Last Monday we went to Sea World. I had taken Nadia and Ian there myself in August 2011, but this time things were a little different because Nadia was tall enough to ride two rides she couldn't go on last time, and I could ride some others because I wasn't the only adult this time. We arrived when the park opened and headed right to Journey to Atlantis. It was the first time any of us had been on that ride. There was absolutely no line, and we were the only ones on our particular flume. It was definitely more elaborate and a bit scarier than the average flume ride. Next I rode Kraken, which is a roller coaster with loops. I can't remember the last time I went upside down on a roller coaster, but it's definitely been more than 12 years. It was awesome! I had zero wait for that ride either, and on a typical day at Sea World the line is more than one hour long. I should have also gone on Manta at that point (another roller coaster), but Paul thought he might do that one with me so I just headed to the doplhin show where we all agreed to meet. I was there 10 minutes before the rest of the family so I definitely would have had time to ride Manta, and it turned out we never rode it later in the day. At least I got to ride one of the two rollercoasters! I'm sure we'll be back again in the future. In hindsight we also should have stopped in the morning to have Nadia's picture taken with the person wearing the Shamu costume. She asked, but there was a line when we first came in. I assumed we could do it on the way out. Nope.
The first photo was taken of Oliver during the dolphin show. As you can see, he really enjoyed the show! He was very attentive as he watched the dolphins, parrots, etc. and smiled quite a bit as he stood on Pop Pop's lap. At the end of the day Ian said it was his favorite show. Next I planned for us to head to the kid rides, but on the way we ended up deciding to alter our schedule and take in the Pet's Ahoy show earlier than planned (dogs, cats, pig, skunk, birds, mice, etc.). Ian didn't seem to enjoy this one as much as he did two years ago.
Paul's parents and Oliver went to Shamu's stadium to save seats while Paul and I took Nadia and Ian to the kids rides. Some rides we were the only ones on the ride! After seeing Shamu we came back to the rides, but it was a lot more crowded then. Doing the kids rides before the Shamu show is definitely the way to go. Nadia did the splash pad for a few minutes also. Then Paul took her on the Wild Artic ride while Pop Pop and I took Ian and Oliver through the walking portion (walruses, polar bears, and Beluga whales).
Paul and I then took the kids to the sea lion, walrus, and otter show. After that we took them through more animal exhibits (sharks, sting rays, etc.) and then decided it was time to head home. Sea World can be almost as expensive as Disney, but we got three of our four tickets for free, and we packed our lunches. On the way back to the resort we bought two footlong subs at Subway for dinner. After we ate we took the kids swimming. Paul's parents went out to Olive Garden as it was their 46th anniversary. We had a great day!
Last Monday we went to Sea World. I had taken Nadia and Ian there myself in August 2011, but this time things were a little different because Nadia was tall enough to ride two rides she couldn't go on last time, and I could ride some others because I wasn't the only adult this time. We arrived when the park opened and headed right to Journey to Atlantis. It was the first time any of us had been on that ride. There was absolutely no line, and we were the only ones on our particular flume. It was definitely more elaborate and a bit scarier than the average flume ride. Next I rode Kraken, which is a roller coaster with loops. I can't remember the last time I went upside down on a roller coaster, but it's definitely been more than 12 years. It was awesome! I had zero wait for that ride either, and on a typical day at Sea World the line is more than one hour long. I should have also gone on Manta at that point (another roller coaster), but Paul thought he might do that one with me so I just headed to the doplhin show where we all agreed to meet. I was there 10 minutes before the rest of the family so I definitely would have had time to ride Manta, and it turned out we never rode it later in the day. At least I got to ride one of the two rollercoasters! I'm sure we'll be back again in the future. In hindsight we also should have stopped in the morning to have Nadia's picture taken with the person wearing the Shamu costume. She asked, but there was a line when we first came in. I assumed we could do it on the way out. Nope.
The first photo was taken of Oliver during the dolphin show. As you can see, he really enjoyed the show! He was very attentive as he watched the dolphins, parrots, etc. and smiled quite a bit as he stood on Pop Pop's lap. At the end of the day Ian said it was his favorite show. Next I planned for us to head to the kid rides, but on the way we ended up deciding to alter our schedule and take in the Pet's Ahoy show earlier than planned (dogs, cats, pig, skunk, birds, mice, etc.). Ian didn't seem to enjoy this one as much as he did two years ago. 
Paul's parents and Oliver went to Shamu's stadium to save seats while Paul and I took Nadia and Ian to the kids rides. Some rides we were the only ones on the ride! After seeing Shamu we came back to the rides, but it was a lot more crowded then. Doing the kids rides before the Shamu show is definitely the way to go. Nadia did the splash pad for a few minutes also. Then Paul took her on the Wild Artic ride while Pop Pop and I took Ian and Oliver through the walking portion (walruses, polar bears, and Beluga whales).
Paul and I then took the kids to the sea lion, walrus, and otter show. After that we took them through more animal exhibits (sharks, sting rays, etc.) and then decided it was time to head home. Sea World can be almost as expensive as Disney, but we got three of our four tickets for free, and we packed our lunches. On the way back to the resort we bought two footlong subs at Subway for dinner. After we ate we took the kids swimming. Paul's parents went out to Olive Garden as it was their 46th anniversary. We had a great day!
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