2. Feeding and Petting the Dolphins. Those dolphins are so, so smart. We stood by thier tank trying to pet them, reaching out to them, but they were only interested in us when we had fish to feed them. Then they would come right up to us and let us touch them. As soon as we were out of fish, they would move on. It was so much fun just watching them in thier tank after feeding time, they would race around and splash the people next to the tank. Savannah didn't want to touch them the first day, I think she was a little afraid. By the secomd day she was more than willing to touch them. We spent a lot of time by the dolphin tank at Rocky Point enjoying the beatiful bottlenose dolphins.
3. Savannah and the Walrus. The walrus display in Wild Artic totally cracked Savannah up. She loved the bigger male walrus who kept coming up to the side of the tank and eating, He would squish his whole body up against the side of the windows where Savannah was standing and have a little snack. When we went further down into the exhibit, she could see the smaller female one would circle around and swim against the window. Both whales made Savannah laugh like crazy. She was just jumping up and down and laughing as soon as they would come into view.
4. Lunch with Shamu. This is something that I would recommend to EVERYONE going to Sea World. We were able to enjoy a really yummy lunch and watch Shamu up-close-and-personal for a little over an hour. The food was so, so good. Roasted Turkey, Tortillini, Chicken Tenders, Mac and Cheese, Chicken Marsala, Ceasar Salad, Hot Dogs, Shrimp Pasta, Lots of Fresh Fruit, Tons of Desserts, and Chocolate-Covered Shamu Cookies. Everything was delicious! But the best part was definately being able to be so close to the whales. While we were waiting for and getting our food, the whales just swam around the tank, occasionally jumping. After everyone was seated, the trainers came to worl with the whales and we go to see them jump, dive, splash, and twirl. Seeing them perform during lunch was so much better than at the show. This is a must-do for all our Sea World vacations.
5. The Beluga Whales. These are my fave animal at Sea World. I remember being a little girl and standing by the tank and watching them for what seemed like forever. All-white whales, they are so beautiful and graceful. The have a new home in the Wild Artic exhibit, but all of the magic is still there. You can watch them above ground, seeing them come up for air and then diving down into the depths of thier tank. Then, you can you can go below ground and see them swimming in the water. The coolest part was that, when we put our hands up on the tank, they would swim over to look at us. They had a quizzical look as if to figure out what we were doing. I joked with Savannah that it seemed like they were observing us as much as we were observing them.
6. The Tide Pool. For the record, I touched everything in the tide pool. Mom and Savannah touched everything but the sea cucumber, and Kevin wouldn't touch anything. He stood by the side of the tank, bit was not willing to put his hands in the water or even touch any of the starfish that I was holding out towards him. Savannah loved it!!! I think this was the only feeding/touching exhibit that she didn't have to be held and could do it all herself. She walked around the pool looking at all the different colored sea stars and carefully reaching in and touching them. She was suprisingly gentle with them. The tide pool was the place that she repeatedly asked to go throughout our two-day adventure.
7. Feeding the Flamingos. OK, we seriously went through about $20.00 in quarters buying bird food. The flamingos would come right up to the fence, almost taking the food right out of my hands. Savannah enjoyed throwing the food into the water, and had no fear when the birds came up to her. She got to feed the flamingos with Grandma on Tuesday and with Mommy on Wednesday. When we fed them together there were to younger flamingos that were right next to us the whole time acting like piggies and eating most of the food. We also go to see baby flamingos and leaned that they are born with grey feathers, not pink. They feathers turn grey as they get older.
8. Petting the Bat Rays. The bat rays seemed to be really dumb, for some reason they reminded me of a cow. They were REALLY ugly, they looked a lot like really big sting rays with big heads. However, they were so friendly and willing to be touched. They would swim right up to the side of the tank and let you touch thier heads, bodies, and wings. Mom totally jumped and freaked when one lifted it's head out of the water for her to touch him. She was so startled she visibly jumped back. Savannah also didn't touch them. She wanted to, and would stand right next to the tank with her hand ready, but then once they got close she would pull her hand away afraid. Not only did I pet them , but I actually fed them which is totally different then feeding the dolphins. They have mouth on the bottoms side, like by theier belly. I would hold the fish or squid in my hand and then when they came up to me put my hand underneath thier head. Then they would gently suck the fish out of my hand. It felt a lot like a suction hose on a vacum cleaner.
9. The Shipwreck Raft Ride and Water Guns. The Shipwreck Ride was lots of fun all on it's own. Mom and Kevin went first, they went twice in a row. Then they came to get me and Mom would stay with Savannah. They really didn't look too wet. Mom had to take her socks off, but not really wet at all. Then it was time for Kevin and I to go. Mom and Kevin had noticed that there were water cannons all along the side of the ride, so Mom decided to take Savannah over there while we were waiting so that she could see us and maybe shoot the gun. The first time through the ride was a blast, not too wet and we smiled and waved at Mom and Savannah. Our second time around, Mom and Savannah launched a water attack on our raft. I was completely soaked. One cannon hit first and got us right in the face, before we knew what was happening, the second gun hit us. We were beyond soaked!!!! Savannah had totally mastered the water guns.
10. The Clydesdales and Dynamo the Donkey. I loved seeing the Clydesdales, they are such beautiful magestic creatures. We were able to walk through the stables and see them all, I even petted one on the nose even though you aren't supposed to. I made sure that we would be by the photo opp the next day so we could touch one up close and get some good pictures. Savannah was much more interested in the donkey. She liked watching him roam around in the big grassy field. She kept yelling for him "Shrek! Donkey! Come here!". She kept asking to go back and see him. We found out the second day that his name is Dynamo and he is the donkey that has been in all the recent Budweiser commercials dreaming about being a Clydesdale Horse. Savannah thought the donkey was perfect just the way he was.
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