Photo TR: bert does central Florida

[bert425]

and I HAD to. . it's CHER!

 

Back at work. . so taking me a little longer to update. . likely won't get to Days 4/5 until the weekend. . but here's Day 3!

 

Day 3:: Weeki Wachee and the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa!

 

Once again, slept very well (and because we had told the hotel that we didn’t need to have Housekeeping but every 3rd day, was pleased to discover that I got 250 extra points per day on my Marriott rewards account (woot!)).

 

Today it started out gorgeous with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky, but it was gonna be a HOT one – it was already in the 90’s and with the heat of the day the forecast was ~ 40% chance of late afternoon storms – so perfect for our “non-park” day.

 

This was our non-theme-park day, so I grabbed the swim suits, and the beach bag, and we headed out on I75 to spend the morning at Weeki Wachee Springs: an old school Florida tourist destination, that’s most famous for the underwater Mermaid show in the natural springs. The State took it over a few years ago, and added some “improvements” such as some waterslides and a “lazy river” (a roped off section) on the swimming side to make it a bigger draw, but they also still have the Mermaid shows, a Boat ride up the crystal clear river, an animal show, some nice landscaping/gardens. . and admission is only $13.

 

In researching, I had found out that the place hits capacity very early on Summer days (it’s a smallish site, and with the swimming option lots of camp groups and kids flock to the place), so even tho it was a Tuesday, we wanted to be there for the 9am opening.

 

It was about an hour drive from Tampa, down some very scenic (and very Florida-ish) 2-lane roads. . my favorite area was passing thru “Land-O-Lakes”. . we looked for it, but didn’t see any butter plant, so maybe it doesn’t come from there? J And we arrived at Weeki Wachee Springs a little after 9am. The lot was still 2/3rd empty, but the line to get in stretched all the way down the side of the springs and almost to the main street. I was a little concerned, but the locals we spoke to in line (there with their grandkids to swim) said that as long as there was parking that we’d still get in, and typically during the week they don’t shut down entry until after 11, so that made me feel very optimistic.

 

We ended up taking almost 45 minutes in the line just to get tickets and in – but the time flew chatting w/ those around us, and taking pictures, and got in the gates just before the 10am 1st Mermaid show, so we went straight for that and got into the theatre (with good center stage seating that amazingly was available) with about 2 minutes to spare.

They run two shows, one themed to the story of the little mermaid (more for kids), and the one was saw, which is all about the history of Weeki Wachee, how the mermaids train, and the stars that have visited the springs over the past 50+ years. The curtains come up, and we’re looking into crystal clear blue water.. with fish, and turtles (who wanted to be involved in the show, LOL), and swimming up from behind the rocks – the famous Weeki Wachee mermaids!

 

Ok, it is kitschy, and silly, and slightly dumb. . . and they did a whole “tribute” section with the Mermaids holding a flag while “Proud to be an American” blasted over the speakers – but damn if I didn’t have a huge grin on my face for the entire 25 minute show. As I mentioned, a turtle got involved and kept coming over to the main Mermaid performer, but she just smiled and shooed it away (it kept coming back). . and the “Scene Changes” with “bubble curtains” coming up from below to completely cover the viewing windows are a sight to behold.

In addition to the Turtles and the fish, there are apparently also Manatees that live in the springs (and sometimes mimic the mermaids movements), but we didn’t see one during our performance.

 

Highly recommended to experience at least once, and a true old-school roadside attraction.

 

After the show, you can meet one of the mermaids and pose for a picture with her – so of COURSE I made us get in line to do that. (grin).

 

As we hadn’t eaten anything thus far today, we stopped at a snack shop that overlooks the springs, and got pretzels and water, and sat on the deck and watched the folks swimming and coming down the slides (and the park did hit capacity, and they stopped letting folks in when they ran out of parking around this time).

 

An aside – I wasn’t aware that Florida has such a relationship with Pretzels and Beer-infused-Cheese. . but practically *every* place we went, this was on a menu. . . so I guess there are a lot of German descendants in Central Florida?

 

Anywhoo, after finishing the snack (it was good), we considered swimming. After all, I had schlepped the beach bag with me. . .but decided that the water in the natural springs was maybe a bit too chilly (even tho the water in Barton Springs back in Austin is actually colder, and we’ve swam in that), so instead headed to the boat dock.

Very long line .. .remember, they had closed for capacity by this point, and seemed to be running only 1 boat. The sign by the dock said that the boat runs every ½ hour, and that it has a capacity of ~30 people. I knew from the printed schedule that the drivers take a ½ hour lunch from 12-12:30, so after not even getting close to being on the 11am boat, and seeing that we weren’t gonna get on the 11:30 one, we did the math: no boat from 12-12:30, we wouldn’t get on the 12:30 one, so the earliest we’d get on would be 1pm. . . and did we really want to hang out for an hour and a half for a boat ride? We decided that no, we did not (tho we would have if they had been glass bottom boats, but they did not appear to be).

 

We also passed on the Animal show, since we knew we’d be seeing similar at BGT, and SeaWorld most likely. . so instead decided to wander the grounds for a bit, and then head back to the Hotel base camp. After all, the only thing I really had wanted to do was the Mermaid show, and we had accomplished that.

 

The grounds are beautiful, with quite a bit of shade – which was good, since it was getting really hot. Lots of opportunities spread throughout the grounds to pose for pictures: you can pose as Poseidon, or as the Queen of the Oceans, or riding a Manatee, Turtle, Croc, or (my favorite) as a Mermaid!

 

Peacocks and ducks strolling around the grounds as well.. very pretty.

 

They also have a canoe rental place there, so one could do a canoe up the river too. . but we didn’t check the price on that.

 

The onsite store was crap, really disappointingly crappy – selling mainly stuff directed at kids (mostly princess or pirate/skull themed, since the water portion is called “Buccaneer Bay”) so I was very disappointed that I couldn’t get a mermaid shirt for me, or even a magnet! Luckily, when I commented on the LACK of Mermaid Themed stuff, the lady asked me if I saw the small store at the ticket booth, that’s run by the State? She wasn’t kidding, it was a VERY small store – an 8x8 section with a few shirts hanging on a rack behind the handicapped entrance.

But guess what? This small store did have “Friends of Weeki Wachee” Mermaid T-shirts – at least 3 different types (Nick and I each got one) as well as magnets. So if you go, and want a mermaid shirt, don’t miss that little corner by the front entry.

 

It was a fairly quick stop, but a great visit to Weeki Wachee on this Tuesday – tho I do sorta regret not swimming a little bit. . we should have.

It was close to Noon, so we headed back to Tampa, for a quick stop at the hotel to drop stuff off.

 

We got back to the hotel close to 1pm, and planned the next move. The day was still beautiful, but a bit hot. .did we want to drive the ~45 minutes to St. Petersburg for the Chihuly and Dali museums? Or maybe go the Hard Rock Tampa (run by Seminole tribe) . . since we both love Music memorabilia, and I had heard that the Hard Rock had four complete KISS outfits on display (and I’m a *huge* KISS fan. What settled it, was asking at the hotel and being told how good the food was at the Hard Rock (remember, we hadn’t eaten much today yet, and it was lunch time).

I had seen reviews online about the food being good, but the front desk confirmed it, and a quick look online showed multiple choices there (including a Hard Rock Café, a Sushi place, a diner type restaurant, and a buffet place).

 

So we hopped in the car and onto I75 for the ~10 minute drive to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The are doing a bunch of construction there (looked like maybe they are adding a new tower of rooms?), but we found free parking, and just happened to come in at the Valet entrance near the Player’s club.

Now, Online had also told me that if I signed up for the player’s card, we could save $5 each on the buffet. Nick did NOT want a buffet, and he absolutely did not want to “sign up for more crap” so he refused the Player’s card sign up, but I went for it, and we headed thru the casino to go look at the restaurant choices.

 

The place is WAY bigger than I was expecting with what seemed like thousands of slots, and tons of table games. Lots of Music Memorabilia was all over the place too, including the KISS costumes, that were at the 4 corners of the central bar in glass display cases (drool). So we stopped for some quick pictures – I had asked at the Players Club if it was OK to take pictures in the casino, and they said “absolutely! We want you to take pictures of the artifacts!”

