2BoysMum&Dad
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2004
In my hand-written notes I made at the end of Friday 23rd July, I spookily gave the days report the heading The Calm Before The Storm, only because it was the day before we flew out to Florida and didnt think at the time it was really a very good or apt title. I have decided to name all the parts of my trip report The Calm Before The Storm Tour, in honour of the climax of our trip - Hurricane Charley which gave us an extra day in Florida.
Wednesday 11th August
THE CAST
Sergeant Major Zoe You WILL enjoy yourselves
DH Trevor I am NOT going to like this
Birthday Boy Michael (aged 10 to 11)
Why to everything Piers (aged 8 and a bit)
According to my itinerary, today was going to be a day at the Kennedy Space Center and tomorrow was going to be another day at SeaWorld. But tomorrow is Trevors birthday and I thought hed prefer being at KSC rather than another day at SeaWorld. We got up late this morning and had breakfast in the room. Wed decided there was no rush to get to SeaWorld as we had spent two days there already and we needed a good sleep.
My digital camera memory card needed developing and we also had a one-use waterproof camera which wed used at Discovery Cove which needed developing. We headed out on the 192 and decided to try out a 24 hour pharmacy which was a lot closer than Walmart for getting our photographs developed. Theyve got the same self-service Kodak machine as Walmart. We got the waterproof camera pictures done, but because we had so many digital camera pictures, they said it would take about an hour. We decide to leave our details and come back later to collect them.
Off to SeaWorld, arriving at around 12pm and head straight to the Spice Mill for lunch before the general masses at SeaWorld get hungry too. The boys do not seem particularly hungry so we manage to avoid collecting yet more whale shaped lunch boxes!
Slight diversion from SeaWorld reporting - Trevor has just arrived back to the room after doing some washing and I have decided I need to try writing up my notes on a hammock on the beach. So hang on a moment while I relocate to finish writing my notes ............ mmmmmmmmm, this is lovely and relaxing, but not ideal for trying to write, but Ill try to persevere for a while. I fell off even before I started to write, but once in situ, its difficult to get into a suitable position to write anything in my large notebook! Also, there is no lighting directly above any of the hammocks and its very dark now. I may have to resort to a sunbed, moving it to a well lit spot. No luck, I have now resorted to finish writing my notes at a table next to the pool! The pool area is well lit and its now around 11pm at a guess.
On the next table, there was a family group who had just finished eating some pizzas and the Dad took away the empty boxes to throw them in the bin. Great hilarity and amused shrieks followed when it was realised hed thrown them into the used towel bin! Luckily, he managed to retrieve the boxes and put them in the correct place!
OK, enough about the trials and tribulations of note taking and back to the business of what we got up to at SeaWorld. Firstly, a word of warning about show and event times. I suggest you make sure you get a fresh map and/or details of show and event times on each visit to this park, even if your last visit was the day before! We noticed one show we wanted to see was at a later time and the Dine with Shamu times had changed. Earthbound and family were due to be at SeaWorld today (although we didnt see them), but I knew they were due to Dine with Shamu at 7.30pm according to his itinerary. When we passed the restaurant, the posted meal times were 4.30pm and 6.30pm, so I was worried they might miss their meal.
We hadnt done the simulated helicopter ride yet on previous visits to SeaWorld, so we head towards this, which is actually called the Wild Arctic. This sort of simulated ride was always the closest youd ever get me doing a real rollercoaster! Although you get the feel of sudden drops etc, as long as you remember its a simulator, there is no way you can ever get that stomach lifting up feeling of a real rollercoaster! So, I actually enjoyed this. When you exit this simulator, you go through some interesting exhibits including areas with a walrus, polar bear and beluga whale. Theres a gift shop as you exit this area and this was actually one of my real favourite gift shops. They sold all sorts of cuddly toys and some HUGE cuddly whales! Trevor wouldnt let me have one, we would have needed a plane seat to get it home.
