SeaWorld

Day two introduced me to SeaWorld. Jess's sister has a connection at SeaWorld so we got in free which was amazing because otherwise it costs $80 per person. We got there early in the morning and did all the roller coasters first thing. We never waited more than 5 minutes which apparently was bizarre to Jess. She told me it usually takes a couple hours of waiting in line before you get on. I can't imagine paying $80 and then spending the whole day waiting in line. Yeah for free passes on a weekday!!
The first coaster we did was the Manta. It's brand new and you lay parallel to the ground. I have always been nervous about roller coasters but figured I'm only there once so I better take advantage. It was amazing. Maybe it was the different angle but I thought it was a really cool coaster and I'm glad I did it. Next we went on the Kraken. I didn't really get to see the whole setup before I got in line so I didn't know what to expect. It was a bit more intense than the Manta with more unsuspecting dips and turns but it was still pretty cool. We were in the front which made it even better. Then we did the log ride. I knew what to expect there...or at least I thought I did. After we did the first dive we got pulled up again and thrown down a dark tunnel where we went down another plume. One interesting feature of the log plume is that those who are too scared to go on the ride can watch their friends come out of the first drop and can pay a quarter to shoot a water cannon at you, soaking you even more. Not cool! We stopped by all the exhibits and saw sharks, dolphins, turtles, flamingos, penguins, polar bears, and manatees among others. A really cool exhibit was the sting ray lagoon. You can just reach over and touch a bunch of them as they come swimming by. As soon as I put my hand in the water one of them freaked out and splashed everyone and took off for the other side of the tank. I don't know what I did. As cool as the stingrays were, I loved petting the dolphins even more, despite having to pay $7. I don't know how to describe what they felt like but it was amazing to get so close to such a cool animal. We also got to see the real "killer" whale, Tilly. It was huge! It was creepy looking at an animal that had killed someone recently. I also got to finally see a manatee. Quick story: In elementary school our class adopted manatees. At that age I had no idea what a manatee was. I just knew I paid money and never received anything in return so I was pissed. I'm glad to see my return on investment finally. They are so precious! They are massive but have the cutest mushy face that just looks so benevolent. For lunch we dined in the Shark's Underwater Grill. It's dark and all the tables face a massive shark tank and they swim around while you dine on their fellow seamates. I had the weirdest salad of my life. It was delicious but there was some assembly required which I had never seen before in a salad. We also saw a couple shows. Clyde and Seymour was a cute sea lion show. They brought out a walrus at the end. That thing was massive! I don't know how they survive in the wild. They're just blobs of fat. We also saw the killer whale show. Jess was disappointed because the trainers don't get in the water anymore since one killed a trainer. It was still cool to see them up close. My favorite show by far was Blue Horizons. The dolphins were amazing. They were so well trained. They were just a sideshow to the circus acts spinning around them. People were diving off platforms, spinning from cables, parrots were flying around. Then a girl rode on a dolphins back and got pulled into the sky by cables to soar around. It was beautiful! I seriously almost cried it was so inspiring.
I had a great time at SeaWorld and was amazed at some of the things I got to see (and touch!). It definitely doesn't compare to MarineLand in Toronto.