The menu at the Hard Rock Café was the standard one, so we passed (tho I was able to pick up a gift for a friend at the store there – he collects the Hard Rock pins), and we didn’t want to do fancy (we were in shorts and T-shirts).

The coffee shop looked good, but expensive. Since I had the $5 off for the buffet, “Fresh Harvest”, meaning that for lunch it would only be $15 for me - we headed up the escalators to check it out.

 

Wow, it was not what I was expecting. . set up like a food court, but with live cooking at each station with extremely high quality food choices. I was sold, and talked Nick into it.

 

from the website:

Our 7 Live-Action Kitchens at Fresh Harvest:

Asian Fair - Sushi, Dim Sum, Asian specialty items, and two traditional soups.

Raw Bar - Oysters and clams on the half shell, peel and eat shrimp, crawfish, and two sea food soups.

The Grill - Grilled meats and vegetables, Brazilian style carving, stir fry to order, weekly specials.

Green Grocer - Soup of the day, assorted salads and a salad of the day.

American Bounty - Carving station, American classics including fried chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes.

Cucina Italiana - A variety of pizzas, antipasti and pastas, pasta to order, omelettes all day, every day.

Sweets a la Mode - An island of deserts. Ice cream Sunday bar, hot and cold homemade desserts, individual sweets, cookies, crepes, and sugar free options.

The Asian Dim Sum was amazing, and I hit the raw bar hard with fantastic oysters & clam chowder. The stand out was the blackened Salmon, grilled to order on the Mongolian grill (of the Grill station). . but the stuffed pizza was also decent, as were the veggies at the American bounty station. The Pretzels with beer-cheese were good too. . and yeah, we ate way too many of the deserts!

 

HIGHLY recommended if you’re in Tampa, swing by the Hard Rock just for the Fresh Harvest Buffet.

 

So we waddled out of the buffet, and made our way across the casino, looking at memorabilia and trying to decide what we wanted to play. Even the “low” slots were expensive, with some of them costing $4 a pull if you played all lines. My game of choice is $1 Wheel of Fortune. .which typically in Vegas is $3 max pull, or if you’re playing the quarter version is $1.25 max pull. Here, it was 5 lines, so $5 per pull. I decided to play anyways, and after spending about $40 got a spin that net me $75.. . was gonna get up, but decided to play a few more, and the very next pull got me a spin that hit $300. So yeah, THEN I cashed out and walked away. . LOL.

 

I very quickly dropped over $100 on a 2cents machine (really. .it was something like $8 a pull when you played max lines, and I hit NOTHING), but we did find some quarter slots – in a section that was walled off, and kind of looked like it used to be the high dollar slots, until they moved them into a separate room. . so we played there for quite a while, never hitting big or losing big..but maintaining.

 

While playing here, one of the pit bosses noticed that Nick wasn’t using a players card and headed over to give him the hard sell to sign up. He refused and I told the guy I had TRIED to get him to sign up, and he wouldn’t do it even for a $5 off buffet! The guy was pushing hard tho, and kept trying to get Nick to sign up.. to the point that when the guy turned to me to convince him to sign up for some comps on the card, Nick said “ok” (just to get him off his back). The guy took Nick’s Driver’s License and went to the table games to log him in and sign him up, and came back a few moments later and told Nick that he had put $10 in comps on his card. So of course, I said, “hey, what about me?? I’m the one that just talked him into signing up?” So I got $5 comps on my card J

 

We wandered to the way back to find some Red/White/Blue 7’s for Nick to play, since he likes that game, and he found some nickel ones. I wandered around looking at the memorabilia there – I have a system that I play with $20 at a time and if I get over $100, then I cash out and play w/ a fresh $20 (that way I make sure I don’t put any winnings back in), and I didn’t want to spend any time with nickel slots, since I didn’t like any of the machines.

 

I did find some quarter machines a few rows over tho, and played there hitting a few $100+ jackpots almost back to back to back J

When we were done for the day, I actually ended up walking out w/ $700 (after coming in 4 hours earlier with $450). . so yeah, I’d say I won big-ish I guess. . LOL.

 

Nick didn’t do very well, but we realize we’re paying for the entertainment, and if you don’t expect to lose, you shouldn’t be playing in the first place. He does tend to get a little pissy tho if I don’t loose too – go figure.

 

Between the 2 of us, we had over $20 in comps on the cards (since the Pit Boss had given us $15 total, remember?). . so we stopped into the Hard Rock store, and used out comps to get a few Toblerones, 3 Dr. Peppers, Lifesavers, and some Juice. Nick didn’t want any of it, but it was basically free money. .why in the world would you NOT use it, especially since we weren’t coming back into the Tampa Hard Rock, and we had a fridge in our room to keep the stuff cold. . right?

 

Oh, and by the time we got back to the Courtyard Marriott? We both had multiple messages from the Seminole Hard Rock Player’s Club in our emails. . heh.

 

It had been a beautiful day, but it was after 5, and the heavy storm clouds were starting to roll in. We decided that even tho we hadn’t swum at Weeki Wachee, we kinda did want to go swimming, so we put on our suits and swam in the Marriott pool for a little bit. About 30 minutes later, We came back up to the room as it was getting ready to pour. Since we both were still stuffed from lunch, and we had the snacks in the room now, we just stayed in for the night and watched TV, read, and watched the storms. . . it was our relaxing night and we had to get up early in the morning anyways to drive to SeaWorld Orlando!

We're here at Weeki Wachee.

but oh my. . LONG line to get in. . guess we'll take some pics while in line.

Noted!

 

Sign near the front gate ticket booth.

This just made me laugh.

Lots of these statues around near the front gates.

We got thru the gates just a few moments before the 1st 10am Mermaid show, and ended up getting good center seats in a very crowded underwater theater

They hide the springs with curtains

center stage!

and the curtains go up. . .

and here come the famous Weeki Wachee Mermaids!

acrobatics!

and the scene transitions happen with this "bubble curtain" effect. . that sometimes took a random fish out with it too

bubbles!

a special tribute to American Heroes.

and a Turtle wanted to get involved

after the show, you can stand in line and meet one of the mermaids (you bet I wanted to stand in line to do so)

while eating our snack, we grabbed a table on the deck, and watched the swimming portion of the Springs.

on the far right, is where the mermaids perform (that small grey sign, says "Mermaid Lagoon"

We ended up not doing the boat trip (the line was too long, since it was so busy), but we did go down to the dock and take some pics of the crystal clear water.

These guys were just roaming around

are they a mixed couple??

spread around the site are opportunities for pics. Nick was a fuddy duddy and wouldn't pose, but I did a few!

 

I'm Poseidon!

I'm the Queen of the Seas!

I'm a Mermaid !

After an hour drive back to Tampa, and a quick stop at the Hotel, we headed over to the Seminole Hard Rock.

Mainly because I'm a HUGE KISS fan, and I had heard they had some of the costumes on display.

 

Gene

Peter

Ace

Paul

Paul from the side

Ace has always been my favorite

But Gene's boots are SO FREAKING COOL up close. .

The Casino is beautiful tho . .this chandelier was on the way up to the restaurant

and looking down from the restaurant into the casino

a nice lit up water feature. .

[Nrthwnd]

Well, now we know where the current avatar comes from...

 

The park looks great, Bert. And I thought the "no public mermaid tails"

was pretty funny.

 

Looking forward to more - and that PRETZEL, too!

[DirkFunk]

Gambling and roadside attractions? Now this is a trip report.

[bert425]

Gambling and roadside attractions? Now this is a trip report.

 

the only thing missing is the alcohol, right??

 

We tried to avoid that, because we were eating our empty calories this trip! (Ice Cream TWICE!). . . .but we saw a ton of people drinking beer -- in the heat! we were surprised.

[TBpony414]

Great TR so far! I like the way you guys come up with a few important things to hit at each location and once you've done them, proceed at a relaxed pace for the rest of the day. I've tried to institute that same mentality recently and it's a work in progress LOL.

 

You look incredible, by the way! Honestly I recognized Nick in the pictures when I first opened the TR and had to go back to look at your previous posts to make sure the other person was you! I've lost a lot of weight a few times in my life. The tricky part is staying consistent with weigh-ins so it doesn't creep back up on you. Congrats and keep it up!

[Nrthwnd]

Ha! I just noticed the Vancouver Aquarium t-shirt you had on there, back then.

 

Cool!

