It's Good to be a Passholder :-) - a January 2020 Trip Report

[ICan'tWait]

Thrilled to see you're posting another a trip report. I love your reports and your tips over the years have been so helpful.

 

[Joanna71985]

I don't eat seafood either, but that chicken looks really good! So I might have to give this place a try

 

[bankr63]

Steve says I have "the look" when I'm at the sales desk . The look that says "I've been up since 2 am and I don't have time for any baloney". I, personally, think I'm delightful LOL.....but perhaps I don't hide my feelings well. Seriously, just pass me my parking pass and I'll get out of your hair!

Yes, you ladies are very good at this. I enjoy engaging with them a little bit to understand what the current offerings are. A+ has no patience for it though, and any banter gets shut down pretty quickly. There will be no presentations, give us the pass and we will be on our way.

I was shocked that she agreed to attend a presentation last year in Mexico. However, the offering included covering our SUV rental for the week, and a dinner cruise, so it was probably worth the 3 hours it cost us (including transportation and breakfast time). We toured a VERY high end resort on the Pacific Ocean that makes anything else I have seen look like a Motel 8. But even with a very low ball offer, it was easy to walk away. No way am I flying to Cabo every year for a vacation.

 

[bankr63]

It's such a hard decision, but we are seriously considering moving that May trip to early December. It would mean we have 2 trips quite close together (mid October and early December, so about 6 weeks apart) and a LONG time between visits (January already seems an eternity ago!). But maybe it's the safest decision, in more ways than one?

Ugh. So tough to know what to do.

You know, not every trip has to be "go go go". Maybe a week to just lie by the pool and enjoy frosty cocktails from Tacky Tiki? You could even avoid crowded airplanes by driving there and back; with no agenda waiting, you don't feel the need to keep a strict schedule on the drive. I have to say that our trip last month was not at all what we were expecting, but was a refreshing change because we did take it so much easier than usual. Social distancing really wasn't that hard driving down either; there are a few strategies you can use.

Of course, that kind of trip makes for lousy trip reports, so maybe not?

 

[I-4Bound]

I'm right there with ya! Even if things do open back up, I don't know if I will feel safe in a crowd come mid June. I admit, I am starting to develop a bit of anxiety about going out even for small errands (grocery store run, etc.). I can't even imagine being shoulder-to-shoulder with Disney crowds right now

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Steve and I have been doing A LOT of soul searching about our May trip over the course of this past weekend. We are still very much aware that whether or not the parks will even open by then is the question no one has an answer to right now (certainly Disney looks like a no, and generally SeaWorld and Universal follow similar paths). And even if SW & UO *do* open by Memorial Day weekend.....will they be under significant enough restrictions & continued social distancing measures that it wont feel "right"? Will we even WANT to go if a risk still remains (which I'm sure there will be still)?

It's such a hard decision, but we are seriously considering moving that May trip to early December. It would mean we have 2 trips quite close together (mid October and early December, so about 6 weeks apart) and a LONG time between visits (January already seems an eternity ago!). But maybe it's the safest decision, in more ways than one?

Ugh. So tough to know what to do.

We haven't been to Bubba Gump in a long time -- that totally looked worth a stop! Wow, I can't believe how yummy that fried chicken looks.

So our current plan is to go to go HHN in October and Grinchmas in Dec. We were also there in January (earlier than you!), and this is our first year with APs so I wanted to get our money's worth. Of course now we're waiting to see all the fallout after Sheltering at Home...so if you do end up with 2 trips at the end of the year, I think the offerings (I remember how much you loved SeaWorld Holidays!), would be different enough you could really enjoy it. But of course, it does mean leaving the felines...we're not asking our kitties their opinion

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thrilled to see you're posting another a trip report. I love your reports and your tips over the years have been so helpful.

Aw, thank you! I am glad to have you reading along and joining in. I hope this report has some useful elements to it as well!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I don't eat seafood either, but that chicken looks really good! So I might have to give this place a try

If you like the movie, its definitely worth a try sometime. And the chicken is simply DELISH!!

Their gift shop is pretty fun, too .

Yes, you ladies are very good at this. I enjoy engaging with them a little bit to understand what the current offerings are. A+ has no patience for it though, and any banter gets shut down pretty quickly. There will be no presentations, give us the pass and we will be on our way.

