(Sea)Lions & Gators & Dolphins….Oh, My! A Halloween PTR/TR with a “wild” theme - Oct/Nov '18

What a great tour. I love the pictures of you both with gunner.
I may not be around as much, as we fly out tomorrow and I've still got to go to work today and pack!

Safe travels and best wishes for an AMAZING time! We would love a "live update" here if you could pop in at some point :). Hope the weather is fantastic! :sunny:

The sea lions are gorgeous!!! Oh....not sure if I would have wanted to leave them lol. Love the pic when Gunner is staring at you - amazing! Were you wearing earrings? Or maybe you reminded him of an old friend!:flower:

I was indeed wearing some hoop earrings... perhaps that's why he couldn't stop staring. Here I though he was intrigued by my big nose :p.

I love Gunner! He's one of my favorite sea lions at SLH (and I actually had him the last time I did the tour)

Yes!! Very much so (and I especially miss the old porch area)

Gunner was such a charmer :cloud9:. I was instantly in love.

I really need to go to a Sea World whether it's Orlando or San Diego. So much fun with the tours.

Yes, you do!! A resolution for the 2019 year, perhaps? ;)
 
I did the sea lion tour in the spring and it was a lot of fun. It always cracks me up how LOUD they are when it's time for food!
 
I did the sea lion tour in the spring and it was a lot of fun. It always cracks me up how LOUD they are when it's time for food!

OMG, I know!!! :crazy2: They are adorable little creatures but it sure would be nice if they came with a volume button :laughing:.

So we arrived yesterday after a 9 hour flight and a 1 hour wait at immigration! POFQ is pretty and we have a lovely view. Today at MK is sunny and busy.

What an exhausting trip! But I'm glad you have arrived safe and sound...now, let the fun begin! :banana:

We visited POFQ on our May trip for the first time.....their pool area is fantastic! Hope you plan on enjoying some swimming time while you're there!
 


Sunday, October 28th: SeaWorld, continued

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With both tours and our Dismeet scratched off our list of the day's to-do's, we were ready to partake in some seasonal fun: it was time to enjoy the Spooktacular events that were now underway along the Bayside pathway and on the far side of the park.

As we headed in that direction, we took a bit of a detour along the water (which was marvelously devoid of people.....crowds had definitely thickened as the day wore on and SeaWorld was now chock full of costumed guests with treat bags in hand).....and we noted that there were signs of Christmas already starting to pop up in the lagoon.

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Oh, how we wished we could have squeezed in a short long-weekend trip during the holiday season!! :santa: Christmas at SeaWorld is THE BEST!

There was a special pass member offer for the month of October that featured a special Halloween treat bag that came with a $5.00 game play card for $5.00 (so, essentially you received the deluxe-style bag for free versus having to buy one of the regular ones at $1.99). We stopped at a kiosk and purchased us each one so we were ready to collect some treats as we toured the Spooktacular areas.

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With our bags in hand, we were off and running! :goodvibes

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SeaWorld's Spooktacular has a whole different feel than either Disney or Universal. It's a colorful, whimsical theme with lots of bright hues.

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Many of the light posts feature sea creatures that blow bubbles, creating an "under the sea" type feel.

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And there are a huge assortment of wildly dressed sea creatures that meander through the Spooktacular areas, greeting guests with exuberance, posting for photos, or enjoying a dance or two with the little folks.

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Each of the treat stations featured a different type of candy: everything from king size Oreo bars to Nerds to tootsie rolls. The team members handing out weren't super generous on this particular day (much to the dismay of people on the SeaWorld AP holders Facebook page :rolleyes2 ... sigh .... I swear people will complain about anything and everything), but we really didn't care what we were given. It was just fun to be all grown up and still able to trick-or-treat without judgement! :p

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As always, Chick-fil-A (one of the major sponsors of the event) did not disappoint with their humorous advertising. Their signs and displays always bring us a giggle:

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While these areas of the park felt absolutely packed (something we are rarely accustomed to at SeaWorld!), the candy lines moved quickly and smoothly. Some of the guests' costumes were super well done, too....it was great to see so many families partaking in the Halloween spirit.

We had those game cards to use, and when I saw this display, I knew exactly what I wanted my big guy to win me! :love:

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My Knight in Shining Armor did not hesitate to rise to the challenge: winning the balloon game, and the coveted Black Cat stuffie, would be his quest.

