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[wwessing]

Return to Nickelodeon Family Suites -

So this time we have the magic slime green placard and get right through the security gates without stopping at the guard station. . . guess we are officially guests! Fortune gives us another parking spot right outside the entrance so back inside we go. This time, there are a few families in line, and one of the desk clerks is training a new person. The priority club desk is busy and getting in that line won't be beneficial, so in line I go while my family lounges around. Wait wasn't TOO bad. 15 minutes or something like that and it's my turn. Room number assigned, keys provided (let me tell you about the keys. . they are credit card sized, but completely blank. White with nothing on them and all you do is pass the card in front of the door lock or security gate entrance and voila, you've got entry. . . uuummm, does that sound naughty??) So back outside where dh hustles up luggage. . .ok, another aside here. . .I dont really know what those guys are callled. Bell hops, luggage assistants, what?? We will call them luggage dudes. . . so chief luggage dude assignes a worker luggage dude to get our bags. We give him the room number and he tells dh where to park. By the time we piled in the van, drove around behind building 8, parked and located our room, luggage dude was there unloading our stuff. This is the first of many comments on how heavy the "drinks" suitcase was. We never told anyone what was in there, and each luggage dude than handled it commented. I think the most popular guess was books. Ok, who carries around a GIANT suitcase full of books?? Allright, so who carried around a GIANT suitcase of drinks?? In my world, drinks make much more sense than books when on an extended vacation to hot, sunny Florida with a trio of children. I digress. . . so luggage stowed, rooms explored and kids are frantic to get down to that pool! We've got easy access as we packed a "swim bag" with suits, towels, sunscreen, etc. Everyone gets ready and to the pool we go! It is PACKED. We can find only one lounge chair to set up our stuff, so kids and dh race off to get in the pool and I set up our one chair and sit down to relax for a few minutes. After sitting there for a few minutes, it seems to me that there is really no one using the chair next to me, so I throw off the used pool towel and put a couple of our towels on it. I had read that the pool towels were basically thread-bare and useless at this hotel, so we came prepared with our own. They weren't THAT bad, and my kids would have been fine with them. I, however, was glad to have my own large towels which more appropriately fit my large butt!!

I would like to address the Nick hotel naysayers. If you had a bad experience, I am sorry. Our experience for the 3 days and nights we were there was wonderful. Even knowing we were moving to HRH, we were sad to leave. Our room was clean, our bed was comfortable enough (come on, it's a hotel, not home for goodness sake), the kids didn't complain about the hide a bed or the twin bunks. Let me emphasize our room was clean. That included the bathroom and my only gripe about that would be the laundry line above the tub really needed replacing. We didn't use it, but it was as simple as that. The kitchenette area was nice. There was a sink, microwave, mini fridge with a freezer, coffe maker, etc. Our second day there, the housekeeper gave us almost a full box of popsicles for the kids. We froze some and put the others in the fridge, but forgot about them, so the next guests had a nice frozen treat waiting for them. The self service laundry facilites were fine, though some of the machines could use an upgrade. Here's a tip, don't use a dryer that doesn't close tightly. One of the dryers we used was a little older and the door didn't close and seal as it probably should have and when dh went back to get the laundry, all of it was dry with the exception of the clothes in that dryer. Not complaining cuz that was our own bad. . .we should have used a different dryer. We did laundry on Sunday afternoon and had 4 loads We've only been gone since Thursday afternoon, but honestly that's about what we would have had at home, AND we washed all our beach towels. TIP: We took our own liquid detergent, dryer sheets and had 10 rolls of quarters. The washers and dryers at Nick were like $2 each, or something like that, so it was about $4 per load to wash and dry, but would have been quite a bit more if we had to purchase supplies from the machine and they were very limited. We did not take bleach since we didn't want to risk spillage.

Here's some room pics:

Here's some pool pics:

My Honey

My girls all huddled up in the middle. . . see dd9 waving

Here's sliming pic taken from the balcony outside our room:

Sliming was every day at 4:45. Our kids made it each of the 3 days we were there.

After a long afternoon in the pool, we were ready for dinner. We had decided we wanted to go to Sweet Tomatoes, so once everyone was ready and loaded in the van, we programed our beloved gps and off we went. No pics, but the food was good and everyone got something they liked. Sweet Tomates is a buffet style restaurant. We had a gift card so only paid for the girls and tip. There was a huge salad bar, a pasta area, dessert area, drink station, soups galore and a variety of bread. The people clearing tables did a great job and brought my kids freshly baked chocolate chip cookies which were not available on the dessert bar. They have a pasta station where they will fix your pasta dish however you want it. Dd9 is a little picky about her sauce, so she loved this place. I was able to build my own beautiful salad, get some excellent low fat soup and even some fat free chili. Passed on dessert, bread and pasta, but didn't feel like I missed anything.