[bert425]

Ha! I just noticed the Vancouver Aquarium t-shirt you had on there, back then.

 

Cool!

 

yep, we love aquariums, and I have Dragon*con friends that live in Vancouver. . so have been to the city several times!

 

(that shirt was from the trip I dragged Nick with me along for my friend's wedding -- they had it on the Island off of Stanley Park, since Neal is in the Military there and they were allowed to use it (the island that was a leper colony, so is off limits usually?).

 

we went on an Alaska cruise the day after attending the wedding

[bert425]

Great TR so far! I like the way you guys come up with a few important things to hit at each location and once you've done them, proceed at a relaxed pace for the rest of the day. I've tried to institute that same mentality recently and it's a work in progress LOL.

 

You look incredible, by the way! Honestly I recognized Nick in the pictures when I first opened the TR and had to go back to look at your previous posts to make sure the other person was you! I've lost a lot of weight a few times in my life. The tricky part is staying consistent with weigh-ins so it doesn't creep back up on you. Congrats and keep it up!

 

thanks!

 

I weighed myself today (since we've been back a week), and I *did* gain back some weight.

 

only 3 lbs. . but man, I fought so hard to lose, it's a dissapointment. . oh well, hopefully I can get it back off quickly.

 

and at the end of the day, I've still lost 67lbs since I started trying (even after gaining back the 3. . . but that -70 was such a nice, round number!)

[bert425]

Day 4: SeaWorld Orlando

 

We knew we had to get up early for the drive to Orlando, but were debating what time we needed to leave.

 

Nick was not comfortable driving back in the dark, so that meant we were not gonna stay for the evening show (shame, as I heard it was good), but if we were going to be headed back to Tampa by 8pm, then I wanted to be there as close to the 9am opening as possible. Orlando was only ~1 hour away, but we thought we might hit some traffic, as it was a Wednesday. The Hotel front desk agreed, and told us to factor in 1 ½ hours to get there in case of traffic, and that at least SeaWorld was on the outskirts of the city, and we wouldn’t have to mess with much commuter or Disney traffic.

 

-- by the way, he was wrong. . coming from Tampa to Orlando on the 4, the exit for SeaWorld is *AFTER* the Disney exits.. so yeah, we hit some traffic – oh well, we had that extra time factored in.

 

The day was starting out beautiful, but was already getting a bit hot. We pulled into the SeaWorld lot close to 9:15, and quickly parked (far out. . looked like it was gonna be a BUSY day), and made our way to the front gates.

 

The queue to get in moved much quicker than the one at BGT, since SeaWorld wasn’t making use of the ‘fingerprint’ scan. . we just scanned the barcode on our ticket, and were in. We even asked about the finger-scan and they said they don’t do that on busy mornings to keep the entrance from getting too backed up.

 

I had gotten a copy of the SeaWorld maps from BGT guest services, so I knew how the park was laid out, but the only two MUST do things – for me at least – were Manta (to be my first “flying” coaster, and Mako). Nick wouldn’t ride any of the coasters at SeaWorld (nor the Sky Tower, due to height, but that was a non-issue since it wasn’t open), so I figured I’d do the two for me first.

 

I tried to not go too fast – no point in tiring Nick out at the start of the day, but as we got to the huge SeaWorld photo op sign just around the corner from Manta, there was a group of ~70-100 Teenagers finishing up their group picture (they looked like a foreign girls soccer team). I said to Nick, “move it, move it!”. .as I knew they would all go right to Manta as soon as the pic was done, and we sped up to get in front of them.

 

The Manta sign showed 15 minute wait, and we tried to get in line, but the cast member at the line wouldn’t let me go in with my shoulder bag. I told her that I was going to just hand it off to Nick, who wasn’t riding, and she said: NO BAGS in line, and I had to buy a “fluffy fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo”. . so I just handed the bag to Nick there, told him to wait for me by the entrance, and got in line just as all those girls came around the corner and got in line right behind me! And of course, not only are there little cubbies to put stuff in at the Manta station, but there were also several other people in line holding shoulder bags/backpacks. . .sigh. . I guess I just happened upon the woman when she wanted to show her authority. . oh well, it all worked out anyways.

 

The Manta line is beautiful, although I breezed thru most of it (stopping to take a pic of the spotted manta rays in the tank in the queue), and made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs, before cast members stop the line to separate into groups for rows. I was on the coaster in no time at all, and OMG. . .flying coasters are now my most favorite thing in the world.

Oh yes, it was uncomfortable (I suspect more for the guys than for the gals) when it first lifts you up into flying position.. but the moment you start moving?. . . just an amazing feeling and it really does feel like you are flying like Superman. The dive over the water is my favorite part of this coaster, but a very close second is the loop that starts off with a dive while you’re on your back looking up at the sky. Just an amazing, amazing, coaster.

 

I would have bought a picture, but he way the camera is loaded, you can’t really tell it’s a flying coaster. . it just looks like a suspended one, so I passed. . and instead just took a few pics on my own after getting off the ride.

 

I met Nick at the entrance gate and tho the idea of getting a re-ride right away was appealing, the wait time had already jumped to 40 minutes, and I was determined to get a ride in on Mako.

We followed the signs to Mako, stopping to snap some pics along the way, and got there with what seemed to be a smallish line for such a new ride. I didn’t even try to have Nick wait with me in line, and just handed off the shoulder bag and got in the queue. Again, it was a beautifully designed queue with some very nice metal sculpture signs & video to look at, and it moved very quickly. Maybe it was a 15 minute wait?

 

I rode near the back, and this ride is a real winner as well. . some absolutely astounding airtime, and the near vertical “dive turn” on way back is just WOW all over. Great addition to the park, and again, shocked the lines weren’t insane as it had just opened. Maybe had something to do with the confusing path to it? (SW did have ‘carnival barker’ castmembers throughout that section of the park on speakers pointing out where entrances were, and how to get to other area..so I guess they know it’s confusing?).

 

One real bonus from the positioning of Mako are the great pics you can get of the lift-hill, and interaction with Kraken from the exit stairs. . so I stopped and took some really good pics on my way out.

 

We had been in the park about 45 minutes by this point and it was ~10:30 am, and I felt bad that Nick hadn’t ridden anything yet. To be honest, tho, SeaWorld doesn’t have more than 5 or so rides in the park and it’s mainly about the sea life. We were getting hungry (hadn’t eat yet that day), so stuck our head into the Shark’s Underwater Grill and Bar, and although the menu looked really good, it seemed a bit too.. . . I dunno. . . “fru-fru” for that early in the day. So we noted it as a possibility for a meal later in the day, and after watching the “feeding” tanks near the entrance – and by the way despite how nice the lady selling the “feed the sharks” food was. .and she WAS super nice, and we very much enjoyed talking to her. . that “shark food” is way overpriced for what they give you . . when you factor in that the sharks in the tank ignored it anyways and the fish in the tank eat all of the food as soon as someone tosses a piece in. Was enjoyable to watch other people doing it, but really, save your money on this shark food J. . . anyways, after watching the feeding tanks, we went into the Shark aquarium exhibit behind the restaurant.

 

While the moving walkway thru the giant tank is very impressive (and fun), the best part of this exhibit to us was the Great White jaws – especially once I noticed the “crawlspace” below the exhibit that lets you get behind the jaws and pose for a picture. Since this is off to the side, everyone else was bypassing these, but you bet both Nick and I got down on hands and knees to crawl behind for pics – and once we started doing that, people realized you COULD do that, and a few other folks came over to that display. We’re trendsetters! LOL

 

Looking at the park schedule, I suggested to Nick that we walk all the way to the far side of the park, to catch the Noon Shamu show, and then we can work our way back thru the park doing everything else, since I had gotten in my two coasters. An added bonus, was that we saw that Pretzel Kitchen was over on that side of the park and suspected it was the same vendor as they had by Falcon’s Fury at BGT (an assumption that is *correct* by the way), so we could get a snack to stop the hunger pangs. Once we had a “carnival barker” give us directions – really, it is VERY confusing to figure out where to go from Mako to get to the other side of the park – we headed over that way.

 

This side of the park was D-E-A-D for the moment, although as it got closer to noon people started pouring across the bridge over the lagoon to get to Shamu Stadium. But where we were walking? Only us and one other family, so it was easy enough to quickly get a Pretzel from the kitchen (and lemme tell you, the Bacon Pretzel was fantastic. . but boy did that Meatball one give it a run for it’s money). It was so early, most of the place wasn’t even open, so instead of sitting in the sun at a hot table, we snacked on the outside register area (under the roof) since the outside registers weren’t open.

