Sea World of Orlando and Downtown Disney

I went back and forth and back and forth again about even posting about our (quick!) visit to Sea World when we were in Orlando at Disney World last summer.  There’s been so much backlash against them recently due to the movie Blackfish that I wasn’t sure I wanted it alienate my readers by posting about my visit there.  I’ve seen the movie but I also know there’s a slant on everything.  No one is all good or all evil and the more I sat and thought about it, posting images from a visit to Sea World is not terribly different than posting my pictures from the Animal Kingdom (which is pretty much a zoo for all intents and purposes).  So, here’s the post!

When I was a kid, while I loved visiting Cedar Point, my favorite day trip was to Sea World.  My Dad was an electrician and his union (IBEW Local 306) would do a rotation for their summer picnics from Sea World, Geauga Lake and Clay’s Park.  While we would sometime visit in the off-years of the summer picnic, I looked forward to the Sea World outing the most of the three because it was a guaranteed visit.  I made so many memories there!  The first visit I remember (although I’m sure I went before) was when I was around 4 or 5.  I was mesmerized by the park and this was my first encounter with anything of the sea.  I hadn’t seen the ocean yet and the only fish I’d ever seen were in Nimisilla Lake so seeing Shamu for the first time was quite impressive for me.  The funny thing is the biggest thing that stuck in my mind from that first trip was getting a Hello Kitty toothbrush, cup and a pair of Hello Kitty pink overalls.  I can’t recall if it was that trip or another one but when we were leaving there was a thunderstorm and lightning struck really close.  They had these short sawed off telephone poles just before you crossed over into the parking lot and when the lightning hit I ran smack dab into one.  A beat later, another bolt and I slammed into another one.  I ended up with two black eyes and a healthy fear of lightning after that.

Me in my Hello Kitty overalls I got at Sea World and my last visit to Sea World when I was 21.

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Even through my teenaged years and until they closed, I looked forward to going to Sea World in the summer at least once.  I was sad when the original aquarium burned down and elated when it was rebuilt and was better than ever.  My Dad spent a couple summers working at Sea World as an electrician prepping the space for the new Shark Encounter and the 3D ride.  He told me where the graveyard for the dead animals were (on the hill behind Shamu’s stadium near where the bird show was if you are curious).  When we went that summer, the trainers recognized him and we got soaked in the splash zone by Shamu.  They later let me “pet” Shamu and feed him which was amazing.  I spent more hours by the dolphin encounter than anywhere else.  I even was at the Ski Show the day before the terrible accident.  So, I have lots of memories and fond feelings for a place that was a joy of my younger years.  When they closed, I was sad and still am!  When we started planning our trip to Disney, the main reason we got a rental car was just so I could go to Sea World again.  I’d heard from friends over the years how much better it was than ours and I was eager to find out for myself.

Plans always are changed though and my nephew that works at Disney was sick and needed to go to Urgent Care.  He didn’t have his car at the time and since we had the rental car we offered to take him on our way to Sea World.  In the end we only spent about 4 hours at Sea World instead of the full day due to storms and their new shorter hours during the week that started that day.  While it was reminiscent of the Sea World of Ohio, it was a whole different ballgame.  Sea World of Ohio never had rides and was pretty small scale.

We started out by grabbing lunch in one of their eateries (we tried to eat by the shark tank but that didn’t work out) and then headed to the shark tank to go through the “Jaws” tube.  I don’t know why but I always wanted to visit this after seeing it in Jaws 3.  LOL.  A year or two after that movie they opened ours here at Sea World in Ohio but the tank was only a quarter circle, not a full half like you see below.  I was SO disappointed.

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When we got out of the tank we saw that the skies were quickly darkening up so we hoofed it up the hill to one of the main draws (for me) to the Sea World in Orlando – the manatees!  Manatees are one of my favorite animals and Sea World does a lot of rescue work with them.  They have a little lagoon where you can see the manatees they are rehabilitating and I was excited to see them.   They were just floating about but it was still cool to see them.

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The rain started and a quick look at the radar showed that there was another strong line of storms similar to the one that had came at the end of our day in the Magic Kingdom so we headed to the nearest shelter we could find which was the grotto where you can view the dolphins.  Dolphins are a close second to manatees for me so I wasn’t too bummed about having to sit and watch them for nearly an hour.  They were quite playful and fun.  One kept coming up to the window where a little girl was and would dance around and follow her as she moved her hand around the window.  I have a feeling she won’t forget how magical that moment was for a long time.

