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March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 11 (Wednesday)

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On Wednesday we made a return trip to SeaWorld with Grandma and Grandpa. We had gone through most of the park last week, so we went specifically to see a few shows and a couple of other exhibits we’d missed.

When we were here 2 years ago, they were building a new roller coaster called Manta. It opened shortly after we left, so this was the first time we saw it. Of course none of us went on it (we’re all too chicken), but they did have a seat outside so potential riders could determine if they were comfortable and the right size. Christine had a bit of trouble 🙂

Right next to Manta was a new aquarium exhibit. There were several large tanks with different fish. The coolest one was one for different kinds of rays. The tank was above them, so you could see them swimming above you. They always look like they are smiling.

As with most areas at any of the parks, the exhibit isn’t just a plain building. They have beautiful water falls, birds, plants and more.

One of the shows we went to see is called Blue Horizon. We don’t really understand all of the “artsy” stuff (“a young girl’s vivid imagination sets the stage for an extravaganza of dolphins, false killer whales and a rainbow of exotic birds, including blue and gold macaws, sun conures, and an Andean condor”), but the show is great. There are dolphins that do various jumps, platform divers that perform, and more. The girl in the show is named Marina, and Christine wanted to have her picture taken with her.

Another show we went to see was another Cirque du Soleil-type show called A’lure – The Call of the Ocean. There were various acrobats, tumblers and other performers in a sea-themed set. After the show (as with all shows), the cast members wait around to great the guests. Matthew and Christine wanted to have their picture taken with a seahorse and an anemone.

We finished off in Shamu’s Happy Harbor (the kids area). We went on a few rides, and then headed home to swim and get out of the heat.

We’ve now been to SeaWorld twice and Busch Gardens twice, and on Thursday we’ll be headed back to Aquatica for a second time.

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 4 (Wednesday)

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We left the house Wednesday morning at around 9 am and made it past the front gates of Busch Gardens at around 11 am (after getting gas, stamps, and then parking and taking the tram over to the park once we got there). The pamphlets had made Busch Gardens look very nice, but we weren’t sure what it would actually be like (Matthew actually thought it would be full of bushes and gardens only). It was AWESOME! What a beautiful park.

We started off in the kids section, but had to walk past the bird gardens first. The boys seemed to be most excited about seeing a gecko and an armadillo.

The main kids area is called the Sesame Street Safari of Fun. There was a great kids roller coaster (Air Grover)  that the boys and I went on (Andrew and I went on it twice). There was also a huge tree house with rope/tunnel climbing area attached to it. Lisa ran around with Christine and I ran around with the boys. We also watched a bit of a Sesame Street show in the Sunny Day Theatre.

Matthew said his favourite part was Oscar’s Swamp. It was a small splash pad at the base of the tree fort. Andrew’s favourite part was Air Grover, because it went almost as fast as Dragon Mountain at Marineland.

There were a bunch of huge roller coasters. I’m not a big roller coaster fan, but I told the boys I would go on anything with them. I thought Andrew would want to go on something, but he didn’t want to go on any of them. There was one roller coaster called SheikRa that literally dropped you 90° at one point. Yikes! There is also going to be a new roller coaster open this Spring called Cheetah Hunt. Apparently it will go more than 60 MPH and will take you from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds!

The next area was Jungala, and it had another big climbing fort. Great stuff for kids. Christine always had a hard time because her feet are too small, so Lisa kept her down below and went in a small splash pad with her.

Jungala is also the area where they have tigers. They had one viewing area where a tiger was sleeping right next to it, so you could get within a foot or so of it’s head. Cool!

The next area was called Congo, and Lisa and I went on the Congo River Rapids. Andrew was going to go on with us, but then I read a sign out loud that said that you could get wet, possibly soaked. Andrew said, “No way!” and went back to wait with Grandma and Grandpa. I tried to convince him that he probably wouldn’t get wet, but it didn’t work. Well, in the end, we did end up getting soaked!

From the Congo area, we also took a train ride around the whole park. That is the only way to see all of the animals on the Serengeti Plain. That is where the giraffes, hippos, zebras, wildebeest, and other African animals are.

After the train ride we made our way through Timbuktu and Nairobi and saw some more animals before making our way to Egypt. Both Andrew and Matthew were excited to see the King Tut exhibit. There was also an area full of sand and “artifacts” and the kids pretended they were digging up treasure. Andrew and Matthew both repeatedly said how they thought Brianna would have really liked it.

The last thing we wanted to see was the gorilla exhibit. It was gorgeous, but unfortunately, we didn’t see any gorillas. We did however see some monkey’s picking bugs off of each other.

On the way out we saw some alligators.

On the way home we stopped at an IHOP for dinner. It was the first time we had ever been and it was quite good.

We got home at around 8:30 pm and obviously the kids went straight to bed. Christine crashed almost immediately in the van, slept all the way home and kept sleeping as I brought her into the house, so Lisa said to just leave her in her clothes.

A great day!