Back to the room for a good nights rest as dh and I have not slept for more than a couple hours since Wednesday night. We are exhausted! And, we have an early day tomorrow as Saturday is our first of two SeaWorld days. I have tons and tons of SW pics. . .especially some beautiful pics of the dolphins as we feed them. Geez, is it still Friday??

Coming up. . our amazing days at SeaWorld! Saturday and Sunday

waiting for photobucket to load pics so I can add them

 

[pixeegrl]

Glad you had a good experience! I have been debating taking the boys (3 of em too) on our trip but with all the bad reviews I had decided not to. Maybe now thanks to your TR I will give it some more thought! Were you in a regular room or did you have some type of deluxe?

 

[wwessing]

We had a 2 bedroom suite I think they call it. It has a parent room with a queen bed I believe, might have been king though. It has a childs room with bunk beds, tv, game console and it had a pull out sofa bed. It more than comfortably slept 5. We had plenty of room, even some privacy which was nice.

We originally had Nick hotel on our itinerary, then cancelled it mostly due to cost. Our kids were upset and we decided what the heck. It was close to what we paid for HRH and is not close to a 4 diamond hotel. Having said that, the room was clean, in a nice location, there was good service as far as housekeeping was concerned. You could, and I think many or most did, stay on the grounds without leaving and have plenty to do. There are several places to eat, an arcade, lots of activities for the kids and that's not even including the pool. We didn't do alot of things because we were otherwise occupied with SeaWorld and we didn't want to stay and eat onsite. We had identified several restaurants outside of Universal that we wanted to visit and this was the best time. I would say my kids could have easily stayed happy and occupied for 3 full days before getting bored and wanting to move on.

I think that maybe people are paying quite high rates and expecting more. I got a great tip from another diser and was able to reduce my rates a bit. Plus, I had reserved many months in advance. You can get a better rate if you can catch the AAA rate, which I highly recommend. Plus there are discounted rates out there so don't accept rack rate. If you go during peak season, just like anywhere else, you are going to pay much higher rates. I have no issues with what we got for our money because I was not expecting to be staying at the Ritz. This part of vacation was definitely for our kids and they absolutely loved it so we achieved our goal regarding Nickelodeon Family Suites.

The key to staying here is plan way in advance. Keep checking rates often and if you get a AAA rate book it! They go fast. Don't expect a deluxe hotel. It is nice enough as you can see from my pics. Expect it to be overpriced. You aren't paying for luxury here, you are paying for the NICK name. Your kids have probably seen the place on Nickelodeon, so of course they want to go. There's not much adult entertainment, so if you know that going in, you won't be disappointed. If you are content sitting by the pool, having a few cocktails, watching your kids have the time of their life, or joining them, you won't be disappointed. You can rent a cabana and make a day of it. Every day we were there the cabanas were all rented and people brought all kids of stuff down. We saw coolers, suitcases full of stuff, giant bottles of booze and yes, we saw a couple very intoxicated folks over the 3 days we were there. It wasn't like there were 20 drunks, but we probably noticed twice that someone had over indulged. I guess that's what some people do when there's nothing else to entertain them. They were not obnoxious, dangerous or in any way interfered with our vacation. They were just people having a good time and did not bother others. We saw all kinds of everything there. Parents fighting, kids being bratty, stupid people, but mostly we just saw people having fun and enjoying themselves.

We enjoyed a couple of cocktails by the pool, and they were very yummy, but costly. . .maybe $8-9 per drink after tip and they weren't in giant glasses either. Regular, plastic beer cups. I stopped drinking them because sweet, yummy drinks like that make me feel sick after one or two. We played with our kids in the water, laughed at them getting slimed and just enjoyed ourselves. Keep in mind we were only actually at the resort Friday for about half the day; Saturday after 3:00 and Sunday after 3:00. They would play for a couple hours, get slimed and then get ready for dinner. I would have liked one more day to just let them enjoy the resort.

We were not over impressed with the arcade and felt is was a little small for this type of hotel. We didn't eat any meals there, so cannot comment about the food.