 

A quick pit stop to look thru Shamu’s Happy Harbor (a beautiful area, with a beautiful sea-life themed carousel - the SeaWorld parks really do a good job on the kiddie areas), and a little teasing of Nick (“do you want to ride Shamu Express??? It’s a coster you will ride here! Hehe). . we were at Shamu Sadium still about 40 minutes too early for the show.

 

There really didn’t seem to be much to do on this side of the park, other than the kid’s area, since nothing was going on at Bayside Stadium, and the Sea Harbor Pavilions don’t seem to be open to the public (tho there were a bunch of “day camp” groups headed over that way, I suspect for the Education program that SW offers).

 

What was over here tho was something called “Wild Arctic” which had a huge queue area (with almost nobody in line). Since we still had over a ½ hour for the show, we went ahead over to this.

The signs said you could “walk” to the Arctic Station, or take a Helicopter ride there. . so we opted to do the “ride” side. Once we got into the big hallway, we still had no idea what we were doing, since although there was a giant screen, and it appeared the room had been set up as a “hold” room to explain to folks what to do. . . they ushered us all in, shut the back door, and then immediately opened up the front doors to tell us to go “stand on the lights”

 

When I heard that instruction, I said to Nick. . oh, I guess this is like Star Tours motion simulator?. . .and that’s pretty much what it was, although this sucker was much more intense than I had expected. It was just long enough to start to make me nauseous, but just short enough that I didn’t throw up.

Now that could have been because it was warm in the simulator, and it took forever to get going – since one man waited until just before they shut the door to realize that it was going to be moving (the seatbelt they made you put on didn’t give that away??), and wanted off the simulator. . so they had to undo everything and start over after letting him off. . . sheesh.

Anyways, I didn’t throw up, tho I came awful close, and it finished just in time. . . .tho I absolutely loved the sweeping views over the glaciers on the way to the ‘station’.

 

Once you get off the simulator, there’s a few exhibits, including some beautiful Beluga Whales, and some Walrus’ with gigantic tusks – which truly were amazing to see. There’s a very nice store at the exit (exit thru the gift shop!) which was empty, since this side of the park was so deserted. .tho I wasn’t really tempted to buy anything. As well as a “cool down” area with fans, mist spray and chairs (again empty).

 

There’s also a lovely Polar Bear statue here, which I liked enough to snap a photo of. Though it made me realize that there hadn’t been any Polar Bears in the exhibit?? There had been some in the film on the simulator, and there was the statue – so makes me wonder if maybe they had Polar Bears on exhibit at some point, and that has changed?

 

After a quick pit stop, we went to Shamu Stadium .. which really had filled up, but we got good seats (out of splash zone) to watch the show (think it was called “One Ocean”) all about a girl who wants to grow up to be a SeaWorld trainer. . . I think? I dunno. . .the themeing was iffy, but the animals are beautiful to look at, and the stadium is truly impressive with fountains, moving LED television displays, and good soundsystem. So we enjoyed the show, even tho it was quite muggy in the open air, yet covered, stadium.

 

We considered going to the Shamu underwater viewing area, but since we had just seen the show – with the front of the tank clear plexiglass anyways – we didn’t need to stop to get a closer look, so instead we headed over to the Sea Carousel (we love carousels!)

 

I rode an angler fish! But we could NOT figure out what the heck Nick was riding. . maybe a manatee? LOL. . .anyways, one of the better themed carousels we’ve been on. And not much of a crowd there, maybe because the entrance is over in the kids section?

 

We walked back towards the main area of the park, and stopped in to look at the Sea Garden area near the Terrace BBQ. . and we had timed it well, as lots of handlers were out showing off animals. So we got to get up close and personal with an Armadillo – we finally saw a live one! (We’re from Texas, so it’s rare to see one that’s alive, instead of roadkill!). Even got to touch it. As well as a beautiful owl, and some pelicans.

 

In the Sea Garden area, there was also a tree just loaded with colorful Parrots, and so I stopped and took a pic of Nick there. A British family happened to be walking by just then, so I asked the Gentleman if he minded snapping a pic of us. .and he said, “gladly”. .so we posed, he took the pic, and as they are walking off I see him look back and say excitedly to his wife, “look at all those birds in the tree!!!” Uh-Oh. . .LOL. . as I suspected, he got all of us (and a lot of concrete), and only about 1/3rd of the tree. . . .LOL. . he didn’t realize that’s why we were posing in that spot. Oh well. . no biggie, but very funny.

 

Despite all the branding and signs around the park declaring this the Summer Of Mako, there was nothing going on in the Nautilus Theater over by the coaster (it must have just been dark on Wednesday?. .but odd that nothing going on at a theater covered in banners.

 

So we passed by it and continued on to the Sea Lion & Seal area (Pacific Point Preserve) – bypassing the Sea Lion/Otter show. . we have a SeaWorld in San Antonio, and I’m sure it’s a very similar show to the one that played there for years, so we chose not to spend the time doing it. Which turned out to be a good decision, since we got to the Seal Lion & Seal area as they were feeding them tons of fish from buckets, so were able to get up close looks and some great pictures of the animals!

 

After spending some time watching that, we were getting hungry – it was almost 2pm by this point, so the intention was to go to the Antartica: Empire of the Penguin area, and do that, and then eat at the Expedition Café. We weren’t sure what kind of food was in there, as the staff member working the Antarctica attraction simply could not understand my question if the café was a sit down restaurant or a food court type restaurant (and she seemed very, very confused by any question that ANYONE asked her, to be honest)..so I just shook my head and we got in line to ride, rather than walk – since we had no idea what to expect. The line seemed short, but loading was atrocious, and it took almost 40 minutes for what looked like a short line. . but at least most of the line is shaded, and there are cool air vents everywhere. .and once you get thru the doors into the main inside “holding” room, it gets downright chilly! The “Ride” is silly, dumb fun, in a little car that holds 8 people, and it moves along a trackless (fairly lame) dark ride following a little penguin that hatches and gets curious. You can choose to ride either Mild or Wild (we chose Wild), but it seemed that the only difference is that the “Wild” cars spin around a bit during the wind across the frozen tundra scenes. The cars move up and down too. . but nothing very exciting, and I thought the wait didn’t justify the experience – however, when you exit and go into the very cold Penguin area? Ok, THAT was very impressive.

 

If we’d been to the park before, the way to do this is “walk” with the 5-10 minute wait, that lets you walk right to the Penguin area and avoid the rides. I’d guess anyone that’s done the “ride” side once, just does that for any future visits. We did get an answer as to why the castmembers outside were wearing heavy parka’s around their waists – I had thought it was just themeing, but apparently they swap positions throughout the day and so need the jackets for when they work the inside positions.

 

We were super hungry by now, so went into Expedition Café, and were surprised by how long the line was..it was after 2:30pm, not lunch time. .so what the heck??

the line was moving so slow, and honestly, we were a little un-enthusiastic over the menu options. . so we decided to get out of line and head to Spice Mill for Nick to get a hamburger. On the way, we passed a restaurant that looked fairly empty (turned out to be Voyagers Smokehouse, and not only were we not in a bar-b-que mood, but he portions looked way too big for us).

 

Spice Mill turned out to be a good choice, although the line moved slow, and Nick said the burger was just OK. . but my Club Sandwich (with Potato Salad) was really good, and big for the cost. And we were able to sit out on the covered patio by the lake, and not only had a very nice breeze. . but could watch the folks in the Flamingo Paddleboats. We took our time to eat and even stopped to watch the pearl-diver guy (who was drawing a heck of a crowd to watch him dive down into the huge aquarium for the “buy a pearl” store), before heading over towards Journey to Atlantis.

 

They (again) were forcing everyone to use the “fluffy fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo” and since Nick was gonna ride this with me, we had no choice but to head over there.

