First Day at Sea World

April and I had grandiose plans for our breakfasts on both days at Sea World. So, on the first day we started out at one of our favorite breakfast spots: The Kona Cafe at The Polynesian at Walt Disney World.

Sea World was AMAZING. It was definitely the BEST theme park featuring sea life that I had ever seen. One of their trademarks are these tunnels that allow you to walk THROUGH the natural habitat of these animals. We LOVED it!!! And, by the end of the day, we decided that Sea World was just as good as Disney World (which is saying a lot for us) in every way except for the characters, . . . even when it came to ambiance and background music.

We all found it funny how one of the barracuda was REALLY interested in Auntie April.

We also stayed a long time looking at these little sea horses called "sea dragons."

And the frogs.

And here was the tunnel through the shark tank!!! Later, we actually ate dinner right beside the tank in the Shark Underwater Grill. A FABULOUS experience! (Although a bit fancy & quiet for children in tow.) For some reason my camera didn't process those pictures. : ( But Leia Rose was amazed that if you went right up to the glass, you could actually see the people going through this tunnel.

The highlight of the whole trip for Leia Rose was part of the Wild Arctic, . . . namely The Polar Express Experience! It was a really neat ride where we got to ride on the "real" train and viewed the most exciting parts of the movie while we mimicked its motion. Really cool! Just as exciting as the 3D experience. It was kind of like 4D, actually.

Annie couldn't go on with Leia Rose (in that she had to ride in the "easy rider" cabin). But only those children got to go to this cool mock-up of the movie set! We took pictures by the snowman as the Polar Express roared by with steam and everything! (But, as you can see, Annie was so worried about the steam that she couldn't really enjoy it.)

The other really cool thing was that after you got off the Polar Express, they had another movie set of the tree in the center of the North Pole, . . . and Santa was there! (Right by the beluga whales!) What an experience it was to visit Santa with beluga whales squeaking in the background! Annie wasn't keen on sitting with Santa, and I wasn't going to press it. . . . Yet. We stayed a long time in the Wild Arctic, . . . especially watching the walruses. I don't think I had ever seen a real walrus, actually. I was so enthralled by them (swimming right up to our faces!) that I forgot to take some good pictures! Ha!

Although Santa sat by the top of the beluga whale tank, you could also go to the underwater viewing area, . . . just like many of the other exhibits at Sea World. So great to have a choice! Even with Shamu!

But it was THIS that was the experience of a lifetime, if you ask me. We spent a long time feeding and touching REAL dolphins!!! We all got to touch one, . . . even Annie! I can't tell you what it meant to me to do this. It was SO very special.

And afterwards we all got to touch the sting rays in a shallow pool where they would glide right under your hand! It was SO interesting to touch the sting rays right after the dolphins to be able to tell the difference. The verdict: the dolphins felt hard and smooth while the sting rays felt soft and smooth. So cool!

Then came Leia Rose's favorite show of Sea World. It was called Blue Horizons and featured dolphins and birds. The parrots actually flew over the audience for much of the show. Amazing!

And here is something that Leia Rose hasn't done for YEARS! Loving Mamma by sucking her thumb and holding onto my ear! I was in HEAVEN! : )

And at the end of the evening, there was a spectacular musical fountain show out on the lake!

AND because it was the Christmas season, they made it SNOW through the whole park as everyone was leaving! WOW! SO magical!!!