Grateful, Thankful, Blessed: our 25th Anniversary SeaWorld Celebration (Spring ’18 TR)

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Such a beautiful park! I love the animal exhibits

You're slowly talking me into adding BG to our spring 2019 vacation . I wonder if we can fly nonstop from DTW to Tampa with Frontier, stay one night and do BG, then head to Orlando? I will definitely have to check into that.

Not quite yet. Two trips in one year has put a significant dent in our savings account. So for now it is work, work, work. But I'm secretly hoping for early December, 2019. We shall see!

All work and no play makes for a sad, boring Ruthie (just kidding.....YOU, of all people, could NEVER be boring!!). Why did I think spring 2019 was the target? I was sure you had a wedding or other family event that was giving you reason to look toward visiting south Florida .

Yep- I plan to resurrect my Facebook presence in the next few weeks! I'd be honored to be your friend there!!
Just adore dolphins!

How nice you got the perfect day for a water park! The last time we did Aquatica it was beautiful to start the day then after some rain went by it was cloudy and there was a little chill in the air - in August!! You need sun and high temps to be comfortable walking around wet all day!

I agree wholeheartely . A hot sunny day is the best for water-parking (bad for sunburns, maybe, but otherwise idea). We had highs of 92 and hardly a breeze that day (with nothing but sun), so we were comfy even out of the water. We absolutely got lucky!

The cabana looked great for a good snooze, glad Steve got his time in!

Nothing like an afternoon nap followed by a few spins through Roa's . The makings of a perfect holiday!

You’re Aquatica pictures are lovely! And I’m pretty sure we will end up there after all!
Our trip is changing shape .. we had a discussion at dinner last night about the cost of our Disney tickets and just how much we could do with that money on our trip if we chose to not go to Disney this time ( close to $2000 Canadian in Disney tickets ). The kids absolutely jumped at the idea of a non theme park Orlando trip. They started rattling off all the things they would do instead ( outlet shopping, waterpark, visit my sister in Tampa and go to Clearwater, escape rooms, mini golf, Kennedy Space Center etc). I wasn’t seriously considering it when I mentioned it, but we sure are now. I think now that they are 14 and 21 they want a vacation that isn’t dawn to dusk Go! Go! Go!. My husband said that he’d love to go back once Star Wars is open and maybe use this March trip to see more of Orlando and surrounding area. We had a great time in St Pete’s when we were there last January.

You can bet I will be getting some inspiration from you my friend if we decide to skip the theme parks ! I’m actually more excited by this possibility than I thought .

I think that sounds like a ton of fun!! There are so many smaller attractions that are super fun to do . Gatorland is only around $25 pp (less if you have Perks at Work). Airboat rides are SO fun and SO "Florida-y". The Eye attractions are well worth the money (the Eye, Sea Life, and Madame Tussauds).....and I've seen some deeply discounted rates for the 3-attraction pass. The Characters in Flight balloon ride at Disney Springs, the Titanic Experience, renting jet skis or other watercraft, Wild Florida, dinner shows (Capone's & Outta Control being our faves), mini golf, Daytona or Cocoa beaches...you could EASILY fill a week with non-park activities. Groupon is a fabulous resource! Let me know which kind sof things you are leaning towards, and I'll keep my eyes peeled for deals!

Hi I am so happy to finally be back and catching up on your report... Life has been busy with teens and issues but hopefully calming down a bit. Also when the teens are home I am busy doing things with them

I love your report on Sea World and Aquatica. I think we will really enjoy these parks. I will be waiting a couple of months to put anything together as we are trying to decided about moving down a year early. If we decided to I will have to scrap plans till we get there later next summer. If we decided to stay put another year I will be jumping on the planning and looking for deals.

It was so nice to hear how you enjoy the water park. It really can be a relaxing day. We usually go in the summer months and it is always crazy. This means hitting rides early then trying to relax a bit later. I like the off season idea. The food looked great at the buffet. I think that was a great price. I like dining plans a lot and try to fit in when I can.

Your new phone camera takes great pics. How nice to be excited about a purchase especially when it is expensive.