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And ta-da! pixiedust: He did it! On the first try, no less ;). Okay, so maybe the games are designed more for kids than "big kids".....but I was no less proud of my new toy :rotfl:.

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I also knew that Steve particularly enjoys the plinko game, so we made that our next stop.

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I have to admit, the Dracula penguin was awfully adorable as well. Two fun additions to my ever-growing stuffie collection! (if I ever become a Nana, my grandbabies will have oodles and zoodles of friends to cuddle when they visit us in Michigan!)

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As we toured around, we ran into Sharkie near the park entrance. We had our picture taken (of course :laughing:) but unfortunately the quality was pretty poor. The super-sunny day obviously caused some exposure issues, and we ended up with a very dark picture. It doesn't happen very often with the SeaWorld photographers, though, so we couldn't be annoyed.

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With our bags growing heavy and our arms full of stuffies, we took note of the time and were shocked to see how quickly the day had flown by. We had just enough time to take our candy and stuffies to the rental car, grab one last meal on our all-day dining plan, then head to Infinity Falls for our inaugural ride on the park's newest attraction......with our complimentary Quick Queue passes (a special perk for annual passholders). There was no time to waste! :goodvibes

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The balance of our SeaWorld day is next.
 
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Sunday, October 28th: SeaWorld, the conclusion

Since we suspected that we'd get pretty wet on Infinity Falls, we opted to eat first and ride last: I really didn't want to be sogging through a restaurant once we had taken our ride through the rapids. But before we dined, Steve took all our loot (our treat bags and my stuffies) to the rental car while I stopped at Adventure Photo to have our Sea Lion tour photos added to our Photokey. Line for the latter would be MUCH shorter now than at park closing.

While he was at the vehicle, I asked Steve to grab a couple of ponchos (which I always keep in the back seat for when they're needed) so we could at least try to keep dry"ish" while riding Infinity Falls. I know we'd still get wet, but maybe not SUPER soaked ....right??? :umbrella:

I ended up having no wait to see a photo agent, so I hung out and waited for Steve to get back into the park.

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I kind of wondered what was taking him so long :confused:, but when I finally caught site of him.....he had no ponchos in hand. Turns out he'd been searching the car for them, but it appears that someone (ahem! :o) forgot to throw them in on our way out of the villa that morning. Whoops. He had been looking high and low (literally under the seats and everywhere in between) but alas, I had led him astray without meaning to. I guess we'd end up soaked to the skin after all :headache:.

Thank goodness we had left the ride to the END of the day!

I let Steve pick the restaurant for dinner, and he chose Seafire Grill....he was in the mood for fajitas :).

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The chicken fajitas came with white rice, black beans, fresh tortillas (which you can't see in the above photos, but they're stacked under the meat and rice plate), sour cream, diced tomatoes, and shredded cheese. Other than the beans (of which Steve is not a fan at any time), he thoroughly enjoyed his meal....including the blueberry cheesecake which he selected as his side. My chicken tenders and fries were equally as hot and delicious as Steve's fajitas: I have no idea where SeaWorld buys their chicken tenders, but they are consistently among the best I've had in a theme park. My cookies were kind of "meh", but then again, we had eaten a LOT on this day so perhaps I was just getting fooded out :confused3. That's a possibility.

We both had apple juice to drink. I love the fact that there's a juice option on the all-day dining. There's only so much pop my stomach can handle in a day.

When we wrapped up our dinner, we stopped for a washroom break and then made our way to Infinity Falls: it was time (and I was more than a little nervous! :crazy2:).
Bless his sweet heart, as we walked up toward the ride, Steve dashed over to the small kiosk there and purchased us a pair of SeaWorld ponchos :love: ... he knew that I would be worried about my phone and purse getting wet, so at the very least he wanted me to ride with the assurance that my electronics would be safe. If that's not love, I don't know what is :goodvibes. Those ponchos, however, cost a painful $20 :eek: .... so forgetting my dollar store ponchos (which were of equal quality, I'm sorry to say) was an expensive oops on my part.

