May/June 2001 Trip -- Part 28: Sea World – Abort Mission, Abort Mission!

[WebmasterBarry]

May 29, 2001

The cast:
Me (the 29-year old)

I was walking towards the exit. I was considering staying at Sea World because of the crowds. I got to thinking about the crowds at Universal. It would be pretty crowded at the roller coasters, I bet. It usually is at this time of year. As I was passing by the Bayside Stadium, I decided to stay at Sea World for the rest of the day. I like the fact that the crowds were low and I didn’t have to rush. I turned around and headed to Wild Arctic.

As I headed to Wild Arctic, I pondered on why my roller coaster tour failed. I didn’t plan it well enough. Besides getting the Sea World park hours wrong, I should have started at Disney-MGM Studios. Magic Kingdom has three coasters I could ride. If I had to wait for a Fast Pass, I could go over and ride one of the others. Disney-MGM Studios only has one. There are no other coasters to ride if I had to wait for a Fast Pass. Plus, I forgot my Sky Coaster certificate and paying over $37 for a few seconds of thrill was less appealing. If I had planned things better, maybe I could have accomplished my goals.

I arrived at Wild Arctic and I decided to try the stationary seats. The motion seats don’t bother me and the line wasn’t long, but I was curious on what the stationary seats were like. I was in the stationary seats after 5 minutes. The seats were silver bleaches with a screen in the front of the room. You saw the same film as the motion simulator, but the seats didn’t move. I think I would have rather rode the motion seats.

I headed into the Wild Arctic exhibit. Sometimes if you wait a bit after the crowd goes into the exhibit, you can have the exhibit to yourself. The strategy didn’t work this time. The crowds came in a regular pattern. Each time the crowd goes into an attraction, a new one leaves the ride and exits into the exhibit area. I decided to give up and head into the exhibit area. When I view the exhibits, I try to stand behind someone short. Being tall gives me that advantage. I try not to stand right up to the glass because the short people start hitting my kneecaps and complain that I’m blocking their view. If I’m the only one there, then I can stand close to the glass.

The Shamu Adventure was about to start, so I went to Shamu Stadium. I got there just as the preshow started. When I was here last in November, the Shamu Adventure showed off baby Shamu and his mother. There were no big splashes. There were some small ones that only went up a few rows. I didn’t see the baby, so I supposed that the main show was back.

I have the luck of choosing the seat in the Splash Zone where I don’t get wet. I think I’ve sat in the Splash Zone and I’ve gotten wet only 5% of the time. I’ve never gotten soaking wet. I would get hit my a few stray drops or my legs would be splashed at most. I wondered if my luck would hold out today.

On Shamuvision, the preshow seems to ask the same questions about killer whales. I’ve seen the show several times and I still don’t know them all. It’s a good thing I’ve never been on Shamuvision either. The cartoon shark would’ve eaten me! I would rather have a gold starfish, though.

The killer whales did their tricks and then it was time for splashing. Would my luck hold out? Well, almost. I saw the fluke of one of the whales rise out of the water. Then it was about the slap the water. This wouldn’t be bad if the fluke weren’t aimed right at me. The water flew up after the slap and I was sure I would be soaked. I tried to protect my camera! The water landed one row ahead of me. I only got the remnants. My knees got a little wet, but that’s all. My luck held out this time.

I headed next to Terrors of the Deep. I think I could stay at this exhibit for a while. At the main tank, I could stare at the sharks all day. There’s something about watching a shark swim towards you and then move away at the last second. I think that once I stood in front of the large aquarium for an hour and just watched the sharks swim back and forth. This is one reason why I like to go to aquariums. I can watch the fish swim back and forth all day. Zoos are nice, but when animals sleep, they don’t move. I’ve never seen a sleeping fish not move. If a fish doesn’t move, then it means it’s dead. I just hope that when a fish dies at Sea World, they don’t get flushed down the toilet like we do with goldfish!

I then saw the Key West Splash Fest. There are still no dolphins at the show. It still has the false killer whales. I think this is the shortest show at Sea World too. The maps said that it lasts 15 minutes. Usually Sea World shows are 30 minutes. Still, it’s a quick way to get off your feet.

Next I went to Manatees: The Next Generation? I like to visit this attraction each time that I visit Sea World. Why? It shows that Sea World is more than just rides and looking at whales jumping out of the water. Sea World is about sea animal rehabilitation. There are signs are Sea World that tell you this, but nothing hits you over the head like the manatees exhibit. Some people just watch the opening movie and then race through the attraction. I try to linger around the exhibit longer. Sometimes if I do, I can have the whole place to myself. If not, then I can look at the interactive exhibits on the second tier.

If you want to see me cry, there are three things you have to show me: the Sam LaBuddy film of dolphins being caught in tuna nets, the last 10 minutes of the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” episode “The Visitor,” or the Manatees: The Next Generation? introductory film. We should be so moved like that to care about the manatees and donate or pick up a brochure at the end of the attraction.

Next, I wanted to go on the ride that I missed earlier in the day: Journey to Atlantis.

 

[cotye]

Sorry to hear your coaster tour didn't work out as planned. But it still sounded like you managed to salvage something out of the day.