I love your sleepy-hollow shirts. What a great idea. As you can see from my trip report I love matching shirts at lest once. It sounds like a great addition to your trip!

I hope the fur babies are good and can't wait to read more

Off season for us has been fairly new....we've only been able to travel outside of school vacations since 2015. The novelty is definitely still there!! Our last few family trips were August (sooooooo hot ) and Christmas (soooo busy ). The trade off, of course, is that we can't enjoy our trips with our boy. While we LOVE the low-crowd seasons, we do miss that awesome family time.

Violet and Dash are doing awesome!! I swear they grow more lovable and affectionate with every passing day. Here are some recent pics:

Yes, I am admittedly a Crazy Cat Lady. There are worse things I could be, though, right?

And because you're a cat lover, too, I have to show you my little purchase of the week. This purse was SO stinking cute!! They also have a sea otters print one, so I may need to purchase a second for our October trip . YOLO, right?

I may actually be getting a little carried away with the matching T's . I think I have us matching at least 4, maybe 5??, of our October days so far . So maybe my crazy runs a little deeper than just where the cats are concerned?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

My apologies to everyone for the lack of posts this week. It was month end and work was, as it usually is on and around the 1st, pretty chaotic. I've even been called in both yesterday and today to take care of some unexpected issues.....so much for my 3 day weekend .

In the meantime, I have been able to secure a couple of lower prices on our October car rental . Rates have dropped a little bit over the past week, and I'm now currently holding 2: an SUV for $290 for 8 days, and a full size car for $255. Both through Alamo via the Costco website, so a free extra driver and the ability to pick our favorite from the inventory in the aisle in both cases. Nice to see those rates slowly starting to decline.

I also booked the Sea Lions Tour at SeaWorld for our second planned park day (we have the Animal Ambassadors Tour booked for the first day we plan to be at SW), and I was able to book the first of our cabanas for our Aquatica dates. The second date....November 1st....apparently won't be available to reserve until September, so that one will be deferred for a few more weeks.

Our Sleepy Hollow T's came in, and I'm thrilled to report that the sizing for Steve's was great! Mine, unfortunately, had to go back.....it was HUGE . Steve laughingly referred to it as "the tent" (he actually asked me, "Is that mine? Or yours?"). It was otherwise awesome, so I have sent it back for credit and will reorder a smaller size this weekend. The purple color was really lovely! (but then again, I'm a purple lover at the best of times)

I have also found us a couple of shirts that I thought might be fun for us to wear on Halloween day itself. They are from an Etsy vendor who's been super responsive at answering my inquiries. While these pics are of black shirts, she also offers 3 choices in grey which I like better. Same logos, though, so this gives you a general idea:

This would be mine.....

And this would be Steve's....

Y'all don't think they are offensive at all, do you? We thought they were HILARIOUS! Halloweeny and funny but not too over the top. Perfect for a couple of adults on an otherwise kid-centered holiday.

I will try to get another trip report entry up soon......tonight or tomorrow, with a little luck. My boy is coming for another visit next week (woot! ) so I'll do my best to be productive before he arrives on Thursday night!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh yeah, and our Nexus applications are officially submitted . Fingers crossed we get approved and issued cards in time to enjoy TSA precheck on our October flights!

 

[pepperandchips]

I love those shirts! Too funny. They're not offensive in my opinion- you two are the ones who'd be offended anyway so fun!

 

[pigletto]

Thank you for the offer of help Gina ! I know you’ve done so much in the area! I’m toying with a Discovery Cove Day, and the kids want Aquatica. At that point we might do Seaworld with the 2 park add on to Discovery Cove. That still works out to give us three full day attractions. We would use the other days for airboats and gators and mini golf and shopping. It would still be a very full trip but I think we will be happier seeing new things and avoiding some of the huge Spring Break crowds at Disney, while setting a slower pace.
I am just starting to research the ticket options for the Seaworld Parks and reading through old posts. It’s exciting to be planning something new! We’re also going to spend two nights in Tampa with my little sister. She lives in a condo on Tampa Bay. The building has a visitors suite that rents for $100 a night and will sleep us all comfortably. So she’s booking that for us for our last two nights.
Can’t wait to read the rest of your trip report and see where we’ll be going!
I think I’m going to splurge for the cabana at Aquatica and invite my sister too. She went to Aquatica for the first time yesterday with a friend and loved it.