I hope this helps. PM me if you have questions. . .I'll be glad to share our experience with you.

 

[keishashadow]

how'd u get a picture of my bedroom?

now, i want to stay here once, nicer than the other pics i've seen...wish i had listed to jr's urging.

 

[pixeegrl]

Wow! Thanks for all the input. I think we may book it for at least one night. I know the kids would really love it, and we're not looking for a luxury hotel, just a place the kids can have fun. You should put your review on the Orlando Hotels section of the DIS. I think many more people would benefit from your experience! I do have a couple questions but will pm you like you asked. Thanks again!

 

[wwessing]

Wow! Thanks for all the input. I think we may book it for at least one night. I know the kids would really love it, and we're not looking for a luxury hotel, just a place the kids can have fun. You should put your review on the Orlando Hotels section of the DIS. I think many more people would benefit from your experience! I do have a couple questions but will pm you like you asked. Thanks again!

I hadn't even thought about that. I generally only post here on the dark side. I'll will give it come consideration.

BTW, I forgot to mention that Nick Hotel has been bought by the Marriott chain. I believe they take over next year, so would expect some renovations soon. We noticed a few things that were kind of "tired" at Nick, but knowing Marriott is taking over in 2009, we realize they aren't going to do much more than the basics now. There was a bit of construction going on while we were there, but I never could figure out just what they were doing and it didn't in any way interfere with us. I would expect the place to be quite a bit different in a couple years. We are returning in 2010 for another Uni vacation, but had kind of decided that while our kids LOVED Nick Hotel, they would be 11, 13 & 17 by then and pretty much too old to really enjoy it. I guess if they really want to, we might consider a night or perhaps two.

I'll try to dig out our room number and post that as well. I know we were in building 7, in a corner room right near the elevators. Yes, we heard kids running up and down the walkway sometimes, but nothing ever bothered us, it wasn't crazy noisy like some reviews I've read. Honestly, we heard more noise at HRH than we did at NICK. . . but it didn't bother us either. We thought maybe the walls were a little thin because sometimes we could hear noises from the room on the one side of us, but nothing you don't encounter at basically ANY hotel you stay at. It's like living in an apartment complex.

 

[tlinus]

 

[wwessing]

I know, I know. . .

 

[macraven]

i'm waiting also.............

 

[goofygirl64]

Return to Nickelodeon Family Suites -

After a long afternoon in the pool, we were ready for dinner. We had decided we wanted to go to Sweet Tomatoes, so once everyone was ready and loaded in the van, we programed our beloved gps and off we went. No pics, but the food was good and everyone got something they liked. Sweet Tomates is a buffet style restaurant. We had a gift card so only paid for the girls and tip. There was a huge salad bar, a pasta area, dessert area, drink station, soups galore and a variety of bread. The people clearing tables did a great job and brought my kids freshly baked chocolate chip cookies which were not available on the dessert bar. They have a pasta station where they will fix your pasta dish however you want it. Dd9 is a little picky about her sauce, so she loved this place. I was able to build my own beautiful salad, get some excellent low fat soup and even some fat free chili. Passed on dessert, bread and pasta, but didn't feel like I missed anything.


How much was Sweet Tomatoes per person? Did it include a beverage?

 

[bubba's mom]

 

[wwessing]

How much was Sweet Tomatoes per person? Did it include a beverage?

The best I can tell you is this. . . we had a gift card for two adult meals including drinks, so dh and I were paid for. We paid $26 for meals and drinks for dd9, dd11, dd15. I'm thinking adult meals, for supper, are around $9-10, plus drinks.

 

[wwessing]

