We actually set our alarm this morning. We got up at 7:30 and were sitting in IHOP by shortly after 8. We had a nice big breakfast and headed to Sea World. Traffic around here is awful... like the Beltway at rush hour. I understand the preference to stay on Disney property when visiting the area (at least if you're visiting Disney).
We arrived and parked with no problem. We slathered on sunscreen and went into the park. We saw shows, walked around, and saw various marine life. And we rode a roller coaster. More on that later.
We watched baby dolphins frolic in the dolphin nursery. We got a kick out of the sea lions (they are very vocal when they see people with fish for them... it's hilarious). We walked through a shark tank where the sharks were swimming all around us while we stood on a moving walkway. We saw a dolphin and whale show. We saw a sea lion and otter show. We saw lots of various fish and marine life. All very cool.
We went toward the log flume after the sea lion show because we were so hot. But there was a 50 minute wait to ride it. So we said, how about we ride the Kracken? (It's a fairly long roller coaster with several loops and barrel rolls.) J-Mav said no, but we said, "come on... it'll be fun!" And then after thinking about it for a minute, he just turned and started walking toward the entrance to the coaster. Hubby and I looked at each other in amazement and followed.
No loose items are allowed on the coaster, so we got a locker and stowed everything. We got in line (only 10 minutes). J-Mav was getting nervous as we waited, but he didn't cry and he didn't balk. We sat down and got buckled in. J-Mav was holding on white-knuckled. But after the first long hill and loop, we heard him yell, "this is awesome!" Woo hoo! We were so proud of him! It was a great roller coaster.
The last thing we planned to do at Sea World that day was see the Shamu One World show. Then we were heading back to the villa to shower and get ready for the Blue Man Group Show. We got into Shamu Stadium and sat down. And it started raining. And then it started raining harder. And it got really windy... to the point that we were soaked (sitting nowhere near the splash zone) and cold. They started and stopped the show twice (because there was lightning within three miles). We left after the second delay because they said they'd cancel it if the weather didn't move out in the next 5-10 minutes, and it didn't look like it was going to. Plus, we were on a time crunch.
We sloshed out to the car. We were soaked! We actually turned the heat on in the car. The GPS took us back to the villa on a back road, which was awesome. We used that road over and over again during the time we were there to avoid the interstate that was always slow with traffic.
After we all took hot showers, we headed back out to get something to eat and go to Universal Studios for The Blue Man Group. We didn't really know what The Blue Man Group was, but it always sounds interesting. We went to Olive Garden for dinner and we had the slowest waiter on the face of the planet. Then we had the traffic getting to Universal. And we had to park in a parking garage that we could tell was a hike from where we needed to be. I was really stressing out about making it because we didn't have our tickets... they were at will call, and we were to be there at least 15 minutes prior to show time to get them. I finally jumped out of the car and told Hubby and J-Mav to meet me at the box office so I could get the tickets.
I had no idea where I was going, so I just followed the crowd. I half walked, half ran (in flip flops). I kept asking where the Blue Man Group theatre was. I had to run around a big body of water. I finally got there about ten minutes before the show was to start. I got the tickets with no issue, and Hubby and J-Mav joined me about five minutes later. We were actually in our seats with time to spare (and the show started a few minutes late).
What a fabulous show! It was a mixture of music, comedy, crowd interaction, and science. We had good seats and we loved every minute of it. We were about to get pictures with the Blue Men after the show, and we strolled (much more leisurely) back out to our car talking about our favorite parts of the show.
We had promised J-Mav ice cream, so we found a Dairy Queen with the help of the GPS and had Blizzards. Then it was back to the villa and into bed to get ready for our next day of fun. :)