I don’t think the shirts are offensive at all. They’re cute. And how exciting Jake is coming to visit ! I know how much you miss him. I bet Thursday can’t get here fast enough !

 

[chiamarie]

Ha! I love the monster/witch shirts!

And I can't believe you haven't been to busch gardens! It's a huge park, kinda similar to DAK. I love visiting, but don't get out there very often myself.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I love those shirts! Too funny. They're not offensive in my opinion- you two are the ones who'd be offended anyway so fun!

Oh, good!! I know our sense of humor is a little unique so its always good to run our ideas past "normal" people to make sure we don't accidentally make a social faux pas .

Thank you for the offer of help Gina ! I know you’ve done so much in the area! I’m toying with a Discovery Cove Day, and the kids want Aquatica. At that point we might do Seaworld with the 2 park add on to Discovery Cove. That still works out to give us three full day attractions. We would use the other days for airboats and gators and mini golf and shopping. It would still be a very full trip but I think we will be happier seeing new things and avoiding some of the huge Spring Break crowds at Disney, while setting a slower pace.
I am just starting to research the ticket options for the Seaworld Parks and reading through old posts. It’s exciting to be planning something new! We’re also going to spend two nights in Tampa with my little sister. She lives in a condo on Tampa Bay. The building has a visitors suite that rents for $100 a night and will sleep us all comfortably. So she’s booking that for us for our last two nights.
Can’t wait to read the rest of your trip report and see where we’ll be going!
I think I’m going to splurge for the cabana at Aquatica and invite my sister too. She went to Aquatica for the first time yesterday with a friend and loved it.

I don’t think the shirts are offensive at all. They’re cute. And how exciting Jake is coming to visit ! I know how much you miss him. I bet Thursday can’t get here fast enough !

Your ideas sound PERFECT in my humble opinion . Discovery Cove is really something special, so that would be a real highlight for your family. And if you are planning on being in Tampa Bay during that same vacation, I think you can still add on Busch Gardens for some crazy low price (maybe $25 per person?) so that might be something to keep in the back of your mind as the plans take shape, too .

Or, for your Tampa days, I highly recommend Dolphin Landings out of St. Pete's Beach. Their dolphin sailing is simply incredible. If being on a sailboat on the gulf isn't wonderful enough on its own, seeing those dolphins swim right alongside takes awesome to a whole new level. One of the things I can't wait to do again someday!

You know me well.....I am literally counting the hours until Jake rolls into our driveway on Thursday night . I know he's as anxious to see us as we are to see him . My prayer every day is that someday he'll be living the American Dream right along side us.

Ha! I love the monster/witch shirts!

And I can't believe you haven't been to busch gardens! It's a huge park, kinda similar to DAK. I love visiting, but don't get out there very often myself.

I am so glad you like them, too!! I think I just may order them up this weekend, then .

Nope, never been to BG.....but then again, we've only been to Animal Kingdom once (and that was in 2009). I'm going to have to make it a priority to work BOTH of those parks into a future trip......DAK was Steve and Jake's favorite park on that very first Disney trip 9 years ago, yet for some reason we've never made it back for a repeat .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Wednesday, May 9th: SeaWorld

It was another morning like most of the others of our trip: we awoke fairly early to that trademark Florida sunshine and beautiful, warm temperatures . The plans were to hit up SeaWorld for the final time this week, as we had a “down day” planned for Thursday and a much-anticipated day at Discovery Cove slated for Friday. Saturday we would be at the airport early for a morning flight home to Detroit…..our vacation was passing MUCH too quickly.

Arriving at SeaWorld, we enjoyed yet another day of free parking (yay for annual passes!), proceeded effortlessly through bag check and the ticket turnstiles, and were on our way into the park lickety-split.

We stopped and had a few photos taken by the Photokey photographers at the front entrance. Today we were (intentionally) matching ….. it was “green shirt day” .

