PneumaticTransit
Are you the Key Master?
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2004
- Messages
- 663
The Players:
Me! - 23 year old Disney Cast Member & pearl diver stalker
Dad - 55 year old steel worker & shark attack victim
The Setting:
Sea World Orlando on October 14th, 2005
Feeling a little lost? Read my MNSSHP Trip Report first!
My dad was staying with my DH and I at our house in Kissimmee. I had taken the day off work so Dad & I could utilize our Sea World Fun Pass. This was the last full day Dad was in town, so I wanted to be able to spend the whole day at Sea World.
Ever hear, "Life is what happens when you're busy making plans."? It's true. Nothing I plan ever follows schedule. I will not ever attempt to plan a commando day at the parks because I know you would find me hiding in a dark corner, cowering in the fetal position, softly weeping to myself after 3 minutes - give or take 30 seconds.
Well that Friday I woke up with allergies. My allergies are a funny thing. They never ever bother me on days I have to work. I very rarely ever call in sick. However, if I plan a vacation, day off, or it's my weekend - BAM! I'm sick. I had a runny nose and itchy eyes, which caused my whole Sea World schedule to circle the drain.
We got off to a late start. That's pretty normal when traveling with my dad. Remember the coolant incident before MNSSHP? Well, this time we were walking out the door when he insisted he should vacuum the air vents on the ceiling.
No, I'm not kidding.
After much deliberation, we left the house - vents unvacuumed. I agreed to make a pit stop at Wal-Mart so my dad could look what the price of light bulbs were there. He had purchased a pack of light bulbs at a different Wal-Mart and he wanted to see if the other Wal-Marts had the same thing. Since I am not a Walton, he didn't take my word that they were the same. I mean... the two Wal-Marts were only 2 miles apart. How different could it be?
Low and behold, they were indeed the same price. I may lead a rather boring life, but I refuse to get excited about cheap light bulbs. We were already behind schedule, I insisted we get moving.
He insisted he was hungry.
Second thing to know about my dad after spending lots of time doing very unimportant things (think SNL's Anal Retentive Repair Man): He is cheap. Very cheap. There is no way he would spend $6 for a meal at SeaWold when there was a Wendy's 99 cent menu on the way. Growing up, we were the people you would see at Epcot filling our cups at Ice Station Cool to accompany our Lunchables that we had brought in our backpacks.
Again, I'm not kidding.
Alright, so another pit stop at Wendy's and we were on our way. Finally!
Right outside SeaWorld, we came upon this car in traffic. I have seen it before, but I've never had my camera with me. I had to post a picture because people don't believe me when I try to explain the Crazy Jesus Car.
Look for it next time your around the Sea World International Drive area.
I must now gush how much I love the Fun Pass. Basically, it's a season pass to Sea World that only costs $65. Regular admission is $60, so for $5 more it's one hell of an upgrade! It doesn't cover parking however, which was $8. I don't know who's responsible for the 'pay for parking' business... but it's getting out of hand. Why do I have to pay admission for my car? Does the Shamu car come out in the parking lot and pose for pictures with my car?
Bag check and turnstiles, we pose to have our picture taken by the entrance photographers. I try really hard to not make eye contact with them, but they stop me every time! I feel sorry for them, so I let them take my picture. I have never bought one. I don't think I've even stopped to look at them at the end of the day. It's almost as creepy as the photographers who take your picture when you feed the dolphins. I didn't even realize they were there until someone tapped me on the shoulder to give me a claim ticket. I cringe when I think about someone watching me long enough to take my picture and radio the claim ticket giver-outer without my knowledge.
Photo #5869 ... the blond girl to your left. In the purple shirt. I think she has some sort of heat rash, she's scratching herself. No, not her.. the other left. She just picked her nose and washed her hand off in the dolphin tank. Yeah, that's her... 5869
I'm just saying I'd like to know when someone is taking my picture. I need to prepare.