I was shocked that she agreed to attend a presentation last year in Mexico. However, the offering included covering our SUV rental for the week, and a dinner cruise, so it was probably worth the 3 hours it cost us (including transportation and breakfast time). We toured a VERY high end resort on the Pacific Ocean that makes anything else I have seen look like a Motel 8. But even with a very low ball offer, it was easy to walk away. No way am I flying to Cabo every year for a vacation.

We have probably done the presentation at least 4 times now.....it actually became a sport to see how quickly we could get out [in case you're wondering, it was 50 minutes and the payoff at that time was $150]. The last time we agreed to go, our salesperson ("Delores".....I will never, EVER forget her name) was downright rude. Now, we've had salespeople that have been less than honest (and I've called them out on their erroneous statements ;-) ), and we've had salespeople that have been annoyed with us when we wouldn't agree to convert our float weeks to points. But Delores? She was NASTY .... and she messed with the wrong girl. From that day forward, we vowed to never attend another Owner's Update as long as we continued to vacation there. If one of the parking pass people tries to change my mind, I'll pointedly let them know that the boorish behavior of their sales crew is the reason for my dissent. That usually ends the conversation pretty quickly.

We have definitely seen a less than positive change in the attitude of the sales team since they were taken over by Marriott. The Sheraton folks were far less abrasive.

You know, not every trip has to be "go go go". Maybe a week to just lie by the pool and enjoy frosty cocktails from Tacky Tiki? You could even avoid crowded airplanes by driving there and back; with no agenda waiting, you don't feel the need to keep a strict schedule on the drive. I have to say that our trip last month was not at all what we were expecting, but was a refreshing change because we did take it so much easier than usual. Social distancing really wasn't that hard driving down either; there are a few strategies you can use.

Of course, that kind of trip makes for lousy trip reports, so maybe not?

Our biggest worry is that some of the amenities that we enjoy (the recreation areas, the Tiki Bar, etc.) would be off-limits or otherwise restricted while social distancing protocols were being enforced. That would just suck the fun right out of a trip. And if restaurants were still not back to operating normally, that would be a double kick in the pants.....dining out is a big part of our vacations. And then there's the fact that we are generally not "lounging" kind of people LOL. Have you noticed we have a hard time sitting still? ;-)

I can absolutely guarantee that Steve would NEVER agree to a driving trip. It's flying or bust. We did a family road trip adventure to Wisconsin Dells from Ontario back in 2010, and while it was an amazing vacation, we learned we are definitely not a road trip family. We just don't have the patience. Put us on a plane and get us there in 2.5 hours or less, please. 2 days in the car is 2 days too long!

I'm right there with ya! Even if things do open back up, I don't know if I will feel safe in a crowd come mid June. I admit, I am starting to develop a bit of anxiety about going out even for small errands (grocery store run, etc.). I can't even imagine being shoulder-to-shoulder with Disney crowds right now

We officially made our decision tonight.....we are bumping our May trip back to December. I plan to make the adjustments to our flights and resort stay tomorrow. Rather than be disappointed, I am focusing on the fact that we can now attend Seaworld's Christmas Celebration (which is SO AWESOME!), the Orlando Informer meet-up at Universal for the first time, and maybe even a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. And hopefully, all the Covid-19 worries will all be a distant memory by then.

We haven't been to Bubba Gump in a long time -- that totally looked worth a stop! Wow, I can't believe how yummy that fried chicken looks.

So our current plan is to go to go HHN in October and Grinchmas in Dec. We were also there in January (earlier than you!), and this is our first year with APs so I wanted to get our money's worth. Of course now we're waiting to see all the fallout after Sheltering at Home...so if you do end up with 2 trips at the end of the year, I think the offerings (I remember how much you loved SeaWorld Holidays!), would be different enough you could really enjoy it. But of course, it does mean leaving the felines...we're not asking our kitties their opinion

I am actually quite excited about a Halloween trip and a Christmas trip......2 amazing times of the year to go. Yes, we will have to wait a painfully long time, but I think time will pass quite quickly during the summer (when its easy to keep busy) and our vacations will hopefully be free of virus worries.

Having an extra few months to save will allow me to splurge a little more, too. Hoping for some good offers on the SW Blue Friday sales again this year!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Saturday, January 25th

We had a couple of different fun things planned for this day, so it was easy to get motivated to get up and moving that morning (hitting the sack at an earlier hour also helped with that.......we felt rested and refreshed after a sound night's sleep in those comfy Westin Heavenly Beds!).