As we rounded the corner and passed through the area between Guest Services and the Emporium (the contents of the latter which was still all outside in tents as they continued the renovations on the interior of the store), we saw Shamu out at the giant photo backdrop, waiting to greet guests. There wasn’t a single other family waiting to see him, so we didn’t hesitate to jump in line for a quick picture and hello.

We had the all-day dining plan again on this day, so after our stop to visit with Shamu we popped in to SeaFire Inn and had a light breakfast of muffins,, croissants, fruit and milk. I missed taking any photos of our morning meal, but it was virtually identical to that of our breakfast on Monday. You’ll just have to use your imagination and picture it!

As we ate our breakfast, I took a peek at the day’s schedule of events to see what we could work into our final day in the park until fall. We wanted to make sure we visited the attractions and shows that we hadn’t yet enjoyed: one of those was Pets Ahoy, the entrance to which was just steps from the front door of SeaFire. A quick check of the time confirmed that the doors to the show would just be opening to guests, so we wasted no time: it was off to Seaport Theater to snag us some (hopefully) good seats!

We had been unbelievably lucky in getting absolutely prime seats to the Dolphin Days, Clyde & Seamore and One Ocean shows earlier in the trip, and today was no different: we ended up almost dead center of the stage and just a couple of rows from the floor , literally just behind the accessible seating for disabled guests.

As a pet owner and cat lover, Pets Ahoy is a show that truly appeals to my heart and holds a high amount of entertainment value. The behaviors that the animal care staff have been able to teach those pets is nothing short of incredible when taken individually, but cumulatively its simply outstanding. I can’t even get Dash to move over on the bed at night, but the SeaWorld pets really do “rock this town!”.

I also love that they use the show to promote adoption from animal shelters, and showcase how much potential those animals have. There are so many amazing animals just waiting for their forever homes.

It’s hard not to leave this show without a smile on your face. It’s adorable and fun. While it would be nice to see a bit of a change of story line (pretty sure its exactly the same as it was when we visited the park for the very first time in 2012) , perhaps part of its charm is that its a “classic”. As a passholder and frequent visitor, its endearing to see the delight of first-time guests when they realize the show features more than just dogs and cats, but also a few surprises like a ferret, several ducks, a skunk, and a big ol’ pig.

What a great beginning to our day!

We were getting started….much more to come!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Great start to your SW day. Shame you had to go into work on your weekend, hopefully it wasn't too bad.

 

[Penguinempress]

Violet and Dash are adorable! I love those little faces, such sweethearts!

Those Halloween shirts are hilarious. Not offensive in any way, just fun!

Busch Gardens is definitely worth a visit on one of your future trips. Steve would love the coasters and there’s lots non-thrill ride stuff for you to enjoy. I’ve been meaning to post a trip report about my day there this April but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

I’ve seen Pets Ahoy a few times and really enjoyed it – such a cute, fun show!

 

[pattyw]

You're slowly talking me into adding BG to our spring 2019 vacation . I wonder if we can fly nonstop from DTW to Tampa with Frontier, stay one night and do BG, then head to Orlando? I will definitely have to check into that.

We've actually done a day trip from Orlando, too if staying the night isn't a good option. It's not a bad round trip ride!

Violet and Dash are doing awesome!! I swear they grow more lovable and affectionate with every passing day. Here are some recent pics:

They are absolutely beautiful!!

Yes, I am admittedly a Crazy Cat Lady. There are worse things I could be, though, right?

No judgment from me! I'm the President of the local Crazy Cat Lady club!

The behaviors that the animal care staff have been able to teach those pets is nothing short of incredible when taken individually, but cumulatively its simply outstanding. I can’t even get Dash to move over on the bed at night, but the SeaWorld pets really do “rock this town!”.

I agree! My cats barely give me an ear turn when I call them- can't imagine them learning those tricks!!

I have to look into the Sea World tours! We did the Behind the Scenes tour and it was great!!

 

[Ruthie5671]

All work and no play makes for a sad, boring Ruthie (just kidding.....YOU, of all people, could NEVER be boring!!). Why did I think spring 2019 was the target? I was sure you had a wedding or other family event that was giving you reason to look toward visiting south Florida .