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The storms passed and we wandered back out and pet the dolphins before heading to the stingray tank for a few moments before wandering out of the park.  We were thinking of staying but another line of storms were headed our way and the last Shamu show was slated to start around that time (it was the first day of their earlier hours – they closed at 6PM and all final shows were around 4).  I’m still a bit scared of storms and Sea World so I opted not to be in the huge metal amphitheater when lightning was around LOL.

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When we got back to our hotel, Port Orleans French Quarter, we got the sad news that after a long fight, our friend Bob passed away due to a complication from surgery.  Bob was a hilarious man that we enjoyed vacationing with the past few years and he is sorely missed.  We headed to the bar and had a few drinks in his honor as Bob loved his moonshine.  Here’s a picture of him with us a couple years ago in the Outer Banks.  He’s the guy in the plaid shirt on the left.  He and my husband Chris got along so well and they always were up to no good when they were together.

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While we were at Sea World, my sister in law and her family were going to go to Hollywood Studios but since Drew was sick he couldn’t get them in so they hung out at the pool all day.  It was my brother in law’s birthday so we made last minute reservations at Portobello Country Italian Trattoria to go and celebrate it.  Their complimentary birthday desert was espresso ice cream and it was HORRIBLE.  Chris however loved it so Eric handed it over gladly.  As Chris was finishing up his ice cream we realized it turned his teeth and tongue grey.  NOT a good look.  LOL.

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We didn’t get to explore Downtown Disney too much the night before due to the rain so we explored the city a bit more and I got my only picture taken with a princess while Erica posed with a lego bulldog (her school mascot).   I LOVED the huge World of Disney store and while it was a complete madhouse, Erica and I had a great time exploring it.  Earlier we had to take the bus to Downtown Disney because the water levels were too high for the boats to taxi us but the water had gone down enough by the end of the night for us to enjoy the quiet ride back to our hotel.  I think of all the transportation options at Disney World, the boats were my favorite.  We spent a lot of time arguing over what in the world the treehouse looking houses were and now I have a new place I want to stay when we go back.

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Since I’m already chatting about Downtown Disney I’m going to go ahead and finish off the blog post with our last visit there.  We killed some time before our late afternoon flight out of Orlando in Downtown Disney.  We kicked around going to a park (we still had one more day on our passes we never did end up using, oh well) but didn’t want to be rushed so we went to Downtown Disney instead.  We spent a few hours there burning our final Quick Service credit, using up the snack credits we had left and browsing the stores.  I didn’t think I’d really enjoy Downtown Disney because while I LIKE Disney I am not OMG OBSESSED! with it.  I was really surprised with how fun and enjoyable it was there and wish we’d gone on to explore the whole thing (we stuck to the side where our boat docked near Rainforest Cafe).

I fell in love with a painting at The Art of Disney of Lilo & Stitch.  Stitch is by far my favorite Disney character and while I don’t usually like cartoony things I love this painting.  I have a couple Wyland paintings (if you like Wyland you MUST hit up the gallery of his work over at the Polynesian!) and this reminds me of his style of work.  We came REALLY close to buying it but ended up not bringing it home with us.  I still kind of wish we had!

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When lunch time came around I was happy we all had an extra Quick Service left because I’d heard rave reviews about the Wolfgang Puck Express.  It ended up being many of our group’s favorite of all of the Quick Service meals we’d had.  I had the Cavatappi Chicken Alfredo (delish!) and almost everyone else had the salmon (huge fans).  You definitely get the best value for your credit here!  The portions were HUGE and I was bummed I couldn’t have this for leftovers later on.

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 I don’t know how I missed it on my first two rounds but I ended up in Basin and I was in HEAVEN.  One of my favorite ‘”simple pleasures” is taking a long hot bath with decadent bath goodies so this store was straight up my alley.  I adore Lush but hate that they have glitter in all of their bath bombs.  I didn’t have enough room to bring home anything and I was sad.  This blog post just reminded me that I still need to order from them online!  We also did a final run through of World of Disney so I could pick up some gifts for home.  I love the spitting Stitch at one of the (many!) entrances.

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When my in laws went to Disney World about 15 years ago they took a family portrait at this same setting so we had to recreate the picture again.  They are missing Evan but it still makes me smile.   They weren’t going to take it because Evan didn’t come but I’m glad I talked them into it because it’s fun to see the changes in everyone.

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My recommendations for Downtown Disney

Eat: Ragland Road (Full Service), Wolfgang Puck Express (Quick Serve)
Drink:  Magner’s Sangria @ Ragland Road
Shop:  World of Disney, Basin

 

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