After breakfast, we would be off to SeaWorld again (though only for part of the day....we had special dinner plans that would take us outside of the park), but since we wouldn't be doing the all day dining, we opted to catch a quick breakfast on our way. We were looking for somewhere that we could be in and out of fairly quickly, but was a tad higher quality than McDonald's or Burger King. Hopping in the truck, we decided to drive until something inspired us. Steve ended up here......a place we hadn't been to in forever, it seemed!



This used to be one of our son Jake's favorite stops on our Florida vacations. We often were served by an unforgettable old fella named Kenny, who rapped us the menu on our very first visit there and forever captured Jake's heart. We ran into Kenny on several trips thereafter, but not for the last couple of years. Quite likely he's retired (for his sake, I certainly hope so.....he was definitely at that age). We did, however, have a wonderfully friendly and attentive young man as our server but I suppose attentive was kind of easy because we were literally the only people in the building, besides the staff.



It had been a while since we'd dined here, so we took a few minutes to peruse the menu. When we finally made our choices, we watched the cook set to whipping up our order in the open kitchen. Coffee was delivered promptly, and the rest of our meals followed shortly after.



Steve went simple: 2 eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, and toast. Breakfast basics but all perfectly cooked. And the coffee was REALLY good: we're rather hard to please where coffee is concerned (we like it strong but not bitter), and they got it right. We both enjoyed a couple of cups with our meals.



I couldn't decide if I wanted sweet or savory, so I split the difference and had both. Scrambled eggs, bacon and surprisingly large pancakes. Definitely more food than I needed, but Steve helped me out a bit with the pancakes (even though they are a diabetic no-no......they were just SO GOOD) and to get any smaller meal, I would have had to order off the kids menu. It's amazing the amount of food you can get here for under $5 a plate.

This turned out exactly as we'd hoped: decent food, speedy service, great price. Nothing fancy but we were full and ready to hit the ground running. The sun was shining and it was a PERFECT day to enjoy more of one of our favorite Orlando parks!



I suppose I should give some sort of an explanation about our shirts, and perhaps a better view of the fronts:



We are members of a Facebook group for annual passholders at SeaWorld Orlando. It's a super helpful group and we often get some good information from some of the regular contributors there, especially the locals who get to visit far more often than we do. One of those good folks is a fellow who is originally from Puerto Rico, and often pokes fun at his spanish accent. His running joke on the page is to call "people", "pipool" (insert spanish accent here LOL), spelling it out as he would pronounce it. Some of us enjoy his fun sense of humor at his own expense. Other people LOSE THEIR MINDS (threatening to report him to the moderators, threatening to leave the page.....it's ridiculous). In his honor, we decided to make custom shirts for this trip (because y'all know we love the matching shirts on our vacations anyway!) and this is the design we came up with for our SeaWorld day......and of course, we had one made for Juan as well! Unfortunately for us, he was in New Jersey visiting his sister for the month of January so we didn't get a chance to meet up with him as we had hoped. We promised we would save his shirt for him and plan to meet on our next visit, which was obviously supposed to be April. I guess it will now be an October gift. He was super touched regardless and they got a lot of reactions within the Facebook group! LOL

Getting back to the report......

Our timing was pretty much bang-on again, and we were there for park opening with an absolutely PERFECT preferred parking spot....the third space across from the entrance. Bag check was quick and efficient, ticket lines moved well and boom! We were inside the park once in record time, even on a busy weekend Saturday.





Since we were a little less weary than the day prior and had far more time at our disposal, it allowed us to enjoy the park at a much better pace. We stopped to appreciate the vibrant colors of the flamingos as we made our way past the entrance. Such gorgeous and regal creatures!



We also took time to visit the pelicans. I wonder how many people walk right by this exhibit, on a mission to touch and feed the sting rays, and don't even realize it's there?



More to come!

 

[I-4Bound]

Our local Steak and Shake closed over a year ago. I was really sad, but not surprised. Unfortunately, their service was terrible. We have been to Steak and Shake restaurants in Florida several times, but we haven't found the time to visit on a recent trip. That breakfast looked delish!

 

[Joanna71985]

If you like the movie, its definitely worth a try sometime. And the chicken is simply DELISH!!

Their gift shop is pretty fun, too


We officially made our decision tonight.....we are bumping our May trip back to December. I plan to make the adjustments to our flights and resort stay tomorrow. Rather than be disappointed, I am focusing on the fact that we can now attend Seaworld's Christmas Celebration (which is SO AWESOME!), the Orlando Informer meet-up at Universal for the first time, and maybe even a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. And hopefully, all the Covid-19 worries will all be a distant memory by then.