Ok, I am officially adding a very important addendum to the Friday activities above. Upon a recommendation from Kelly Monaghan, we had in mind to find a place called The Dessert Lady. It is a small, cozy place that serves coffee and deserts. After dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, we didn't feel like going right back to the hotel, so we drove around a bit. DH and I decided that while dinner was good, we were ready for something sophisticated and sweet. I had located The Dessert Lady's address, so programed it into gps and we headed in that direction. Kids were drooping in the back, so by the time we arrived, they did not want to get out. Fine with us, we will go in, get some dessert and take it back to the hotel. We were very surprised when we walked in. It is a very small, storefront place that very much resembled a bar. As we went in, there were people at most of the few tables, as well as at the "bar". I believe there was a selection of wine, but I noticed the dessert selections, obviously, as well as the coffee offerings. DH and I are handed a very nice leather folio, explain we are interested only in something to carry out and spend a few minutes perusing the menu. Since we can't decide, we agree to take the sampler option, which is small samplings of 4 different items. We chose bread pudding, cheesecake with strawberry topping, oreo cheesecake with the kids in mind and, I believe, the final choice was pecan pie. I passed on a coffee because I was already full, but I wanted room to taste the deserts, so we sat down right inside the door and waited the few minutes it took for them to put together our order. The total was $25.26 for the sampler, plus whatever DH tipped since the young man who assisted us snagged the last piece of bread pudding for our order, as we heard when he went to the table next to us and told them they just sold out. Actually, those folks had ordered before us, so we looked at each other and kept expecting to be asked to chose something else since we knew the bread pudding was gone. To our delight, well. . . especially dh's delight since he's the lover of bread pudding, our order was brought to us shortly after that, complete with the pudding. We looked confused, obviously, so with a wink from our host, we graciously accept the bag and I'd imagine he got himself a nice tip from dh.

Back to the van, where two girls were sleeping and dd15 was anxiously awaiting the bag. Boy was she mad when we didn't have a treat to hand her to munch on in the car. If I haven't stated this before, dd15 is a sugar addict. Seriously. . . part of her disability is a fixation with and addiction to candy, ice cream, cookies, soda, generally sweets of any kind. We have to monitor her closely, but she is SERIOUS about her candy. Part of what we deal with is that though she is 15, she's really not. She does not share, at all and what is hers is hers and what is others is hers. She eats her meals really, really fast so that she can have more of what she liked before anyone else; she will eat whatever she has as fast as she can so she can try to beg more from others. She will do whatever she has to in order to get more sweets. . . lie, beg and yes, even steal (only from her sibs, not from a store or anything). I found her hiding in her room one day, with my purse dumped out on her bed, looking through it for gum or mints. I digress, soooo, anyway, dd15 was not happy, started pouting and within minutes, was closing her eyes and relaxing. . .whew, I really saw a meltdown coming. Guess the full belly, quiet, dark evening and motion of the moving vehicle helped her relax. In a short time we were back at Nick Hotel, unloading some very sleepy, not to mention, grouchy children. Finally get them all out, herded to the room and they were in their pj's and in bed in record time. Guess they had forgotten about the dessert we had stopped for. . . . oops, guess we will have to hit it without them. So 30 minutes later, dh and I are settled in bed, gleefully contemplating the plastic containers of goodies. Ok, so after sitting there, looking at each other, I open the containers, grab forks and can't decide what I want to try first. Remembering at that moment that it has been months and months since I've eaten anything remotely as rich and sinful as any of this and remind myself a taste only, otherwise I will likely regret it. I say as much to dh and he says he was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, this took some of the joy away from the experience because we were worried about making ourselves sick with the rich, sugary food. Ok, lets start with a taste of the bread pudding since it's probably the least sinful. DH, apparently the King, sits patiently waiting for me to get his taste and feed it to him. . .what the . . . ok, ok, ok, so to the horror of all my female homies out there, I'm keepin it real. . .I do it all the time. I know, I know, I KNOW! I do it, that's the way it is, I've admitted it and now we can move on. So, he declares the pudding to be yummy, and I take a taste. It's good, but my delight is more in the richer, chocolately arena. Next up is the cheesecake. The King gets his bite, which apparently leaves him speechless, and I take a taste. Yum, yum, yum! It is sooooo good. We take a tiny bite of those two again and decide that's enough, so we put it in the fridge for another time. I give very high marks to The Dessert Lady, and great big thanks to Kelly for the heads up!!!! I highly recommend you take the time to find and visit The Dessert Lady. We would have liked to sat down and enjoyed some wine or coffee as well, but, some things are not meant to be when on a FAMILY vacation I guess.

Now, on to Saturday. . .

Where was I. . . .ahhh, yes. . . our wonderful, beautiful, perfectly fabulous 2 days at SeaWorld!