We stopped at a bench by the water and watched the ducks. Ducks are one of my favorite animals. If I had to be an animal, I'd want to be a duck. They're cute, people feed you bread & popcorn, and you're an all terrain bird. Water, land, and air! I let them know I was taking their picture because that's the polite thing to do.
Last time I went to Sea World it was kind of cold so we skipped the rides. This time my only mission was to ride Journey to Atlantis and Kraken. We headed over there first. The wait times were listed as 45 minutes. I'm not willing to wait 45 minutes for anything, but since these rides were my only must sees, we decided to wait.
We put our stuff in a locker, which amazingly only costs 50 cents. That would bring our grand total of money spent at Sea World to $8.50 for the entire day. Not bad!
We got in line for Kraken first - which, according to the radio ads, is Orlando's only floorless coaster. The wait time was listed at 45 minutes, which was rather amazing since the park was not busy at all.
I guess Sea World needs to adjust how they determine the wait times, because it only took 11 minutes for us to be fastened in to our seats with our feet dangling.
I love roller coasters, but ever since working for Epcot engineering I am now keen to having all the knowledge of the safety systems and checks and balances that rides possess. Honestly, it should make me feel better because they really go out of their way to make rides safe.
It has, however, made me steer clear of any carnivals that come to town. You can see the ride on the back of the truck going down the road in the morning, and ride it that afternoon... umm... no thanks!
So hopefully I'm not the only one with thoughts of disaster racing through their mind while on a roller coaster. OMG, what's that sound? Is it supposed to jerk like that? What if the track separates, what if the up stops are loose, what if the limit switches aren't working, OMG... they'll put my picture in the newspaper and I haven't instructed my husband which one to give them. They'll probably find my claim ticket in my pocket and use the picture I had taken at the entry gate this morning, which is probably horrible because I didn't want my picture taken in the first place. I don't want to be remembered as the girl who was giving the Sea World photographer a dirty look!
And then my fears came to a head when the ride stopped mid-track. They came over the loud speakers to let them know the ride was having a "err um... a mechanical problem". What the--? Don't say that! We still got half of the ride left! Just tell me the ride will start again in a few minutes. Tell me that pesky Ollie the Otter ran across the console and stepped on the emergency stop. Lie to me! Sweet reassuring lies!
We were stuck out there for 10 minutes. After we finally pulled back into the station, they closed the ride for the rest of the day.
After my near death experience on Kraken, what was there to do next? Oh yeah, another ride!
Journey to Atlantis had a posted wait time of 45 minutes. In actuality, it was about 20 minutes. We were seated in our boat in the second row, because I know the first row gets soaked since the ride tracks force the nose down into the water and a wave washes over the front. Not good if you get grumpy like me having to walk around in wet shoes.
For those of you who've never been on Journey to Atlantis, it's half flume half coaster. Here's a picture of the outside:
It's not as good as a Disney ride since the story is sort of hard to follow. From what I gather: you're escorted to Atlantis by a magical sea horse, you get some goddess of Atlantis mad, she exiles you from Atlantis by tossing you over a waterfall. Feel free to correct me, but the audio level was low and it was hard to concentrate on what was going on.
That, and the ride stopped while we in the room with the candles. I was 2 for 2. I gave up rides for the rest of the day. We were stuck for only about 3 minutes this time. We didn't get very wet, which is good.
I got my stuff out of the locker, and we proceeded to walk around for a bit. Sea World has very nice landscaping. Do I dare say... better than Disney? There are tons of flowers and cute little streams. It's a great park to go and just enjoy being outside.
We walked past the Penguin Encounter. My dad didn't want to go in cuz he says the penguins are too stinky.
We also opted to skip Terrors of the Deep this time. My dad already had a run in with a killer shark in the Journey to Atlantis gift shop.
We walked over to Pacific Point, the seal and sea lion exhibit. If you wish, you can purchase some fish to feed them but I can't really justify spending $4 on a few dead fish. I didn't even spend that much on my lunch. There were a lot of kids feeding them though. There was a little baby seal that would catch the fish by the tail and then flip it in the air so the fish's head would go down first. It was a neat little trick and everyone was throwing his or her bait to him. I sort of felt sorry for the other seals, but in this day and age you have to work hard for your dinner. They should take notes from the baby seal and learn a cool trick too.
