California trip--Sea World!

What's a trip to the San Diego area without stopping at Sea World?  I don't think I've been since I was 12 and Brodie's never been.  But I still have great memories of it and wanted my kids to also experience it.  It was great!  This is actually one place I would even say was worth the full price of admission (in my opinion).  That being said, I didn't pay full price.  My favorite coupon code website (retailmenot.com) had a great Sea World deal to get an adult in at a child's price and get a child in free.  So instead of paying $260 we only paid $124.  It was an AAA discount (SeaWestwaysSmr2011) and the coupon expires June 30 but the tickets are good for a year.  Once again by purchasing online we bypassed the ticket counter and went straight to the gate.

Just after entering the park we were approached about an all day eating deal.  It was $30 for an adult and $15 for a child.  I was hesitant at first, but then the girl looked at our kids and said if they usually share a meal we could purchase one child meal and have them share.  She then told us you could eat anytime at one of the 4 restaurants.  You got one entree, one drink, and one side or dessert each time through the line.  And as soon as you exited the line you could go through again.  Since we got there at 10 am and were planning on staying until closing at 7:30 we knew we'd be there for 2 meals.  Not to mention the drinks throughout the day.  So we decided to do the plan.  It ended up being a great deal.  The sizes were ridiculously huge--Brodie and I could almost have split a meal.  And the variety was great!  For lunch Brodie and I each had a BBQ platter with a piece of brisket, chicken, and 3 ribs plus fries and a large cup of strawberries and a salad for a side.  The kids shared a chicken finger/fry plate and a large cup of strawberries.  Then we went back and got a large Shamu shaped cookie for them to share for dessert and a large chocolate cake for Brodie and I to share.  Later for a snack we went through and got drinks, a salad with a bunch of fruit on it for me, and large Jell-O cups for the kids.  For dinner we went to the Italian restaurant, that wasn't very good, but large portions.  We wished at that point we had gone to the Shipwrecked restaurant for the salmon, but it was too late.

Okay so in terms of Aquariums we've been plenty of times to our Living Planet Aquarium (which although small, is a great place for the price of $9) and to the Mystic, Connecticut Aquarium.  Sea World is way out of their league!  We loved every bit of it!  The Wild Arctic was so much fun.  Watching the Beluga Whales, Polar Bears, and Walrus both above and underneath the water was so much fun!

Then we saw the penguins, who are so cute!  Turtle Reef wasn't open yet, but the Shark Encounter was awesome!  First we watched the sharks from the top of the water.  Then we went down and down until we were walking through a tunnel underneath the sharks.  It was really cool to have the sharks swimming above and around us.  The kids also loved this.

We also got to see the seals and sea lions and dolphins up close without glass between us.  And there were a few mini-aquariums where we got to see various fish and turtles (more similar to our Living Planet Aquarium type exhibits).  There was also a large California tide pool where the kids were able to hold and pet starfish.  We really enjoyed the up close exhibits.  Spencer really loved seeing all these amazing sea creatures live.  He is an avid reader and especially enjoys non-fiction.  He has an animal atlas that is probably one of his favorite books and he has read about many of these sea creatures and loved seeing them "for real life".

Then there were the shows.  I still remember the shows I watched twenty years ago.  Of course if you try to hit every show you'll never get to see all the exhibits in one day.  The exhibits were my number one priority, and the shows next.  I decided the Shamu, dolphin, and Sea Lion shows were the ones we would make sure we hit.  We had to arrive a little early to get a seat (I wasn't in the mood for the splash zone with the cool temperatures and the baby) and then contain the girls for about 45 minutes (the waiting time plus the show).  Spencer was great but the girls didn't want to sit around so they made it quite difficult.  The dolphin show was a lot of fun-jumping and flipping dolphins, people riding the dolphins, the birds, the acrobats, etc.  It was very entertaining.  It was also educational--I never knew dolphins could dive so deep!  The Shamu show wasn't what it used to be.  I understand why they had to change it and it was still cool to see those amazing whales up close and doing cool tricks.  But for the other 15 minutes of the show all they did was splash the audience.  We enjoyed going down and watching the whale swimming in the tank as well.  Then there was the Sea Lion Show.  The best part of the whole day was the pre-show.  "Bif" and his many re-enactments of the movies I grew up watching--from Dirty Dancing to Footloose to Grease to Flashdance and a bunch in between.  I was laughing so hard!  The actual Sea Lion show was fun and entertaining as well, but boy was I glad we arrived to that show 20 minutes early!