Piers kept going on about visiting the arcade area which hed seen previously and he said he wouldnt spend any money, he just wanted to have a look (whats the chances of that happening!). We did, of course, spend a little money and ended up with around 120 tokens. With these tokens, you can buy stuff from a display cabinet and so we got some pens and pencils for the boys.
We now head towards the kids play area again and noticed a new part which was previously fenced off. There were two parts, one for remote controlled cars and one for remote controlled boats. These were coin operated machines, so we decided to give this a miss but fun to watch for a while. Luckily Michael and Piers appreciated the fact we were trying not to overspend and didnt mind us telling them we wouldnt have a go at this. Although we had brought towels and swimming trunks for the boys, we also didnt bother with the kids wet play area.
Next stop, the Anheuser-Busch Hospitality Center. I know this is a highlight for many people visiting SeaWorld and it seemed a good opportunity not to miss! On the way, we spot a lovely looking Budweiser cart with six great looking huge horses which was stationary at the time, great photo opportunity, if wed had the camera with us. There was someone sitting on the back with a dalmation dog, dont know why was this supposed to be significant in some way! When they moved off I noticed a small road sweeper type vehicle following directly behind them. I suspect this is purely to collect what the horses may leave behind somehow it totally ruined the image
, never mind! On to the ABH Center, we missed going to it previously and knew we would deeply regret not visiting there today which might be our last chance to visit SeaWorld. We sat on a bench for a moment next to the bar area (not the one you see as you walk it, its behind there) and Trevor went up to get a drink. He came back and I decided to go off and get one too, well it was free after all! I am not normally a beer or lager woman, but I just had to try. As it happened, we both ended up with the same drink the OReilly I think. Well, it did begin with an O. We both liked this one but I decided I couldnt finish mine and Trevor somehow managed to finish it for me 
!
On to the stables next door. Everything here is highly polished and very well kept. Even if you are not particularly interested in things horsey, Id still recommend you come along here for a look.
Now off to the shark encounter again (went here on one of our other visits), always popular with the kids and always fascinating. Its one of a few areas where you are taken along on a moving walkway to keep the crowds moving.
Next stop Pets Ahoy and this was good entertainment. The show is done with very little apparent human intervention (probably loads behind the scenes) and must have taken ages to train the animals and loads of patience on the part of the trainers. We timed coming to see this very well as it had just started raining hard and had finished by the time the show finished.
Time to think about leaving, but we have to try the ice cream place near the exit first. These are wonderful and we all have something different. We have a brief visit to the gift shop on the way out and Michael buys a hammer-head shark and I buy a SeaWorld fridge magnet.
Back to the 24 hour pharmacy to collect an assortment of pictures (printed and on CD). We also buy yet more Yu-Gi-Oh cards for the boys which they spotted in this shop this morning and we said wed buy them if they behaved themselves at SeaWorld. Nothing like a bit of bribery which results in having wonderfully behaved kids in the eyes of the public, we unfortunately know better of course! Cant really complain, they are good kids really.
Off to Wal-mart now to collect a different batch of pictures they were developing for us and while we were there, we bought some more food, more t-shirts for the kids and yet another suitcase (our second new one since arriving in Florida).
Back to CBR, doing full circle back to where I started this report - Trevor goes off to do some washing. We had a nice surprise when we arrived in the room. Michael had a bunch of helium balloons and a birthday card from Mickey Mouse waiting for him on his bed. Unfortunately, it said Happy 9th Birthday and was a day late. But there was no way we could complain, of course, as they really needed more notice and I didnt tell the maid how old he was, she had to guess. Michael wasnt at all bothered, he seemed more interested in his new Yu-Gi-Oh cards and his new hammer-head shark. I phoned the front desk about the card and firstly asked them to pass on our thanks to Mickey Mouse for the card before I politely told them what the problem was. I was advised to contact Guest Services in the morning.