I should point out we were visiting Sea World during their Halloween thingy. It was during normal park hours, and they had a few trick or treat stations set up throughout the park. There were a few kids dressed up, but not too many. The park was decorated with pirate skeletons and pumpkins. Lots of pumpkins. Pumpkins everywhere.
I assumed they were real. I mean, they looked real. I commented to my dad on all the pumpkins, and he pointed out they were fake. I didn't believe him.
So if you saw a blond girl tapping on pumpkins, that was me.
They are fake. How could I have not known that? I'll tell you how! I grew up in Minnesota, and we carved pumpkins every Halloween. They would last until Thanksgiving. That's a long time for a pumpkin to hang around.
Now living in Florida, a carved pumpkin will last you 3 days tops. Even if you cover the cuts with petroleum jelly, they turn to mush rather quickly. It's almost not even worth carving them, and I've only done it once since moving here 5 years ago. My lack of contact with pumpkins has caused me to be unable to tell real pumpkins from fake pumpkins. Any Yankee could spot a fake pumpkin a mile away. I feel like I'm losing my Northern Super Powers.
I shall pause here and mourn their passing.
To all those in Dixie, these are fake pumpkins:
And next to those fake pumpkins, I learned the true meaning of Sea World.
Hot guys in Speedos!
If you haven't been to Sea World in a few years, you will notice they remodeled the lake front area. It's very nice, but the best part is the pearl divers. They actually pay people to swim around in a big tank and dive for oysters whenever someone wants a pearl.
And I must say I like the view!
Those little girls know what I'm talking about!
There were two male divers that afternoon. I have seen female divers, but maybe she was on break, or her day off, or something. I don't really care.
They have a seating area in front of the oyster tank, so you can sit and watch them. How convienent! Thanks Sea World! I sat down and took pictures. Now before you get on to me about taking pictures without someone's knowledge, I must remind you that this is their job. They expect to have their pictures taken. I mean, look at them. Go ahead and scroll back. I'll wait. Honestly, how can you not take a picture?
I was probably sitting there a lot longer than I realize. I noticed Diver #2 motioning to Diver #1 to look over at me taking pictures of him.
I was totally busted.
I tried to make off like I was reviewing the saved pictures on my digital camera, but I don't think they bought it. Sea World probably has a picture of me in their backstage areas listed as The Pearl Diver Stalker.
Honestly, it was just a few pictures. Two, three... maybe twenty. Who's counting? At least I didn't have my face mushed up against the glass like those little girls. There is a fine line between mild manner stalking and ogling.
I decided to save face, and go get a FREE beer. (Maybe that's the true meaning of Sea World?)
Neither my dad nor I like beer very much, but I'll take anything that's free. I am my father's daughter after all.
We walked through the horse stables and saw all the Budweiser Clydesdales. Those horses are HUGE! They also had the Budweiser Donkey, if you remember him from the Super bowl commercials. If you don't, no worries - they have a screen playing the commercial outside his stall.
Inside the Beer Pavilion I ordered a Bud Light. My dad ordered an O'Doul's. I should have probably ordered an O'Doul's too because after 3/4 of the glass I had a buzz going.
I'm a cheap date. I never drink. I'm a pretty boring 23 year old.
Here we are enjoying our FREE frosty brew:
After sitting and enjoying our FREE beer inside the Beer Pavilion, we walk outside and sat some more. My dad really like sitting. The bench is his favorite ride.
I took some pictures of the pretty flowers.
We decided to head over to the new Blue Horizon's dolphin show, but the theatre wasn't open yet so we visited the Key West area to see the dolphins.
Apparently we arrived just in time for playtime. A trainer was throwing volleyballs and hula-hoops into the water, and the dolphins were going nuts. They would grab the ball in their mouth (ya know, cuz they don't have hands) and take it underwater going full throttle. I don't know about you, but every time I've ever tried to hold a ball underwater it just pops back up and smacks me square in the face. But these dolphins seemed to be professionals.
