It was a rough trip due to some fierce spiritual battles, but we arrived to our hotel by about 9 pm. We stayed in Springhill Suites near Sea World. I knew it might have an open floor plan for a suite, and it did, but we were tired enough it did not matter too much. The room was stylish and modern looking--even if a bit grimy. Despite the late hour, we decided to try out the pool and give the kids a chance to work some cramped muscles before crashing. The pool was small and a bit chilly and as time went on, the 4 other people in the pool turned into a full party with alcohol and outside people who had been let in by the side door. We made a hasty exit and went upstairs to bed. Unfortunately that first night was interrupted by Abigail crying at maybe 1 am. And then again at 1:30, and then at 2:00 and continually until I put her in bed with me and stroked her head when she started fussing. I think it was the combination of being too tired (she chose not to nap) and a cold setting in. 4/5 of us were sick with nasty colds while we were in San Antonio. But the dry air and prayers fortunately worked wonders for us so that it was manageable. And God was sweet to allow the other kids to sweetly slumber while Abigail was awake crying 2 feet from them in the middle of the night.
Somehow, we woke a bit refreshed in the morning. The breakfast was one of the weakest buffet breakfasts I have experienced at a hotel. And to make matters worse, it was all located on a strip of maybe 10 feet of counter space that was log jammed by tables. It took 20 minutes just to put our self-serve food on our plates! We ate as much as we could though so we could last a bit longer and then headed to walmart to pick up a few snacks and go on to Sea World.
Sea World was a bit of a surprise to me. Not only is it only open on weekends, but its hours are only 10-5. Fortunately, it is a pretty small property with not that much to do--unless you pay 2x & 3x more in addition to your ticket for "extras." We walked in and could choose to smile for the camera in exchange for the picture you can purchase. Another 50 feet brought us to the face painting, the vendors etc... set up that are all for fee again. You can opt to pay for speedy line passes (our experience was that it would not have been worth it, but it really wasn't as busy as it could have been). You can opt to pay for food all day--although we actually managed to eat our snacks and drink our bottled water and not even eat on the property. Remember it is a short day. You can pay for lockers--we just carried our stuff around. You can pay to go behind the scenes to this and that or to feed or touch the animals. Then there is the carnival section that is all for-pay carnival games. All this seems less "in your face" when you are at a larger theme park but when the park itself only has 5-6 main rides and about 6 shows (of which you can only attend 4 or so since the times overlap), it just seemed a really hefty price tag for what we got. Fortunately, we had gotten all but one of our tickets for free and had had a discount on the remaining child's ticket and parking.
OK, so that aside, we had a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the park. We were all dressed for the heat, but it was a nice relief throughout the day to get soaked and then dry out quickly in the sun.
First, we went to Clyde and Seamore's show. It was with two trained seals who were not present for half the show and the acting/story line was pretty stupid. Even the kids declared it a flop. The best part was having splash seats that cooled us down (A was not too fond of being drenched) before the rest of our day. (fyi--we took an umbrella stroller that has a carrying strap; we were allowed to carry it into the shows with us and put it at our feet--great decision). Most of the pictures are a bit hazy because I had neglected to bring my waterproof bags so we used ziploc bags on our phones to take pictures.
Next stop was the kiddie area to ride a few of the little kid rides. A was --albeit 90th%ile for her height-- too short to ride most of the big rides and even a few of the little ones. When A sat next to me and told me she was scared because we were so high up, I just squeezed her hand and said, "I know." And indeed I did. I do NOT like heights myself and felt a bit queasy for a moment and then just felt silly feeling that way on a kiddie ride. Neither D nor E seemed to be too bothered by it though.
One of the best parts of Sea World, in my opinion, was the very large, very refreshing splash pad. None of us had dressed to go swimming, but I just decided to let the kids play in the water as if in their swimsuits. Other than a very soggy diaper--which we changed afterward-- and one pair of denim shorts, there was no evidence of our water fun about 30 minutes after because it was so hot outside. A loved it so much, she literally just lay on the ground and rolled around.
We rushed through the diaper change and pressed on in order to make it to the next show we wanted to see: Azul. It was the other main highlight of the day. This show was by far the best! It was a bunch of performers dressed in colorful costumes performing in a cirque du soleil style from the ceiling, riding on Beluga whales, doing trick stunts etc... There were dolphins too and lovely music to it all. A really neat show!
We then followed the crowd to the last showing of Shamu. This show was a bit disappointing to me. Not only was it a bunch of one-world mumbo jumbo, but it was pretty dark under the dome and the orcas didn't do as much--probably cannot be interacted with as much, but... I was overcome by their immense size though!
We wrapped up the day by going on the Rio Loco ride (which had been shut down all day due to malfunction--we were 2nd or 3rd tube to float again). Unfortunately, despite it being a low risk ride, A was too short to go. So we took turns. I went first with the older two. And came back literally drenched! And then M went with older two again and came back almost completely dry. Funny how that worked. :)
We had just enough time to take in the fascinating sculptures made of found objects everywhere and visit a couple of exhibits--the small alligator pond and the small penguin and puffin rooms, all exhibits were tiny and unimpressive compared to our local zoo.
Time for only one more stop before the park shut. We chose the kiddie roller coaster since all could ride this one. Very quick ride but just my style in roller-coasters. (think heights again) :P Bizbeth was screaming but the look on her face during the ride shows how much she was enjoying it all!
We were a sunburned lot who were ready to crash at the end of the day, but we had a bit more to do that night before it was all over. But all that will have to wait for post 2.
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