Well, this has been the most eventful note taking so far, attempting to do them in three different places and doing a lot of people watching at the same time. The pool area has suddenly become quite busy again now, despite it being very late. I have finished now, so I think Id best be off to bed and get myself rested before Trevors birthday tomorrow. Nighty night everyone, sleep tight and see you tomorrow!
Wednesday 11th August
THE CAST
Sergeant Major Zoe You WILL enjoy yourselves
DH Trevor I am NOT going to like this
Birthday Boy Michael (aged 10 to 11)
Why to everything Piers (aged 8 and a bit)
According to my itinerary, today was going to be a day at the Kennedy Space Center and tomorrow was going to be another day at SeaWorld. But tomorrow is Trevors birthday and I thought hed prefer being at KSC rather than another day at SeaWorld. We got up late this morning and had breakfast in the room. Wed decided there was no rush to get to SeaWorld as we had spent two days there already and we needed a good sleep.
My digital camera memory card needed developing and we also had a one-use waterproof camera which wed used at Discovery Cove which needed developing. We headed out on the 192 and decided to try out a 24 hour pharmacy which was a lot closer than Walmart for getting our photographs developed. Theyve got the same self-service Kodak machine as Walmart. We got the waterproof camera pictures done, but because we had so many digital camera pictures, they said it would take about an hour. We decide to leave our details and come back later to collect them.
Off to SeaWorld, arriving at around 12pm and head straight to the Spice Mill for lunch before the general masses at SeaWorld get hungry too. The boys do not seem particularly hungry so we manage to avoid collecting yet more whale shaped lunch boxes!
Slight diversion from SeaWorld reporting - Trevor has just arrived back to the room after doing some washing and I have decided I need to try writing up my notes on a hammock on the beach. So hang on a moment while I relocate to finish writing my notes ............ mmmmmmmmm, this is lovely and relaxing, but not ideal for trying to write, but Ill try to persevere for a while. I fell off even before I started to write, but once in situ, its difficult to get into a suitable position to write anything in my large notebook! Also, there is no lighting directly above any of the hammocks and its very dark now. I may have to resort to a sunbed, moving it to a well lit spot. No luck, I have now resorted to finish writing my notes at a table next to the pool! The pool area is well lit and its now around 11pm at a guess.
On the next table, there was a family group who had just finished eating some pizzas and the Dad took away the empty boxes to throw them in the bin. Great hilarity and amused shrieks followed when it was realised hed thrown them into the used towel bin! Luckily, he managed to retrieve the boxes and put them in the correct place!
OK, enough about the trials and tribulations of note taking and back to the business of what we got up to at SeaWorld. Firstly, a word of warning about show and event times. I suggest you make sure you get a fresh map and/or details of show and event times on each visit to this park, even if your last visit was the day before! We noticed one show we wanted to see was at a later time and the Dine with Shamu times had changed. Earthbound and family were due to be at SeaWorld today (although we didnt see them), but I knew they were due to Dine with Shamu at 7.30pm according to his itinerary. When we passed the restaurant, the posted meal times were 4.30pm and 6.30pm, so I was worried they might miss their meal.
We hadnt done the simulated helicopter ride yet on previous visits to SeaWorld, so we head towards this, which is actually called the Wild Arctic. This sort of simulated ride was always the closest youd ever get me doing a real rollercoaster! Although you get the feel of sudden drops etc, as long as you remember its a simulator, there is no way you can ever get that stomach lifting up feeling of a real rollercoaster! So, I actually enjoyed this. When you exit this simulator, you go through some interesting exhibits including areas with a walrus, polar bear and beluga whale. Theres a gift shop as you exit this area and this was actually one of my real favourite gift shops. They sold all sorts of cuddly toys and some HUGE cuddly whales! Trevor wouldnt let me have one, we would have needed a plane seat to get it home.
Piers kept going on about visiting the arcade area which hed seen previously and he said he wouldnt spend any money, he just wanted to have a look (whats the chances of that happening!). We did, of course, spend a little money and ended up with around 120 tokens. With these tokens, you can buy stuff from a display cabinet and so we got some pens and pencils for the boys.
