| Author |  Topic  | |
niccola27
United Kingdom
129 Posts
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
Status: offline |  Posted - 31 Oct 2008 : 08:16:02  
| Wednesday October 1st
Woke up fairly early and had some breakfast. Spent the morning either in or by the pool. Discovered hosepipe, sprayed Kev and my dad who were racing on lilo’s. Water apparently very cold from hosepipe.
After lunch we decided to go to the Florida mall and had a good look round there for a couple of hours. Returned to the villa around 5 and cooked steak baguettes with jacket potatoes for dinner. Spent the evening playing Uno, Blob and drinking and having fun. Finally retired around midnight!!
Thursday October 2nd
Had breakfast and then went straight outside to catch some sun. Decided that after lunch we would spend the afternoon at Seaworld. The four of us have all booked dolphin swims at discovery cove. Me and Kev have our swim Friday 3rd October and my parents have got their swim on Monday 6th October. With the swim we opted for the 14 day pass to seaworld hence our visit.
We got there just after two, grabbed some maps and decided to go and see the Blue Horizons show. The last time my parents went to Florida was in 2003 so this was another new thing for them to see and they were extremely impressed. I said it when I went last year and I will say it again I honestly think the end choreography is worth the ticket price alone. It is truly breathtaking and I felt a lump in my throat as the macaws and people waving flags came racing in.
Next we decided to go to the artic!!! The boys wanted to go on the simulator; me and my mum opted to go on foot!! We met up with them 15 minutes later where they told us all about their “helicopter ride”. We just nodded and smiled sweetly!!
Now I have been to seaworld probably around 10-12 times and I have never seen the Polar bear awake and I was very pleased when I saw that he was awake. He didn’t look at all happy and if I’m honest out of all the “environments” that all the different animals live in, his looked to be the furthest away from his nature environment, mainly of course due to the fact that Polar bears cover vast distances. I really do support the work that seaworld does but seeing that poor animal pacing up and down looking incredibly agitated and unhappy made me feel terrible.
Next it was time for Believe. Now we had discussed on the way to the park that we wouldn’t sit in the splash zone as we were going out to dinner afterwards and none of us had brought a change of clothes.
We walk into the Shamu stadium and my dad begins descending the stairs in the splash zone until we are 6 rows from the front in the middle. I immediately start to get a little nervous as I really do not want to get wet. I look to my left only to discover that my dad has moved back a row and there isn’t enough room for us all to move back a row – cheers Dad!!
My mum moves back and me and Kev decide to move to higher ground. We move about four rows back and a section across. My dad starts making chicken noises and then the show begins.
As last year the show is a little cringey and low and behold the same trainer gives a little girl his “lucky necklace” (which you can buy in the shop) that he has worn for the last seven years and claims it to be his lucky charm. Oh I know I’m a scrooge – I just preferred the old show where the trainers taught you more about the whales.
Anyway now to the all important moment – the splash bit!!! So Shamu comes out and me and kev exchange glances at my mum and dad and vice versa – who will get soaked us or them???? Well it was obviously really – giant shamu comes over and with one almighty flick of his tail my parents are drenched. Oh how I laughed!!! My dad actually was a lot drier then my mum as he hid behind a lady infront!!
After the show we wandered around the park and saw a few other things before heading back to the car and then on to Outback for dinner. After dinner my mum & dad were just about dry but I was still just as smug as I had been earlier!!
Friday 3rd October
Discovery Cove day!!! Always wanted to do this and my wish has finally come true!! Wake up super early, shower and leave the villa at half seven. Arrive at Discovery Cove by eight. Only about 6 people in front of us to “check in”. First impressions were very good. Get given the “tour” by a bloke who I thought looked like “Lesley Nelson”. Kev said I obviously don’t know what Lesley Nelson looks like but I think he’s the one who is confused.
Have breakfast which was greattttt (sorry bad joke as had frosties). Get locker & wetsuits on, our dolphin swim is booked for 10.15. Start getting nervous!!! Go into the cabana and sign the paperwork and listen to the safety talk. Head down to the water. The water is freezing but you forget in an instant because you are just dumbstruck by this beautiful animal in front of you. Our dolphin was called Rascal and he was 11 years old. We fed, stroked & swam with this amazingly intelligent animal and it really was the most incredible experience. After our swim was over we went and sat down and gathered our thoughts about what we had just experienced. Later on we had a fantastic lunch and an hour on a sun lounger before braving the chilly waters of the coral reef. I have never been snorkelling before – mainly as I’m not at all keen swimming in the sea – so this was a whole new experience for me. I’ll be honest the first time we swam a “lap” of the coral reef, I wasn’t keen. I had to hold Kev’s hand round the entire time and felt at times a little uncomfortable. Kev said that we would get a drink and then give it another go. The second time we went round I felt fine, I knew what to expect and really enjoyed it. After that we went round another 5 or 6 times. In the end Kev had to drag me out!!
We then went on the lazy river which was lovely and after another drink and returning our wetsuits, it was time to collect our photos of the day and head home.
That evening we went out with my mum and dad to Perkins for a light dinner and then headed home for a well deserved early night!!
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Nikki |
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Madabouttigger
 United Kingdom
1291 Posts
Joined: 02 Jun 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 31 Oct 2008 : 11:56:40
| Love the report, looking forward to more.
Diane. |
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owen3
United Kingdom
2126 Posts
Joined: 11 May 2005
Status: offline | |
LiesaAnna
 United Kingdom
12538 Posts
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Status: offline | Posted - 01 Nov 2008 : 14:33:51
| | fab!!! we enjoyed dicovery cove very much and we tried the lazy river, and as my hubby Steve doesnt swim we had the best time ever!!!! |
Liesa |
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ravtino
 United Kingdom
1318 Posts
Joined: 15 Dec 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 02 Nov 2008 : 19:06:09
| Glad you liked D C |
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kokomo
 United Kingdom
1785 Posts
Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Status: offline | |
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Nikki's Trip - Part 3
