Day 19 -- Orlando, Florida
Monday 7/16/2001
Excursion: Sea World
I got up early with Lilly to run the exercise trail before kicking the kids out of bed. We ate breakfast in the trailer and then packed lunch for today's excursion: Sea World. The weather looked good, but we packed rain gear just to be safe. We were not completely sure when they opened, but we thought we'd seen somewhere it was 9 o'clock.
We've now found a better route out from Fort Wilderness. Instead of following signs for I-4 and taking the big loop through the Disney area, we just take a left out towards SR 535. When coming back into the Fort Wilderness area, follow SR 535 and then take a left on Vista Drive, not Buena Vista Drive (which is one street before). You will go through a short section of what appears to be construction depots, etc, belonging to Disney.
When we got to the Sea World parking lot we knew we were early because we were placed in one of the very first rows on their large parking lot. We got to the entrance pretty much on the minute when they officially opened: 9 o'clock. Click here for map. BTW, we have yet to come to a place where the gates were actually closed before official opening time. It would seem like you can get in well before it officially opens. So if there is some ride, or whatever, that you definitely want to ride, get to your theme park before it officially opens.
Flamingos are native birds of Florida
Well inside the park we broke up into two groups: Lilly, Karl and Erik in the first group and myself with Isabella in the second. We decided to meet by the dolphin show at 10am. Isabella, of course, wanted to go to the hands on ray area where she could touch big sting rays. I had to pry her lose from that area. We also walked by the dolphin pool area where you can touch the dolphins
Isabella petting a dolphin
The dolphin show, which is held at a different location, is quite nice. The pool where they perform is big and deep. They also have a long area of the pool, facing the audience, with about 6ft of glass, allowing you to see into the pool. That is very nice.
A dolphin seen through the glass by the pool
I went to the Manatee display with Isabella. It was somewhat less than impressive. We then visited the killer whale show in Shamu stadium. We had actually setup a time for all of us to meet there, but the others did not show up. That show is quite amazing. Perhaps because the animals are so much larger. You have a great view from almost any seat. This pool has a large TV screen behind the pool, showing close ups of the show for those high up. They also have underwater cameras that are mixed onto the TV screen.
We were not sure how to hook up with Lilly and the others, but we guessed they would be down by the entrance. And they were. We ate lunch together and Erik explained how he had taken the scary rollercoaster: Kraken. Lilly and Karl had taken another ride: Atlantis, which both of them liked. They got a bit wet from it, though. After lunch we walked over to the second killer whale show, so that the others would get a chance to see it. As with the first one, it was quite spectacular. The show started by having a large eagle (looked like a bald eagle) come flying down over the stadium and pick up food near the audience and then fly off. Erik and Isabella parked themselves far down, as did Karl. They have a splash-zone which goes several rows up in the stadium. All kids got completely soaked in ice-cold salt water.
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Click on pictures above to enlarge
We broke up after this. I went with Erik and Isabella while Lilly took Karl. We wanted to visit the large dragon roller coaster, called Kraken. The line was not that long for the roller coaster. The ride was so violent that Isabella had to close her eyes for most of the ride. Myself I felt it defied laws of physics in some places, or at least strecthed things so far that you really hoped all bolts were properly torqued. As we got off, I felt very dizzy and could not walk on a straight line. But it was really great!!! Isabella, on the other hand, kept repeating that this ride was not good at all. She did not look happy. After that ride we tried something a bit lighter: the Atlantis water roller coaster. The line was long and for parts we had to stand outside in the heat. But the ride was good.
We hooked up with Lilly and Karl by the Budweiser pavilion. They have plenty of Clydesdale horses there, including a large stable that you get to walk through. Once we got into the pavilion we found Lilly and Karl. They have free beer in there; limit is two per person/day. But that was enough anyway. Felt good to be back in an airconditioned room after all the heat outside. Once we had taken a break in there we went out and watched while they prepared 8 Clydesdale horses and a wagon for a ride in the park. They are very impressive in size. They have horses like that back at the Budweiser brewery in Merrimack, New Hampshire too.
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Click on pictures above to enlarge
I walked back into the pavillion and attended Beer School, a sort of infomercial about Budweiser beers. I got seated with 50+ other students and we got to try watch some propaganda mixed with light "education". We then got to taste a few beers. It was fun to watch some of the people in the room. They gulped down every drop in every glass they were served, including the benchmark glass with "intentionally bad beer". I sniggered to myself. I got a diploma at the end! While I was attending the Beer School the kids went to Shamu's Happy Harbor playground.
Per attending "continued education"
Isabella came to meet up with me and we walked around a bit together. We first visited the sharks, which was not much different from what we saw in the aquarium in Myrtle Beach. Isabella had hoped to be able to buy some shark food to feed them, but the tent was closed when we arrived. They basically sell X pounds of food in a day and then they close. After that we walked over to visit the Penguins. They keep them in a an area that is dark and very cool. You stand on a moving walkway and look into their "home". The nice thing is that their "home" has water in it and the glass extends under water. Basically, the water line at chest height for us that moved along the walkway. So you get to see the penguins dive and swim under water. There is a second display, after the penguins, of other arctic birds that equally swim under water. Quite amazing how those birds use their wings to fly down to the surface of the water and then use those same wings to propell themselves under water. We happened to come by when the caretaker was throwing out some fish to the birds, so there was a bit of extra action. After that we went back to meet Lilly, Erik and Karl near the entrance. There we visited the souvenir store where we bought a few things. We then drove back home, ate at the trailer and went to bed somewhat early.