Day 2 at Seaworld: Pets, Sesame Street, and Aquariums

Day 2 at Seaworld....ready, set, GO!

We left our hotel around 2pm and got to Seaworld at 3pm.  We had to park further away this time, but not too bad (we paid extra for the upgraded parking the day before, which was certainly a luxury). We had planned our route this time, so we knew we were headed straight for the Pets show.  Who would think Seaworld had a pet show with dogs, cats, kangaroos, parrots, and ostriches???  Well, they did, and it was actually really, really entertaining, especially for Jackson!  He loves dogs, so this was a dream come true for him! I was pretty astonished with how well all the animals were trained, especially the birds.  

We went back to Wild Arctic so I could do the motion ride.  Of course, we oogled over the polar bears and beluga whales again, but that was a given!  Jordan acted like he was so experienced on the motion ride-he knew everything and was not afraid to tell me, silly boy! I actually get just a touch sick on motion rides, so I always have to brace myself a bit.  Definitely not as good as Star Tours at disney, but enjoyable nonetheless!

A big stop for us today was Sesame Street.  So, Jared took Karianna to ride Manta while I ventured into the huge play area with the other 5 kids.....crazy? Maybe just a bit.  ;)  We hit up the rides first, starting with a ride similar to the teacups at Disney:

I can't tell you how excited James and Jackson were to do rides-they were like little kids in a candy shop with unlimited access!

The flying Elmo ride was next, and this one was a little tough.  Based on the height requirements, I had to ride with Sara, James and Jackson, and only two people fit into each little car.  So, I hired JD as my babysitter.  Thankfully they had a little fenced-in area that made this possible!  First I rode with James; Jordan also rode in his own car, the white one in the second pic below:

Second, I rode with Sara--here are the three boys waiting patiently in the pen.  JD did a GREAT job holding Jackson and directing his attention to Sara and I.  James is standing behind JD-he was sad he couldn't go again.

Third, I rode with Jackson, and I actually let JD and Jordan go that round as well-Sara and James stayed behind in the pen after the worker assured me they would be just fine.  I was a little uncertain, but they ended up being just fine.  Jackson was adorable!  He loved looking out over everything and yelling hi to JD and Jordan, who were in the cars right in front of us!

So after all those rounds of the flying Elmo, we finally got out of that line-whew!  Next up was this.....ride.  I have no idea what to call it, or how to describe it.  It was fun though, and midway through the line, Jared and Karianna showed up.  The nice gal behind us urged Karianna to join us in line, so she did, and enjoyed the ride with us.  Jared said Karianna not only loved Manta again, but she had the guts to raise her hands while flying through the ride!!!!!  BRAVE girl!  I'm a wimp apparently.... ;)

Jared and Karianna went to do the teacup ride, and I took the other kids to the big climber.  I made the colossal mistake of just setting them loose, not realizing that there were multiple exit points in that climber that I was unaware of. I quickly got James down from it, and corralled him and Jackson to a little kid play area that they really enjoyed.  As soon as Jared got back, I took off to ID the other kids.  Thankfully, I was able to do so relatively quickly, made them all aware of our meeting point, and just roved from kid to kid.  They had a ball in the play area, trying out as many things as possible.  I could not believe how big the climber was!

Running through the maze of punching bags!

JD is up there-can you see him?

The toddler play area.....

JD again!

Sara on the enormous drawbridge.....

Climbing through tunnels....

And jumping on a psuedo trampoline that was actually really tricky!

After this long visit, we hit up a couple of the aquariums that we had missed yesterday. The Moray Eel was a favorite!  I didn't take many pictures as my camera was not liking the lighting-plus, it was crowded! We also went through Turtle Bay or whatever it was called. The turtles felt huge to me!

We also cycled back through Shark Encounter since that was a favorite from yesterday.  Isn't this shot ominous?

We managed to pack all of that in before the kids started to get hungry for a snack.  We already decided to do dinner outside of the park after it closed at 10, so we knew snack was inevitable!  We took a quick bathroom break, grabbed some popcorn, and geared up for the final stretch.