In the FFBFwMaG area, it was a madhouse. .the line was 10 people deep, and they were showing sold out. . the CastMember in position there seemed completely lost and didn’t know what to do, but she kept shouting. . there are more over by Kraken! I had seen enough (and the line for Journey was long anyways) so we went over by Kraken and got in line to put our stuff in the FFBFwMaG there. . . .when Nick says to me, “look at those clouds. .if you want to ride this coaster, you need to ride it now”

 

I had planned to ride Kraken after we were thru w/ Journey to Atlantis, to let my stomach settle a bit since we had just eaten, but looking at the sky, and at the wait time – which the Castmember said was pretty accurate at 10 minutes, I went ahead and handed Nick the shoulderbag and got in line. Kraken was basically a station wait, so I went ahead for the front row (about 4 cars wait), and then changed my mind and went to the back row, which had a 3 car wait. . . but as they were loading the car that pulled up, I noticed they were a group of 3. So I asked the folks in front of me if I could cut thru to take the open seat, and they let me thru (they reopened the air gate so I could get in), and I got a ride in the back seat of Kraken moments after walking up! Nick even got a picture of me zooming by.

 

I was SO glad that he said something to me, because as I was coming down the exit ramp, the announcements started that there was weather in the area moving in and therefore all rides were now closed! So I got on it by the skin of my teeth – if that car hadn’t had the open seat? I would have been at the air gate when they shut the ride down. Trip Karma working in my favor! wOOt! (and Nick looking out for me).

 

What did I think of the coaster? LOVED it, and if they hadn’t shut it down, I would have gotten right back in line for a re-ride. Even on a full stomach, it wowed me.. super smooth, and some good forces in the back row.

 

It was about 4:30 pm.

 

Before we bought a FFBFFwMaG, I asked the castmember in front of Kraken “if they shut this down, do they shut down Journey to Atlantis too?”. . and she said in the affirmative, tho they were still letting people line up, and we stood for a few moments and watched the rafts plunge down. . . .but then they made the dreaded announcement in that line, and you could hear the groans. It’s weather, what are you gonna do?

 

We didn’t realize at all that there was a “Jewel of the Sea” aquarium in the gift-shop there, so we missed it (just saw that today when looking at the site for the name of the restaurant). .and I *was* wondering why we saw no jellyfish – they were in this aquarium we missed. . but oh well. .instead we headed over to Turtle Trek to look at the turtles and the Manatees. The sky was getting much darker, and the wind picking up, and loud thunder was starting to roll in.

 

Turtle Trek 360 is in an underground theatre, so that would be a good way to pass the time. . we got the pre-film show, where they told us about the turtles and the Manatees (in separate giant windowed aquariums), and then they announced that the movie was down for technical issues, and asked everyone to just walk thru. She said they had problems earlier in the day and it had been working, but now the 360 projector won’t boot. . .oh well, would have been cool to see.

 

We passed on the Manatee Rescue area, even tho it was now open to the public and seemed to be drawing a big crowd (we had just seen a bunch of them while waiting for the aborted Turtle Trek film, so felt safe in skipping) and instead went to Dolphin Cove to look at the dolphins. It was PACKED in there .. mostly because the weather was threatening to dump. . but also because they are dolphins, and just fun as heck to watch! In fact, we had planned to stay for the 6pm dolphin show, but they cancelled it due to weather.

 

After the dolphins, was a stop at the Stingray Lagoon touch tank (which I got no pics of because my phone had died) and the baby stingrays were adorable.

 

About this time they started making announcements to “get to covered locations”. . . so we went into a gift shop and spent a good 30 minutes just browsing (although I did pick up some gifts/magnets for co-workers while killing time). It never really seemed to storm bad – not even heavier than a light drizzle, but the sky was dark, and they kept making the stay indoors announcements, so must have been a lot of lightning in the area. Since it never poured, we went over to the Aquarium by Manta (that we had bypassed earlier) and walked thru that. Don’t miss this one, it’s small, but they have a good size, and freaky looking!, octopus in there on display, so I’m glad we went thru.

 

Since it was close to 6pm, and it seemed that nothing was going to re-open in time, and the dolphin show wasn’t gonna happen (and remember, Nick didn’t want to drive in the dark anyways), I told him it would be OK to head out – after stopping to get a magnet for us at the big store in the front, and some fudge (of course). The day got cut short, but I did manage to ride all 3 coasters, we saw Shamu, and got to ride the Sea Carousel. . in addition to all the sea life we saw. . so it was a good day, and we headed out to drive back to Tampa.

 

As we were leaving the park a good 2 hours earlier than we had intended, I floated the idea that maybe we should go into Disney Springs as we passed it ..but the moment we got on 4, the traffic backed way up – and most of that appeared to be people exiting to go to Disney Springs. So a combo of evening rush hour traffic, and the newness of Disney Springs just torpedoed that suggested plan. . oh well, an excuse to go back in the very near future!. Once traffic lightened up past the Disney exits, we zoomed back to Tampa with no other issues and were back in the hotel just after 7pm.

 

I was starting to get a bit hungry, even tho we didn’t really want to go out. . .but it was still so early and I didn’t want to blow off the night. We had the option to go check out BGT again, but we’d had a full day at SeaWorld, and would be at BGT tomorrow anyways, so I asked front desk if there was someplace close that was good and not a chain.

 

He recommended a seafood place near BGT called “Shells” that he claimed was really good, and was a small Tampa chain. He said everyone he’s sent there has loved it, so we took him at his word and gave it a shot.

 

A true throwback restaurant, it looked like it hadn’t been touched since built in the 70’s. The hostess stand was in the shape of a rowboat! With a big bar in the center, and lots of tacky aquariums and netting throughout. Oh, and the music playing was 70’s soft rock. .it was PERFECT for us and I loved it immediately. Majority of the food options were fried (of course!), but I ended up with blackened fish with a spicy sauce that was very good. . and the fried clam and Seafood Dip appetizers were very good too.

 

Nick had a chowder, and I confused the waiter by asking if it came with Oyster Crackers, since he loves those and really wanted some. The waiter was thrown, since he thought I was asking for oysters. .LOL.. young-uns. (it came with saltines instead). The deserts looked like straight out of 70’s diner, but we were so full, didn’t even order any. . and the bar drinks all sounded good . . makes sense since there was a huge bar in the center of the restaurant, but I was avoiding alcohol all trip, since I was already being bad on my diet. . so didn’t try those either.

 

Unfortunately no pics of the restaurant, since both phones were in the room charging, but if you get to Tampa check out the place, it was very good and right around the corner from BGT – we saw the fireworks from the Kinetix show on the way back to the hotel after eating.

 

We were full fat and happy by this point, so just went to the room and crashed. . getting ready for our last full day in Tampa, and a return trip to Busch Gardens.

a (the?. is there more than one?) Mickey Mouse power pole! We're in Orlando for sure now

and thru the trees. . and the mist, SeaWorld's entrance!

Like the sign, tho the mist makes it hard to get a good pic.

We got here just after opening, but sheesh, lots of cars already!

In line for Manta, stopped to take a pic of the rays in the queue.

Wanted to get some pics of the "flying" position (so I could show friends), so asked permission to stay on the exit platform to take some pics.

 

locking in the restraints

and they are up!

and ready to go. . .

up the lift hill

and GO!

perfect placement of the cloud. . I'm a fan of this pic.

on the way to Mako, stopping to get a pic

Closed today.

 

I wonder how often it's actually open?

from across the Lagoon, the Bayside Stadium.

 

There seemed to be nothing going on here. . maybe it's used for the night time show?

In line for Mako - I loved the metal signs everywhere

and a video to watch while waiting

the queue is lush and beautiful, and they did a great job on it. . it was only about a 20 minute wait too.. .

from the staircase going up to the loading station (I didn't realize i'd get better pics exiting the loading station).

Kraken

Mako's lift hill

From Mako's station exit

Kraken

Kraken

Looking up Mako's lift hill, and part of Kraken's loop

yay! got him to pose at a cut out (after he wouldn't' the day before in Weeki Wachee).

Going into the Shark Exhibit

going into the Shark Exhibit

we love aquariums, and any of them that start you off with a fully enclosed walk thru? get a thumbs up from us!

Beautiful Lion fish

an enclosed walk-thru WITH A MOVING FLOOR??? we love this place!

SHARK!

SHAAAAAAARKKKK

not a shark, but my bald spot makes an appearance

help me!

oh, the humanity!