Saturday, April 26

Up early, as SeaWorld opens at 9:00 and we want to be in the parking lot at 8:30. Breakfast in the room, so cereal, juice, carnation instant breakfast, special K bars. Into the van, program gps and on our way. We arrive at SeaWorld right around 8:30 and there is a bit of a line at the gates. I think they opened the parking tolls right at 8:30. There were probably 40 vehicles in all the lanes in front of us, so we were actually right near the front. We decide to pay the extra few dollars and splurge on premiere parking which was $15 as opposed to $10. We were literally parked 50 yards from the main entrance and, in my estimation, we WAY worth the extra $5. We had tickets, so no need to wait in that line. Past that to the gate, which they do not open until maybe 8:45. Into the park we go, grab a map and a quick stop at the very first vendor we see for visors for dd9 and dd11. . . dd15 wants nothing to do with a visor, or a hat, so ok, who's gonna be sorry later today??? So with our very first souveniers purchased, we head to towards Dolphin Cove. As we round the bend, we see a large group of people milling around. We quickly realize that while they have let us in the gates a few minutes early, we aren't getting into the park proper until 9:00 am - ON THE NOSE! A minute before 9:00 the national anthem is played, ropes removed and everyone swarms in the same direction we are going. Uh oh, we realize everyone is going the same place, so lets pick up the pace a bit. We fast walk directly to where the dolphin feeding is going to take place at 9:15am, get in line and really, there are only maybe 25 others ahead of us, not so bad. Again at EXACTLY 9:15 they open the window to sell the fish, but only after give instructions on how to feed those beautiful, wonderous dolphins! Not long and it's our turn. DH wants to know how much to buy, so we decide 8 trays is enough. He pays. . .cash only folks. We were prepared because I knew that from reading these wonderful boards, but not everyone was. It was $6 for a tray of 3 very small fish. Fish in hand, we move down the pool a ways and pick an open spot. DH sets the trays of fish ON THE WALL as directed and places two trays in front of each kid, and two in front of himself. One is for me, but I'm so captivated by the dolphins, I don't care about feeding them. I'm snapping photos every 5 seconds, so got lots of good pics, when I realize all the trays are empty and I didn't get to feed even one little fish. . . then I see dd9 has one left in one of her trays and she is worried because she wants to touch the dolphins but is intimidated by those open mouths and rows of little teeth. I try to help her, but she just can't bring herself to touch one, so I feed the fish to the dolphin with one hand, reach out and touch it with another and feel like something in my life has been completed. I've always though dolphins are beautiful; always been fascinated with them and to be able to see them so close, to feed and touch one was one of the best experiences I've ever had. If we had to go home from vacation right that moment, I would have been ok with it. So, fish gone, tons of pics taken, its time to wash up and move on. Everyone is excited, and smiling and happy. . .then I notice dd9 is in tears. Well. . . . the fish are gone, so are the dolphins and she hasn't touched one. We go back to the wall, hold out our hands in the hope some will come back, but they are interested in the other food being offered. We explain to dd9 that we will be back the next day to feed them again and she will have another opportunity. She's not happy, but it was her choice to not touch when she had the chance. So, buck up little one and try again tomorrow. Fortunately she hasn't lost a rare chance and we ARE coming back the next day. As we were feeding, one of the workers had handed DH some tickets. We find out they are for photos that had been taken, so stop at the kiosks outside the feeding area to take a look. Finally get a computer, figure out how it works and get to look at the pics. They had take a BUNCH of our family. We had like 15 tickets. . . so, we settle on 5 shots, order 8x10's of each and move along to pick them up in the picture hut. DH pays $42.59 and we figure that was not at all bad. The first pic was $20 and each additional was $5, plus tax and they are each in a folder frame. Nice!

Here's some of my favorite pics

After this, we realize we've spent a LONG time with the dolphins and we wanted to have lunch at Shark's Underwater Grill. We began to quickly make our way to that side of the park so we could get reservations. Once there, it is 10:30 and we thought an early lunch would be just the thing. We made reservations for 11:00, right when they open, since breakfast had been light and very early. Since we only have 30 minutes, we decide to stick around the area. Dh goes to find a restroom and I snap a couple pics of the girls looking in the tanks outside Sharks Grill.

DH come back and wants to go look at something, so I volunteer to hang around in the event they are not back yet when it's our turn to be seated. I find a comfortable seat right outside the doors of the Grill and people watch. Since I was kind of behind the reservations stand, I watched a steady line of people making reservations for the day. I would recommend if you want to eat there, go as early as possible to make your reservation. I think the ressie stand opens at like 10:00 and there were still people streaming up when we were seated promptly at 11:00.

DH returns with the girls and they sit for only a moment or two before our name is called and we are seated. The restaurant is long and kind of narrow and fairly dim lighting. There are a couple levels of seating. We were seated in a banquet on the lowest level, near the tank. There are tables right next to the tanks, but they were all for 4. We had a very comfortable seat, an excellent view of the tank and nicely set table. Girls warned to be on their best behavior and to use their manners appropriately. Inside voices would be required and absolutely no running around. They were very good.

