SeaWorld - San Diego



We had a few days in San Diego to recover fro Disneyland, and decided to go to Sea World.  I was not really expecting too much, as we have seen similar places in Australia, but it was really well worth going to.  As we walked in,  they had a lot of animals which were out with their handlers, such as a porcupine, llama, and the sloth which is just hanging around, below.  The people were more than happy to answer questions that anyone had about the animals.

I really wanted to see the shows at Sea World, I didn't even realise that they had rides.  There were 4 or 5 main shows, and they were shown a few times a day.  So we had mapped out a schedule, so that we could see them all!  We had some time before the first show, and went down to see the penguins. 

Across from the penguins, there was the Wild Arctic ride, which was like a flight simulator, which bumped and jerked all over the place as if you were in a helicopter, flying over the arctic.  When you got off, you walked through what it would have been like at a base camp in the North or South pole, and then through to see the Polar Bears.  It was really cold, but very well done. 

We still had time before the whale show, so we went on the 'Journey to Atlantis'  This was a big roller coaster ride, which went through water.  It went up really high, and spun you around, as well as getting a bit wet, so everybody was happy!

Our first show was the 'One Ocean', whale show.  They warn you everywhere that you can get wet, and although it wasn't too packed on the day we went, by the time we got to the show, the only seats were right up the back, or in the wet zone.  It was a nice sunny day, so we thought we could handle a little bit of a splash.  The whales were amazing, following instruction from their trainers, and they were huge!

They make a major splash with their tails, and we were about 4 rows back, and got pretty wet.  It was funny to watch everyone run when they start to splash, but it wasn't like they didn't warn you!  It is great to see the whales under the water as well, you can see in the photo above, that the side of the pool is clear.



The next stop was another show, called 'Pets Rule.'  Lucky for us, it was outdoors, and gave us a chance to dry off.   It was an arena which surrounded a stage, and had dogs which walked on their hind legs, and did tricks running through an obstacle course, cats which ran across a trapeze, pigs that performed on cue, and even kangaroos came out and were part of the show - I don't know how they trained them!  It was fun, and the boys really enjoyed that show.

 Walking through the park, we passed the seal enclosure.  We just missed feeding (shame!)  You could have purchased some of their smelly food to feed them, but we just got to see them laying around sunning themselves, and finishing off some food that other people were feeding them.

Next we went over to the cable cars, and took a ride across the bay.  It was very scenic, and a bit cool way up in the air.  They would only allow 4 in each cable car, so Phil went with Luke and Quinn, and Ryan and I went in another.

After this one, we needed a bot more of an action ride, so the boys had spotted the "Manta", which is the big roller coaster, and decided they had to go on it.  Quinn was too short to ride it, but was pretty pleased to sit in the test seat for photos, and pretend!

Phil took one of the boys first, then I had a go.  There wasn't much of a queue, so the boys wanted to keep going on it over and over.  They had a few goes, and Quinn was happy to pat the stingrays, until it was time to go and get some lunch.

We had lunch right beside the 'Shipwreck Rapids' which was very similar to the Grizzly River Run ride in California Adventure Park, which everyone loved, so we had to have a go! We queued for only a little while, but when we just made it to the front and were the next group on the ride, it stopped.  They had the mechanical people out checking what was going on.  Phil had been deliberating as to whether to go and get his jacket or not, and of course, Murphy's Law, as soon as he left, the ride started again, and it was our turn to get on.  The boys and I got on, and it was lots of fun, and we got very wet.  Phil made it back while we were half way around, and spoke to the attendant, telling them his family had gone without him, and could we stay on and he take the next ride with us. We were freezing, and squelching, but we did it, for him!





The last show of the day was the Blue Horizons Dolphin show.  They are very, very clever, and you are trying to watch everywhere, all at once, as there were dolphins jumping out of the water all over the place!  The people were doing acrobatics, diving and trapeze work, as well as the dolphins show - it was very entertaining, and a great way to end the day.