That was a plan, but I think we've decided not to go. My main reason for going is because mom would have wanted to be there. To be honest, I'm not that close to my cousins and to spend all that money on a trip to see people I'm not that friendly with and that Tony doesn't even know seems silly. My new plan is to send them a nice gift and stay home. Besides all that money saved can go towards other things!

Today we were (intentionally) matching ….. it was “green shirt day”

Love the matching green shirts!

 

[Joanna71985]

Awww, the kitties are so cute!!

And love the shirts- I think they are perfect

 

[chicagoshannon]

I love that pet show. it is different than when we took Madeline for her first trip in 2008(I think)

 

[verleniahall]

Thanks for mentioning car rental costs - i checked and ours with the MIL rate through Alamo went down $35.00! Was able to book the new reservation and cancel the old one!

 

[dancin Disney style]

That all goes well and you get your vacay!! You're doing a wonderful thing by helping out your nephew!

Thanks! I'm sure this is my punishment for all the fun I had in my younger days. I keep hoping that if I knock his head against the wall enough times the light will go on.

soon

By the sounds of things, I'm pretty sure you need this trip more than you've ever needed one . I certainly hope things don't go off the rails between now and your departure date. I think you have all of us here crossing our fingers for you.

Will you drop in every now and again and give us a live report or two?

Sooooo……..I'm officially going. A friend showed me how to decode Priceline (and there is a long thread here on the Dis about it) so I took a leap of faith and booked a room. With the help of my friend and that long thread I scored POFQ for my dates at $94/night. I would have much preferred a villa with kitchen but this makes GC happy and at the price I got I couldn't say no, it's was less than a value level resort. The catch is it's non-refundable. I'm now trying o sort out the last few details.....airport parking, rental car and what we will be doing. I bought MNSSHP tickets for the 24th and so far that's all that is planned.

Yep- I plan to resurrect my Facebook presence in the next few weeks! I'd be honored to be your friend there!!

Me too, me too......seeing as how we met up long before it was a thing

 

[pattyw]

Sooooo……..I'm officially going. A friend showed me how to decode Priceline (and there is a long thread here on the Dis about it) so I took a leap of faith and booked a room. With the help of my friend and that long thread I scored POFQ for my dates at $94/night. I would have much preferred a villa with kitchen but this makes GC happy and at the price I got I couldn't say no, it's was less than a value level resort. The catch is it's non-refundable. I'm now trying o sort out the last few details.....airport parking, rental car and what we will be doing. I bought MNSSHP tickets for the 24th and so far that's all that is planned.

So happy for you guys!! Enjoy!

Me too, me too......seeing as how we met up long before it was a thing

Yay!! Will PM my information! Yes- ours was my first DISmeet! It was such a pleasure to meet you at POP- and fun!! Hope our vacay dates line up again some time!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Yay!! Will PM my information! Yes- ours was my first DISmeet! It was such a pleasure to meet you at POP- and fun!! Hope our vacay dates line up again some time!

It was fun. It was my first intentional Dismeet…..I've met a couple of other people just by chance. I think our kids were a little weirded out by it though

We are flying from BUF next Friday. I'll wave

 

[pigletto]

It was fun. It was my first intentional Dismeet…..I've met a couple of other people just by chance. I think our kids were a little weirded out by it though

We are flying from BUF next Friday. I'll wave

I'm really happy you decided to go. Problems will always be there.. you deserve to get away from them for awhile. And POFQ on Priceline?!?! For under $100? What a freaking steal!

 

[pattyw]

It was fun. It was my first intentional Dismeet…..I've met a couple of other people just by chance. I think our kids were a little weirded out by it though

We are flying from BUF next Friday. I'll wave

Yes- very fun!! I think my son Troy was a little surprised I was planning our meet, but now that he's been in Orlando doing DCP, he met so many people on Facebook groups first and then met up with them. So, I guess it's becoming the new normal!

Have a great trip! I'll be at work- 10 minutes from the airport. will go out and wave