The ones that weren't going wide open underwater, were playfully flipping the balls at the gathering crowd. It was cute, but that water is really cold.
We gave up our viewing spots around the Key West dolphin lagoon, and decided to... you guessed... SIT DOWN! We enjoyed some candy we had saved from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and waiting for Blue Horizons to open.
Then we saw it.
A little squirrel. He seemed pretty worried, or maybe I've just never noticed how fidgety squirrels are. He was carrying acorns across the pathway, and burying them about 3 inches from where we were sitting. I wonder how they remember where they put them?
Or maybe this squirrel is pretty smart and knows that: Acorn+Dirt=Tree~Lots of Acorns! But I highly doubt squirrels carry the mental capacity to understand that. Who knows? Maybe he was forming a resistance against the acorn powered dooms day device by hording all the nuts he could find. Incase that went over your head, I will now refer back to my MNSSHP Trip Report:
...He needed to check my cars coolant level for the 6th time. There wasnt a leak, but you never know. Squirrels could be sneaking up the engine, unscrewing the cap, siphoning out coolant, replacing the cap, and stock piling antifreeze for their acorn fueled dooms day device...
They finally opened the Dolphin Stadium, and we all piled in. Actually, it wasn't that busy and we got pretty good seat near center just above the splash zone. I didn't need to be reminded how cold that water was.
Check out the view this guy gets:
The best way I can describe Blue Horizons is Cirque Du Soliel starring Flipper. There aren't really trainers, just people dressed up in fancy wet suits. They never talk, or explain any educational things about the dolphins. The story in a nutshell is: Little girl dreams she is in ocean paradise and all the little fishies and birdies come out to show off.
There are high divers, bungee bouncers, water cannons, live birds, and of course dolphins and whales. It was an interesting show, but I think I would rather have the educational aspect back with the trainers explaining dolphin behavior and what not. After seeing Cirque Du Soleil, Festival of the Lion King, and Odyssea (another Cirque type show at Sea World) I'm kinda played out on the artsy whimsical acrobatic concept.
There was one part of the show that made me laugh. I don't remember exactly what part it was, but everyone was out on stage and dancing. The main character (lady in pink wet suit) was on one of the platforms and dancing.
Only she couldn't dance. And when you can't dance, you know you can't dance. You can't fake rhythm. I've tried. --->
I'm sure she had a fight with the show's director that went something like this:
Dancer: I can't dance.
Director: You have to, everyone is. You don't want to draw attention to yourself by not dancing.
Dancer: But I can't dance. I'll draw more attention to myself by dancing. People will think I'm having a seizure.
Director: Don't be silly. You have to dance; this is no longer open for discussion.
And so she dances... and it is tragic.
After the show we hung around the front of the theatre next to the dolphin tank. Someone had brought their service dog with them, and this picture represents the stare down contest between the dog and dolphins. Every time a dolphin swam by he would try to chase it. When they gathered in front of him at the glass, I thought the poor doggie was going to die from excitement. He was trying really hard to behave, but you could tell he wanted to go nuts and jump in the water with them.
By this hour it was dinnertime, and there was no way we'd be eating in the park. We had managed to spend only $8.50 at Sea World, but still no hope for an overpriced entree.
Near the exit we saw another squirrel. This one had to have been on some sort of covert operation. He would skitter a few feet and then press himself flat on the ground. Apparently squirrels and ferrets alike think if they squish themselves as flat as possible we humans cannot see them.
The secret agent squirrel was drawing a crowd. He continued to scurry a few feet and then flatten and "disappear". You could almost hear the Mission Impossible theme song. It was very strange. Hopefully I won't be brought to trial for posting a picture and revealing the squirrels identity.
It was very strange, but it got me thinking about the theory that little critters were siphoning antifreeze from cars at random to aid in their world takeover. It could be happening.
