Monday, May 7th: the conclusion
While the SkyTower offered us some lovely views, I have to say we were both a little relieved to be freed from our prison of high-pitched chatter and boundless energy…..we may have let a sigh of relief escape as the school group headed one way as we disembarked while we headed in the opposite direction
. I hope those moms each had a cold bottle of wine waiting for them when they got home later that day
.
We hopped over to Voyagers for a couple of fresh bottles of water, then made our way over to Sea Lion & Otter Stadium for the Clyde & Seamore show. They were just opening the ropes and letting people up the walkway as we approached, so we were pretty sure we’d get some great seats. And…..we did!
We had about 30 minutes to wait before the show began, so we just sipped on our waters and people watched as other folks filed in. And of course, we took another pre-show selfie
(but in our defense, we also watched a couple of hundred other couples and families doing the same thing!!
)
As always, the show offered a little pre-show entertainment courtesy of the school crossing guard. While the crowd was on the smaller side (definitely not a packed theater on such a moderate crowd day), everyone who was there was
really enthusiastic….so when we were all directed to cheer, cheer we all did
. He had us doing the wave, cheering and clapping along to the music, and feeling the excitement as the real entertainment began.
Both stars of the show made suitably grand entrances: one via chauffeur in a swanky convertible
……
….and the other, with a big splash:
The show hadn’t changed a bit since we saw it on our last visit more than a year before, but I will say that the animals AND animal trainers both had a much more flawless execution of the show this time than the last one we saw
. Both Clyde and Seamore were spot on with their behaviors, and it was probably one of the most crowd-pleasing performances of this production that we’ve had the pleasure to enjoy.
One by one, the students of Sea Lion High helped Clyde and Seamore pass all their remaining courses so they could graduate. From science class to dance class……
….they managed to turn their “F’s” into “A’s”…..and that’s even with taking a break for lunch!
The fact that we had such IDEAL seats just made it all the more awesome!
The end of the show is always my favorite: who doesn’t like a BIG finish?
The show wrapped up with a kiss and a wave from this sweetie……@chiamarie, would this be Kaboodle? I know it’s not Garfield.
After the show, we commented that we’d accomplished everything (and more) that we had hoped to on that particular day. We strolled around a bit and took in some of the animal exhibits:
….then decided to grab some dinner and make one final use of our all-day dining passes before heading back to the resort. We weren’t super hungry and thought we would just have pizza at Seaport Pizza, but oddly enough, it turned out it was closed [I say “oddly” because there were SO many school groups there that day……I would have thought the pizza place would have been one of the busiest in the park
]. Plan B was Voyagers. You can’t go wrong with barbecue.
If we had ever questioned the value of the all-day dining passes, this meal definitely made us appreciate the low price we had paid to eat all day long. We both ended up selecting the exact same meal: the combo platter which featured a quarter barbecue chicken, beef brisket, and a smoked sausage with a side of fries. We each had a beverage, and used our “side” entitlement for strawberry shortcake. As part of the all day dining, the meal cost us nothing. Had we paid out of pocket, it would have been $55. Between breakfast, lunch, dinner, our stuffed cannelloni/chocolate cake snack, countless bottles of water, and Steve’s emergency afternoon hot dog (not photographed because he ate it before I could even take a picture .... told ya it was an emergency!!
), we had almost doubled the value of our out of pocket cost ($34.99 each) for the plan. And.....it was SUPER good! Some of the best quick service food in any theme park.
I *love* a good deal
.
We picked up two more bottles of water on our way out of the restaurant (“one for the road”), and headed toward the park exit. It had been a wonderful, full yet leisurely day……and we knew we’d be back again at least one more time before the end of our trip. We looked forward to a relaxing evening at the resort to cap things off.
After a short rest in the villa (and an opportunity to check in with family via phone and on social media), we meandered down to the Tacky Tiki Bar to see what was shaking and enjoy an adult beverage or two under the stars. It turned out that there was some live music at the bar that evening, featuring “Jersey Mike” (a northerner who had recently relocated from New Jersey to Florida).
He was quite good, singing some well-known favorites from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and it was a very pleasant and relaxing way to end off a simply lovely park day. We stayed for a couple of drinks each and even had a nice conversation with Mike after he wrapped up his session.
We eventually headed back to the villa, switched into our swimwear, and headed out to the hot tub for a short soak under the stars. By the time we dropped into bed, sleep came quick and easy
.
Next up: a day of sun and fun at our favorite waterpark in Orlando……Aquatica!