Welcome to Day 4 ~ Tuesday August 19th
Today is our Sea World "Adventure Express Tour" at 11:00am. We have to check in at 10:30 so it is a good day to sleep in... ahhhhh.. Our wake up call is "James Brown" at the late hour of 9:00am. By 9:30am we were having breakfast in the lounge and for the first time there were tables available ~ the later you go the better, it seems.
At 10:00am we caught a cab in front of the hotel and you know how everyone has a twin somewhere? Well, the bell-woman gave me a double take when I came through the doors and said "What happened? did you forget something in your room"? I said no and that I had just come out - and she said "But I got you and your daughter a cab for Sea World an hour ago"
All day long at Sea World I kept looking for my twin.. the closest I came was Shamu
Okay.. so back to the day. We checked in at 10:30am at the Sea World tour desk and was told to meet our guide "Tim" at 10:55am. We also at this time picked our lunch which was hard because we were full from breakfast - but Noel picked the Hot Dog Meal with Chocolate cake and I picked the Roast Beef Sandwich with Cheesecake. We had a drink at a shady table and watched some birds begging for food. I had never been to SeaWorld before - the closest we came was last summer when we picked up our transfer to Discovery Cove from out front. While we waited for our start time I had a look a the park map.. quite a big place with many differnt shows and attractions, a Luau aDine with Shamu dinner venue & a dine with sharks dinner. There is also a new "waterfront" section with shopping and dining.
At 10:55 we met Tim and the other members of our tour, there was a family of 4 from Maryland, a family of 5 from New Jersey, a Dad with his little girl we all fondly refered to as "The Screamer" and Noel and I. The family from New Jersey was a hoot, The grandfather~Ron, his
son~Ron, Ron's wife~Rhonda, their son~Ronnie and of course Grandma Rhoda.. we had the biggest laugh at this.
Tim gave us cool V.I.P. lanyards and large, heavy, bottles of water which of course I ended up lugging around for hours. Our first stop was Wild Arctic Expedition... this is a simulator ride where you are in a helicopter in the Arctic. This helicopter has "whisper" mode so you can silently creep up on unsuspecting polar bears. It also has "Scuba" mode so you can fly underwater and view narwhales & whales but watch out for the avalanche. When you exit this simulator ride you are in the polar bear exhibit and can view them above or below the water from another chamber, next to it where the beluga whales and the walruses... we really enjoyed this exhibit.
Next we went to the penguin exhibit but entered through the back way to a behind the scenes area where we took turns touching a cute penguin. Seriously, these things are sweet, nevermind touch it - I wanted to pick it up and hug it.. but that was not allowed so I just took a photo instead.
Next was the Shamu Show and we had reserved seats in the last row of the "Soak Zone" this was an excellent and fun show and even the pre-show was great. We did get a bit wet - but not too bad at all... I would go see this show again... first rate.
By now it was after 1pm and time for our included lunch which we selected earlier, we headed for the Anheiser Bush (spelling) hospitality centre passing the Clydesdale horses along the way. Lunch here was excellent, real roast beef- not deli stuff on a nice fresh bread with potato salad. Noel's hot dog came with chips, the other selections looked good too Ron and Ron had the Turkey Club while Ronnie and Rhonda had the chicken Caesar, Rhoda had the Ham and cheese and everyone agreed lunch was great. You could also have samples of beer but I just stuck to ice tea, Noel had a pepsi in a huge bottle that I also lugged around. By the way - we had reserved seating here as well and the place was mobbed so I appreciated that.
Now that we were nice and full it was time to ride Kraken. We were supposed to be going to feed the stingrays but a storm was yet again blowing in ~ Dark Clouds and thunder in the distance - Tim decided to get the rides out of the way in case they closed. Noel was just a hair under the height requirement line for kraken so she had to stay with Ronnie and Tim while the rest of us rode. The screamer had finally fallen asleep in her stroller so we all tip toed around her and onto the ride. Kraken was very much like duelling dragons but has a misty foggy section like the hulk... fun ride.
Next was Journey to Atlantis and both Noel and Ronnie were tall enough so they stopped pouting.. this ride is sort of like Splash Mountain but the theming is no where as good however, after the big splash drop at the end and you think it is all over you start going up a hill again for another splashy drop... Noel loved this.