I had my dad check the coolant level before we drove home just incase.
Me! - 23 year old Disney Cast Member & pearl diver stalker
Dad - 55 year old steel worker & shark attack victim
The Setting:
Sea World Orlando on October 14th, 2005
Feeling a little lost? Read my MNSSHP Trip Report first!
My dad was staying with my DH and I at our house in Kissimmee. I had taken the day off work so Dad & I could utilize our Sea World Fun Pass. This was the last full day Dad was in town, so I wanted to be able to spend the whole day at Sea World.
Ever hear, "Life is what happens when you're busy making plans."? It's true. Nothing I plan ever follows schedule. I will not ever attempt to plan a commando day at the parks because I know you would find me hiding in a dark corner, cowering in the fetal position, softly weeping to myself after 3 minutes - give or take 30 seconds.
Well that Friday I woke up with allergies. My allergies are a funny thing. They never ever bother me on days I have to work. I very rarely ever call in sick. However, if I plan a vacation, day off, or it's my weekend - BAM! I'm sick. I had a runny nose and itchy eyes, which caused my whole Sea World schedule to circle the drain.
We got off to a late start. That's pretty normal when traveling with my dad. Remember the coolant incident before MNSSHP? Well, this time we were walking out the door when he insisted he should vacuum the air vents on the ceiling.
No, I'm not kidding.
After much deliberation, we left the house - vents unvacuumed. I agreed to make a pit stop at Wal-Mart so my dad could look what the price of light bulbs were there. He had purchased a pack of light bulbs at a different Wal-Mart and he wanted to see if the other Wal-Marts had the same thing. Since I am not a Walton, he didn't take my word that they were the same. I mean... the two Wal-Marts were only 2 miles apart. How different could it be?
Low and behold, they were indeed the same price. I may lead a rather boring life, but I refuse to get excited about cheap light bulbs. We were already behind schedule, I insisted we get moving.
He insisted he was hungry.
Second thing to know about my dad after spending lots of time doing very unimportant things (think SNL's Anal Retentive Repair Man): He is cheap. Very cheap. There is no way he would spend $6 for a meal at SeaWold when there was a Wendy's 99 cent menu on the way. Growing up, we were the people you would see at Epcot filling our cups at Ice Station Cool to accompany our Lunchables that we had brought in our backpacks.
Again, I'm not kidding.
Alright, so another pit stop at Wendy's and we were on our way. Finally!
Right outside SeaWorld, we came upon this car in traffic. I have seen it before, but I've never had my camera with me. I had to post a picture because people don't believe me when I try to explain the Crazy Jesus Car.
Look for it next time your around the Sea World International Drive area.
I must now gush how much I love the Fun Pass. Basically, it's a season pass to Sea World that only costs $65. Regular admission is $60, so for $5 more it's one hell of an upgrade! It doesn't cover parking however, which was $8. I don't know who's responsible for the 'pay for parking' business... but it's getting out of hand. Why do I have to pay admission for my car? Does the Shamu car come out in the parking lot and pose for pictures with my car?
Bag check and turnstiles, we pose to have our picture taken by the entrance photographers. I try really hard to not make eye contact with them, but they stop me every time! I feel sorry for them, so I let them take my picture. I have never bought one. I don't think I've even stopped to look at them at the end of the day. It's almost as creepy as the photographers who take your picture when you feed the dolphins. I didn't even realize they were there until someone tapped me on the shoulder to give me a claim ticket. I cringe when I think about someone watching me long enough to take my picture and radio the claim ticket giver-outer without my knowledge.
Photo #5869 ... the blond girl to your left. In the purple shirt. I think she has some sort of heat rash, she's scratching herself. No, not her.. the other left. She just picked her nose and washed her hand off in the dolphin tank. Yeah, that's her... 5869
I'm just saying I'd like to know when someone is taking my picture. I need to prepare.
We stopped at a bench by the water and watched the ducks. Ducks are one of my favorite animals. If I had to be an animal, I'd want to be a duck. They're cute, people feed you bread & popcorn, and you're an all terrain bird. Water, land, and air! I let them know I was taking their picture because that's the polite thing to do.