Heading up to the queue, we noted that he standby time was at a whopping 65 minutes :scared: .... we were so thankful that we had our Quick Queue passes! With Quick Queue, we literally walked right up and were boarded onto the next boat.....no wait at all :thumbsup2. Which was a good thing.....so I had less time to worry and fret! :laughing:

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Our boat was loaded with a full 8 passengers and we were off and rushing through the rapids within seconds of being belted into our seats. In a full boat with all large adults, we moved at full speed and hit the small drops with lots of weight behind us.....so the waves of water literally sloshed right up and over our heads (as well as down our backs and in our faces, depending on whether we were going forwards or backwards at the time). The raft spun and bounced, turning as it did so, and the waves of water had us with a half foot of water in the boat at any given time. Steve's size 15 running shoes were fully submerged for most of the voyage :lmao:.

I truly feared the drop......I despise the feeling of being dropped.....but honestly, it was smooth and not so sharp as to cause that horrible feeling in the pit of one's stomach. I thought I would at least tolerate the ride for Steve's sake, but I ended up LOVING it!

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I survived! :banana: SeaWorld, you have a winner in this ride!

Sadly, the ride photo wasn't working on that particular day (technical difficulties had plagued the photo kiosk throughout the day, we were told) so there would be no proof of my bravery. Too bad :(.

We were soaked to the skin.......think wring-out-your-underwear wet.....despite our best efforts with the ponchos. That said, the ponchos DID keep my purse and phone dry :thumbsup2: so, perhaps they were worth the $20 after all :rolleyes1. Steve shoes, on the other hand, didn't fare nearly as well: they would take 2 full days to dry out (and that was hanging on the balcony of the villa, in the fresh warm air). When we visited again later in the week, he would be wearing sandals for sure ::yes::.

As we squished and squashed our soggy selves to the park exit, we were SUPER glad we had eaten first and saved the ride for last.

What an AWESOME day it had been :goodvibes.

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Back at the villa, we changed into dry clothes, and surveyed our candy haul from trick-or-treating. Considering we just popped into whatever lines we saw as we passed (not really trying to go for volume or quantity), we did pretty good!

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It was a relaxing night at the resort, with a swim in the pool and a long soak in the hot tub (where we met a lovely family from Ohio.....we always manage to have some great conversation with other guests during those evenings spent in the spas). Sleep came quick and easy after a full day of theme parking, sunshine and adventure!
Next up: fun in the sun at our favorite Orlando waterpark.....Aquatica! :beach:

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Hi Gina I am so excited reading your report and getting excited for my trip in June. I think we are going to enjoy the Sea World parks and Bush Gardens. I think I am going to do the Ambassador tour for sure then if we have extra money I am going to do the sea lion tour also. I figured we can feed the rays at Sea World so I won't pay for that at Discovery Cove. I have the dolphin swim which is nice. The other thing is that there is an elephant tour at Bush Gardens that looks great! Elephants are one of my favorite and I can't decide between the sea lion and the elephant if we can do two. :scratchin

It looks like you guys had a great time! I am so proud of you for going on Infinity Falls and bonus you loved it:thumbsup2:D

I still have to decide if I will stay at Sea World from open to close one day and do the dining plan.

I look forward to the rest of your report and Aquatica coming up. Also I won't have early entry to Aquatica so if you can give me a run down of which rides are best to do first. We will be at the gate for general public opening. I will not rent a cabana because we usually don't stay all day at water parks. Any tips on where I can get a chair with less crowds?

Thanks so much:goodvibes

P.S. I love your kitty bulb pic!! :laughing:
 
Hi Gina! Great SeaWorld report! I thought the Infinity Falls drop was pretty tame as well. In fact, I was hoping it would be much wilder. I did warn you about the shoes! Our first time riding the Popeye ride at Universal we all had on running shoes, which never dried during the rest of our trip. We bring flip-flops now for all water rides! Don't you stash your stuff in the lockers for rides? I like the SeaWorld locker system. The only bad part is some of the locker areas are not designed well for crowds, particularly for those groups that have all the members go in and stand around and stare blankly at the kiosk screen. :sad2:

Despite having the Fun Cards, I think we are skipping SeaWorld this month and spending a night in St. Augustine instead. Even without paying SeaWorld admission, it will still be much cheaper (and easier) to go to St. Augustine, and I've had a few unexpected expenses this year AND want to save for a potential Alaska trip next summer. Although it is only 45 minutes away, it is nice to actually spend the night in St. Augustine to fully enjoy the awesome Christmas lights there AND have a few adult beverages. I got a nice deal on the Casa Monica hotel, which is right in the historic district.
 
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My chicken tenders and fries were equally as hot and delicious as Steve's fajitas: I have no idea where SeaWorld buys their chicken tenders, but they are consistently among the best I've had in a theme park.
You're at SEA World! That ain't chiken...

