sea world

Last Thursday was our first full day in Orlando and we visited Sea World. One week later, we did the same. The last time ‘Journey To Atlantis’ was closed whilst we were queuing and this time it was down for maintenance. Another sign this was not the ride for us. We then were going to go on the Manta Ray ride but a pending thunder storm saw them close the attraction. Typical.

We watched the Shamu show again, from a safer distance this time, which was still just as good. Then we went to the Arctic section and saw some Beluga whales and then a really shabby and sad looking polar bear. He kept pacing the same route over and over, it was really sad to watch. We then saw the walrus who again looked really sad and was swimming in the same pattern. Not nice.

Then we went to the ‘Pets Ahoy’ which featured cats, dogs and other farm yard animals performing tricks. This was really fun and all the animals used in the show are rescue animals – hurrah! After, we got to pet the puppies which is always good.

Having spent a long time waiting and driving down to Sea World we took the I-Trolley back up to the hotel in the middle of the afternoon. Halfway through the journey, the driver had to change shifts so we were stuck in the bus station for ten minutes waiting for them to sort the next driver out.

After a recharge we went down to Islands of Adventure. It was due to close in an hour so we thought the lines would be quiet. It had just rained too and we were able to get on the Harry Potter and Spider-Man rides again with no wait times. I’m really loving Universal. We then hopped over to Universal Studios as the heavens opened and drenched us. We joined the queue for Despicable Me, a thirty minute wait but it dried us off. This ride was really violent, it bumped and shook you around in the car vigorously and I’m not sure it’s really suitable for little ones. Both Debora and I came off with sore necks.

We then walked around the park again as dusk settled, Universal by night really is beautiful. We went straight onto the Transformers ride again and saw a photo op with Optimus Prime. This isn’t a man in a silly costume, it’s an actual robot. Impressive! But the most important photo stop of the day was still to come. I think I might Gosling/Culkin this for years to come.

Then it was straight onto The Simpsons again, this time we were front row and it was a much better experience. Although it still needs some extra’s like a splash of water and some smells. We then picked up some Lard Lad Donuts and marvelled at the food court. It’s not just Krusty Burger but Luigi’s Pizza, Moes, a Lisa’s Healthy stop, Frying Dutchman and BumbleBee Man’s Tacos. Excellent.

We skipped by the Men In Black ride and pined a little over the Diagon Alley attraction that’s behind the fences. Finally bought some merch and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow is Star Wars Friday and we need our rest!

The day started off with Debora getting a bruise on the I-Trolly. Actually, the day started with us walking to try and find the Enclave Suites where our rep was waiting for us. She was called Lisa and sorted out our monetary issue with the hotel and said we won’t be charged anything extra. We then booked some Disney travel tickets, our trip to Kennedy Space Center and the I-Ride tickets. We topped this off with a breakfast of hash browns, beans and toast. I got to use my tip calculator and Debora impressed by drinking her entire apple juice!

It was then Debora got her bruise. After a long wait we finally got on the trolley which took forever to get down to Sea World.

We went straight to the Shamu show where we entered the “Soak Zone” as it was so damn hot. The show was great fun and boy, did we get soaked! There were lots of school groups around and they loved getting wet…the first time, and then the soak zone strangley cleared out.

Shamu Rocks!

We saw Manatees, Penguins, Flamingos and a whole host of other animals. We tried to ride ‘Journey to Atlantis’ but it broke down whilst we were queuing so we took that as an omen. We went on the Kraken which was awesome and queued in the blistering heat for the Antartic experience. It was so cold in there, it was a welcomed relief, although the ride was a trifle disappointing.

Tired and our feet aching, we decided to leave but had to run for the I-Ride. We got off a few stops from the hotel and had a pizza buffet at Cici’s Pizza. I won’t reccomened it. No margarita pizza’s and a poor vegetarian selection – one of which was cheese and pasta!?

But the dessert pizza’s were devine! There was a cinnamon apple pizza, cinnabuns and gooey brownies. We ate more pud than main. We walked back to the hotel, avoiding some lizards which freaked Debora out a little for fear she might tread on them! We took our bottomless cups from Cici’s as the water here in Orlando tastes a bit like rubber!

Then after relaxing for five minutes, we headed out to Universal Studios as it was the only night (according to their website) that the Cinematic Spectacular would be showing. I remembered how much I love Universal. We were a little confused about how to get there from the I-Trolley, which we actually couldn’t – but we made it, after another dash to a bus!

The show was great, projections onto a wall of water and some fireworks – really invoked that scene from Inglorious Basterds where the face was projected onto the smoke. The wall of water was mind-boggling. How the heck do they do that? Water dropped in patterns to create images – I’ll upload a video of it soon.

On our exit we saw ROCKY HORROR is playing tomorrow and Saturday night at the Universal Cineplex. Debora agreed we could go but in Rocky fashion, it’s a midnight showing and we really don’t think we can do that. Sorry, we’ll watch when we get home.

Debora is still without a suitable hat but neither of us appear to have caught the sun – but we shall see what happens in the morning!

More will follow, but for now, bed.