Last time I went to Sea World it was kind of cold so we skipped the rides. This time my only mission was to ride Journey to Atlantis and Kraken. We headed over there first. The wait times were listed as 45 minutes. I'm not willing to wait 45 minutes for anything, but since these rides were my only must sees, we decided to wait.
We put our stuff in a locker, which amazingly only costs 50 cents. That would bring our grand total of money spent at Sea World to $8.50 for the entire day. Not bad!
We got in line for Kraken first - which, according to the radio ads, is Orlando's only floorless coaster. The wait time was listed at 45 minutes, which was rather amazing since the park was not busy at all.
I guess Sea World needs to adjust how they determine the wait times, because it only took 11 minutes for us to be fastened in to our seats with our feet dangling.
I love roller coasters, but ever since working for Epcot engineering I am now keen to having all the knowledge of the safety systems and checks and balances that rides possess. Honestly, it should make me feel better because they really go out of their way to make rides safe.
It has, however, made me steer clear of any carnivals that come to town. You can see the ride on the back of the truck going down the road in the morning, and ride it that afternoon... umm... no thanks!
So hopefully I'm not the only one with thoughts of disaster racing through their mind while on a roller coaster. OMG, what's that sound? Is it supposed to jerk like that? What if the track separates, what if the up stops are loose, what if the limit switches aren't working, OMG... they'll put my picture in the newspaper and I haven't instructed my husband which one to give them. They'll probably find my claim ticket in my pocket and use the picture I had taken at the entry gate this morning, which is probably horrible because I didn't want my picture taken in the first place. I don't want to be remembered as the girl who was giving the Sea World photographer a dirty look!
And then my fears came to a head when the ride stopped mid-track. They came over the loud speakers to let them know the ride was having a "err um... a mechanical problem". What the--? Don't say that! We still got half of the ride left! Just tell me the ride will start again in a few minutes. Tell me that pesky Ollie the Otter ran across the console and stepped on the emergency stop. Lie to me! Sweet reassuring lies!
We were stuck out there for 10 minutes. After we finally pulled back into the station, they closed the ride for the rest of the day.
After my near death experience on Kraken, what was there to do next? Oh yeah, another ride!
Journey to Atlantis had a posted wait time of 45 minutes. In actuality, it was about 20 minutes. We were seated in our boat in the second row, because I know the first row gets soaked since the ride tracks force the nose down into the water and a wave washes over the front. Not good if you get grumpy like me having to walk around in wet shoes.
For those of you who've never been on Journey to Atlantis, it's half flume half coaster. Here's a picture of the outside:
It's not as good as a Disney ride since the story is sort of hard to follow. From what I gather: you're escorted to Atlantis by a magical sea horse, you get some goddess of Atlantis mad, she exiles you from Atlantis by tossing you over a waterfall. Feel free to correct me, but the audio level was low and it was hard to concentrate on what was going on.
That, and the ride stopped while we in the room with the candles. I was 2 for 2. I gave up rides for the rest of the day. We were stuck for only about 3 minutes this time. We didn't get very wet, which is good.
I got my stuff out of the locker, and we proceeded to walk around for a bit. Sea World has very nice landscaping. Do I dare say... better than Disney? There are tons of flowers and cute little streams. It's a great park to go and just enjoy being outside.
We walked past the Penguin Encounter. My dad didn't want to go in cuz he says the penguins are too stinky.
We also opted to skip Terrors of the Deep this time. My dad already had a run in with a killer shark in the Journey to Atlantis gift shop.
We walked over to Pacific Point, the seal and sea lion exhibit. If you wish, you can purchase some fish to feed them but I can't really justify spending $4 on a few dead fish. I didn't even spend that much on my lunch. There were a lot of kids feeding them though. There was a little baby seal that would catch the fish by the tail and then flip it in the air so the fish's head would go down first. It was a neat little trick and everyone was throwing his or her bait to him. I sort of felt sorry for the other seals, but in this day and age you have to work hard for your dinner. They should take notes from the baby seal and learn a cool trick too.