[bert425]

pictures continued

 

(and starting off w/ the Pretzels for Bill)

the infamous bacon pretzel. . and yeah, they are as good as you've heard

tho the Meatball one is awfully, awfully close!

we had no idea what this "Wild Arctic" was. . but the queue was large, and there was no line, so we hopped in the queue.

ah. it's similar to Star Tours. . only this one is just long enough to make one nauseous, but JUST short enough that you don't vomit.

the Sea Life at the end tho made the bumping worth it. Such long tusks on this Walrus.

and the beautiful Belugas

I liked the Polar Bear statue outside of the queue. . .but there weren't any bears on display?

the Trainers might not be allowed in the tank with him these days, but I got to ride Shamu.

Choices, choices, choices. . . Bill? which should I pick?

at the Shamu one Ocean show - a beautiful, high-tech arena, with coasters in the background

Shamu!

hiya!

the arena has fountains to help get the splash zones extra wet

The Sea Carousel has some wonderfully designed creatures.

I wanted to ride the angler fish -- Nick rode that one to the left, we still don't know what it was. . a depressed Manatee?

You can see the "seatbelts" they made us wear hanging down from the pole on the one Nick rode.

being from Texas, we weren't sure what this was. . . but it turns out it's a LIVE Armadillo

 

we even got to touch it, and the shell felt kind of like hard wax candles.

a keeper was out with an owl, who was nice enough to look right at the camera

until she got distracted by someone behind me.

Nick with a tree full of birds.

Us and one bird, and the bottom half of another. . . .oh well, still a good pic, even if the gentleman who kindly took the pic for us didn't notice until walking away that there were birds in the tree.

We happened upon the Sea Otter and Seal area as they were starting to feed them. . so they were very happy to come right up to the front to pose for pictures. (the birds were excited too to get the fish, and the handler told us they are not SeaWorld birds, but just wild birds that figured out to hang around SeaWorld at these times, and they'll get fed)

got a nice shot of Manta thru the "ice"

the ride was silly, but worth it for the amazing Penguin habitat at the end.

and it was COLD in there!

The last pic I got on my phone before it died.

and I had to crop the pic, because despite how cold it was in there, the folds in the shirts created some "accidental porn" and Nick told me if I posted it he'd kill me

headed into "Antarctica"

we knew nothing about it, so decided to wait in line for Empire of the Penguins (now we know better, and would have just walked thru to see the penguins). .but

The room at the end of the Penguin exhibit is fantastic, as you can look into the pool thru a 2 story glass wall, and watch them swim.

Here I am on Kraken (in the last row, last seat on the left).

And that's the dark cloud that caused them to close down everything just after I got off the ride.

Manatees, while in line for Turtle Trek 360 (that broke while were about to go in to see it).

[Nrthwnd]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay bacon pretzel twist for the WIN!

 

Also, it was the folds in your shorts, not the shirts, right Bert?

[bert425]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay bacon pretzel twist for the WIN!

 

Also, it was the folds in your shorts, not the shirts, right Bert?

 

nope. . Nick had untucked his shirt.. so it was hanging way down to the bottom of his shorts. . and it was funny as hell. . but I promised him I wouldn't post

 

 

best part? I had multiple similar pics (a castmember inside the Penguin exhibit took them so he took 4), i chose the one with the best smiles, and sent it to my boss. . to show how much fun we were having.

 

she responded. . ummmmmmmmmm.. Nick seems very excited to see the penguins.

 

THAT'S when we saw it. LOL

[Nrthwnd]

^ I stand corrected, then. But....

 

BACON PRETZEL TWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIST!

[bert425]

Day 5: BGT Final Day

 

On our final day, I had a “hit list” of things that were must do at BGT, so although we didn’t rush to get there at opening, we were up and out of the hotel and to the park just as the gates opened anyways. So the closest parking we had gotten the whole trip, right near the tram stop.

 

It was a beautiful day (but *all* of them had started out that way, LOL), and it was a pretty good turn out for so early, tho not crazy busy (yet).

 

As the 1st “must do” was watching the Cheetah Run at the 11:30 presentation, we intended to stay over in that area. . . so after stopping briefly to look at the Crocodiles -- a Castmember was doing a feeding/meet the keepers talk, so they were all up at the banks eating -- we made out way towards Cheetah Hunt, as that’s one we wanted to re-ride. It was about a 30 minute wait, tho the line filled in quickly behind us. Just as fun the 2nd time as it was the 1st, although I think we were closer to the front of the coaster train on the 2nd ride.

 

Upon exiting it was still too early for the Cheetah Run, so we went to Cobra’s Curse intending to ride it if the line wasn’t too long, and if it was, then I’d go over to Montu.

The Cobra’s Curse line was just peeking out of the indoor queue (so about 40 minute wait, which would be too long), but that ended up not mattering as before we even got to the CC entrance, they made an announcement that the ride was down – and literally the WHOLE line drained and went directly to Montu. . which suddenly wasn’t a walk on anymore by the time we got to it.

 

Since I was determined that we were NOT gonna miss the Cheetah, we blew off the Montu line, and after a quick potty break – by the way, BGT has some beautiful art in the toidys! (I took a couple of pics throughout the day, and only once had to ask a man to step out of the pic (he was headed for a urinal), unless he wanted to be in it LOL) -- instead went to the Cheetah enclosure, and noticed around the back they have some great viewing areas, and some interactive information about the animals. It’s kind of hidden, and we were the only ones back there, so I guess maybe BGT should put up some signs or something telling folks it’s back there, as it was interesting (even if not the same stuff you could find yourself if looking online for info on the animals). Integrating the touch screens into “books” and “reports” from a safari group was some nice themeing tho. It was still only a little after 11, so we had time to kill, but since there are only a handful of umbrellas in front of the cheetah display, we went ahead and got a spot under a nice shaded umbrella next to where the Keeper talks (which was good, since I asked him some questions about the animals during the presentation later). The two sleepy cats on display weren’t much of a draw to anyone, so we had the spot to ourselves for a good 20 minutes, but when they called them to the back and some BGT Castmembers came out and started setting up the lure, folks quickly started to come over to crowd around the enclosure, so I was glad we had moved where we did when we did.. as we had perfect viewing.

 

The keeper came out and talked about how they only run the cats once a day because the sprints burn so much energy, and that they do it early enough that it’s not so hot. He talked about the 7 or 8 different Cheetahs that they have at BGT and answered audience questions while they finished setting up the lure. It wasn’t a quick one end to the other. . .they wrapped the lure around rocks and trees and went back and forth a few times, so when they released the Cheetah from the back (zero to 60 in under 3 seconds!), it tore across the enclosure and chased the feather lure back and forth until it pounced and sat on it (just like a giant cat). The Keeper explained they use fresh feathers from birds at BGT, so they don’t worry if the Cheetah eats the lure, as it’s all natural. They distracted the cat, to get the lure away from her, and then one of the keepers went up to her and pet her! It was shocking that the big cat walked with the keeper to “pose” next to her on the rock outcropping (right in front of where we had chosen to stand, so score again for us). . .as I would have never thought that it would be safe to do that! I guess they get to know their keepers – but I did note there were several “spotters” in the enclosure with them at this point, so if anything bad had happened, they were right there to intervene and help.

Nick got the whole Cheetah Run on video, and it’s amazing to see. If I had any idea how to post something like that online, I’d share it. . but since I’m a tech moron, you’ll just have to believe me how awesome it was J

 

Once we had checked that off the list, next up were Stanley Falls and ShieKra, the only two rides we wanted to do that we had missed (nope, not bumper car people, and we skipped the upside-down ship too). So we headed to the sky buckets (and Cheetah Hunt was now showing a 60 minute wait), and took them to Stanleyville. . .where, as I had been told throughout the week, ShieKra was basically a walk on.

 

I waited two cars for front row (Nick got a pic), and I loved it. Liked it so much, I got right back on it and rode it again.

 

That left only Stanley Falls. . so tho the line was fairly long we got in queue (no wait times posted or castmember at front of queue, but it filled up at least ½ the queue space..so I estimated at least an hour, and it took about 40 minutes). And luckily today the Photo Booth was open – it had been closed the prior time we tried to ride. So we got our “standard” flume pic on this trip, because as you may recall. .we love Carousels and Flumes (well. I do, and Nick tolerates them because I always want to ride them!).

