Christmas Vacation 2008: Day Three
Destination: Sea World
(So I'm a little late, but pretend I blogged each day after our adventures :)
Today we went to Sea World to visit Shamu and friends. We got there shortly after the park opened and stayed all day long…almost until the park closed! It was super fun especially since the only thing at Sea World that I remembered was the Shamu show. I didn’t realize (or remember) how many other animal attractions and things there were! We let the little ones guide our visit and we made sure to see most of the animal shows from Shamu and friends (he was our first stop) to Sea Lions to Dolphins to Sharks. They had some really neat shows that were funny to watch and we got some great pictures. We spent time hopping from ride to ride, the little ones on the mini coaster and us big kids on the "Kraken". Perhaps this was one of the best coasters I’ve been on. It’s fast and there’s a lot of loops, but the best part was how smooth it rode. Unlike several others, it doesn’t knock you around f
rom side to side so there are no headaches when you are finished. And the line wasn’t all that bad either. We took the kids up in the jungle gym that consisted of cargo nets and slides and “pipes” that were suspended high in the air. At first Luke wasn’t sure about it and wanted to hold on tight to his Aunties, but upon getting off when he heard someone ask, “Do you want to do that again?” he gleefully replied, “I do! I do!” So, Daddy and Uncle Jer took him the second time. Our poor knees…but it was so fun. Sea World was decorated for Christmas and blasting Christmas songs throughout the whole park. It was awesome and very pretty. It was very hot and there was a lot of people there today, but we had a great time. We also had a special tour and went “behind the scenes” of Shamu and the Shark Encounter. In this guided tour, we got to see the back half of the Shamu arena where the whales swim around and the trainers work. There are several pools for the whales to swim between while they wait to put on the big show. Erin and I decided that we would like to put in our application to swim with Shamu but quickly learned that there is a rigorous swim test to pass before y
ou can get a job there. One that involves swimming 50 yards underwater holding your breath and retrieving a brick at the bottom of the pool, 28 feet below the surface. You have to be at least 18, pass the swim test and then be able to give a speech at the end of the test. (You know, to see if you could breathe still.) Well, I don’t think I would be able to land a job with Shamu and even if I did, you have to spend 3 years in training before you’re even allowed to get in the water with the mammal. Yes mammal, not a fish. After touring the backstage of Shamu, we went to tour the backstage of the Shark Encounter where we saw several sharks swimming around. We also saw stingrays mingling about and had the chance to touch some small sharks. No thanks. There was also a tank with “shark fetuses” still in the sacs that we could see. Interesting. Behind the Shark Encounter backstage was the “behind the scenes” of the Kraken. Awesome. Once the tour ended we headed on to the next exhibit…more animals. We actually walked through the Shark Encounter building through the tunnel that we could see from up above when we went backstage. We then went on to see the Sea Lion show with Seamore and Clyde who took over Pirate Island and it ended with a huge, fat walrus shaking it’s booty. I mean huge. After that show, we wandered 
over to see the dolphin show where we sat in the splash zone, but luckily didn’t get wet. Score one for us! After the dolphin show we hurried back to Shamu’s stage for the Christmas Show called Miracles. It was really neat as it was in the dark and they used lots of colored lights and Christmas music to give it high energy. This time we sat in the splash zone. (Our first trip to Shamu at the beginning of the day we sat in the “dry” zone. It was great.) This was not such a great idea as this show was like their grand finale. We manage to make it through most of the show, song after song, whale trick after whale trick without getting wet. But we didn’t get off the hook that easy. During the last song, ol’ Shamu and his friends started splashing the audience section by section. Once wasn’t too bad, twice was ok, but the darn animal kept on flicking his tail causing gallons and gallons of water to come flying out over the crowd, drenching us and many others around us. This was not too fun. Especially since the camera was out and the water seemed to wrap around us when we turned away as the water came flying. Nothing could save us except to get up and run out. It was fun…except the wet part because it was the end of the night and it was turning cool and we had to walk back to the c
ar in wet clothes. Yuck. Some thought it was funny, others not so much. By this time we were all certainly ready to head home for hot showers, pajamas and dinner…which ended up being buffalo wings at midnight!
rom side to side so there are no headaches when you are finished. And the line wasn’t all that bad either. We took the kids up in the jungle gym that consisted of cargo nets and slides and “pipes” that were suspended high in the air. At first Luke wasn’t sure about it and wanted to hold on tight to his Aunties, but upon getting off when he heard someone ask, “Do you want to do that again?” he gleefully replied, “I do! I do!” So, Daddy and Uncle Jer took him the second time. Our poor knees…but it was so fun. Sea World was decorated for Christmas and blasting Christmas songs throughout the whole park. It was awesome and very pretty. It was very hot and there was a lot of people there today, but we had a great time. We also had a special tour and went “behind the scenes” of Shamu and the Shark Encounter. In this guided tour, we got to see the back half of the Shamu arena where the whales swim around and the trainers work. There are several pools for the whales to swim between while they wait to put on the big show. Erin and I decided that we would like to put in our application to swim with Shamu but quickly learned that there is a rigorous swim test to pass before y
ou can get a job there. One that involves swimming 50 yards underwater holding your breath and retrieving a brick at the bottom of the pool, 28 feet below the surface. You have to be at least 18, pass the swim test and then be able to give a speech at the end of the test. (You know, to see if you could breathe still.) Well, I don’t think I would be able to land a job with Shamu and even if I did, you have to spend 3 years in training before you’re even allowed to get in the water with the mammal. Yes mammal, not a fish. After touring the backstage of Shamu, we went to tour the backstage of the Shark Encounter where we saw several sharks swimming around. We also saw stingrays mingling about and had the chance to touch some small sharks. No thanks. There was also a tank with “shark fetuses” still in the sacs that we could see. Interesting. Behind the Shark Encounter backstage was the “behind the scenes” of the Kraken. Awesome. Once the tour ended we headed on to the next exhibit…more animals. We actually walked through the Shark Encounter building through the tunnel that we could see from up above when we went backstage. We then went on to see the Sea Lion show with Seamore and Clyde who took over Pirate Island and it ended with a huge, fat walrus shaking it’s booty. I mean huge. After that show, we wandered 
over to see the dolphin show where we sat in the splash zone, but luckily didn’t get wet. Score one for us! After the dolphin show we hurried back to Shamu’s stage for the Christmas Show called Miracles. It was really neat as it was in the dark and they used lots of colored lights and Christmas music to give it high energy. This time we sat in the splash zone. (Our first trip to Shamu at the beginning of the day we sat in the “dry” zone. It was great.) This was not such a great idea as this show was like their grand finale. We manage to make it through most of the show, song after song, whale trick after whale trick without getting wet. But we didn’t get off the hook that easy. During the last song, ol’ Shamu and his friends started splashing the audience section by section. Once wasn’t too bad, twice was ok, but the darn animal kept on flicking his tail causing gallons and gallons of water to come flying out over the crowd, drenching us and many others around us. This was not too fun. Especially since the camera was out and the water seemed to wrap around us when we turned away as the water came flying. Nothing could save us except to get up and run out. It was fun…except the wet part because it was the end of the night and it was turning cool and we had to walk back to the c
ar in wet clothes. Yuck. Some thought it was funny, others not so much. By this time we were all certainly ready to head home for hot showers, pajamas and dinner…which ended up being buffalo wings at midnight!
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1 comments:
Awesome!! Sounds like a great great day!! Thanks for all the details! I can't wait to go there someday!
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