I should point out we were visiting Sea World during their Halloween thingy. It was during normal park hours, and they had a few trick or treat stations set up throughout the park. There were a few kids dressed up, but not too many. The park was decorated with pirate skeletons and pumpkins. Lots of pumpkins. Pumpkins everywhere.
I assumed they were real. I mean, they looked real. I commented to my dad on all the pumpkins, and he pointed out they were fake. I didn't believe him.
So if you saw a blond girl tapping on pumpkins, that was me.
They are fake. How could I have not known that? I'll tell you how! I grew up in Minnesota, and we carved pumpkins every Halloween. They would last until Thanksgiving. That's a long time for a pumpkin to hang around.
Now living in Florida, a carved pumpkin will last you 3 days tops. Even if you cover the cuts with petroleum jelly, they turn to mush rather quickly. It's almost not even worth carving them, and I've only done it once since moving here 5 years ago. My lack of contact with pumpkins has caused me to be unable to tell real pumpkins from fake pumpkins. Any Yankee could spot a fake pumpkin a mile away. I feel like I'm losing my Northern Super Powers.
I shall pause here and mourn their passing.
To all those in Dixie, these are fake pumpkins:
And next to those fake pumpkins, I learned the true meaning of Sea World.
Hot guys in Speedos!
If you haven't been to Sea World in a few years, you will notice they remodeled the lake front area. It's very nice, but the best part is the pearl divers. They actually pay people to swim around in a big tank and dive for oysters whenever someone wants a pearl.
And I must say I like the view!
Those little girls know what I'm talking about!
There were two male divers that afternoon. I have seen female divers, but maybe she was on break, or her day off, or something. I don't really care.
They have a seating area in front of the oyster tank, so you can sit and watch them. How convienent! Thanks Sea World! I sat down and took pictures. Now before you get on to me about taking pictures without someone's knowledge, I must remind you that this is their job. They expect to have their pictures taken. I mean, look at them. Go ahead and scroll back. I'll wait. Honestly, how can you not take a picture?
I was probably sitting there a lot longer than I realize. I noticed Diver #2 motioning to Diver #1 to look over at me taking pictures of him.
I was totally busted.
I tried to make off like I was reviewing the saved pictures on my digital camera, but I don't think they bought it. Sea World probably has a picture of me in their backstage areas listed as The Pearl Diver Stalker.
Honestly, it was just a few pictures. Two, three... maybe twenty. Who's counting? At least I didn't have my face mushed up against the glass like those little girls. There is a fine line between mild manner stalking and ogling.
I decided to save face, and go get a FREE beer. (Maybe that's the true meaning of Sea World?)
Neither my dad nor I like beer very much, but I'll take anything that's free. I am my father's daughter after all.
We walked through the horse stables and saw all the Budweiser Clydesdales. Those horses are HUGE! They also had the Budweiser Donkey, if you remember him from the Super bowl commercials. If you don't, no worries - they have a screen playing the commercial outside his stall.
Inside the Beer Pavilion I ordered a Bud Light. My dad ordered an O'Doul's. I should have probably ordered an O'Doul's too because after 3/4 of the glass I had a buzz going.
I'm a cheap date. I never drink. I'm a pretty boring 23 year old. Here we are enjoying our FREE frosty brew:
After sitting and enjoying our FREE beer inside the Beer Pavilion, we walk outside and sat some more. My dad really like sitting. The bench is his favorite ride.
I took some pictures of the pretty flowers.
We decided to head over to the new Blue Horizon's dolphin show, but the theatre wasn't open yet so we visited the Key West area to see the dolphins.
Apparently we arrived just in time for playtime. A trainer was throwing volleyballs and hula-hoops into the water, and the dolphins were going nuts. They would grab the ball in their mouth (ya know, cuz they don't have hands) and take it underwater going full throttle. I don't know about you, but every time I've ever tried to hold a ball underwater it just pops back up and smacks me square in the face. But these dolphins seemed to be professionals.