As we were coming off Journey to Atlantis they were announcing that they were stopping the ride due to lightning, it was very dark and starting to spit, I could have hugged Tim for taking us to the rides early. On this tour you go straight to the front of the line for everything - it's a good way to see all the main attractions in one day with no hassle.
Then we went back to feed the stingrays and were all given cups full of squid and shrimp, they are very large and sort of suck the food out of your fingers... it was neat to touch them they are spongy and squishy.
The storm came crashing in around us now - lightning, thunder, heavy rain, the works... Tim lead us to the Clyde and Seamore show where we had nice reserved seating in a dry area - however we were all drenched at this point. After we were seated Tim disappeared and returned with Sea World Ponchos for all of us - better late than never. Clyde and Seamore was a fun show better than Sinbad at IOA - we had a good laugh and it was still pouring when it was over. Tim had a hard time distinguishing us from the millions of other people wearing ponchos.. Noel suddenly noticed I was wearing one and laughed her head off at me, strangly I have never worn one before.
It continued to pour as we went to our next two stops which were feeding the dolphins and feeding the sea lions. Again we were given trays of food - I noticed they cost 5.00 a tray.. so Noel and I each used 15.00 worth of food for the animals. The sea lions were hilarious. They were sitting up on the rocks waiting for someone to throw them a fish.. when you would throw one to one lion another one would start barking at you to get your attention, it was really comical and I sent Noel for another 5.00 worth of fish as we felt sorry for a little sea lion that was being bullied.
Next was the Dolphin show - and it still poured rain... We love dolphins and the show was good but no where near as fun as the Shamu show. When we finished this it was around 6pm and the tour was over. I thanked Tim and gave him a 20.00 tip.. he was a great guide and a lot of fun, also he held my purse everytime I went on a ride just like a husband. Noel loved him because of the ponchos.
The one show I really wanted to see was "Pet's Ahoy" but it did not start till 7:15pm - we walked around a bit and Noel jumped in every puddle she could find. I was incredibly uncomfortable with my wet clothes underneath a plastic poncho with rain pouring down on me - but made the best of it. We stopped for an ice cream and sat in the pouring rain to eat it... half way through Noel's ice cream she stopped eating it and I could tell something was wrong... she had suddenly started getting chills.. it was quite cool out and windy, the combination of the ice cream and being soaked had taken it's toll on her and she suddenly wanted to go back to the Hotel.. I asked her if she could wait another 30 minutes until Pet's Ahoy and she said no she was too cold and she felt sick.. she had goosebumps up her arms and legs.
Earlier in the day she had seen a dolphin towel in a store that she loved so I suggested buying the dolphin towel to wrap around her and staying for the show. She agreed and it worked really well to warm her up. We went into the theatre about 20 minutes before the show started. I LOVED this show... it is short and there are no whales in it... but it is funny and clever, cats, dogs, rats, skunk, pigs, birds - really good show - see it if you can. Similar to Animal Planet live at Universal - really a fun time for pet lovers, the cats are hilarious. I am so glad we stayed to see it.
Then we walked to the front of sea world and there were cabs waiting, Noel asked when we were having dinner?
apparently she has recovered from her illness.
I did not feel like going anywhere or doing anything I just wanted to get back to the hard rock and dry off - I saw a McDonalds in the distance and had the driver go through the drive-thru. Noel was happy, I was happy and here I am now in my nice warm Hard Rock Robe and Noel has gone to the lounge to see what sweets are out tonight.
By the way, turndown service tonight included hard rock key chains as pillow gifts. Also as you recall yesterday I had a cabana booked in the afternoon when that severe storm blew in, there was a message on my phone that it had been credited back to my account as I only used it for about 90 minutes and didn't touch any of the drinks in the fridge, very nice of them as there are no gurantees on weather.
Today was long and tiring, the rain put a bit of a damper on it (forgive the pun) but you can't let things like this get you down.
I recommend the Adventure Express Tour it cost $80.00 for adults.. it is definately worth it
-large water - 3.50,
-food for animals - 15.00
-roastbeef/cheesecake - 15.00+
-large bottle pepsi - 2.50
-poncho? - 5.00?
Petting a penguin - priceless
No line for Kraken, journey to Atlantis & Arctic Adventure - priceless
Best seats in the house for Shamu, Dolphin & Clyde & Seymore -priceless
Reserved Seating for lunch - priceless
6 hour guided tour - wow!
Tomorrow we are going to take it a bit easier, so until tomorrow... goodnight from the Hard Rock.
