Day 10, Sea World

June 9, 2012
We made it over to Sea World as a change of pace from Disney.  We got there at opening and stayed until close.  Tony started off his day by riding the Manta.  It's a huge roller coaster and at one point during the ride you are actually riding face down looking at the ground.  Jackson and Taylor were too short to ride and Anthony wasn't quite ready to conquer that ride.  He said he would ride it when he is "16 years old and much thicker."  So me and the kids stayed on the ground and I allowed the boys to take Taylor to view the small aquarium exhibit.  Then we went to Journey of Atlantis and Tony and the older kids rode that ride.  According to the boys it's a cheesy version of Splash Mountain with a huge drop at the end.  Emelia was happily eating snacks confined to the stroller.  After Atlantis, Tony rode the other big coaster called the Kraken.  Then we saw the Whale and Dolphin Show called Blue Horizons.  It was the first show of the morning so the animals and the trainers were just starting their day.  It was a decent show although both Taylor and I didn't understand the storyline behind it.

Then it was time for us to each lunch and then see more exhibits and shows. Sea World has an All Day Lunch Pass and at certain restaurants you can get all you can eat food.  Being that our family is so large and we were staying in the park all day, we had to take advantage of this meal option so we could eat both lunch and dinner in the park.  We brought our own snacks with us and having an unlimited supply of bottled water from the park restaurants really helped.

After lunch we went over to Dolphin Cove and fed the dolphins.  While we were waiting in line to feed the dolphins, the kids went to feed the stingrays at Stingray Lagoon.  The kids then went to ride on Wild Arctic (3D ride) while Emelia slept in the stroller and I had a small snack.  Then it was time for us to see the Shamu show called One Ocean.  This was an amazing show and there were 5 Killer whales (Orcas) in the pool at one time.  One thing that Tony and I noticed is that none of the trainers got into the pool with the Orcas.  I think with the recent trainer/whale mishaps of the last few years, they are really trying to discourage this.  I kind of missed seeing that but I also wouldn't want to see a trainer injured by a whale either during a show.  We then needed to allow Emelia time to play and near the Shamu Stadium there is a small kid's play area with rides and play structures and a water splash pad for the little ones under 54" could play and ride.  Unfortunately, the weather was starting to turn bad and right after Emelia and I got off the carousel they closed the play area.  So we headed over to the Sealion and Otter Stadium so we could see Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island show.  Due to the storm being right on top of the park, they delayed the show and eventually had to cancel it.  Fortunately the stadium is covered and we were in an area that was cooled by high powered fans so we were very comfortable.  The rain was horrible, the lightening was all around us and the thunder was loud.  The aftermath of that storm though left ankle deep water in the Stadium and some people's strollers wheels were under water.  We parked ours up on higher ground on an incline and with the new stroller rain cover and an additional poncho, the seat stayed nice and dry.

We still had some time in the park so we ate a leisurely dinner.  On our way towards the exit we stopped and saw the street comedians.  The show really left a big impression on the kids because every chance they get they try and reenact scenes and lines from it.  We left the park about 30 minutes before closing.  One thing that Tony and I noticed is that with all the little "extras" that Sea World has you pay for such as the food for feeding the animals, playing the midway games and souvenier photos, you can actually spend more in Sea World than you can at the Disney Parks.  And that is with the all day food pass too and we even brought our own snacks with us into the park.  So you definitely have to be careful and budget more per day for Sea World than you do at a Disney Park.  I think you spend more on the extras at Sea World because there are less rides to ride on and more shows so you end up consuming more food and drink at each show than you would if you were to stand in line to ride a ride.

The rain had passed and we weren't completely exhausted so you know what that meant for our family...Another late night at The Magic Kingdom!  This time we had the goal to get Taylor onto Space Mountain.  We had about 4 hours left in the day so we drove over to the M.K., picked up more Sorcerer Cards and headed straight into tomorrowland to get Fast Passes for Space Mountain.  We then rode on the Tomorrowland Speedway.  Anthony is finally tall enough at 54" (maybe he's a little taller) to drive by himself so that's what he wanted to do.  Jackson, Emelia and I rode together.  He's not tall enough to reach the pedal but he can drive.  And Tony braved a car with Taylor behind the wheel.  Then we rode on Carousel of Progress which Emelia LOVED.  She kept dancing to the song and kept waving to the animatronic dog on stage.  Then it was time for Space Mountain.  Emelia and I stayed in Tomorrowland to wait for the others and went over to the outdoor dance club 626 so she could dance to the music with Stitch and Chip and Dale.  Once we were finished dancing, I took Emelia onto Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.  The wait time was only 5 minutes and the rest of the family was not finished at Space Mountain.  She had a blast trying to fire the gun and spinning us around in the cart.  By the time we were finished, the others were finished and we all rode on The People Movers.

While we were in The Magic Kingdom, it didn't rain at all.  The weather had already passed while we were at Sea World and the evening was absolutely beautiful.  We then loaded Emelia back into the stroller and headed through the back way to the outskirts of Fantasyland and me and the older 3 rode on The Barnstormer.  Emelia is too short for that ride and she was so tired she actually fell asleep on the walk over.  Since most people were in Main Street watching the fireworks and parade, The Barnstormer and the Dumbo ride only had at most a 10 minute wait time.  Taylor and I rode on Dumbo while the boys went onto The Barnstormer 2 more times in a row.  I think they felt empowered and a little independent because they were able to ride all by themselves without an adult present.  Then it was time to head towards the front of the park.  However, we did stop and ride on Winnie The Pooh and got soft serve ice cream treats for our walk out of the park.  By this time it was 10:50 p.m. and most people had either gone home for the evening or were waiting on Main Street for the 11:00 p.m. Electrical Light Parade.  The only real long wait we had was to get onto the Ferry Boat and head back to the Ticket and Transportation Center.  By this time though, the exhaustion had set in and all 3 older ones started dragging.  It's a good thing we parked up close at the TCC and had a short walk back to the car instead of having to ride the tram.