The ones that weren't going wide open underwater, were playfully flipping the balls at the gathering crowd. It was cute, but that water is really cold.
We gave up our viewing spots around the Key West dolphin lagoon, and decided to... you guessed... SIT DOWN! We enjoyed some candy we had saved from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and waiting for Blue Horizons to open.
Then we saw it.
A little squirrel. He seemed pretty worried, or maybe I've just never noticed how fidgety squirrels are. He was carrying acorns across the pathway, and burying them about 3 inches from where we were sitting. I wonder how they remember where they put them?
Or maybe this squirrel is pretty smart and knows that: Acorn+Dirt=Tree~Lots of Acorns! But I highly doubt squirrels carry the mental capacity to understand that. Who knows? Maybe he was forming a resistance against the acorn powered dooms day device by hording all the nuts he could find. Incase that went over your head, I will now refer back to my MNSSHP Trip Report:
...He needed to check my cars coolant level for the 6th time. There wasnt a leak, but you never know. Squirrels could be sneaking up the engine, unscrewing the cap, siphoning out coolant, replacing the cap, and stock piling antifreeze for their acorn fueled dooms day device...
They finally opened the Dolphin Stadium, and we all piled in. Actually, it wasn't that busy and we got pretty good seat near center just above the splash zone. I didn't need to be reminded how cold that water was.
Check out the view this guy gets:
The best way I can describe Blue Horizons is Cirque Du Soliel starring Flipper. There aren't really trainers, just people dressed up in fancy wet suits. They never talk, or explain any educational things about the dolphins. The story in a nutshell is: Little girl dreams she is in ocean paradise and all the little fishies and birdies come out to show off.
There are high divers, bungee bouncers, water cannons, live birds, and of course dolphins and whales. It was an interesting show, but I think I would rather have the educational aspect back with the trainers explaining dolphin behavior and what not. After seeing Cirque Du Soleil, Festival of the Lion King, and Odyssea (another Cirque type show at Sea World) I'm kinda played out on the artsy whimsical acrobatic concept.
There was one part of the show that made me laugh. I don't remember exactly what part it was, but everyone was out on stage and dancing. The main character (lady in pink wet suit) was on one of the platforms and dancing.
Only she couldn't dance. And when you can't dance, you know you can't dance. You can't fake rhythm. I've tried. --->
I'm sure she had a fight with the show's director that went something like this:
Dancer: I can't dance.
Director: You have to, everyone is. You don't want to draw attention to yourself by not dancing.
Dancer: But I can't dance. I'll draw more attention to myself by dancing. People will think I'm having a seizure.
Director: Don't be silly. You have to dance; this is no longer open for discussion.
And so she dances... and it is tragic.
After the show we hung around the front of the theatre next to the dolphin tank. Someone had brought their service dog with them, and this picture represents the stare down contest between the dog and dolphins. Every time a dolphin swam by he would try to chase it. When they gathered in front of him at the glass, I thought the poor doggie was going to die from excitement. He was trying really hard to behave, but you could tell he wanted to go nuts and jump in the water with them.
By this hour it was dinnertime, and there was no way we'd be eating in the park. We had managed to spend only $8.50 at Sea World, but still no hope for an overpriced entree.
Near the exit we saw another squirrel. This one had to have been on some sort of covert operation. He would skitter a few feet and then press himself flat on the ground. Apparently squirrels and ferrets alike think if they squish themselves as flat as possible we humans cannot see them.
The secret agent squirrel was drawing a crowd. He continued to scurry a few feet and then flatten and "disappear". You could almost hear the Mission Impossible theme song. It was very strange. Hopefully I won't be brought to trial for posting a picture and revealing the squirrels identity.
It was very strange, but it got me thinking about the theory that little critters were siphoning antifreeze from cars at random to aid in their world takeover. It could be happening.
I had my dad check the coolant level before we drove home just incase.