I survived! :banana: SeaWorld, you have a winner in this ride!

Sadly, the ride photo wasn't working on that particular day (technical difficulties had plagued the photo kiosk throughout the day, we were told) so there would be no proof of my bravery. Too bad :(.
Nope, not buyin' it. If there's no photo proof then it never happened...

Now you need to go back and get proof for us all!
 
Oh, Gina! I love your SW day. We were passholders last year..... but no plans to visit in the upcoming year. This makes me wish we did. Seeing the Groove Chefs reminds me that our then 14 y.o, now 15 y.o son wanted to stop and watch them on our last trip. He got a kick out of them and their antics. I was impressed with their ability to capture the attention of the thrilll seeking “Where’s the next ride?” teenage mind. (He rode Maco 14 times in a row on our visit in 2017....so the fact that Groove Chefs could entertain multi generations is big in my book.)

And your dismeet with Sam and Lena.....they look like absolutely delightful lunch companions. What fun!

I would looooove to do any of the tours. The two you did on this day look fabulous! Mila is so cute. We met Lucky the sloth on our last Discovery Cove trip. Yes, their hair or fur texture is unexpected and different. I held a yellow python during a field trip with my kiddos when they were young.....to look the part of brave mom so they’d be willing to as well. Don’t have to do that now that they’re older....and I would definitely say “no thank you” if offered the chance again. :laughing:

Oh my goodness! Gunner!!!! That fellow looks full of personality. So crazy how he seems almost human-like as he leans on the railing peering down at everyone. I think he was checking you out as he knows an admirer when he sees one. ::yes:: Animals have intuition about these things. :thumbsup2

I love all the photos from the spooktacular. The whimsical, ocean inspired pumpkin fish, etc. are so fun! SW really does a fabulous job at setting a festive environment. And the candy haul looks like plenty to me!:goodvibes And your costumes were perfect! Those sunglasses were the perfect find! I love your words about growing old being mandatory, growing up....not so much.

Hooray for your Infinity Falls ride victory! Way to go on conquering your fear of the drop. :cheer2: Glad it wasn’t bad.

Looking forward to the next update.
 
Great update! Infinity Falls looks like a lot of fun.

SeaWorld has really done well with that ride. Now, I don't think I'd want to ride it on a cold day (I can't imagine being THAT wet if there is a chill in the air), but in the summertime it will be a HUGE hit!

Hi Gina I am so excited reading your report and getting excited for my trip in June. I think we are going to enjoy the Sea World parks and Bush Gardens. I think I am going to do the Ambassador tour for sure then if we have extra money I am going to do the sea lion tour also. I figured we can feed the rays at Sea World so I won't pay for that at Discovery Cove. I have the dolphin swim which is nice. The other thing is that there is an elephant tour at Bush Gardens that looks great! Elephants are one of my favorite and I can't decide between the sea lion and the elephant if we can do two. :scratchin

It looks like you guys had a great time! I am so proud of you for going on Infinity Falls and bonus you loved it:thumbsup2:D

I still have to decide if I will stay at Sea World from open to close one day and do the dining plan.

I look forward to the rest of your report and Aquatica coming up. Also I won't have early entry to Aquatica so if you can give me a run down of which rides are best to do first. We will be at the gate for general public opening. I will not rent a cabana because we usually don't stay all day at water parks. Any tips on where I can get a chair with less crowds?

Thanks so much:goodvibes

P.S. I love your kitty bulb pic!! :laughing:

Stay tuned, we did a 3rd tour on this trip.....so you'll get a sneak peek at yet another option to consider. I definitely don't think you can go wrong when picking a tour at either SW or BG.....go with whichever one offers the animal(s) you are interested in most. If elephants are particularly close to your heart, then that would be the one to pick for sure!!

At Aquatica, definitely hit the big slides first.....Dolphin Plunge, Ihu's Breakaway Falls, Ray Rush, and the Taumata Racers can all get long lines on busy days. You can always enjoy the busier afternoon hours in Roa's Rapids, the wave pools, or Loggerhead Lane (the slow lazy river with tubes) and maybe a siesta on the beach :beach:.

Beach chairs are plentiful at Aquatica (free, and first come first served), so if you arrive early you'll have lots of places to set up camp. There are some massive umbrellas too, so you can pick a spot with shade if you like. There's no "bad" location, as the beach area is pretty central :thumbsup2.

