Rosebud
06-16-2003, 04:59 PM
Wednesday, June 4 (Sea World, ‘Ohana, and more moving and cleaning)
I had decided to buy those special bounce back passes for Sea World – buy one day and get the rest of the year free. I picked Val up about 9:00 and we first stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast and then into Sea World. We haven’t been there since I think Val was in either 3rd or 5th grade.
Sea World has a special preferred parking which is $10, which gets you closer. But I would hate to have paid the $10 and been one of the very last spots right next to the $7 parking. We paid the $7 and actually ended up with pretty good parking. They start parking at one end of the lot and continue to the other end – they also have parking across the street, which I presume they used if the closer lot gets full. The lot across the street and I think further at the ends of regular lot has trams – I’m not sure if they filled up that much the day we were there. By the time we parked we actually had a good spot straight down our aisle and it was the entrance. If we had come earlier we would have been further away.
I think a lot of people had bought the bounce back passes on-line before going and had to check into the passport office first, because there was quite a line there. Sea world passports are hard plastic with your picture on it. They also have 3 levels, which allows you different discounts or special offers. With the bounce back pass you are bronze, which I think means you don’t really get anything special – or not much anyway. I know the silver & gold gets you discounts on fish food, and I’m not sure what other stuff.
We walked by the turtles with a brief stop and then headed over to the Sting Rays. We decided to feed the stingrays. You can buy a little container of food (fishes) for $4. They open at certain times and sell a certain amount of food until it is out. After that you have to wait until the next feeding time, which is not too far off. We happened to be there at the right time, so bought our fish and proceeded following their instructions.
You hold the fish down under the water lightly and feed them from underneath. They have something on the edge/top that almost looks like a mouth, but isn’t – is it a nose? They keep telling you that you have to feed them from underneath not on top because that is not their mouth. Well they also have something on the top of them, and that is what Valerie thought they were talking about when they said don’t feed them on top, because she kept trying to stuff the fish into what I think may have been the nose. She finally figured it out, but I have to admit we both felt a little creepy sticking our hands underneath them and having them grab the fish.
You can also choose just to feel (pet) them without feeding them if you wish. They do feel kind of slimy.
Then we went to the Pet Animal show at the new Riverfront. We loved the show, especially the cats – unbelievable what they got them to do. Our Hercules and Xena would never have done some of the things they did and on cue. Our Hercules will play fetch, but he hates to bring the ball right back to you and will drop it nearby. Xena just watches when he plays fetch – she will only play chase the string or something like that. That also had dogs, and birds, a rat (I think) and a pig. They do talk about how they get the animals from a pet shelter, so that is nice to know.
Next stop was the otter and sea lion (or something) show. We got seats a few seats back from where the roof began and luckily got them when we did because it started pouring right before the show started and did through almost the whole show. Didn’t care for that show too much – bunch of corny joking around and not too much of the animals. It was okay though, and I do admit I laughed, but would have preferred more of the animals.
We went through the Penguin encounter which Val couldn’t remember until she saw it. Also viewed the manatee exhibit, which was new since we’d been there last. Looked at Journey to Atlantis but didn’t bother trying to convince Val to ride because the wait was 45 minutes.
Our last stop was the dolphins and highlight of the day. We got there about 10 minutes before feeding time. I don’t know if they improved the actual tank the dolphins were in since our last visit, but I do think it was bigger and had a nice design to it with a beach on one side. Got our fish and went to pet and feed the dolphins. That was lots of fun. They have cameramen taking pictures of you feeding the dolphins and you can buy them if you wish. You can signal to them to take your picture or they just snap random pictures and signal to the workers behind you to give you a ticket.
They sell containers of fish for $4 here too. They warn you to keep your container below the wall or otherwise they might just reach up and grab them paper and all. The dolphins are smart enough to know without seeing the fish what are in the containers.
The dolphins feel so much nicer than the stingrays. Soft and not so slimy. You can also manage to pet them without feeding them, but it is a little harder to do than the stingrays. We did notice that they seemed more likely to come up to people with the same tone of blue shirts that the workers had. I guess they know that the workers might have food for them and see the color and think they might have food. This reminded us of a restaurant we go to in Maine where you can go out back and feed the seagulls. When you open the doors they are all squawking and going crazy, but they recognize the workers by their hats and don’t even make a peep when they walk out.
They also have a trainer going to different areas and rewarding them for specific behaviors, which I’m sure, have to do with checking them out medically when necessary. This also allows the people right there to get a better look. She came by us at one point so we got a good slow look. All our other encounters were pretty quick.
After that we decided it was time to leave the park. Got stopped for a survey and then the skies opened up again. One thing we mentioned on the survey was how hard the map was to read. We never use the map at DW anymore, so maybe they are all bad, but we really had a hard time with the Sea World map and I seem to remember reading AK map for the first time was easier.
We called from Sea World to get first available dinner seating at ‘Ohana. It was the first time we had been there. We got a nice seat by the window, although the new volcano pool blocked our view of the castle. We didn’t like everything but had plenty to make us happy and we certainly weren’t hungry when we left – although I could have gone for more pineapples in caramel. I’ll definitely go there again.
It was getting late and we still had some stuff to move and finish cleaning the apartment and drop the key off by 9:00 so off we went back to Chatham. Katie called us and said she had stopped by the Polynesian to finalize her parent’s trip. While she was there she looked for us and I’m not sure if she changed her mind and wanted to eat with us, but she didn’t find us. She said she was stopping to pick up some fast food and would be over shortly. It was a long while before she got there and we figured she changed her mind and was doing something else, but in reality she got lost. The 3 of finished packing and cleaning and headed over to Vista about 8:45 to drop off the key and get their new Ids.