 

It was early afternoon by this point (maybe just after 1:30) and we had to check in for our flight at 3, so we worked our way to Lory Landing to go in and look at the birds (we chose not to feed them, but the nectar/photo deal here is by far the best in the park – for $16 you get two little cups of nectar and a professional photographer takes pics of you feeding the birds, and you get hard copies of them (you can also do a cheaper 1 cup of nectar with only a digital pic). Great deal, but we didn’t want to TOUCH the birds, just look at them, LOL.

 

We were getting hungry, but couldn’t decide on what to eat. . . so we just kept wandering stopping to look at displays and take pics, and made our way to Walkabout Way to see the Kangaroos and Wallabies. We had planned to maybe feed them, but upon seeing them all sprawled out and sleeping in the sun, it was obvious that would be wasted money, so instead just walked thru and took lots of pictures of them. We also went next door and looked at the birds in the walkthrough area there as well.

 

Nick wasn’t really wanting to go back to Serengeti Overlook Buffet for lunch, and he really wanted something fairly small. . but since we were right over by Garden Gate Café (the Pizza Buffet) we went in and took a look at it. Nick said it worked for him, so that’s where we ate for lunch. The place was really dead (tho I realize it was past lunch time), and the lady at the register told me that they are almost always slow now that Gwazi had been closed, since that coaster had driven traffic to the area. There were more people that came in while we were eating, but yeah. . very large restaurant with not a ton of people in it. Beautiful setting tho, with boats filled with flowers floating in the pools in front of the building, and several covered decks to eat outside if wanted (none being used). The pizza was . . . .”acceptable”. Not the greatest, but for theme park pizza? It was OK (yeah, that’s bad for BGT, as most of the other food there is great). The Chicken Parmesan was pretty good, and meatballs were decent. .. and the desert bar was “odd” in the offerings (at least to me), but they had one! The drink is also included – this is where my diet went kablooie, and I had Soda for the 1st time in 10 months.. hey, I figured I was eating bad anyways, and the soda fountains were included in the price. Speaking of price, it was extremely reasonable – I think $14.99 – which is amazing for a theme park buffet. So if you have kiddos, this is the place to go. . but the food is only acceptable.

 

They also have a beer tasting bar, and beer on tap here, which we saw some people making use of, but it’s extra.

 

It was getting close to 3 by the time we finished eating, so after a quick peek into the Sesame Street Safari of Fun area – nope, nothing for US to ride – we grabbed a seat under the thatched roofs by Gwazi games and waited to check in for our flight. Exactly 24 hours on the dot, I checked us in, and got B29-B31 for our boarding passes. . crap, that means a completely full flight (and yep, it was), but at least we were checked in for the next day.

 

Looking at what was left in the park, and what we wanted to do, I noticed there was a 3:30 showing of Iceploration. I had heard mixed reviews of the show, but enough people I had chatted with in line said it was quite good, we decided to check it out. Besides, it is in an inside, air conditioned theatre, so it’s already a win.

 

We got good seating, and waited for the show to start. . how is it? Well, the costumes are impressive (the skaters dress as animals), some of the puppetry is jaw-dropping (the giant eel is wow, but the ice skating baby elephant? And full size two person ice skating elephant puppet? WOW. . worth to see the show just for these two), but the storyline could use a lot of help. Not even sure why they feel the need to make a storyline (for the record, it’s about a kid that has to log off his computer to go out into the real world with his Grampa, and gets the urge to explore his whole world by the time the show is over). Oh the acting is fine, and it was live, which was nice. . but some of the lines and delivery are really eye-rollingly bad. All made up for by the skating (and monkey trampoline segment) tho. . . worth going to see if you have time.

 

Since the show is just across from the Mayambe Reserve, I suggested that we go thru there to see if maybe the chimps were out (since they had been hiding from the thunder the prior time we went thru). The sign was still up saying that the Chimpanzees had access to their Night House, so might not be visible, but they were out -- tho way in the back. After taking a few pics of them far away, they all looked over at us in the viewing area, and started heading our way (what the heck??). . . and then suddenly fruit started coming down from the roof above where we were standing – we had managed to time to come by at a feeding time! So we ended up with most of the chimps right in front of us happily snacking on fruit. .so close you didn’t even need to zoom the camera.

 

We hung out here and watched them for a bit, then continued on to the Gorillas, where today we saw a momma carrying a baby on her back (no pic, but we saw it, so that was cool). And by then we were just tired and pretty done, since we had hit every “wish list” thing we wanted to do in the park and it had been a long week.

 

I was thinking about asking Nick if he wanted to ride the Sand Serpent (the wild mouse) again, when I realized that the Mayambe Reserve path puts you out really close to the Nairobi Train Station, so instead I asked Nick if he wanted to ride the train around the park again? That got an enthusiastic yes, so we waited at the station and ended up on the Yellow Train (the other day we rode the red one), which has some different seating configurations in the train cars.

 

Since we got on at Nairobi, the first segment brings you thru the Serengeti Plain, so we once again got to see a lot of the animals out and about, and amazingly, the sun was still shining tho it had gotten VERY humid. Just as I was thinking it was still so nice out, we started hearing thunder, and a look out the other side of the train showed several lightning strikes happening – uh oh!

 

We pulled into the Congo Train Station, and tho we had planned to ride the train all the way around, then just exit the park. . .they announced the Train was closing for weather, and that everyone had to get off (this was a pretty full train too). They announced that Opening Night Critters had a 5pm performance in Pantopia, and that the theatre was an indoor one, and suggested everyone go there. . . .We had had no intention of seeing this show, but, it was really looking like it was about to pour (it changed so quickly), and we were so close to the theatre, so we bee-lined for it and got in just before the theatre got slammed with everyone else from the train. .. it’s not a huge theatre, and they got so packed that the start of the show was actually delayed by a good 10 minutes as they had to usher people out, since you could not stand in aisles or steps due to the animals moving freely in the show. Luckily we were able to get two seats together.. or, maybe I shouldn’t say “luckily”.. wow. . is that show TERRIBLE.

 

If it only had the animals in it, it would be a joy to watch, and the animals are pretty impressive. But BGT wrapped a storyline (about a show about to open, and needing trainers and how the animals don’t like the new trainers, and won’t cooperate) around the animal performances. The acting was so over-the-top and playing to the rafters, that it made me uncomfortable to watch, and honestly a little embarrassed for them. I realize they are trying to appeal to families – ie: Kids – but this isn’t the Sesame Street area, this show was in Pantopia, so was expecting something not quite so kiddie targeted.

 

Again tho. . the animals were a joy to watch (even the skunks) and the birds flying overhead thru the racing loops elicited gasps from the whole crowd.

 

It’s a 30 minute show, but when it ended the crowd was very slow in exiting the theatre. . once we got near the exit doors, we realized why: it was pouring outside.

 

Not just rain, but Monsoon season pouring – with lots and lots of close lightning strikes and cracks of thunder.

 

We waited it out with a bunch of other people for probably 30 minutes at least. Heck it was so long, a team member came out to make sure that no one out back wanted to come back inside to watch the *next* show – I’m guessing the theatre was pretty empty, since it was pouring when our show let out, so likely no new people came.

 

After a bit longer, the rain let up to a light drizzle, so we began walking towards the front, and we passed thru the main Pantopia entrance, and it started looking really dark again. We were right by the covered “cave” area, that had benches in it, so decided to sit on a bench for a few moments to watch and see what happens. . .and what happens? The sky opened up again for another good 20 minutes of heavy, heavy rain. Others stopped in the covered “cave” area too, and we shared our bench with an older man and his special needs son, and had a wonderful conversation with them both while we waited out the rain.

 

Once it slowed down again to a light drizzle, we decided to head towards the front – the rain had pretty much emptied the park, but Nick wanted an ice cream waffle cone for the last day of our vacation. . so we went back to the same Moroccan Delights place we had stopped at on the prior days downpour, and he had his treat (and of course, I HAD to have a shake).

 

After that, we jumped over puddles (and got out butts SOAKED from the water in the tram seats), and made our way out of the park, our visits to BGT over. L

 

A short drive back to the hotel, and hot showers, and we were ready to pack for heading to the airport in the morning. I spent the evening playing on the Computer in the lobby, and watching the news reports (I believe the attack in Nice was just making the news that night), and Nick hung out in the room watching the weather channel.

