Wednesday, August 27th……….SeaWorld Day!
We were hoping to make this a park-opening-to-park-close day, assuming our bodies could take the heat and the sun without wilting. The plan was to use our all-day dining passes (pre-purchased on last year’s Black Friday sale), purchase unlimited Quick Queue for all of us, and have a full day enjoying all the food and rides and shows that we could handle. We were out the door just before 8:30 am, fully sunscreened and wearing our coolest and most lightweight apparel. Mother Nature, bring it on!!!
We arrived at the parking gate very shortly thereafter.
We presented our unlimited parking pass to the gate agent, who tried repeatedly to scan the barcode and grant us access. We waited throughout her multiple attempts, numerous queries (when did you purchase this pass? How many days have you used it so far? Have you had problems with it before now?) and eventually, she must have become fed up with the problems it was obviously causing and just issued us the parking confirmation for the windshield without any additional delay. We had experienced no issues with using it at Aquatica the week prior, so we were surprised that it didn’t seem to work today.
Since we were arriving prior to the official 9 am opening, we got a great parking space near the entrance to the park. If the early bird doesn’t get the worm, they undoubtedly DO secure the best parking. Lines to enter the park were minimal and we were through bag check and ticketing in a flash.
Stopping at Guest Services, we purchased our Quick Queue unlimited and redeemed our online purchase confirmation for our all-day dining cards. With all the “administration” wrapped up, we were on our way to enjoying all the awesome attractions that SeaWorld had to offer.
But WAIT!!! There’s a park photographer! Its photo time….it’s the 50th anniversary, after all. We won’t get the opportunity for a photo in front of this park feature on any future trips.
(ignore the date on the SW park pics.....there’s an explanation as to why its wrong....more on that later)
By now, the kids were starting to get hungry…really hungry!....and were threatening to begin chewing off their arms if they didn’t get to stop and have some breakfast. We didn’t want to return Sweetie to her family missing an appendage at the conclusion of this vacation

, so our first “attraction” would be breakfast, which was being served at the SeaFire Inn.
While on the way to SeaFire under Steve’s directional suggestions (knowing he was going from memory , and also knowing it has been a while since our last visit, let’s just say I wasn’t too certain on the accuracy of his route) I was busily studying the park map as we walked along, when I happened to glance up.
And then I may have shrieked just a little

.
There in front of me, in their rainbow-inspired brightly coloured outfits, were two members of the 50th anniversary “Surprise Squad”. And with the words “YOU must be the one in charge….the person with the map is always the one in charge!”, they made a beeline for yours truly.
I looked around in all directions to be sure that they couldn’t possibly be talking to anyone else, but the area was completely barren except for our foursome. They were, indeed, talking to me!!!
Introductions followed. Mindy and Darwin of the Surprise Squad exchanged pleasantries and handshakes with each member of the Bo-Bina family, all of whom were still completely clueless (not to mention, still hungry) as to what was occurring with the exception of me. I asked my bunch…..don’t you know who these guys are??? To which Mindy replied “I can’t believe YOU know who we are. No one EVER knows who we are or what we are doing!”. So I quickly explained to Steve, Jake and Sweetie that these people were members of the Surprise Squad in celebration of the 50th anniversary of SeaWorld, and that from what I could guess, we were about to be surprised with something special. Mindy grinned, and informed us that I was 100% correct…..but that I might be really surprised when she tells us what we had won. She tells me “It’s big. REALLY big! The biggest prize we will be giving out today!!”.
She then handed me a little envelope. Now, most of the prizes I had heard about in my reading were actual “things”….like a SeaWorld watch or a Shamu bubble blower or a stuffed killer whale. I honestly wasn’t expecting an envelope, so I was curious. And excited. And nervous!!!
I open up the envelope, pull out the little card inside, and this is what it says:
Happy dance!!!!!
I pass around the card, and let everyone read for themselves what it says. The excitement overflows as I explain to each of them what the VIP tour will provide us (food, Quick Queue, animal feedings, reserved show seating, a personal guide, the whole gamut!), and we have a little mini-celebration right there in the middle of the waterfront. I ask Mindy and Darwin if we can get photos with them, and they exclaim that they would have been disappointed if we didn’t ask.
They had me fill out a little bit of paperwork (name, address, phone, signature…..with a promise not to use it for solicitation purposes, which confirmed that none of us were employees of SeaWorld Parks & Recreation), and while I did so, I mentioned that we had JUST finished purchasing all day dining and Quick Queue before we were surprised. Mindy suggested that I mention that to Guest Services when we stop by to book the tour time and perhaps they would refund our money. We thanked them profusely for all their generosity, and bid them adieu as they left to find the next lucky family to surprise. As for us, we finally made our way to SeaFire Inn for our long-awaited breakfast.
Lines were short, and we wasted no time in selecting our entrees. We all love the French toast sticks, so as you can see……they were popular items among my crew:
After breakfast, we zipped back to Guest Services and arranged for our tour. We were scheduled to meet our guide at 11:20 am in the area adjacent to Guest Services, with the tour commencing at 11:30 am. They also cheerfully refunded the money for our all-day dining passes and Quick Queue Unlimited as Mindy has suggested they would. Who says Disney has the best customer service out there?
With full stomachs and enthusiasm overflowing from the excitement of the early morning, we had some time to ourselves to enjoy some of the park amenities before our tour commenced . I knew where my crew would want to head first……it would undoubtedly be Manta!!!