Today is our Sea World "Adventure Express Tour" at 11:00am. We have to check in at 10:30 so it is a good day to sleep in... ahhhhh.. Our wake up call is "James Brown" at the late hour of 9:00am. By 9:30am we were having breakfast in the lounge and for the first time there were tables available ~ the later you go the better, it seems.
At 10:00am we caught a cab in front of the hotel and you know how everyone has a twin somewhere? Well, the bell-woman gave me a double take when I came through the doors and said "What happened? did you forget something in your room"? I said no and that I had just come out - and she said "But I got you and your daughter a cab for Sea World an hour ago"
All day long at Sea World I kept looking for my twin.. the closest I came was Shamu
Okay.. so back to the day. We checked in at 10:30am at the Sea World tour desk and was told to meet our guide "Tim" at 10:55am. We also at this time picked our lunch which was hard because we were full from breakfast - but Noel picked the Hot Dog Meal with Chocolate cake and I picked the Roast Beef Sandwich with Cheesecake. We had a drink at a shady table and watched some birds begging for food. I had never been to SeaWorld before - the closest we came was last summer when we picked up our transfer to Discovery Cove from out front. While we waited for our start time I had a look a the park map.. quite a big place with many differnt shows and attractions, a Luau aDine with Shamu dinner venue & a dine with sharks dinner. There is also a new "waterfront" section with shopping and dining.
At 10:55 we met Tim and the other members of our tour, there was a family of 4 from Maryland, a family of 5 from New Jersey, a Dad with his little girl we all fondly refered to as "The Screamer" and Noel and I. The family from New Jersey was a hoot, The grandfather~Ron, his
son~Ron, Ron's wife~Rhonda, their son~Ronnie and of course Grandma Rhoda.. we had the biggest laugh at this.
Tim gave us cool V.I.P. lanyards and large, heavy, bottles of water which of course I ended up lugging around for hours. Our first stop was Wild Arctic Expedition... this is a simulator ride where you are in a helicopter in the Arctic. This helicopter has "whisper" mode so you can silently creep up on unsuspecting polar bears. It also has "Scuba" mode so you can fly underwater and view narwhales & whales but watch out for the avalanche. When you exit this simulator ride you are in the polar bear exhibit and can view them above or below the water from another chamber, next to it where the beluga whales and the walruses... we really enjoyed this exhibit.
Next we went to the penguin exhibit but entered through the back way to a behind the scenes area where we took turns touching a cute penguin. Seriously, these things are sweet, nevermind touch it - I wanted to pick it up and hug it.. but that was not allowed so I just took a photo instead.
Next was the Shamu Show and we had reserved seats in the last row of the "Soak Zone" this was an excellent and fun show and even the pre-show was great. We did get a bit wet - but not too bad at all... I would go see this show again... first rate.
By now it was after 1pm and time for our included lunch which we selected earlier, we headed for the Anheiser Bush (spelling) hospitality centre passing the Clydesdale horses along the way. Lunch here was excellent, real roast beef- not deli stuff on a nice fresh bread with potato salad. Noel's hot dog came with chips, the other selections looked good too Ron and Ron had the Turkey Club while Ronnie and Rhonda had the chicken Caesar, Rhoda had the Ham and cheese and everyone agreed lunch was great. You could also have samples of beer but I just stuck to ice tea, Noel had a pepsi in a huge bottle that I also lugged around. By the way - we had reserved seating here as well and the place was mobbed so I appreciated that.
Now that we were nice and full it was time to ride Kraken. We were supposed to be going to feed the stingrays but a storm was yet again blowing in ~ Dark Clouds and thunder in the distance - Tim decided to get the rides out of the way in case they closed. Noel was just a hair under the height requirement line for kraken so she had to stay with Ronnie and Tim while the rest of us rode. The screamer had finally fallen asleep in her stroller so we all tip toed around her and onto the ride. Kraken was very much like duelling dragons but has a misty foggy section like the hulk... fun ride.
Next was Journey to Atlantis and both Noel and Ronnie were tall enough so they stopped pouting.. this ride is sort of like Splash Mountain but the theming is no where as good however, after the big splash drop at the end and you think it is all over you start going up a hill again for another splashy drop... Noel loved this.
As we were coming off Journey to Atlantis they were announcing that they were stopping the ride due to lightning, it was very dark and starting to spit, I could have hugged Tim for taking us to the rides early. On this tour you go straight to the front of the line for everything - it's a good way to see all the main attractions in one day with no hassle.