I am actually quite excited about a Halloween trip and a Christmas trip......2 amazing times of the year to go. Yes, we will have to wait a painfully long time, but I think time will pass quite quickly during the summer (when its easy to keep busy) and our vacations will hopefully be free of virus worries.

Having an extra few months to save will allow me to splurge a little more, too. Hoping for some good offers on the SW Blue Friday sales again this year!

Well, I definitely need to visit then! (Plus, I haven't been to Universal period in over 3 years )

I'm sorry to hear that! But as you mentioned, Christmas at SW is just the best

 

[DontRushMe]

I’m looking into Seaworld Christmas if we make it back in December. You are such a bad influence

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Our local Steak and Shake closed over a year ago. I was really sad, but not surprised. Unfortunately, their service was terrible. We have been to Steak and Shake restaurants in Florida several times, but we haven't found the time to visit on a recent trip. That breakfast looked delish!

Our local Steak & Shake closed last spring.....like yours, their service was a hot mess. For some reason, they attracted the WORST staff. It got to the point that we used to place bets on what we'd actually receive after we ordered....because none of us ever seemed to get the correct meal.

We always find the Orlando location to be a completely different experience. Honestly, its pretty rare we ever have bad service in Florida.

Well, I definitely need to visit then! (Plus, I haven't been to Universal period in over 3 years )

I'm sorry to hear that! But as you mentioned, Christmas at SW is just the best

I am super excited to be headed to SeaWorld during their Christmas events! It's official, I booked our flights tonight. December 5th to 12th are our dates!

I’m looking into Seaworld Christmas if we make it back in December. You are such a bad influence

I should say I'm sorry, but I'm not ;-) . You should definitely go!! And usually on the Black Friday sales you can pick up all the great upgrades like reserved show seating, dinner with Santa, quick queue........

I think you should try to come on our dates, and we can get you in for free with our guest passes!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

So, I didn't get a chance to post a trip report entry today because I got wrapped up in finishing the final episodes of The Tiger King .... not a good excuse, but painfully true nonetheless. I blame @chiamarie for getting me started on that bizarre series in the first place ;-) . Once we started watching, we couldn't stop!

I also ended up spending 51 minutes and 5 seconds on the phone with Delta (seriously!) to book our December flights because the ecredits we were issued when moving our May flights to October weren't showing up in my Delta wallet. While it was worth devoting almost an hour to save the $340 off our December flights, it certainly was a much more lengthy process than I was expecting. But....it's now official. May is cancelled and our countdown is now painfully long......BUT, we have both Halloween AND Christmas in Orlando to look forward to.

The other thing that is kind of exciting is that we purchased tickets tonight for two nights at the Orlando Informer Meetup in December! It's kind of like a Disney After Hours, in the sense that it's a hard ticket event at Universal held after park close (though meetup guests can get access to the park at 5 pm each night, even though it doesn't close to day guests until 8 or 9), but it's a longer evening (until 1:30 am!!) and all food and beverages are included and unlimited (everything from burgers to tacos, butterbeer to pumpkin juice, butterbeer ice cream to big pink donuts, and all the other fan favorites). We have always wanted to go to one of these meetups but the timing has never worked out. We had tickets purchased for May before they cancelled the event and moved it to December, so this is making me feel better about rescheduling our trip. I'm still working on convincing Steve to add in an MVMCP, but I'm sure I'll be able to talk him into it between now and whenever they release the dates and tickets. I managed to somehow persuade him into a MNSSHP with the Cruella's Hideaway add-on for October while waiting for our Chili's to-go order on Sunday evening, so the Christmas party shouldn't be too hard of a sell!

I'm off to console two jittery kitties who are not happy with the thunderstorm that's currently raging outside. I'll be back tomorrow with an entry, likely later in the evening.

 

[DontRushMe]

Our local Steak & Shake closed last spring.....like yours, their service was a hot mess. For some reason, they attracted the WORST staff. It got to the point that we used to place bets on what we'd actually receive after we ordered....because none of us ever seemed to get the correct meal.

We always find the Orlando location to be a completely different experience. Honestly, its pretty rare we ever have bad service in Florida.



I am super excited to be headed to SeaWorld during their Christmas events! It's official, I booked our flights tonight. December 5th to 12th are our dates!



I should say I'm sorry, but I'm not ;-) . You should definitely go!! And usually on the Black Friday sales you can pick up all the great upgrades like reserved show seating, dinner with Santa, quick queue........

