Photo TR: Seaworld Orlando 8/13/10

Rastuso · September 2, 2010

For part one of the trip at Star Wars Celebration V, go here:

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=56606

TR: Seaworld 8/13/10

As part of a great deal we got for going to Discovery Cove, we got entry to Seaworld (and we chose Busch Gardens as our bonus park). I don’t know how much it was when it opened, but it was not bad at all. I paid $150 as a non-swimmer with dolphins. It is essentially a 15 second pull form the dolphin, and a few brief pettings. Not worth essentially the $80 upcharge. So, for $150 I got a DC day, and two weeks of Seaworld and Busch.

This was our first day in the sun, and I was a bit concerned. It was brutal before the rope drop even. Of course, we headed straight to Manta. A nice cool queue with fish led to an open station. We hopped right on for my son’s first flying coaster. He loved it. It is good, but nothing great. The water flyover is cool, and I did get splashed on the second ride. The pretzel is still mega forceful, but the ride as a whole was less so. It seemed short and slow.

We then quickly ran back to Journey to Atlantis. I was afraid there would be long lines for the last Friday of Summer season, but they weren’t bad. JtA was a walkon, so we did it twice. I don’t recall the ride much, but it seemed to have been rethemed quite a bit. A bit hokey, but a decent dark ride section. On our second ride in the front row we got SOAKED. Water just poured in. I was afraid my phone was damaged, but luckily it wasn’t.

We hit Kraken for one credit run for my son. Just another basic B&M sitdown looper. We saw the manatees, and then went to the sharks. Some incredibly annoying Brazilians were on the conveyor next to us damn near yelling at each other.

I hate people.

We were already almost through our water supply. It was hot, and our frozen water was almost totally thawed already. Our Hampton room had a kickass extra freezer section, so we had plenty of totally frozen water. That's my #1 tip for Orlando trips, stop at Walmart right after the airport and buy tons of bottles of Zepher Hills spring water. Freeze a bunch each night to take with you to the parks.

We then went to the sealion show. The clown mime that was showing people to their seats was a hell of a lot funnier than the show was. The show was clearly aimed at small kids, with no crossover to adults.

We fed the sealions. They reminded us of our fat cat. They were grunting constantly, and seem to never stop eating. They would flip the fish around in their mouths a few time before eating. Seemingly to get it head first. You had to watchout, though, or a bird, with an impossibly scrawny neck would fly up and grab the fish.

We decided to hit the next Shamu show. It was pretty lame. I don’t know if they tamed it after the death or what, but San Antonio’s was much better as I recall, including one of them jumping WAY up out of the water to hit a ball. We then wanted to eat, as did everyone leaving the Shamu show, making the line super long. So we hit the Shamu coaster real quick that had a one train wait, surprisingly. Nothing special at all. We then got some decent chicken fingers, but there was no dipping sauce?!? We got a refillable cup good for here and Busch Gardens. At about the 4th refill, it would pay off, so I figured it was a good investment.

We decided to hit the Arctic, but skipped the simulator. They show the simulator film in a stationary theater to everyone anyway. I recall it was a poor simulator. Thankfully, the arctic area was very cold. We saw the walruses get fed, and enjoyed to chill. The building was pretty vacant. The crowds were very light all day.

My wife wanted to see the acrobat show, so we headed there and ended up with front row center seats. The show was pretty good. And a lot cheaper than a Cirque show (it was free afterall) without the creepy clowns. It had very good production values. It was a little mermaid type story with guy commiting to beastiality at the end. The cast posed for pictures after the show.

We decided to call it a day. We got some tea in our refill cup, but it was just vile. It seems like lots of places filter the nasty Orlando water now, but they didn’t for the tea. It was vile with sulfur. I was too tired to walk back to get a Manta penny I forgot about earlier. Only two days in, and I was already pretty tired. Time to crash at the Hampton.

-RO