace and atmosphere of SeaWorld really suited us more than the Disney parks we had been to so we were pretty much revelling in it!
During our trip the Clyde and Seamore show was closed for rehab which was a real shame but did leave an opening for Pets Ahoy. We made the 10.45am showing a little early so got to watch the Mime (who I believe would be working the C&S show had it been on) torture the late comers - very funny!
We both loved the show and loved the fact all the animals are rescues even more. I have had numerous rescue pets myself and know how great it is to build up an animals confidence and see them actually start to enjoy life! Hats off to the trainers and the very talented stars of the show.
Obviously Wild Arctic had opened by this point so we headed over, stopping briefly to watch the Pearl Divers do their thing on route, and also having a quick sqiz at Shamus Happy Harbour. We took the simulator route through Wild Arctic this time which was fun but I prefer the main attractions - the animals! We spent quite a long time wandering around and watching them. I particularly enjoyed seeing the young Belugas playing together.
The Shamu show was due to start at 13.00 and we were keen to get good seats as this was really our only opportunity to see it.
We hightailed it over to the stadium for midday and got a good spot for queuing. We did well to arrive early as although the park was quiet obviously EVERYONE wanted to see the show. We got great seats smack bang in the middle of the first row behind the splash zone and then proceeded to marvel at the amount of people who turn up with 5 minutes to go and seem surprised that there arent any seats!
I really enjoyed the show - the orcas are beautiful and so was the music. The whole storyline is very cheesy but that, I think, is to be expected. Shamu was more than impressive and the trainers had a lot of energy! I preferred the Blue Horizons show but still enjoyed Believe and it was great to see the Orcas do their thing.
We went straight to Pacific Point Preserve after Believe and bought some more fish to feed to the seals and sealions. These guys have such great personalities that I could watch them all day! I tried my best to get fish to the seals but the problem is that if you have to throw the fish too far the birds will fly in and steal it. Still, I think I managed to get them a fair share. We had riden Kraken on our first trip to Seaworld so our ride for today was to be Journey to Atlantis. Now, I would like to say at this point that I was right the sitting at the front is a good ploy as most of the wave goes over your head at the bottom of the drop. Unfortunately I was not aware of the little dip round the corner which sends some kind of tidal wave over the front of the boat. I was not at all impressed and had to wring out my trousers not much I could do about my trainers though! We did buy the ride photo which in retrospect I am happy about - but at the time I was in a bit of a boo!!
I soon cheered up though as our next stop was the underwater viewing area at Key West. Youve got to love the dolphins and there was also a random man outside with an alligator that I got to touch very cool! He was softer than I thought he would be. Whilst in the area we also visited the manatees and then headed back through the park via Turtle point and the Dolphin Nursery (again!). The sky had started to look a little ominous and we took shelter in an arcade just in time. It was only a shower really and as soon as it looked a bit brighter we ran over to the underwater Orca viewing area. There were four orcas swimming around plus a couple who were coming in and out of the pool. The two youngsters were very playful and seemed interested in the people. I got some pictures and also a bit of video before it was time for our dinner date.
Thankfully the weather had cleared and at 3.55pm we were handed out lanyards and welcomed to Dine with Shamu.
We had a cracking table - in the middle right next to the pool edge! The food was yummy although it was a bit of a queue to get to the buffet and we also had ourselves a couple of beers. It was fantastic to see the orcas up so close. We had a mother and calf - who was so cute trying to copy mum and the trainers seemed really pleased by the little ones behaviour. We got a talk about their training methods and saw some impressive up close tricks. The trainers also came round at the end to sign cards and answer any questions. The whole experience was great - the only negative I can come up with is that it was a little rushed to get food and sit down to make sure you didnt miss any of the session. Obviously you were free to head back to the buffet at any point - and we did for dessert which was lush by the way - but I was more interested in watching what was going on in the pool!
The weather broke again after we had left our dinner date and we had to take shelter next to the Shamu Stadium. We felt very lucky that the rain came when it did this day. It could easily have ruined our plans by stopping the 13.00 Believe show or our Dine with Shamu but it didnt! I felt badly for those who had gone for the later Believe show as we heard the announcement saying it was either cancelled or postponed because of the weather. Still, I didnt feel too bad as we had done everything we wanted to do, and again had a fantastic day at Seaworld... and here are our happy faces to prove it!
Last job was to get over to the shop and buy our magnet and a couple of other souvenirs before hopping on the Trolly back to the hotel. Having had our dinner early we just popped into the the 7/11 for Slurpees and snacks and spent the evening at the hotel playing pinball and watching the season premier of Criminal Minds (which I love!)
I have made a little video of Blue Horizons and Believe:
http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Daysleeper40/Florida%20-%20General/SeaWorld/?action=view¤t=c47a7e94.flv
