Orlando vacation day 6 - Sea World

Sea World!!!!! Yes, that's right...It's a Sea World time!!! I am going to see Shamu :)...haha.  The reason I was so excited for Sea World is because I have never been there before and have always wanted to see Shamu..so here is the day.  Anyways, let me move on with the post instead of bragging about it..:P.  It was Sunday and day 6 of our trip.  We were really tired from exploring Epcot but we got a late start since the shuttle was at 9:25 am.  We got ready, took the shuttle and headed to Sea World.  Since the shuttle stopped at Universal first and at Sea World second, it took about 45 minutes to get there and we reached at 10:15 am.  This was one park where we didn't get on any rides except one simulation ride because most of the rides were either roller coaster kind or kiddie rides.  What was more important to cover in this park was its shows and exhibits and we did not want to miss any!

We had already printed the show times the day before and planned out which ones to see at what times, so we started the day as we planned.  First show had to be none other than One Ocean at 11 am which showcases the majestic killer whales, Shamu.  Get to the stadium at least 30 minutes before the show starts to get good seats because the stadium fills up very quickly.  Also the stadium is little away from the entrance and you have to walk little more, so plan accordingly to get to the stadium.  Once you are at the stadium, if you want to get wet feel free to sit in the splash zone because the trainers purposely make Shamu splash water in the audience.  Now about the show, it was fantastic!  Shamu is so cute and it's amazing to see him so closely.  You don't believe me?  Here is a proof.

 

Once the show was over, we went to the Wild Arctic simulation ride which was just like any other simulation ride like Star tours or Mission Space but this one takes you on the arctic journey showing the life of animals such as walrus, dolphins swimming around via underwater viewing.  We headed towards the next show stadium which was at 1:30 pm so we had little time to cover the exhibits around it.  We were able to see dolphin nursery where we saw dolphins very closely, saw turtles at turtle station, went to Stingray lagoon, and dolphin cove where it's home to all the dolphins.  By the time we covered all this, it was already time for the 2nd show Blue Horizons which was a dolphins show with company of different kinds of birds.  This was a really good show and dolphins were really cute too.

The next show we wanted to cover had little more time so we were able to go to couple more exhibits including Penguin encounter, Alligators, and Manatees.  I loved the Penguin encounter place but unfortunately couldn't stand there longer than 3-5 minutes because the place was stinking like crazy :(.  There were the cutest small penguins and the big ones too.  At a point I felt those are not real because they wouldn't move a muscle but then there were few who were having fun in the water.  We also checked out Sea Lions and Shark encounter.  Shark encounter was really cool to see because they have an underwater viewing of sharks.  We pretty much covered most of the exhibits and headed to the next show A'lure the call of the ocean which was showing at 3:30 pm.  This show is mainly musical performance with a lot of gymnastic stunt performing actors.  It's very entertaining.

We had about 45 minutes before the next show of sea lions at 5:15 pm but instead of roaming around we found a really nice spot near the lake and relaxed in the shade.  Clyde and Seamore take on pirate island is a sea lions show and I highly recommend seeing this show when you are in this park.  It's funny and entertaining and has performances by sea lions and walrus.  This stadium is not as big as Shamu or Dolphin stadium, so you definitely want to get there 30 minutes before the show to get good seats.  Just 15 minutes before the show starts, a performer comes to entertain the audience and make you laugh.  Don't miss it!

The last show of the day that we had planned was being performed by the same people and animal...hehe.  What I mean to say is that the show Sea Lions Tonight was performed by the same trainers, sea lions, and walrus but in completely different format.  But before this show, we had an hour so we checked out The Journey to Atlantis Aquarium which was very small but cool to see.  We didn't really have anything else left to see so we headed back to the last show location for 6:45 pm time.  The lines started forming 45 minutes before but they opened the gates only 15-20 minutes before the show is about to start.  This was the best show ever and here is why....there is a reason why this one is shown at the end of the day because they basically mimic all the shows of this park and make fun of them.  It is really funny and completely worth your time!! MUST WATCH!

It was already time for our 7:30 pm shuttle so we had to leave right after Sea Lions Tonight ended.  There were still 2 more shows that we couldn't see, Shamu Rocks and Reflections fireworks.  We had already seen a lot of fireworks from Disney parks, so didn't really care for that and we already saw Shamu so just decided to leave in the scheduled shuttle instead of staying late at the park for these 2 programs.  All the shows were 30 minutes long and I think they are all must watch if you are in this park.  We also didn't see Pet's ahoy but we didn't have time for this one and it was similar to animals actors show from Universal so didn't mind skipping it.  Due to the memorial day weekend, it was really crowded day.  But the shows just made up for it :).

Well we got one last day of adventure left and one last park to cover....that isssssssss....Animal Kingdom.  I can't believe that our vacation was coming to an end but didn't want to think about it since we still had one more park cover and enjoy that day to the fullest :D.  It was good to be back to the hotel early and then sleep early.  More excitement to come the next day...stay tuned!