I think you should try to come on our dates, and we can get you in for free with our guest passes!

We would love nothing more than to join you and get to experience your love of Orlando but we are thinking that will be Katie’s finals week, we are hoping her last one is the 11th and we can fly out late that night. Our luck we will pass you in the airport on the 12th.

 

[Joanna71985]

I am super excited to be headed to SeaWorld during their Christmas events! It's official, I booked our flights tonight. December 5th to 12th are our dates!

Yay! I'll have to keep an eye out for you

I also ended up spending 51 minutes and 5 seconds on the phone with Delta (seriously!) to book our December flights because the ecredits we were issued when moving our May flights to October weren't showing up in my Delta wallet. While it was worth devoting almost an hour to save the $340 off our December flights, it certainly was a much more lengthy process than I was expecting. But....it's now official. May is cancelled and our countdown is now painfully long......BUT, we have both Halloween AND Christmas in Orlando to look forward to.

The other thing that is kind of exciting is that we purchased tickets tonight for two nights at the Orlando Informer Meetup in December! It's kind of like a Disney After Hours, in the sense that it's a hard ticket event at Universal held after park close (though meetup guests can get access to the park at 5 pm each night, even though it doesn't close to day guests until 8 or 9), but it's a longer evening (until 1:30 am!!) and all food and beverages are included and unlimited (everything from burgers to tacos, butterbeer to pumpkin juice, butterbeer ice cream to big pink donuts, and all the other fan favorites). We have always wanted to go to one of these meetups but the timing has never worked out. We had tickets purchased for May before they cancelled the event and moved it to December, so this is making me feel better about rescheduling our trip. I'm still working on convincing Steve to add in an MVMCP, but I'm sure I'll be able to talk him into it between now and whenever they release the dates and tickets. I managed to somehow persuade him into a MNSSHP with the Cruella's Hideaway add-on for October while waiting for our Chili's to-go order on Sunday evening, so the Christmas party shouldn't be too hard of a sell!

I'm off to console two jittery kitties who are not happy with the thunderstorm that's currently raging outside. I'll be back tomorrow with an entry, likely later in the evening.

Wow, sounds like a great trip so far!

 

[dalmatian7]

Wow you packed a lot into the first day. Thank you I now want fried chicken sooooooo bad.
We have been canceling so much around here lately too. My DD is supposed to be attending her first girl scout camp the end of May. It hasn't been canceled yet, but I can't believe they will even have it. If they do have it, I really don't feel comfortable with her attending and me possibly attending as a chaperone. Heck, I am nervous about my early Nov trip at this point. We haven't been to WDW since 2017 but it is such an expensive trip, if the reopened parks end up with major restrictions or staffing issues I don't know that I will feel it is worth the vacation.
I would love that "dine with an orca". I wished I had paid better attention to that being a thing before we went to SW. Can you talk with the trainers? Having a farm, we were so interested how they care for the animals when we did Discovery Cove. We had a great talk with a trainer after our swim. She had a farm-ish background so could really relate to what we were asking.

I think we are the only people who dont' have Netflix and therefore have not seen Tiger King. Although, I enjoy the memes on FB.

 

[Joanna71985]

I would love that "dine with an orca". I wished I had paid better attention to that being a thing before we went to SW. Can you talk with the trainers? Having a farm, we were so interested how they care for the animals when we did Discovery Cove. We had a great talk with a trainer after our swim. She had a farm-ish background so could really relate to what we were asking.

I think we are the only people who dont' have Netflix and therefore have not seen Tiger King. Although, I enjoy the memes on FB.

Yeah, it's possible to talk with the trainers after Dine. It's also sometimes possible to talk with one before/after the show too

(for the record- I don't have Netflix either)

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We would love nothing more than to join you and get to experience your love of Orlando but we are thinking that will be Katie’s finals week, we are hoping her last one is the 11th and we can fly out late that night. Our luck we will pass you in the airport on the 12th.

Well, DRAT! That would have been fun to be there at the same time. Though, the last time we flew together, my purse got puked on ..... .

Yay! I'll have to keep an eye out for you

Wow, sounds like a great trip so far!

Most definitely! We would LOVE to say hello!

Do you ever work a MNSSHP? Perhaps we could catch you at MK as well!

