Sea World Saturday

After a grueling week of all work and little play I look forward to doing something a bit more exciting on the weekend. Sure we could do fun things during the week, and we do sometimes, but for the most part it's bed for Aiden by 8pm with us following closely behind.

This weekend's entertainment was a trip to Sea World. Aiden and Vanessa went this summer during my "vacation" so I had to play catch-up. I've never been (I'm serious) so I thought I would go see what all this Shamu-fuss is about.

Thanks to our friends to the military who make those great horse commercials during the Super Bowl, Anheuser-Busch, we had free admission. If you're not in the military, I would still recommend going to Sea World. It's reasonably priced for an amusement park but if you plan to go more than a couple of days it would be well worth it to just purchase a season pass (Note: this is not to be taken as a shameless plug, just a frugal recommendation). And if you need a place to stay while you're here, there's a hotel or two in San Antonio that I'm sure would be happy to take your money. Er, I mean, you're more than welcome to stay with us (Note: this offer applies to those who I know personally... sorry if I got your hopes up).


(The end of our adventure)

As soon as we arrived we plotted our course for the day in order to maximize viewing the variety of shows. We intentionally avoided rides as Aiden tends to be apprehensive of... well everything. He usually warms up to new things, but it's always a struggle to get him past his fears.

Our first show was "Believe" with killer whales to include Shamu. I'm not sure which killer whale was Shamu because they all looked alike to me. That's not to say that because they were black or white, cause they were all black and white, but I really didn't get to know them (Enough with the failed attempt at humor already). The show was quite fascinating! The trainers interacting with these killers of the sea made them look more like big puppy dogs. Hey Mom, can I have a killer whale for Christmas?


(I'm fairly certain this one was Shamu--the whale, not the man)

Next was "The Cannery Row Caper," a detective story with the characters played by sea lions, an otter, and a great big walrus. I haven't laughed so hard in quite some time.


(The detective voice over said, "she had lips like...well, she had lips!")

From there we raced over to get a seat for "Pirates 4D." Not a great scripted nor acted film, but of course the effects were there...in four dimensions. This didn't go over so well with Aiden, especially when the bees started flying out of the screen and his seat began buzzing. His last straw was the spider crawling towards him that hissed as a fine mist of water sprayed his face. He began to bawl with the rest of the little kids in the theater. I gathered him onto my lap and calmed him down for the last few minutes of the show. I think he'll do better next time though.


(We stopped for lunch and of course dessert. Aiden reeaaallly enjoyed the chocolate cake!)

Before the next show we went to feed the dolphins. Vanessa waited in line for fish as Aiden and I nudged our way to the edge of the pool. The dolphins swam around eagerly whetting their appetites for their little treats. They would swim up close enough to touch but would knowingly dodge the eager hands reaching out to grab them. Their sense of smell or timing or whatever told them there was no fish available yet so they continued their teasing, whetting the audience's appetite as well. When the fish did arrive the dolphins would allow you to briefly pet them as long as you kept the fish out of their sight. One dolphin didn't want to be petted, so he flipped his nose up, knocking my hand away and beckoned me for the fish. Upon seeing this aggressive behavior, Aiden gave up wanting to touch the dolphins. That was only until we no longer had fish to give. Then he got into his I-haven't-had-my-nap mood and had a meltdown about wanting to pet the dolphins.


(Dolphins teasing Aiden)

After Aiden's mood change, I was ready to go, but Vanessa wanted to see one last show. After a brief and uneventful stopover at a sand box, we went to watch "Viva," a show with acrobats, beluga whales, and dolphins. I think the acrobats took center stage over the animals in this show. Most of their movements were a bit hokey, but the flips and dives were pretty exhilarating. Overall, not bad, but my mood may have been a little put off by the setting sun shining right through the back of the stage into my eyes.

Hopefully, we'll be able to go back and take advantage of some of the other entertainment Sea World has to offer. For now, it made for a rather full day.

Save the Whales,

Marty