Our waiter was good, but thought he was at Emerils or something. Efficient with no personality and his nose so for up in the air we were afraid if it rained, he would drown! Still, no complaints as I can match attitude for attitude, so he got as good as he gave. We thought his lips twitched in something akin to a smile once, but we could have been mistaken, it might have been gas or his spinchter was clenched too tight. . . not real sure.

So Stiffy takes our drink order (everyone ordered soft drinks except me and I just had water with lemon), leaves the menus and we work with the girls to get their order settled. They do offer a children's menu and they had no problem with dd15 ordering from it. DD's 15 & 11 decided on Shrimp ($10 each) and dd9 wanted a pasta dish ($7). Our drinks came and we decided we wanted an appetizer. DH ordered stuffed mushrooms ($8.00). After a bit, Stiffy came back and took our entree orders. Kids ordered as described above and dh and I ordered Seafood Trio ($25) and Salmon Filet ($23). Bread was brought to the table, which kids devoured, so it must have been good. I had to ask for more. The appetizer came, which was only like 3 large mushrooms, so we shared that, then the entree's arrived. I did get pics, but I forgot to get the appetizer, I did not take any of the kids meals, but I have the salmon and seafood dishes dh and I ordered.

After finishing our entree's, we decided we would share a dessert, so dh and kids decided on Shark's Brownie Delight ($7), or something like that. It had fudge brownies, ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and maybe some caramel sauce. It was VERY rich, VERY yummy and VERY quickly stuck to my hips! I only took a couple bites and quickly dished it out to my family so there would be no temptation. . . . yummm, chocolatey fudgey caramely stuff!

Our total, including gratuity, was $126.44. The meal was delicious and I would highly recommend the experience! I've included prices because I know that was a question I had when researching and I have seen this type of question many time on the boards. I hope it helps someone else, and I will try to include those details as much as possible.

Coming soon. . . . . the rest of Saturday and Sunday.

Sorry, I'm wimping out and not finishing the day, but we just grilled out and I'm STUFFED and need to go veg in front of the tube to watch COPS. I grilled chicken breasts, corn on the cob, fresh asparagus and mushrooms and a couple potatoes. We bought fresh strawberries to cut, a fat free angel food cake and some fat free whipped topping for dessert! That's going to have to wait till much later I do think!!

 

[Mrs. D]

This is an awesome trip report, my nose is like on the nonitor getting all of the details

Funny and real, u kinda sound like me in lots of instances....IHOP was priceless

Love reading it, but take your time, the details are worth the wait

 

[wwessing]

Ok. . . .I'm back. It's 4:45am, but since I fell asleep before 9:30 last night, I'm wide awake and can't really do anything around the house as I don't want to wake anyone else up . . . . well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it

Let me put some coffee on and I'll finish up Saturday, at least. Ok, coffee is dripping and pics for this segment are uploading to photobucket. So while all that is going on, I thought I would mention that I'm a bit of a coffee snob. That way, when I talk about something later in the report, I think that knowing I'm very, very particular about the coffee I drink will lend some validity to my assessment of in-room coffee. I don't use caffeine, so I drink coffee strictly for the enjoyment of the flavor. . .oops, pot is telling me it's done dripping, so let me get my cuppa and I'll really, honestly work on the rest of Saturday. . . .really this time.

So our wonderful lunch is complete and we are ready to move on. We check out the bar on our way out the door as it is another fish tank. You have to actually walk up to the bar to see it, but it's worth doing. Very cool, but since there were quite a few folks sitting there and enjoying their lunch, I decided not to disturb them with pictures.

Remember dh took off for a few before lunch so he could get the lay of the land, so he took us out the door, to the right and there is the Sharks attraction. We stop to snap a pic of the girls and a random duck before entering.

This attraction is a viewing area you walk around in, then get on a moving walkway that takes you through the Shark Tunnel, as we have named it, then there's another bit of area to view walking around before you exit. Here's some pics of our trip through the attraction.

 

[wwessing]

. . . continued

Now it's time to move on to the Believe show. We head toward that and it is a short walk since we are right in the vicinity and dh has scouted the way. We saw this on the way.

It's a flock. . .maybe a herd since they are being herded by some keepers. . . of flamingos. Flamingos get their color from. . . . . . . yep, eating shrimp. I wonder why my dd11 isn't pink?