 

No report for the travel home day, since the planes were completely full, but it was easy/peasy navigating the Tampa airport for Car Rental Return, and security lines were so short we killed an hour at TGI Fridays in the terminal before even going thru. Slight delay getting back to Austin, but we were back home by 9pm, and everything in the house was good (if a bit hot). Didn’t pick up the dog from the Medical boarding until the next day. . but all in all? Despite the weather, it was a great trip, with no major crisis . . .and got to cross BGT & SeaWorld off my park list.

 

Hope you enjoyed reading, as much as I enjoy typing these up!

bert

Waiting for the Tram on our final day. . .beautiful skies

the Crocks were posing for us today.

We're gonna see the Cheetah's run, but 1st? a re-ride on Cheetah Hunt!

not deserted, but not a huge line either.

was in a "fact sign" taking mood today. . LOL

Cheetah Hunt sign on the left, Skyride sign on the right

Nick is happy to be re-riding Cheetah Hunt.

the cool theme/art in the men's room near Montu. .

you can get some really good pics of the Cheetah Enclosure, and Cheetah Hunt, from the back of enclosure viewing windows. There are also some really cool interactive "fact" screens back there too.. and we were the only ones back there, before we moved forward to that Umbrella to watch the cheetah sprint.

after the sprint (no pics, because it was all blurs. . LOL), one of the trainers walked with her like a big cat!

Incredible to see!

After a quick skyride over to Stanleyville, we got our typical flume pic after the ride

and then I got on ShieKra. I'm at the front left, waving. .

see?

on our way to Lory Landing, we stopped and took these never before seen shots of ShieKra

In Lory Landing.

 

the birds are happy to pose for you.

well.. most times

after we finished at Lory Landing, and headed towards Walkabout Way (and looking for lunch - not at Walkabout Way), I spotted these Topiary Flamingos - so had to have a pic

and then a whole lot of real flamingos too.

Lots of pics of Kangaroos and Wallaby, because they all reminded me of my dog.

Wallaby

Noted!

Florida has the funniest dang signs. . this one also made me burst out laughing.

that is EXACTLY what my dog does. . chews on her legs.

me and lazy kangaroos

leave me 'lone, man!

if you feed them, wash your hands.

Especially since we were going to eat next. . .

the Pizza was mediocre, but the setting of the restaurant was just lovely.

a pic I took to send one of my friends who had texted to ask if we were having a good trip.

Pretty large theater, and it filled up too. Maybe because of the A/C?

And Ice Skating baby elephant, and it's Ice Skating momma.

I know the pics are a little blurry, but he puppets were awesome.

for the undersea portion of the show, Jellyfish drop from the ceiling.

giant eel puppet!

Ice Skating, and trampoline monkeys?. .this is a good show

on our way to the Theater to catch "Iceploration" . . .

photo-bombing Nick's selfie that he was trying to take to text to a friend.

we made an attempt to see the chimps again, and they were out this time. But far away

wait. .they are coming closer..I wonder why?

ah. . fruit falling from above.. . we had very good luck timing animals with feeding times on this trip, even tho we hadn't coordinated anything.

More bathroom themeing. .this time in the Nairobi toidys

toidy art.

and TORTISES

On the Yellow train. . not realizing it would be only a 1/3rd trip due to sudden storms in the area.

after they made us all exit the train at the Congo station, and told everyone to go to Opening Night Pets, we decided why not?

Capacity crowd.

But yeah. .the show is awful, even if the animals are adorable.

one of the birds that flew overhead

the show is better when no humans are on stage

yeah. . this is what we came out to - Monsoon rain.

Guess we won't be re-riding Sand Serpent

almost 40 minutes later. . at least we're still in good moods!

Killing time on Friday at TGI Fridays in the Tampa Airport

it's Friday, I'm tired, but still smiling. . GREAT trip.

Even tho it was still drizzling. . when I saw this photo op (on our way to the front for ice cream), I needed to stop and get a picture!

and finally.. the pics we took on our 1st full day, that we bought from BGT.

Keychain at front entrance plaza

8x10 from Pantopia

Edited July 25, 2016 by bert425

[Password121]

Great report and pictures! Have to make it down to BGT at some point.

[bert425]

Great report and pictures! Have to make it down to BGT at some point.

 

 

thanks! I very much enjoy typing up trip reports, so glad you enjoyed it

 

I really liked BGT, tho I preferred BGW. . but they offer different things, and both are beautiful parks.

[bert425]

You look incredible, by the way! Honestly I recognized Nick in the pictures when I first opened the TR and had to go back to look at your previous posts to make sure the other person was you! I've lost a lot of weight a few times in my life. The tricky part is staying consistent with weigh-ins so it doesn't creep back up on you. Congrats and keep it up!

 

Ok. . have to admit, that although I still *feel* big and fat, when I look at this pic from 2 weeks ago vs pic from last year?

 

I've lost some weight (and managed to keep it off)

July 2016 Busch Gardens Tampa

May 2015 Busch Gardens Williamsburg

[djcoastermark]

Congratulations Bert on 1, your great trip report and 2, your success over the past year. You look great. You should be quite proud.

[bert425]

Congratulations Bert on 1, your great trip report and 2, your success over the past year. You look great. You should be quite proud.

 

thanks!

 

yeah, it's taken a lot of effort (as one would expect), and I'm having a heck of a time getting back on the plan once we got back.

I started up the exercise again, but still eating way too much, and past the cut off time (8pm, since i go to bed at 1am). . . but TRYING.

 

as noted, it was great to not even give the "test chair" a 2nd glance on this trip, and just go right into the queue! so it was worth all the work just for that.

 

(never-mind that I'm now off of 2 Blood Pressure, and 1 Cholesterol pill. . so only 1 drug daily now!).

[bert425]

LOL.. I found a fireworks pic I forgot to include. . I know, I know.. not super impressive, but wanted to share the pic from the evening show.

 

as I noted, not Disney Level, but they were nice and BIG

[TBpony414]

I was out of town when you posted the last part of your trip and have been meaning to look for it. Lucky for me, you added a firework picture which brought the TR back towards the top of the forum! I've been to BGW a million times and after reading your TR and coasterbill's recent TR to BGT I really am itching to visit. Do you know if there's a schedule anywhere to find out what time(s) certain animals will be fed? The pretzel cart looks INCREDIBLE!!! I don't even like pretzels that much but would definitely try the meatball, cheese, and cinnamon sugar ones. Was the meatball spicy at all?

 

Now that this is over with... when's your next trip and where are you going? Give us something to look forward to!

[bert425]

^ aw. .thanks.

 

yeah, the Pretzels were amazing. . i've been craving them since we got back. The meatball was spiced, but not spicy, if that makes sense?

 

the feeding schedules are listed on the daily maps -- well, somewhat -- they have the "trainer talk" times. . and most times that seemed to coincide with the animal feedings. For stuff like the Cheetah Run, we found out that by just me chatting w/ Cast members, and asking them for advice on what to do.

 

and the handlers out and about with the animals, was just dumb luck stumbling across them (particularly in the Medical center, where we stumbled across the guy with the Snake, and the Armadillo).

 

I'd for sure recommend the Safari to feed the Giraffes, and they also have one similar that gets you close to the big cats (and I think they feed the cats during that). . we didn't do the Cats one, only because it was at an inconvenient time for us.

 

For sure a great park, but BGT really does seem to be more about the animals than the rides, and if you're fine with that (as we were), you'll love it.

 

Not sure what our next Park trip together is gonna be -- tho I'm very likely going to CoasterMania at CP, and rooming with Bill (Nrthwnd).

but we *are* going on a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Galveston next Feb (on one of the big ships) with a big, "bear" group, so that's gonna be. . . um. . .. interesting is the word most likely.

 

so I'll do a trip report on that

[TBpony414]

Got it re: spiced meatballs but not spicy. That's good to hear.

 

I love animals so much that I can spend 2 full days at Disney's Animal Kingdom and still not be bored. That's a lot of animal watching haha so BGT sounds like a perfect fit with great coasters to boot! Thanks for the info on trainer talks and asking the keepers regarding feeding times. Can't wait to hear about your cruise - that'll make for a great TR, and CP is awesome any day of the week.

[djcoastermark]

^ If you ever watch Wildlife Docs on sat. mornings, you will love BGT. It's filmed there. The best time to view the Docs are in the morning during the week. It is really cool to see the docs in action.

[bert425]

I THOUGHT some of that stuff looked familiar!

 

I never put 2 & 2 together to realize they film it there.