Day 2 at Seaworld: Sea Lions, JD's Shoe, Fireworks, and Dennys

The only show we missed yesterday was the Sea Lion show.  Since it was one of the last shows, it was really packed, so we automatically headed up to nearly the top of the stadium.  It ended up being a great place to sit honestly-lots of room for the kids to spread out, eat, and dance, since the pre-show was AMAZING!  I love that SeaWorld does pre-shows to keep you busy so you never feel like you are just waiting. This particular pre-show was nearly better than the actual show itself!  The single performer was lip synching song after song, complete with costume changes.  The kids were having a ball, especially Karianna, since she recognized all the songs!  The guy's Michael Jackson and Katy Perry impersonations were top-notch!

That's the performer.  At the end of the pre-show, he transformed into hulk to get control of a possessed hose.  :)

My favorite trick-catching the frisbee in his mouth!

We knew we were going ot hit up the final Shamu show at 9:15pm, followed by fireworks, so we headed over for a few last rides on Atlantis before the night came to a close.  By the by, Seaworld at night is awesome-no sun beating down on you, the air feels noticeably cooler-just awesome!

So, our second round on Atlantis was.....interesting.  I went first with Karianna, and our ride was amazing-the sun was starting to set, and zipping around the roller coaster with that view was awesome!  We didn't get too wet this time, which was also nice. When we got down there, I was met with an interesting sight:

Apparently, JD had gotten so excited that his shoe came flying off his foot when he kicked his leg out to parallel the huge wave when the roller coaster came splashing down.  His shoe literally flew into Atlantis.  He said it landed just outside the roller coaster track.  What else can you do in a situation like this but laugh?????  Oh, JD, bless his heart-he was so apologetic.  he kept saying sorry, that he had no idea that would happen, and he felt so bad.  I just laughed, told him it was okay, but that the natural consequence would be walking around in one shoe the rest of the time!  I checked out flip flop prices, but nothing was cheaper than 27 dollars....no thanks.  For an hour left at the park, not going to happen.  So JD can officially say he lost a shoe in Atlantis!  I would never have predicted that would happen!

 Jared took the second ride with Jordan--JD and Sara both declined another roller coaster ride.  Their ride was a little harried since the roller coaster stopped twice-once when they were climbing towards the big drop, and a second time when they were in the elevator.  Jordan did a great job handling it-he was nervous to do the roller coaster again, but handled it like a champ.

The very last attraction of the night-and of our Seaworld adventure-was the final Shamu "Light up the Night" show, which was very likely our favorite show of the trip.  The pre-show was a big dance party-dance moves from the 50's through present day, with a DJ and cameras showing audience members throughout the whole thing. I was cracking up watching the kids dance.  Karianna of course could do every dance move pretty easily.  Jackson kept waving his arms around.  James kept yelling out, "Mom take a picture of me!"  And then he'd bust out some dance move and give me these big huge eyes-so funny! I felt like I was at a concern-it was an absolute blast-and this was all the pre-show!!!!!

Once the show actually started, we were mesmerzied.  The lights were amazing-reflecting off the orcas as they jumped and leaped through the pool. I didn't take a ton of pictures because I just didn't want to miss it!  the entire show was about showing off these animals, and they did it in grand style.  I am so glad this was our final stop-it was the perfect cap to a perfect theme park experience-truly.  After the show ended at 9:50, all the lights went out, and we got a 10 minute fireworks show that was the best show we have ever seen-all choreographed to music.  The whales were not performing, but they were out just swimming through the water, and it was just....so, so cool.  What a way to end things.  I can't express how awesome it was, and how much the kids enjoyed it. Magic!

And with that, our visit to Seaworld was over.  We left the parking lot at 10;20ish, looked up the nearest Denny's and headed there for dinner.  Jackson fell asleep during the 10 minute car ride and never woke up-he slept in my arms until dinner arrived, and even though I tried to gently wake him up to eat, he wasn't having it-so I laid him on the bench next to me and he never stirred once, not even when I loaded him back into the car seat to head to the hotel.  He was so tired!  To be perfectly honest, I had a lovely little moment of appreciation.  I have recently become more away that my baby is not a baby, and he's my last one.  Having him sleep in my arms was a sweet little moment for me that I treasured, despite how tired I was and how late it got!

The kids played the quiet game while we waited for our food, earning sour patch kids along the way. They all ate hearty dinners of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage, and the water once again told us how good our kids are.  We are certainly blessed that way, they have been so responsible and mature this entire trip thus far.  We ended up getting back to the hotel just before midnight, and everyone was in bed and asleep within a half hour.  We spent 7 hours at Seaworld for a grand total of 16.5 hours over the course of two days.  Wonderful memories made!