Hi Gina! Great SeaWorld report! I thought the Infinity Falls drop was pretty tame as well. In fact, I was hoping it would be much wilder. I did warn you about the shoes! Our first time riding the Popeye ride at Universal we all had on running shoes, which never dried during the rest of our trip. We bring flip-flops now for all water rides! Don't you stash your stuff in the lockers for rides? I like the SeaWorld locker system. The only bad part is some of the locker areas are not designed well for crowds, particularly for those groups that have all the members go in and stand around and stare blankly at the kiosk screen. :sad2:

Despite having the Fun Cards, I think we are skipping SeaWorld this month and spending a night in St. Augustine instead. Even without paying SeaWorld admission, it will still be much cheaper (and easier) to go to St. Augustine, and I've had a few unexpected expenses this year AND want to save for a potential Alaska trip next summer. Although it is only 45 minutes away, it is nice to actually spend the night in St. Augustine to fully enjoy the awesome Christmas lights there AND have a few adult beverages. I got a nice deal on the Casa Monica hotel, which is right in the historic district.

Your holiday getaway sounds superb!! St. Augustine is STILL on my list of places I want to visit. Hmmmm, maybe in May? :scratchin I hope you guys have a wonderful time! Are you heading there for Christmas itself, or one of the next two weekends?

I don't generally do any big rides :rolleyes1 so I don't have much experience in using the lockers. Steve is trying to woo me into riding Jurassic Park, Popeyes, and the Mummy when we visit Universal in the spring, so perhaps I'll have to learn the finer art of locker usage. IF he can manage to talk me into riding, of course. The jury is still out on that verdict :laughing:.

We love fajitas! I can't tell from the photo, is the chicken sautéed & seasoned? Or is it fried?

Steve says it were very lightly seasoned. Not seasoned enough for his taste, unfortunately....he would have liked to have had a little more flavor.

You're at SEA World! That ain't chiken...

:scared1:

Nope, not buyin' it. If there's no photo proof then it never happened...

Now you need to go back and get proof for us all!

Now just you hold on, young man. Don't go gettin' ahead of things ;). We still have one more SeaWorld day on this trip, and I got plenty of Infinity Falls proof.....you just have to wait until that part of the report rolls around (and at my current speed, that might be March :rotfl2:).

Maybe I should give you a little sneak peek now? :scratchin

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Oh, Gina! I love your SW day. We were passholders last year..... but no plans to visit in the upcoming year. This makes me wish we did. Seeing the Groove Chefs reminds me that our then 14 y.o, now 15 y.o son wanted to stop and watch them on our last trip. He got a kick out of them and their antics. I was impressed with their ability to capture the attention of the thrilll seeking “Where’s the next ride?” teenage mind. (He rode Maco 14 times in a row on our visit in 2017....so the fact that Groove Chefs could entertain multi generations is big in my book.)

And your dismeet with Sam and Lena.....they look like absolutely delightful lunch companions. What fun!

I would looooove to do any of the tours. The two you did on this day look fabulous! Mila is so cute. We met Lucky the sloth on our last Discovery Cove trip. Yes, their hair or fur texture is unexpected and different. I held a yellow python during a field trip with my kiddos when they were young.....to look the part of brave mom so they’d be willing to as well. Don’t have to do that now that they’re older....and I would definitely say “no thank you” if offered the chance again. :laughing:

Oh my goodness! Gunner!!!! That fellow looks full of personality. So crazy how he seems almost human-like as he leans on the railing peering down at everyone. I think he was checking you out as he knows an admirer when he sees one. ::yes:: Animals have intuition about these things. :thumbsup2

I love all the photos from the spooktacular. The whimsical, ocean inspired pumpkin fish, etc. are so fun! SW really does a fabulous job at setting a festive environment. And the candy haul looks like plenty to me!:goodvibes And your costumes were perfect! Those sunglasses were the perfect find! I love your words about growing old being mandatory, growing up....not so much.

Hooray for your Infinity Falls ride victory! Way to go on conquering your fear of the drop. :cheer2: Glad it wasn’t bad.

Looking forward to the next update.

We switch up our AP's each year usually as well. We'll let SW expire in May and the plan is to get Universal AP's for the next year. A year's break between parks seems to work well for us.....and helps us appreciate each park even more. After a year off from Universal, we are absolutely itching to go back!

