Elena's Make A Wish Trip, part 5: Seaworld Orlando

On Tuesday, we set out for Seaworld Orlando. We really loved it! At first we weren't expecting much (I'd been to Seaworld in California when I was 6, but can't remember anything) and we'd heard a few other people say that they thought Seaworld was overrated. But, we thought it was awesome! We only had one day in Seaworld, but wished we'd had two! Maybe it's because we're just nerdy fish/sea-animal/bird lovers (and hence, Elena is also indoctrinated) or maybe Seaworld Orlando is cooler than Seaworld in California or maybe both. :)

We started out at the Dolphin Nursery. Dolphins are super cool anyways, but baby dophins?? How can anyone resist? :) It was really neat seeing the moms and babies interact. The babies were really playful and splashed us a couple of times when we weren't paying attention to them.

A mama and baby dolphin swimming together

Blurry picture, but isn't this baby just the cutest?? :)

Eric went on a crazy rollar coaster called Manta, we watched the pearl divers for a bit, saw some Scarlet Ibis', and wandered around the Shark Exhibit and The Sea Gardens for a while and then got some lunch. (The food in Seaworld = so good! Hand carved turkey sandwhiches, beef stew and winter vegetables in a bread bowl, and yummy salads, salmon, steaks, etc. The food in Disneyworld = no good! Greasy, dry burgers, chicken nuggets, and hot dogs. Although you have to love the churros. :) Just some random trivia for you.)

A few scenes from around The Sea Gardens

Pretty compact package only standing on one leg. :)

After lunch we hurried over to see the dolphin and whale show, Blue Horizons. It was FANTASTIC! Tied with feeding the dolphins for the best part of the day. There were dolphins, a whale, macaws, acrobats, divers - it was a really well done show and it was neat to see the way the dolphins and their trainers interacted.

Waving hi

One of many acrobats

Several times during the show the trainer would dive under water and then emerge a few seconds later riding the dolphin - it was pretty amazing.

Riding the dolphin again

Here are a couple of clips, so you can feel like you were there. :)

After the dolphin show, we hurried over to Dolphin Cove to feed the dolphins. Seaworld gives all the wish kids a free tray of fish, so they can participate. It actually turned out to be like three trays of fish and a one on one session with a trainer - it was really neat. They took such great care of us - again, the power of the button! :) The trainer stayed by us and got the dolphins do some tricks for Elena and he got them to come up on the side so we could all pet them. Elena said it felt like a hot dog. :)

We stopped by the Seal, Otter, and Sea Lion exhibit...

Then, during a Lily pitstop, guess what we saw in a "baby needs" vending machine? My old nursing cover - in a vending machine for $10! Udder Covers sells those for $40 on their website! Good thing I only paid $8 for mine or else I would be a little unhappy. Sorry to all the suckers who paid full price -apparently you need to go to Seaworld. :)

Then we went back to the Shark/Reef exhibit for a better look.

The shark part of the exhibit at the end was really cool. It's kind of intense walking underneath a huge tank full of sharks. :)

We ended the night with another carousel ride :) and the killer whale show, Believe.

There were so many other things we wanted to do in Seaworld - take out a paddle boat, go to the penguin encounter, ride more of the rides, eat at Sharks Underwater Grill, watch more of the shows, visit the reef exhibit, etc. Another time, I guess. :)

Another great day!