The trainer was there talking to children and parents and Brinn wanted to chat with him a couple minutes if possible. He was very friendly and even posed for a picture.
After that we needed to head across the park for the Dolphin show. On the way we stopped to watch the momma dolphins with their babies swimming round and round in an outdoor pool area. You could not get too close (which is very understandable) but it was still fun watching the little guys with their moms!
 

We then continued on to the Dolphin Show area. Quite a large theatre, and nicely designed. The show was excellent and included not only dolphins, but birds, false killer whales (I think....) and some amazing human acrobats and trainers as well. Two thumbs way up (and lots of pictures as well!) :-)

After the show we headed down to the underwater viewing area and again watched the dolphins a bit. While we were there a trainer came through with a Three-Toed Sloth that was actually very cool to check out. They are quite shy creatures, but this one was pretty comfortable with her.

 

After that we headed over to see the Manatee exhibit. You could see them both from above the surface, and then again below the surface where it was nice and air conditioned and not crowded at all. Very interesting displays and fun to watch them floating around their pools.

We wandered around the park and headed back toward the Shamu Stadium again, but more slowly this time. It was almost time to arrive for our Dine With Shamu dinner and the girls were unaware we had a reservation. So, I wound us around a bit and just sort of ‘showed up’ at the entrance. When I hesitated there (waiting with a group of others) Brinn figured it out REAL quick! :-) Both she and Maddy were VERY excited, and soon we were getting our lanyards and credentials for our behind the scenes meal and show.

It had started to rain, and looked pretty threatening, but it held off for the most part while we settled in and grabbed our dinners. The buffet was good, and the beer was included, but I didn’t partake (I think the waiter thought I was nuts!). I just don’t like to drink when its that hot and I had to drive back so I passed. We got a great table right next to the water, and had a wonderful view of the pool area. Their largest Orca was swimming along side us as we ate and as the meal progressed to dessert the trainers talked about the whales in depth and had him do several behaviors for us. It was interesting to watch and to see how they did each one. And how the whale is rewarded for doing them correctly, and encouraged if he needs to do it better. Very interesting and we all had a great time.

The storm was getting worse and you could tell the show entered ‘high gear’. They started talking much faster, and as the lightening increased and got closer they wrapped things up (a bit early I believe). The whales had to be moved to a more protective area and the Trainers came in and went from table to table to chat and answer any questions. We finished dessert and chatted for a while and then the heavens just opened up. I’ve seen some Florida storms, but this one took the cake. I thought a Tropical Storm must be going on it was so bad. HUGE buckets of rain, high winds, and MAJOR lightening.

The area was covered, but open on one side... The lowered the flaps to keep some of the rain out, but it was still pretty bad. Eventually, they were making it clear we had to leave the area, since the next group was due to come in. But I felt bad, because this storm showed NO signs of slowing down. We put on our ponchos and decided to run down and around the corner to the covered whale viewing area. Its still outside, but has a roof so we’d wait it out there.

We ran and were pretty much soaked right through the ponchos! Maddy was having a fit over the thunder and lightening, so she was pretty freaked out during the entire thing. There were lots of people already there, and soon after we arrived the water running into the drains started to back up!! It was rising REALLY quickly and soon was ankle deep! The storm was still going strong, so we decided to make a run for someplace both dryer AND with a bathroom!

We ran out of there, but had to be careful not to slip in all that water. It was deep everywhere and of course we were a ways from anything... We ran back around heading more toward the park entrance. Eventually, we reached another show area, this time inside a building. We headed in again soaked through. THIS one had bathrooms and places to sit. No water on the floor (well, except in the bathroom where it was coming in through the ceiling! :-O What a mess!

We waited at least 45 minutes or an hour and still the storm was raging away. It finally started to slow down but was still sending lightening across the sky every couple minutes. Maddy did NOT want to go, but we decided to make a break toward the park entrance. The place was a ghost town and eventually we reached the front of the park (the Orca area is about as far back in the park as you can go of course!). We ran for the car, and headed back to the resort. What a washout! Not exactly the end we had hoped to for our second Sea World day, but we still had a great time.

Back at the resort we headed in to get things ready for checkout the next day. We are moving over to the Swan for our last couple days. It was nice to get things ready, so some shopping in the resort store and get a good nights sleep.