top of page
Search
Writer's pictureDean Fletcher

Manta Banta - Florida Day 4

Updated: Nov 16, 2022


SeaWorld day…not gonna lie, I’m getting a little tired, and my feet hurt…but I won’t complain about it unlike a certain someone I know 🙄🤣.


Anyways, had a lie in this morning…up at 8am, fortunately SeaWorld opens at 10, or else we would have been up earlier….our early morning wake up call from Paige didn’t come this morning, which made me fear for her safety…she was so late, even Jordan was ready before her…I was in disbelief. We had planned IHOP breakfast, but myself and Paige have overindulged the last few days, and decided a few pancakes was probably pushing it on the old calorie content…so we opted for leftover voodoo donuts instead as a ‘lighter option’ 🤣


Off to SeaWorld for what we planned to be a chill out day…few shows, few rides…nice and easy (after all, I had spent £120 on express passes for the rides and shows). Arrived at SeaWorld, and parked up…1st security check…we found Seaworld had a new policy…not certain on the wording, but I assumed they had a grudge against picnics, as the security guards were making family’s that had pre-packed lunch dine at the security gates..not quite dining with Shamu, but they could see the water and pictures of Orcas, so I guess it wasn’t far off. Luckily we had foreseen this, and Paige quickly tucked a few baguettes down each trouser leg…and stored a few cookies in her cheek pouch like a hamster to enjoy at a later time…good thinking Paige…


On with the day…Manta, childswap…done! Nice and easy, quick Que well worth the money for the walk on experience…even made a new friend, a ride attendant that wanted to have some bants about my love of ‘Miami Heat’…after all I was wearing their vest…he was so disappointed when I told him I didn’t have a clue and just liked the colour 🤣…it does look nice though right?…


Then on to the Orca show….now this show is relatively well known for getting you soaked in certain areas of the seating, and I’m not really a fan of ice cold water traversing through my nice warm clothes…but turns out Grayson is a fan of it…so after a brief discussion, we decided to compromise, and go in the Soak Zone…lovely 😞…did I mention I’d paid extra for reserved seating? The reserved seating located well away from the soak zone? No? Well yeah I’d paid extra for this, and was strong armed by a 4 year old into getting splashed by ice cold water, full of whale piss…mmmm…anywhooo…show started and OMG, the kids faces when they saw the Orca was heart warming…I mean, I was literally almost in tears watching the joy in their faces, it was well worth it ❤️


As I watched the show in anticipation of a soaking, the kids clapped and danced and willed the sweet sweet taste of ice cold whale wee…alas, my prayers were answered and everywhere but our seats were drenched 🤣…Grayson was absolutely raging.…it’s ok kid, give it time, you’ll get your soaking.


On to Wild Artic…no ride anymore (thank goodness, it was a pain in the ass), and no polar bears…but was Awsome to see the ‘Boogar Hummus’ whales…I always thought they were called Beluga whales, but Grayson assured us otherwise…don’t worry, I’ve since sent SeaWorld a strongly worded email to change their signs and information to reflect this discovery!! We can’t have inaccuracies.


Next up, Ice breaker…the new ride for SeaWorld…brilliant…Grayson spotted a lizard while we were waiting, and not having seen a lizard before needed to take a pic…then on to Infinity Falls…never been on this before, but looked like a pretty decent water ride…did I mention I’m not a fan of getting wet? Well I’m even less of a fan of missing out, so on I went…yep I got bloody soaked…luckily I wore my favourite basketball team top for a quick dry. Poor Gray was just a little too short to come on this ride so again missed out on getting soaked, but we did manage to let him live his dream by standing on the bridge directly in front of the rides major splash, catching the backlash of the water slide…success, he was drenched…and not to be outdone, so was Alaska….yay, two soaking wet children to carry around the park for the rest of the day.


Btw by this point, I had started to realise that I had pissed away £120 on fast passes, as the park was deader than Shamu, and no one was checking our tickets anymore..it’s almost as if someone had made a 90 minute hate propaganda against SeaWorld and damaged their reputation 🤔


Mako - walk on - fastpass wasted - boss ride though.

Atlantis - walk on - fastpass wasted

Kraken - walk on - fastpass wasted - shook my poor little brain to bits mind.


I don’t begrudge spending the extra money on fastpass btw 🤣


Anyways, Atlantis was eventful…found some AirPods on the seat…almost like the universe has given me reparations for screwing me on the fastpass…but honesty got the better of me and I handed them in to the ride attendant, who I’m pretty sure just chucked them in his back pocket to gift to his Mrs later…My love of getting soaked continued too which was great…every drop in the ride sent a pillar of cold water onto my lap…munting….and to top it off, at the conclusion of the ride, Siri decided I must had crashed and sent out an SOS via my phone…let’s stop that a bit sharpish.


Whilst me and Paige rode the rides, Jordan, Gray and Alaska explored the aquariums and Stingray Lagoon…I am assured Alaska did some funny shit during that time, but Jordan’s sleeping now and I value my life too much to wake her up for a reminder…they did feed the rays mind, which was when Jordan discovered Grayson's innate hate for touching ‘dirty’ things … wonder where he gets that from.


Toddled around the park a bit more, caught a few more shows and perused the rescue centre and Antarctica…FML the penguin enclosure is cold mun, although it was warmer than home, Grayson still shivered his little bum off (photos included at Graysons request)….the kids (and adults) had an awesome day though…very chilled and relaxed. Hit the gift shop on the way out…and some more good luck, some lovely SeaWorld workers gifted Grayson and Alaska some chocolate…there’s some lovely people about ai….Grayson decided he deserved an Elmo hat following beating me in a race (if I’d known we’d get presents for winning, I’d stop letting him win 🙄)…a decision that Alaska was not happy about, which caused her to continually break out a siren call of ‘haaaat, haaaaat, haaat’…sorry loo loo, I ain’t paying another $30 for a hat, you can have some ears instead.


Left SeaWorld, and on to the next stop on Paige and Deans journey to put on the 4 stone we’ve both lost…hit up Crumbl Cookies (that’s not a typo btw…the extra letter must have been significantly more expensive for the logo). Nice selection of cookies, and of course our obligatory selfie with our food.


Walmart in search of the elusive Maccas coffee, only instant so far, but we will find you!!!

Then evening meal in Disney Springs, Polite Pig…nice food even though it all tasted like it had been cooked in an ash tray…and what’s the deal with Brussel Sprouts here? They’re bloody delicious…with Whiskey Caramel sauce at least.


Potter around Disney springs and back to the car before the storm hit…bloody rain like…quick walk back to the room from the car through 2 ft of water (ok a few cm’s)..and chill ready for an early morning tomorrow at Hollywood Studios…I’m trying out Lightening Lanes and Genie Plus tomorrow so wish me luck.


Anyways…knackered and off to bed, catch you tomorrow 🙂


1 view0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Commentaires


bottom of page