Brought the rest of the stuff up from the cars and then proceeded to unpack and organize. Got most of that done and then I went back to my hotel to rest of for the next day.
I had decided to buy those special bounce back passes for Sea World – buy one day and get the rest of the year free. I picked Val up about 9:00 and we first stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast and then into Sea World. We haven’t been there since I think Val was in either 3rd or 5th grade.
Sea World has a special preferred parking which is $10, which gets you closer. But I would hate to have paid the $10 and been one of the very last spots right next to the $7 parking. We paid the $7 and actually ended up with pretty good parking. They start parking at one end of the lot and continue to the other end – they also have parking across the street, which I presume they used if the closer lot gets full. The lot across the street and I think further at the ends of regular lot has trams – I’m not sure if they filled up that much the day we were there. By the time we parked we actually had a good spot straight down our aisle and it was the entrance. If we had come earlier we would have been further away.
I think a lot of people had bought the bounce back passes on-line before going and had to check into the passport office first, because there was quite a line there. Sea world passports are hard plastic with your picture on it. They also have 3 levels, which allows you different discounts or special offers. With the bounce back pass you are bronze, which I think means you don’t really get anything special – or not much anyway. I know the silver & gold gets you discounts on fish food, and I’m not sure what other stuff.
We walked by the turtles with a brief stop and then headed over to the Sting Rays. We decided to feed the stingrays. You can buy a little container of food (fishes) for $4. They open at certain times and sell a certain amount of food until it is out. After that you have to wait until the next feeding time, which is not too far off. We happened to be there at the right time, so bought our fish and proceeded following their instructions.
You hold the fish down under the water lightly and feed them from underneath. They have something on the edge/top that almost looks like a mouth, but isn’t – is it a nose? They keep telling you that you have to feed them from underneath not on top because that is not their mouth. Well they also have something on the top of them, and that is what Valerie thought they were talking about when they said don’t feed them on top, because she kept trying to stuff the fish into what I think may have been the nose. She finally figured it out, but I have to admit we both felt a little creepy sticking our hands underneath them and having them grab the fish.
You can also choose just to feel (pet) them without feeding them if you wish. They do feel kind of slimy.
Then we went to the Pet Animal show at the new Riverfront. We loved the show, especially the cats – unbelievable what they got them to do. Our Hercules and Xena would never have done some of the things they did and on cue. Our Hercules will play fetch, but he hates to bring the ball right back to you and will drop it nearby. Xena just watches when he plays fetch – she will only play chase the string or something like that. That also had dogs, and birds, a rat (I think) and a pig. They do talk about how they get the animals from a pet shelter, so that is nice to know.
Next stop was the otter and sea lion (or something) show. We got seats a few seats back from where the roof began and luckily got them when we did because it started pouring right before the show started and did through almost the whole show. Didn’t care for that show too much – bunch of corny joking around and not too much of the animals. It was okay though, and I do admit I laughed, but would have preferred more of the animals.
We went through the Penguin encounter which Val couldn’t remember until she saw it. Also viewed the manatee exhibit, which was new since we’d been there last. Looked at Journey to Atlantis but didn’t bother trying to convince Val to ride because the wait was 45 minutes.
Our last stop was the dolphins and highlight of the day. We got there about 10 minutes before feeding time. I don’t know if they improved the actual tank the dolphins were in since our last visit, but I do think it was bigger and had a nice design to it with a beach on one side. Got our fish and went to pet and feed the dolphins. That was lots of fun. They have cameramen taking pictures of you feeding the dolphins and you can buy them if you wish. You can signal to them to take your picture or they just snap random pictures and signal to the workers behind you to give you a ticket.
They sell containers of fish for $4 here too. They warn you to keep your container below the wall or otherwise they might just reach up and grab them paper and all. The dolphins are smart enough to know without seeing the fish what are in the containers.
The dolphins feel so much nicer than the stingrays. Soft and not so slimy. You can also manage to pet them without feeding them, but it is a little harder to do than the stingrays. We did notice that they seemed more likely to come up to people with the same tone of blue shirts that the workers had. I guess they know that the workers might have food for them and see the color and think they might have food. This reminded us of a restaurant we go to in Maine where you can go out back and feed the seagulls. When you open the doors they are all squawking and going crazy, but they recognize the workers by their hats and don’t even make a peep when they walk out.
They also have a trainer going to different areas and rewarding them for specific behaviors, which I’m sure, have to do with checking them out medically when necessary. This also allows the people right there to get a better look. She came by us at one point so we got a good slow look. All our other encounters were pretty quick.
After that we decided it was time to leave the park. Got stopped for a survey and then the skies opened up again. One thing we mentioned on the survey was how hard the map was to read. We never use the map at DW anymore, so maybe they are all bad, but we really had a hard time with the Sea World map and I seem to remember reading AK map for the first time was easier.
We called from Sea World to get first available dinner seating at ‘Ohana. It was the first time we had been there. We got a nice seat by the window, although the new volcano pool blocked our view of the castle. We didn’t like everything but had plenty to make us happy and we certainly weren’t hungry when we left – although I could have gone for more pineapples in caramel. I’ll definitely go there again.
It was getting late and we still had some stuff to move and finish cleaning the apartment and drop the key off by 9:00 so off we went back to Chatham. Katie called us and said she had stopped by the Polynesian to finalize her parent’s trip. While she was there she looked for us and I’m not sure if she changed her mind and wanted to eat with us, but she didn’t find us. She said she was stopping to pick up some fast food and would be over shortly. It was a long while before she got there and we figured she changed her mind and was doing something else, but in reality she got lost. The 3 of finished packing and cleaning and headed over to Vista about 8:45 to drop off the key and get their new Ids.
Brought the rest of the stuff up from the cars and then proceeded to unpack and organize. Got most of that done and then I went back to my hotel to rest of for the next day.