We started off that morning with a pink flamingo-shaped paddle boat ride around the little lake that was on the resort property.
Emma loved for me and Ken to reach over and grab seaweed for her to hold – and once we told her that the fishes and turtles eat it, she loved throwing it back.
After we Ken paddled around for a while, we went back and cooled off at the small waterpark that was also on the resort property.
I cannot get this girl to jump in the pool because she doesn’t want to get her face wet, and washing her hair is WWIII, but this place that constantly pelts water in her face? Oh this, she is totally fine with.
I really didn’t take that many pictures here, because the kids at the top that control the water guns? They will shoot you, no matter how old or young you are or what kind of camera you are carrying.
Later that same day … while Emma was taking an epic nap, Ken discovered that Sea World gives discounts for tickets bought after 3pm. We knew that it wouldn’t be a place where we’d be able to stay all.day.long. so we decided to do that and go once she woke up.
Ken almost wanted to boycott due to the trainer death a few months ago, but I’m of the mindset that now that these animals are in captivity, there’s really nothing we can do about it. They can’t be released into the wild or they’ll die (except for on Free Willy … episodes one, two, three, and four or however many they’ve made). I don’t want to get into the whole discussion of animal parks and zoos, because I have mixed feelings about it myself, but I’m glad Emma gets a chance to see animals she would otherwise never get to see in real life.
Emma’s favorite thing out of all of the parks were the rides. She is totally fearless, and kids twice her age were crying on the same rides that she was laughing hysterically on.
This series makes me laugh EVERY time I look at it. Her and Ken rode this crab ride called The Flying Fiddler, which lifted them to more than 20 feet in the air. At the height of the ride, it begins jumping in a vertical descent in a quick series of short drops.
I have no idea why no one fixed her arms, and she was literally screaming with laughter, but I can only imagine how much fun she would have had if she had been in her seat correctly! There were several of us spectators down below who were literally crying we were laughing so hard.
The main thing we learned about Emma … the higher and faster it goes, the more she likes it.
And I really don’t like high or fast-dropping rides, so I foresee a LOT of roller coaster riding in Ken’s future. But currently? He’s the big daddy riding the kiddie rides, and I really really love that about him.
In the dolphin nursery, there were 2 pregnant mamas. One of them kept swimming around in circles. Around and around and around. She’d flip her tail every once in a while, and I imagined that she was getting antsy. Anxious. Ready to meet her baby.
And I said to myself, “I feel ya, mama. I feel ya.”
Since Emma took a voracious nap, we ended the day by attending the nighttime Shamu show, and it was magical with all the lights and colors.
Overall, Sea World was a much better experience than the Magic Kingdom for us, and if you’re not going to ride a lot of rides or spend a lot of time at the exhibits, then I highly recommend the Twilight Ticket (although these tickets will only last through Labor Day). I think in general, Sea World has fewer people than any of the Disney parks, but it was really quite dead compared to what we experienced at Magic Kingdom. And that was perfect for us.
I was not compensated or given tickets by any parks or resorts while on this trip – no one that I’ve mentioned even knows who we are.
{ 6 comments }
