steve_rob
Mine? Mine? Mine? Mine?
- Joined
- May 23, 2002
- Messages
- 1,460
# Day 5 - 7th October (Our fishy friends) #
After the rest day, it was back to early starts again with a trip to Sea World. I've got to admit, even though I am a coaster freak, I really do have a soft spot for this park - there's just so much to do here and yet you never feel rushed like in some other parks.
Once in, we straight away went to book ourselves on one of the behind the scenes tours. Having done the Wild Arctic one last time (and throughly enjoyed it), we decided that the Predators one looked the next best.
From there we headed to Key West to stroke the Rays and then the Dolphins, but found the best view was in the well hidden underwater viewing area (complete with hypnotic piano music) and spent ages there watching these wonderful creatures before watching the first show of the day at the Key West Dolphin Fest.
Via the Manatees, we ended up doing the thrill rides early to avoid any queues - got soaked on Atlantis, though not on the big drop, but on the tiny one just around the corner. On the big one, the water sprays up and your face gets wet, but on the little one the water only just gets up as high as the boat, so instead it all sloshes in over your lap (we've come up with the technical term of "sloshage" for that - try saying that after a few too many drinks!). But thankfully Kraken acts as a very good way to dry off!
By now, it was time for the feeding to start with the Sea-Lions so we spent an obscene amount of money doing that (this really is very clever of SeaWorld, they must make a massive profit here considering that the Sea-Lions must be fed anyway) before watching Clyde and Seamore. But no-one goes to watch that show for them, do they? It's the mime we all love! Don't get me wrong, the show is very funny (especially when they blow their lines or start to get the giggles) but if you don't arrive early and watch the pre-show mime take the mickey out of everyone you've missed the best bit!
It was now about time for the Predators tour and this got us access to the back end of Shamu Stadium (the paved area you can see behind and to the right of the big screen when watching a show there) to watch the killer whale family being fed by the trainers while our guide answered any questions we had. Then we walked over to Shark Encounter but went behind the gates there and into the building via the staff entrance. We got to stroke a shark (no, we weren't brave, it was a species that only grows to about five inches long!) and then look over into the pool that contains all the big sharks from the encounter itself. You don't realise how deep that thing is - from the tunnel at the bottom, it looks like the water level is only just a few foot above where you are standing, but looking down from the top you can see it is at least twenty feet and the tunnel looks like just a small strip of lights at the bottom of the pool.
All in all it was a very good tour and I'd recommend it, but if you haven't done any of them, do the Arctic one first as that's just slightly better (and you get to stroke a penguin!)
We then took a tour through the new Waterfront area (very nice), rode the Sky Tower (to get the weight off our feet and cool down more than the view to be honest) and headed across the bridge to Wild Arctic. I think I've learned the secret here - because of the "ride" to get there, people arrive in large groups and tend to hurry through the animals section. If you hang around towards the back of a group and wait, you'll get each exhibit pretty much to yourselves. And if another group turns up, just wait a bit longer for them to pass through, that way you won't have to peer over everyone's heads to get a good view.
It was surprising how late it was getting (told you it was a full day) and so the last thing left to do was Shamu Rocks America. Too much of a wimp to sit in the splash zone (I will one day - maybe) so sat up high instead. And that's when the heavens opened. Strangely enough, all those who were in the splash zone ready with their ponchos then went, "what's all this, I didn't sit here to get wet?" and ran back above the promenade to sit in the sheltered areas! I couldn't figure it out then, and I still can't now. With the lower 14 rows being virtually empty (the upper level packed though) and the stage being even more slippy than usual, the show was cut to just over 10 minutes, but it was still good fun.
Dinner at Dan Marino's in the Pointe followed and as I was already so sick of french fries with everything, I asked what else they'd do and got my meal with rice instead even though it wasn't on the menu. Now that's what I call service.
After the rest day, it was back to early starts again with a trip to Sea World. I've got to admit, even though I am a coaster freak, I really do have a soft spot for this park - there's just so much to do here and yet you never feel rushed like in some other parks.
Once in, we straight away went to book ourselves on one of the behind the scenes tours. Having done the Wild Arctic one last time (and throughly enjoyed it), we decided that the Predators one looked the next best.
From there we headed to Key West to stroke the Rays and then the Dolphins, but found the best view was in the well hidden underwater viewing area (complete with hypnotic piano music) and spent ages there watching these wonderful creatures before watching the first show of the day at the Key West Dolphin Fest.
Via the Manatees, we ended up doing the thrill rides early to avoid any queues - got soaked on Atlantis, though not on the big drop, but on the tiny one just around the corner. On the big one, the water sprays up and your face gets wet, but on the little one the water only just gets up as high as the boat, so instead it all sloshes in over your lap (we've come up with the technical term of "sloshage" for that - try saying that after a few too many drinks!). But thankfully Kraken acts as a very good way to dry off!
By now, it was time for the feeding to start with the Sea-Lions so we spent an obscene amount of money doing that (this really is very clever of SeaWorld, they must make a massive profit here considering that the Sea-Lions must be fed anyway) before watching Clyde and Seamore. But no-one goes to watch that show for them, do they? It's the mime we all love! Don't get me wrong, the show is very funny (especially when they blow their lines or start to get the giggles) but if you don't arrive early and watch the pre-show mime take the mickey out of everyone you've missed the best bit!
It was now about time for the Predators tour and this got us access to the back end of Shamu Stadium (the paved area you can see behind and to the right of the big screen when watching a show there) to watch the killer whale family being fed by the trainers while our guide answered any questions we had. Then we walked over to Shark Encounter but went behind the gates there and into the building via the staff entrance. We got to stroke a shark (no, we weren't brave, it was a species that only grows to about five inches long!) and then look over into the pool that contains all the big sharks from the encounter itself. You don't realise how deep that thing is - from the tunnel at the bottom, it looks like the water level is only just a few foot above where you are standing, but looking down from the top you can see it is at least twenty feet and the tunnel looks like just a small strip of lights at the bottom of the pool.
All in all it was a very good tour and I'd recommend it, but if you haven't done any of them, do the Arctic one first as that's just slightly better (and you get to stroke a penguin!)
We then took a tour through the new Waterfront area (very nice), rode the Sky Tower (to get the weight off our feet and cool down more than the view to be honest) and headed across the bridge to Wild Arctic. I think I've learned the secret here - because of the "ride" to get there, people arrive in large groups and tend to hurry through the animals section. If you hang around towards the back of a group and wait, you'll get each exhibit pretty much to yourselves. And if another group turns up, just wait a bit longer for them to pass through, that way you won't have to peer over everyone's heads to get a good view.
It was surprising how late it was getting (told you it was a full day) and so the last thing left to do was Shamu Rocks America. Too much of a wimp to sit in the splash zone (I will one day - maybe) so sat up high instead. And that's when the heavens opened. Strangely enough, all those who were in the splash zone ready with their ponchos then went, "what's all this, I didn't sit here to get wet?" and ran back above the promenade to sit in the sheltered areas! I couldn't figure it out then, and I still can't now. With the lower 14 rows being virtually empty (the upper level packed though) and the stage being even more slippy than usual, the show was cut to just over 10 minutes, but it was still good fun.
Dinner at Dan Marino's in the Pointe followed and as I was already so sick of french fries with everything, I asked what else they'd do and got my meal with rice instead even though it wasn't on the menu. Now that's what I call service.