Wow you packed a lot into the first day. Thank you I now want fried chicken sooooooo bad.
We have been canceling so much around here lately too. My DD is supposed to be attending her first girl scout camp the end of May. It hasn't been canceled yet, but I can't believe they will even have it. If they do have it, I really don't feel comfortable with her attending and me possibly attending as a chaperone. Heck, I am nervous about my early Nov trip at this point. We haven't been to WDW since 2017 but it is such an expensive trip, if the reopened parks end up with major restrictions or staffing issues I don't know that I will feel it is worth the vacation.
I would love that "dine with an orca". I wished I had paid better attention to that being a thing before we went to SW. Can you talk with the trainers? Having a farm, we were so interested how they care for the animals when we did Discovery Cove. We had a great talk with a trainer after our swim. She had a farm-ish background so could really relate to what we were asking.

I think we are the only people who dont' have Netflix and therefore have not seen Tiger King. Although, I enjoy the memes on FB.

Much as we adults are disappointed by all the the fun events that are also becoming casualties to this virus, its so much worse for kids. I hope your DD's camp still runs, but like you I'd be doubtful at this point. Our local area is cancelling so many major events for this spring and summer, some into the latter part of July. It's crazy! I'm confident your November trip will be a perfect time to go: long enough after the reopening that hopefully things will be much more close to normal than what I anticipate it will be this summer. I have my fingers crossed for BOTH of us!

At Dine with Orcas, the trainers are on the other side of the glass from the guests. It might be possible to hang back afterward, though, and catch one of them for a chat.....the SW animal care staff are wonderful about speaking with park visitors who have questions. I'd bet your family would love the Killer Whales Up Close tour as well. It's pricey but looks amazing!! And there you would be able to chat with the trainers in a very personal setting.

Don't feel bad about Netflix, we let our subscription lapse after the last season of Stranger Things. We resubscribed just to watch the Tiger King....and were delighted to see that there was another season of Atypical waiting for us as well. Score!

Yeah, it's possible to talk with the trainers after Dine. It's also sometimes possible to talk with one before/after the show too

(for the record- I don't have Netflix either)

There you go, @dalmation7 ! I had hoped Joanna might chime in on your Dine with Orcas question!

And Joanna....you've got to get a trial subscription just so you can watch Tiger King. It's bizarrely riveting.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

So sorry I didn't get back last night as promised with an entry.....I had a couple of friends reach out who were facing some tough issues during this rotten quarantine and needed a shoulder to cry on. I ended up spending most of the night on the phone. This extended "stay home, stay safe" order is beginning to wear people down.

Hope you guys are all still healthy and well!

Let's get back to the report.......

Saturday, January 25th: continued



(Well, this is an annoying start! Another one of my wonky I-cant-get-it-to-turn-the-right-way pics! Grrrrrrr.....)

We decided to head over to Shark Encounter to take a tour through the exhibit. We always prefer to visit this attraction as early as possible in the day, as it tends to be emptier and its therefore much more enjoyable of an experience. Most park guests are running to the headliner attractions and probably don't even see this little gem tucked away in Shark Wreck Reef.



This exhibit holds a special place in our hearts, as it was one of the first things we did on our first-ever trip to SeaWorld back in 2012. It was one of Jake's favorite attractions, appealing to his life-long love of sharks.....he had literally dozens and dozens of books on sharks on his bedroom bookshelf that he read so often in his childhood that he could recite them all by heart. They captivated him then, and they still captivate him now (Shark Week is something he counts down to every single year!!). I always miss him a little extra when we walk into this building, knowing how much he loved this exhibit. I can't wait for the day he is able to travel with us again!



As we had hoped (and as we somewhat suspected, given the early hour), there was not another guest in sight. With the whole attraction to ourselves, we could spend as long as we liked admiring the coral and sea life without having to worry about being in anyone's way or holding anyone else up. It was mavellous!



The crystal-clear tanks that span a full 180 degrees over your head are a sight to behold. The colors are stunning and soothing all at the same time, and there are so many fun fish to try and spot as they swim by.



Moving into the next "room", we thought perhaps we might run into another early-bird guest or two, but nope. Not another soul in sight. They also didn't have the moving walkway turned on, so we weren't rushed out by the moving floor....so we indulged in extra time there.



Look up....look WAY up.......





#jawsome!!

If you have a keen eye and watch carefully, you can often catch a peek at one of the sawtooth sharks that also call Shark Encounter home. Super cool!



One last fun and factual tidbit of information before we leave!



Heading back out into the glorious sunshine, we felt "on top of the world" .... so we thought we'd go there, in a rather literal sense. On top of Sea"World", that is!

More to come....