As we enter the stadium, I remember our last trip and how much we enjoyed the killer whale show. We had all six kids with us then and split up as the 3 oldest wanted to be in the splash zone and we didn't. . . . no thanks to all that salt water. As I'm remembering that, our two youngest are begging to go sit in the splash zone. One of the few times during our vacation we tell them no way. They were ok with it (not really), so we head to the middle section - midway up and middle the other way too. We have great seats and now it's about 25 minutes before the show. Since we just had lunch, there's no need for snacks, so we settle in, kids in the row in front of us, dh and I right behind and people watch. As the show nears, and the stadium fills, which is does and nearly every seat is taken, dd9 decides she can't see as someone tall has sat down right in front of her, she moves up to our row, which leaves dd11 & 15 on their seat. Literally moments before the show starts, a young couple approaches and asks if the girls will move over so they can sit down. Ok, not a problem, except if they can't see, you will have to move to the inside of the row. Girls move over, assure me they can see the show fine and everyone is happy. Lucky couple they were. . .walk into the show 2 minutes before start and get some of the best seats in the house.

The show is wonderful. Those Orca's are beautiful and we very much enjoyed the next 30 minutes. Here's a few pics. I want to preface this with I later realized that I watched much of our vacation from behind a camera Next time, dh can do that!

So this show ends with a story about a young man and an experience he had with an Orca and a carving he made of the Orca's tail. I get the whole show now. . . .it's a very touching story and the audience member called to be part of the show gets this wooden carving, well . . .a replica and so every child in the audience is now envious and thinks that carving is the coolest thing on earth and because they BELIEVE that, we had to purchase two of those suckers as we left the stadium and saw the wooden tail carving hawkers selling them I BELIEVE that cost us like $5 each, so not a big deal, except I don't think they have worn those necklaces since that day.

Dh takes us right to Wild Arctic, which is next on our agenda. Again, a short walk as it is right near the back of the stadium. This is a good time to mention that SeaWorld was not particularly busy this day and the weather was absolutely beautiful. It was probably mid 80's, but there was a brisk breeze which made it perfect! We reach Wild Arctic and get in line, which really isn't all that long. I think we wait for maybe 15 minutes. Now as we approach this attraction, dh notices a sign that gives the usual warnings for simulator rides. Since he and dd15 get motion sickness, I can see him beginning to second guess his ability to enjoy the attraction. I whip out the motion sickness pills and a bottle of water and give dh a couple and dd15 one. I know it takes, in reality, like 30 minutes for the medication to be effective. I figure if even a little gets in their system while we wait in line that's better than nothing. By the time we actually got to the simulator part, it had been like 20 minutes or something and apparently either the medication had enough time to work or this simulator didn't make either of them sick because they were just fine. . . now me, on the other hand. I had to look away from the screen a couple times as I started to feel dizzy. I'm thinking, jeesh, I'm not the one who gets motion sickness, but I might have to reconsider at this point! So ride portion over, we wander through the exhibit, take a few pics and find our way out.

We wander around a bit, check out a few things and by this time, it is mid-afternoon and the kids are wanting to return to Nick for some pool time. Ok, so we wander towards the main gate, checking out whatever is on the way (oh, yeah. . this is the part where dh leads us through a theatre where a latin singer is apparently getting ready to perform and what dh thinks is a shortcut is a walk through tons of people trying to get into the theatre, with their beer cups and giant plates of nachos and pretzels and none of whom can either see what is right in front of them, or don't particularly care. So, after fighting our way through this madness, I offer dh a glare and he's like "what. . . . it was a shortcut". Choosing not to pick this battle, we press onward, which is back to a very nice stroll enjoying the scenery and soon arrive at the main gate. A very nice short walk to the van and we are on our way back to Nick hotel. Upon arrival, it's a dash to our room for swimsuits and down to the pool we go. Before long, it's time for the 4:45 sliming, so the kids are off to the sliming area about 4:30 to get their "spot" and I head back to the room to get a shower and a head start on getting ready for dinner. No recallable drama, so it must've been showers all around, and dressed for dinner without any problems. We have, YEAH, Joe's Crab Shack on the itinerary for tonight. Yes, we realize this is just a chain restaurant, but we don't have one near our home, have never been, so this is something we have been looking forward to. DH has seen many a commercial for this place and has been salivating over it for probably a year. He's is really looking forward to it. Back to the van, program our ever faithful gps and off we go. As we pull in, we realize we have arrived right smack at 7:00 and the lot is full. Doesn't matter, we are starving but we will be waiting however long it takes. Ok, so in we go, place our name on the list and to our surprise, were seated within minutes. I forgot to take any pictures here, we were too hungry and having too much fun to think about it, so I apologize. . .no food pics and it was worthy.