We now head towards the kids play area again and noticed a new part which was previously fenced off. There were two parts, one for remote controlled cars and one for remote controlled boats. These were coin operated machines, so we decided to give this a miss but fun to watch for a while. Luckily Michael and Piers appreciated the fact we were trying not to overspend and didnt mind us telling them we wouldnt have a go at this. Although we had brought towels and swimming trunks for the boys, we also didnt bother with the kids wet play area.
Next stop, the Anheuser-Busch Hospitality Center. I know this is a highlight for many people visiting SeaWorld and it seemed a good opportunity not to miss! On the way, we spot a lovely looking Budweiser cart with six great looking huge horses which was stationary at the time, great photo opportunity, if wed had the camera with us. There was someone sitting on the back with a dalmation dog, dont know why was this supposed to be significant in some way! When they moved off I noticed a small road sweeper type vehicle following directly behind them. I suspect this is purely to collect what the horses may leave behind somehow it totally ruined the image
, never mind! On to the ABH Center, we missed going to it previously and knew we would deeply regret not visiting there today which might be our last chance to visit SeaWorld. We sat on a bench for a moment next to the bar area (not the one you see as you walk it, its behind there) and Trevor went up to get a drink. He came back and I decided to go off and get one too, well it was free after all! I am not normally a beer or lager woman, but I just had to try. As it happened, we both ended up with the same drink the OReilly I think. Well, it did begin with an O. We both liked this one but I decided I couldnt finish mine and Trevor somehow managed to finish it for me !On to the stables next door. Everything here is highly polished and very well kept. Even if you are not particularly interested in things horsey, Id still recommend you come along here for a look.
Now off to the shark encounter again (went here on one of our other visits), always popular with the kids and always fascinating. Its one of a few areas where you are taken along on a moving walkway to keep the crowds moving.
Next stop Pets Ahoy and this was good entertainment. The show is done with very little apparent human intervention (probably loads behind the scenes) and must have taken ages to train the animals and loads of patience on the part of the trainers. We timed coming to see this very well as it had just started raining hard and had finished by the time the show finished.
Time to think about leaving, but we have to try the ice cream place near the exit first. These are wonderful and we all have something different. We have a brief visit to the gift shop on the way out and Michael buys a hammer-head shark and I buy a SeaWorld fridge magnet.
Back to the 24 hour pharmacy to collect an assortment of pictures (printed and on CD). We also buy yet more Yu-Gi-Oh cards for the boys which they spotted in this shop this morning and we said wed buy them if they behaved themselves at SeaWorld. Nothing like a bit of bribery which results in having wonderfully behaved kids in the eyes of the public, we unfortunately know better of course! Cant really complain, they are good kids really.
Off to Wal-mart now to collect a different batch of pictures they were developing for us and while we were there, we bought some more food, more t-shirts for the kids and yet another suitcase (our second new one since arriving in Florida).
Back to CBR, doing full circle back to where I started this report - Trevor goes off to do some washing. We had a nice surprise when we arrived in the room. Michael had a bunch of helium balloons and a birthday card from Mickey Mouse waiting for him on his bed. Unfortunately, it said Happy 9th Birthday and was a day late. But there was no way we could complain, of course, as they really needed more notice and I didnt tell the maid how old he was, she had to guess. Michael wasnt at all bothered, he seemed more interested in his new Yu-Gi-Oh cards and his new hammer-head shark. I phoned the front desk about the card and firstly asked them to pass on our thanks to Mickey Mouse for the card before I politely told them what the problem was. I was advised to contact Guest Services in the morning.
Well, this has been the most eventful note taking so far, attempting to do them in three different places and doing a lot of people watching at the same time. The pool area has suddenly become quite busy again now, despite it being very late. I have finished now, so I think Id best be off to bed and get myself rested before Trevors birthday tomorrow. Nighty night everyone, sleep tight and see you tomorrow!