I am sure my idolization was evident to everyone....including Gunner :rotfl:. What can I say, I wear my heart on my sleeve! :blush: He was probably thinking, what is wrong with that woman? She won't stop smiling :confused3.

Sam and Lena were the sweetest couple! :goodvibes We have met so many wonderful folks thanks to the Dis!
 
In other news......we booked our flights for May, so we have our official travel dates for spring :).

We will be flying in on Saturday, May 4th (a morning flight from DTW on Frontier, so arriving at MCO shortly after noon) and flying home on Saturday, May 11th (an evening flight on Delta, departing Orlando around 6:30 pm and arriving in Detroit just after 9).

The villa is booked, an initial car rental booking has been made (it's horrible, of course :scared: but at least we have a worst case scenario), and I've even purchased our Universal photo package (thanks to a rockin' good Black Friday offer).

So.......who wants to join us? ;) Let's plan a Dismeet or two!
 
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Monday, October 29th: Aquatica

Aquatica opened at 10 am on this particular day, so it was a very civilized and un-rushed morning: we didn't need to set an alarm or feel the need to hop out of bed and into the shower at a crazy early hour. It very much felt like a vacation day.

We had pre-purchased all day dining for this park as well (at that fabulous passholder offer of $24.99 per person) so we skipped having anything to eat at the villa or on route, and opted to just eat at the park. We weren't really hungry yet anyway, though both of us were yearning for a good cup of coffee :drinking1.

We left the Vistana around 9:30 am with our beach bag of necessities in tow, and were parked within mere steps of the entrance by 9:45 am. There were but a handful of cars in the lot, and it was easy to see that it was shaping up to be a very low crowd day.....even though the sun was sparkling in the bright blue sky, and temperatures were set to warm to a marvelously comfortable 84 degrees :sunny:.

The gates opened early (they were allowing guests to enter the park when we arrived at 15 minutes before opening) so we breezed though the lineless bag check and turnstiles. Our initial task would be to check in for our cabana, but first.....a photo on the bridge [included on our two-park Photokey :thumbsup2].

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We had a great team member help us at Guest Services: he knew his stuff and was wonderfully efficient. We had pre-reserved the cabana and pre-purchased the dining, so there was no payment to collect when we checked in. He issued us our dining bands and our cabana bands, and assigned us our cabana in record time, and we were soon off to get settled into our digs for the day.

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We customarily reserve a Cutback Cove cabana (which are the lowest priced option, but also some of the most shaded......so generally our favorite area), but those were unavailable on this trip due to the installation of a new ride in that section of the park. So, our cabana this time was on Roa's Island.....which is another great choice for us as we LOVE spending time in Roa's Rapids!

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We were greeted warmly by the cabana host who introduced himself, verified our paperwork and walked us to our cabana. We were the first cabana guests of the day to arrive.

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Cabana 14 would be our base camp for the day. Not too shabby at all :).

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Our view out the back of the cabana was equally as appealing......Roa's Rapids ran directly behind us.

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The cabana host saw me taking photos, and strolled over with an offer to capture a pictures of the two of us together. We thought that was a sweet gesture and warmly accepted!

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With all the "administrative" work out of the way, we decided to grab a quick breakfast before swapping our street clothes for our swimwear. We strolled over to the Mango Market and picked up fresh muffins and piping hot Starbucks coffee, both entitlements on the dining plan.

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We brought our breakfast back to the cabana to enjoy it in comfort. The muffins were super moist, wonderfully fudgy, and deliciously fresh.....but let's be honest, they were less like muffins and more like cake :blush:. But.....we were on vacation, so heck....why not? :rotfl: The Starbucks coffee was like the nectar of the Gods: nice and strong (exactly as I like it) and they had flavored cream :worship: . This was a very good start ::yes::.

More Aquatica coming up!
 
Your holiday getaway sounds superb!! St. Augustine is STILL on my list of places I want to visit. Hmmmm, maybe in May? :scratchin I hope you guys have a wonderful time! Are you heading there for Christmas itself, or one of the next two weekends?

I don't generally do any big rides :rolleyes1 so I don't have much experience in using the lockers. Steve is trying to woo me into riding Jurassic Park, Popeyes, and the Mummy when we visit Universal in the spring, so perhaps I'll have to learn the finer art of locker usage. IF he can manage to talk me into riding, of course. The jury is still out on that verdict :laughing:.
We'll be going on the 23rd and 24th. We won't hang around all day on the 24th, since we will need to get back for our Christmas Eve church service. You should definitely consider St. Augustine. You would really love the Christmas lights, but May would be nice too.