As I wanted to see all the exhibits and we had to eat and use the potty plenty of times, we didn't make it to the Pets Rule or Cirque de la Mer shows.  But at one point Clara was about asleep in the stroller and we were by the Sesame Street 4D show.  My kids saw the Sesame Street sign and became very excited so I sent them in with Brodie while I stayed with Clara sleeping.  I thought it was funny we were spending time at a Sesame Street movie when we were at Sea World, but this ended up being Spencer's favorite thing.  He loved the show, especially the 4D effects like the wind, rain, and popping the bubbles.  I thought Tessa would be frightened, but she also loved it.  They waited in line 20 minutes before the 25 minute show and some noisy people (expected at a park this popular) woke up Clara right as they were walking into the theater so Clara and I ended up walking and playing around while they watched the show.

There are a few rides here, but Tessa's too small for most of them.  We did take the Sky Tower ride together as a family and looked down over the park and the ocean.  And we let our kids play at the Sesame Street Bay of Play, which became Tessa's favorite part.  They had a splash pad, but it was especially chilly this day so we had the kids avoid that.  They also had a little playground where they climbed up the ropes, ran across bridges, and eventually ended up at a twisty slide to go down.  There was an employee there making sure no one older than 12 or shorter than 37" went down the slide.  Seriously?  It's a basic, plastic twisty slide that lands on a padded ground.  Safer and slower than at most parks around here.  But neither Tessa nor I could go down it and we had to take the stairs down while Spencer slid down.  Little Tessa was heart broken.  I guess she should get used to it as I'm not sure she'll ever even be tall enough to legally be out of a booster car seat (the law is 4'9" I believe.  With luck Tessa might pass this in time to get her drivers' license).  I still couldn't believe they wouldn't let Tessa go down the twisty slide.  They did have a few other play areas where they only allowed so many kids in at a time.  Spencer went in a padded area where he could run into boxing bag type things.  Tessa was of course too small so Brodie took her to a large padded blue mat for babies.  She was so excited to do something that Spencer was too big to be allowed on.  Justice in her eyes.  That's why this blue mat became her favorite part of the whole trip.  Maybe there is some of me in her after all.  Spencer then saw Elmo and Cookie Monster and actually wanted to see them.  So Brodie took him while I let Clara join her big sister on the blue mat.

 

















There were also 3 rides in the Sesame Street Bay of Play.  And just as Legoland, neither kid was big enough to ride without a parent so Brodie rode on the Elmo ride and I got the Oscar ride.  We ended up skipping the Abby's Sea Star Spin.

At the end of the day I let them pick a souvenir.  I don't think Brodie was too excited about spending more money or buying more toys, but I'm a big memory person.  I still have the stuffed dolphin I got as a souvenir at Sea World twenty years ago.  For their souvenirs this time Spencer chose a stuffed Orca toy which he named "Orca" but nicknamed "Killer".  Tessa chose a cute, cuddly turtle with huge eyes that she named "Nemo big eyes".  I initially decided Clara didn't need one but she kept stealing Tessa's on our Sky Tower ride (we did this just as the park was closing) so we went back to the shop and bought her a stuffed polar bear.  It didn't work as we've since discovered Clara didn't want a toy, she wanted Tessa's toy.

At the end of the day we were exhausted but had a great time.  The stroller my sister lent me was amazing, but I wished I had brought the Baby Bjorn she also lent me.  We had to park the stroller for most exhibits and all the shows so I carried her a lot.  One time I'm thankful for such little ones.  On the way back to the hotel the kids loved driving past the San Diego temple all lit up off the freeway like a fairy tale princess castle.  I also realized at this point of the trip that I had never left instructions with my parents for Daphne the hamster, so I called them while the kids fell asleep in the car.  If we ever make it out to San Diego again, I'm sure we'll squeeze in another Sea World trip.