DixieDolphin
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2008
- Messages
- 328
So, I made my first trip to see the night shows last night. Gotta say, big ups to Sea World! 
First off, I stopped over at Aquatica at around 6pm to check out the evening scene. Despite the fact that it was Memorial Day, at 6pm there was no trouble getting inside and absolutely no problem finding a preferable beach chair by the wave pool (or anywhere else for that matter!). The crowds had really thinned out from the busy mess I encountered on Saturday morning. Lines were reasonable, the lazy rivers weren't log-jammed, and I wasn't tripping over folks everywhere. The water was warm, although the air was a bit chilly afterwards. The only place I encountered heavy lines was in the restroom to access the showers, as one might expect. The verdict? Definitely worth checking out in the evening!
Just at sunset, I left Aquatica and headed over to Sea World with intent to ride Kraken (I don't often get to do that when I bring my camera gear). Unfortunately, it went down for technical difficulties just as I walked up to the queue. So, I headed around the park... just missed Sea Lions Tonight, so I did a quick walkthrough of Terrors of the Deep, and then wandered over to Shamu Stadium.
The show was running late, as the animals were misbehaving (over the years, I've noticed the animals get less interested in performing later in the day). So, showing up ten minutes late was no big deal (although it was a challenge to find a seat). The show itself was pretty good! Much better than that crappy Believe stuff. No sappy story, no stupid Shamu chant. Although, this one still had dumb trainer dances (stop it!). And it had a random long haired guitar player soloing (or pretending to solo, perhaps) from the center of the set's catwalk. The music was loud and the bass was thumping. The visual effects on the screens were pretty nifty and the whales' performance was pretty good, too! I missed the preshow, but I saw some guy with an acoustic guitar & a Strat in hand walking out afterwards. So, perhaps he did a warm up act?
Afterwards, I scurried over to Atlantis Bayside Stadium... passing a DJ setup outside of Wild Arctic that had music blasting. Definitely geared at a younger crowd, unlike the country-western overload things used to be years ago. Hopped into Bayside just as the ski show started (delay at Shamu threw off the scheduling a bit). Ski show was nice to see! It's been far too long since Sea World had one, but I think it needed a little more umph. There were several skier screwups, too. It's early in the season, though. Give them a few solid weeks of the performance and they'll probably have it down much better. It did my heart good, though, to see skiers on the lagoon again.
I skipped Mystify, as I didn't want to get caught up in the exiting hoards.
All in all, Sea World AfterDark gets big UPs for making an effort to appeal more to the younger, college-age masses. Kudos! Also, good on them for having at least one killer whale show that was fun to watch again.
Next time, I'll hit Sea Lions Tonight and give my verdict on that. Maybe I'll even stick around for Mystify if it's not a holiday weekend.
=)
First off, I stopped over at Aquatica at around 6pm to check out the evening scene. Despite the fact that it was Memorial Day, at 6pm there was no trouble getting inside and absolutely no problem finding a preferable beach chair by the wave pool (or anywhere else for that matter!). The crowds had really thinned out from the busy mess I encountered on Saturday morning. Lines were reasonable, the lazy rivers weren't log-jammed, and I wasn't tripping over folks everywhere. The water was warm, although the air was a bit chilly afterwards. The only place I encountered heavy lines was in the restroom to access the showers, as one might expect. The verdict? Definitely worth checking out in the evening!
Just at sunset, I left Aquatica and headed over to Sea World with intent to ride Kraken (I don't often get to do that when I bring my camera gear). Unfortunately, it went down for technical difficulties just as I walked up to the queue. So, I headed around the park... just missed Sea Lions Tonight, so I did a quick walkthrough of Terrors of the Deep, and then wandered over to Shamu Stadium.
The show was running late, as the animals were misbehaving (over the years, I've noticed the animals get less interested in performing later in the day). So, showing up ten minutes late was no big deal (although it was a challenge to find a seat). The show itself was pretty good! Much better than that crappy Believe stuff. No sappy story, no stupid Shamu chant. Although, this one still had dumb trainer dances (stop it!). And it had a random long haired guitar player soloing (or pretending to solo, perhaps) from the center of the set's catwalk. The music was loud and the bass was thumping. The visual effects on the screens were pretty nifty and the whales' performance was pretty good, too! I missed the preshow, but I saw some guy with an acoustic guitar & a Strat in hand walking out afterwards. So, perhaps he did a warm up act?
Afterwards, I scurried over to Atlantis Bayside Stadium... passing a DJ setup outside of Wild Arctic that had music blasting. Definitely geared at a younger crowd, unlike the country-western overload things used to be years ago. Hopped into Bayside just as the ski show started (delay at Shamu threw off the scheduling a bit). Ski show was nice to see! It's been far too long since Sea World had one, but I think it needed a little more umph. There were several skier screwups, too. It's early in the season, though. Give them a few solid weeks of the performance and they'll probably have it down much better. It did my heart good, though, to see skiers on the lagoon again.
I skipped Mystify, as I didn't want to get caught up in the exiting hoards.
All in all, Sea World AfterDark gets big UPs for making an effort to appeal more to the younger, college-age masses. Kudos! Also, good on them for having at least one killer whale show that was fun to watch again.
Next time, I'll hit Sea Lions Tonight and give my verdict on that. Maybe I'll even stick around for Mystify if it's not a holiday weekend.
=)