The Mummy is a great ride. It was the first "big kid" ride my daughter did, and she loved it and has become a thrill ride beast. I'm sure you know about Popeyes. You will get soaked! Infinity Falls is an afternoon thunderstorm, but Popeyes is a tropical storm. We usually stayed at Royal Pacific, so we would go back to the hotel in the late afternoon, change to bathing suits and flip flops, ride Popeyes, Jurassic Park, and Dudley Doright over and over, then walk back to the pool.
 
Your Aquatica photos always look so lovely and appealing! Maybe we'll get there one day. I have a lot of the non-expiring Disney water park tickets, so we always end up going there. I must admit, I'm getting a little bored with going to the same two waterparks every summer.
 
I love Aquatica. We purchased our Universal AP's last month and decided to add on the water park option for their new park. We'll see how that goes. I'm bummed I missed the photo deal on black Friday. Not sure why I didn't check the Universal website. Oh well.
 
Now just you hold on, young man. Don't go gettin' ahead of things ;). We still have one more SeaWorld day on this trip, and I got plenty of Infinity Falls proof.....you just have to wait until that part of the report rolls around (and at my current speed, that might be March :rotfl2:).

Maybe I should give you a little sneak peek now? :scratchin

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Well see now, you went and spoiled it. Here I was setting you up with an excuse for a return trip. Not that you seem to need an excuse. Come to think of it, I guess that the excuse thing is my shtick...

I see that Steve has the same problem as I do. The heaviest guy in the raft always seem to be going backward.
 
We'll be going on the 23rd and 24th. We won't hang around all day on the 24th, since we will need to get back for our Christmas Eve church service. You should definitely consider St. Augustine. You would really love the Christmas lights, but May would be nice too.

The Mummy is a great ride. It was the first "big kid" ride my daughter did, and she loved it and has become a thrill ride beast. I'm sure you know about Popeyes. You will get soaked! Infinity Falls is an afternoon thunderstorm, but Popeyes is a tropical storm. We usually stayed at Royal Pacific, so we would go back to the hotel in the late afternoon, change to bathing suits and flip flops, ride Popeyes, Jurassic Park, and Dudley Doright over and over, then walk back to the pool.

I have been trying to find some lights on POV videos for the mummy, but so far I havent located any that have been helpful. I want to know how bad the drops are....spinning I can handle, its drops that do me in :crazy2:.

And yep, I am ready for a super soaking on Popeyes when we ride. It will be our last activity of the day......then back to the villa!

Your Aquatica photos always look so lovely and appealing! Maybe we'll get there one day. I have a lot of the non-expiring Disney water park tickets, so we always end up going there. I must admit, I'm getting a little bored with going to the same two waterparks every summer.

Aquatica is our favorite water park in orlando. Typhoon Lagoon comes in second. Blizzard Beach and Volcano Bay tie for 3rd. In all honesty, though, we need to give Blizzard Beach another try some time....its more the theme that doesn't appeal than the rides.

Definitely try to visit some day if you can.....its such a great park! Roa's Rapids is SO much fun!

I love Aquatica. We purchased our Universal AP's last month and decided to add on the water park option for their new park. We'll see how that goes. I'm bummed I missed the photo deal on black Friday. Not sure why I didn't check the Universal website. Oh well.

Will this be your first visit to Volcano Bay? It's a lovely park, so lush and tropical.

Watch the My Universal Photos Facebook page for more discounts on annual photo packages. I bet they will offer another deal at New Years....they have discounts more than once each year. I know they had a big sale at Mardi Gras time as well. You may still luck in!

Well see now, you went and spoiled it. Here I was setting you up with an excuse for a return trip. Not that you seem to need an excuse. Come to think of it, I guess that the excuse thing is my shtick...

I see that Steve has the same problem as I do. The heaviest guy in the raft always seem to be going backward.

It is actually pretty random if you go down forward or backward. When the raft slides on to the hoist, the raft is spun (not spun fast, it's very controlled).....and whatever direction you are facing at that point is how you will go down the drop. So sometimes went forward and sometimes we didnt. I actually preferred the sensation of going backward ... maybe because not seeing the drop made feel less intense?
 

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