Then we went back to feed the stingrays and were all given cups full of squid and shrimp, they are very large and sort of suck the food out of your fingers... it was neat to touch them they are spongy and squishy.
The storm came crashing in around us now - lightning, thunder, heavy rain, the works... Tim lead us to the Clyde and Seamore show where we had nice reserved seating in a dry area - however we were all drenched at this point. After we were seated Tim disappeared and returned with Sea World Ponchos for all of us - better late than never. Clyde and Seamore was a fun show better than Sinbad at IOA - we had a good laugh and it was still pouring when it was over. Tim had a hard time distinguishing us from the millions of other people wearing ponchos.. Noel suddenly noticed I was wearing one and laughed her head off at me, strangly I have never worn one before.
It continued to pour as we went to our next two stops which were feeding the dolphins and feeding the sea lions. Again we were given trays of food - I noticed they cost 5.00 a tray.. so Noel and I each used 15.00 worth of food for the animals. The sea lions were hilarious. They were sitting up on the rocks waiting for someone to throw them a fish.. when you would throw one to one lion another one would start barking at you to get your attention, it was really comical and I sent Noel for another 5.00 worth of fish as we felt sorry for a little sea lion that was being bullied.
Next was the Dolphin show - and it still poured rain... We love dolphins and the show was good but no where near as fun as the Shamu show. When we finished this it was around 6pm and the tour was over. I thanked Tim and gave him a 20.00 tip.. he was a great guide and a lot of fun, also he held my purse everytime I went on a ride
just like a husband. Noel loved him because of the ponchos.The one show I really wanted to see was "Pet's Ahoy" but it did not start till 7:15pm - we walked around a bit and Noel jumped in every puddle she could find. I was incredibly uncomfortable with my wet clothes underneath a plastic poncho with rain pouring down on me - but made the best of it. We stopped for an ice cream and sat in the pouring rain to eat it... half way through Noel's ice cream she stopped eating it and I could tell something was wrong... she had suddenly started getting chills.. it was quite cool out and windy, the combination of the ice cream and being soaked had taken it's toll on her and she suddenly wanted to go back to the Hotel.. I asked her if she could wait another 30 minutes until Pet's Ahoy and she said no she was too cold and she felt sick.. she had goosebumps up her arms and legs.
Earlier in the day she had seen a dolphin towel in a store that she loved so I suggested buying the dolphin towel to wrap around her and staying for the show. She agreed and it worked really well to warm her up. We went into the theatre about 20 minutes before the show started. I LOVED this show... it is short and there are no whales in it... but it is funny and clever, cats, dogs, rats, skunk, pigs, birds - really good show - see it if you can. Similar to Animal Planet live at Universal - really a fun time for pet lovers, the cats are hilarious. I am so glad we stayed to see it.
Then we walked to the front of sea world and there were cabs waiting, Noel asked when we were having dinner?
apparently she has recovered from her illness.I did not feel like going anywhere or doing anything I just wanted to get back to the hard rock and dry off - I saw a McDonalds in the distance and had the driver go through the drive-thru. Noel was happy, I was happy and here I am now in my nice warm Hard Rock Robe and Noel has gone to the lounge to see what sweets are out tonight.
By the way, turndown service tonight included hard rock key chains as pillow gifts. Also as you recall yesterday I had a cabana booked in the afternoon when that severe storm blew in, there was a message on my phone that it had been credited back to my account as I only used it for about 90 minutes and didn't touch any of the drinks in the fridge, very nice of them as there are no gurantees on weather.
Today was long and tiring, the rain put a bit of a damper on it (forgive the pun) but you can't let things like this get you down.
I recommend the Adventure Express Tour it cost $80.00 for adults.. it is definately worth it
-large water - 3.50,
-food for animals - 15.00
-roastbeef/cheesecake - 15.00+
-large bottle pepsi - 2.50
-poncho? - 5.00?
Petting a penguin - priceless
No line for Kraken, journey to Atlantis & Arctic Adventure - priceless
Best seats in the house for Shamu, Dolphin & Clyde & Seymore -priceless
Reserved Seating for lunch - priceless
6 hour guided tour - wow!
Tomorrow we are going to take it a bit easier, so until tomorrow... goodnight from the Hard Rock.
What is the weather forecast for the rest of the week? We are all packed and ready to go!!
