Other Theme Parks

Monday, August 10th

Today we hit the pool in the morning after sleeping in.  Boy was that needed.  The pool was empty and relaxing.  We got out of the pool, then headed back to the room for getting ready to take Amanda and Rebecca to the University of Tampa.  We dropped them off, and Evrett and I decided that we wanted to go to Costco for lunch, and I was going to get a rotisserie chicken for dinner.  We got to Costco in Clearwater, after driving over there, had lunch and got the chicken, and then went to Best Buy, and as I had expected, they couldn’t help me at all.  So we walked around, and Evrett played a little Wii game there.  Then we left to get the girls at the school.  We got back to the school and the girls weren’t done with their tour yet, so Evrett and I hung in the car, listening to the radio and playing some games.  Once the girls were done, we headed back to the hotel for dinner, and getting Evrett back to bed because tomorrow we are planning on going to Busch Gardens Tampa.  So until then, I am off, and I will be back tomorrow with details from yet another theme park.

Saturday, August 1st

Today we went to Sea World.  It was a little late in the planning stages to make sure that you were all aware of our plans to go there, so I figure this is just a bonus for you, the reader.

I have to say that overall, I was happy to see all of the improvements that have been made since the last time that I was there.  They have built a new area that they are calling the Waterfront.  It was a VERY nicely done area.

To go along with above, they have come up with their own food plans.  These food plans are a quite a bit different from what we have all come to love from Disney, BUT in their own way, I think that I like them just the same.  For $29.95 (plus tax) per adult and $14.95 (plus tax) per child, you get any food item, small side, and fountain drink or bottle of Aquafina water per pass through the buffet line.  This means that if you are hungry and want to go back for seconds, go right ahead.  For us, we ate lunch and dinner in the parks, plus stopped for a snack a few times as well as the water.  The one BIG problem that I have with this plan, is simply this, there are only 6 restaurants in the entire park that you can go to, to get your food or drink items.  This is a bit of a problem as the lines for the places were a little out of control when it came to the length of time that we were forced to wait.  It would seem prudent for the park to allow guests with the wrist bands to obtain their drinks from any location in the park.  This would seem to help reduce the lines at the restaurants and it would be a LOT more convenient for the guests.

Otherwise, I think that there should be more rides there because it would be a LOT easier to keep people in the parks for their After Dark shows.  Which I might add, were a LOT better than the day time show,  at least for Shamu.  The Shamu Rocks show was incredible.  Great music, high energy and a lot of audience involvement.  This show seems to have it all.  We didn’t get to see the Sea Lion and Otter show, which is also apparently different than the day show we saw.  I would actually like to see them adapt the Shamu Rocks song to their normal show.  Don’t get me wrong Believe, is a beautiful and inspiring show, but it seems to just drag along at a few times.

All in all, it was a great day.  I have to say that Ryan (the park newbie) has stated that she was completely blown away by Sea World, and really enjoyed herself.  If that is the case, then tomorrow will, well, who knows what will happen when she sees Epcot for the first time.