Our very fun waiter arrives and takes our drink order. Dh has had just enough time to decide he wants an appetizer and orders Crab Nachos ($9.49). Shortly we place our entree orders. Girls all order from the children's menu. . . dd9 has chicken fingers, dd15 has pizza ($4.99 each) and dd11 has snow crab ($6.99). I order grilled tilapia ($19.99) and dh goes for the steam pot ($21.99). He's seen advertisements for this and has been looking forward to it. He got 3 types of crab, new potatoes and some other stuff I don't remember. Nachos arrive and are delicious. I'm still wary of eating too much rich food, so only have a couple. Kids and dh dig in and it's a short time before there's nothing but cheese paper left. There is lots of singing and dancing going on and the atmosphere is loud, but fun. We had a great time and were very entertained. My girls, normally shy, were singing and dancing and goofing with the waiter. Entree's come and things settle down a little while we dig in. Everyone finishes their meal and proclaim their food to have been good. My tilapia platter was excellent, healthy and I felt good about eating everything on the plate. It was double steamed veggies, a couple small, boiled new potatoes and the fish. Very, very yummy. It took dh and dd11 a while longer than the rest of us because they had all those crab legs. Finally, everyone is done eating, satisfied and ready to get up and move around. Dh takes care of the bill ($98 with gratuity) and we wander over to the little gift shop area.

I should insert here, for those of you who don't know, or missed that part in my pre-trippie, I have a grandson. Any yes, I'm a VERY, VERY young gramma no, really, I am. . . . and he is turning ONE while we are on vacation. We had our party before leaving though. So I'm determined to buy his a t-shirt for all our stops. I have told dh to expect this, so I find a cute shirt I want in the gift shop. I know it's not a park, but so what!!! So the girls help me decide, then go get dh and tell him THEY want to buy Bubby a shirt (his name is really Alex) so it's like I had nothing to do with it. Dh comes over and pays, no problem, but I get the look that says "you are SO not sneaky". Out we go and make a quick stop at the Walgreen's next door.

Now everyone is tired, full and ready to relax from our long day and prepare for SeaWorld day 2. Back to the hotel, pjs and bed in no time. I did a bit of bookkeeping while dh watched some tube and the next thing I know, it's time to wake up again.

Ok, part of the hold up to getting this trip report completed is how long it takes photobucket to upload my pics. It's been well over 90 minutes and it's only half way done loading the pics for this segement. We are having family over today for a cookout and I've got to go get my potato salad started. So, for fear if I leave this sitting here, I will somehow lose all the work, I'm going to post it then return later and edit in the pics.

Later. . . . SeaWorld, Day 2.

P.S. I'm not doing much proofreading, so excuse all the typos. If I proofed each post, I'd never get done. Maybe later I'll go back and fix the errors.

 

[LeslieR]

 

[bubba's mom]

Looks like a fun day at SeaWorld.....

still waiting to see pic of you & DH and your fab tans

 

[Adadmin]

 

[RAPstar]

Well, I guess it worked! Maybe you can do the same too Wendy!

While I have a minute, I wanted to share a story with you regarding your IHOP experience! Our "best" experience ever came from an IHOP as well - probably 10 years ago now back when the boys were little. We went to one near our home in Michigan, along with Grandma, and all ordered.

Well, time passes. And more time passes. And I have 3 hungry hyperactive preschool boys who aren't doing so well at sitting anymore. Finally I get up and go find a manager. Who asks where we're sitting. And then tells us basically, sorry, but your server quit! After taking our order. And taking her pad with her and of course never placing the order!

Wow - I hadn't thought we were being that difficult. Of course we had to start all over again and they were short-staffed (obviously!) and it took forever. But now whenever we're at a restaurant and it's taking a long time, we're always like "Uh, oh, our server must have quit again!"

Sorry, jumping into this TR late. I had a similar experience at a Cracker Barrel once. Our waiter didn't quit, but they had to be understaffed or something. It was a lil crowded. But we waited for so long out waiter came back and asked if we wanted to order lunch instead of waiting for our breakfast!