Monday, April 25th: a full day at SeaWorld
After an unstructured arrival day, we were anxious to get all the theme park fun underway. We had a very busy, very active itinerary expertly mapped out and there was no time to waste……vacation time passes far, far too quickly.
Much to my sleep-loving boy’s chagrin, I roused my two fellows early enough for us to be out the door and at SeaWorld just as the park officially opened for the day at 9 am. It was a gorgeous, warm, sunshiny day
and we were in absolutely no rush (we had the whole marvelous day stretching out before us), so we stopped for some pictures with our Photokey annual pass (purchased with the pass member discount just prior to our Christmas trip) as we entered the park:
After our brief stop for photos, we headed to Guest Services to redeem our pre-purchased vouchers for our all-day dining passes ($34.99 each, less 10% for passmembers, for a total of $31.49 per person). We also had intended to purchase Quick Queue for all of us, but were immediately assured by the Guest Services rep that it wouldn’t be needed today: low crowds, and equally low wait times, were forecast by park staaff so we should save our money and tour without it
. That was happy news that saved us about $60 in the overall budget, so we were in high spirits as we headed to the Seafire Grill for breakfast with our all-day dining plan.
The all-day dining plan had changed a bit since we last purchased it in August 2014. At that time, it included a full hot breakfast at one of the participating restaurants within the park, but it has since been changed to continental offerings only at Seafire Grill. We were quite okay with the downgrade to breakfast, as we generally don’t want a ton to eat first thing in the morning anyway, and the guys didn’t want to completely fill up before strapping in for rides on the roller coaster.
They had several different items from which to choose, including some massive (and very fresh) muffins…..
…..plus there were various fruit pastries and large, fluffy croissants (not pictured, unfortunately, but definitely there):
There were various single-serving cereal bowls too, and fresh fruit in small cups (strawberries and oranges)....oh and look! I spy a croissant after all!
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We ate at one of the tables on the inside of the restaurant along the glass wall that borders the lagoon, so we had a lovely view of the park as we ate. We could also have dined outside had we chosen to….there were plenty of clean tables to pick from:
Crowds were indeed very light, with few folks still milling about after we finished our morning meal.
I took advantage of the early morning quiet to gather a few pictures of the Waterfront …. I think this part of the park is so beautifully done.
The guys weren’t quite ready for a ride on Manta just yet….they needed time for their muffins and milk to settle a bit….so we opted to head to Antarctica instead. It felt like we were the only people in the park!
We admired the gardens outside the Sea Lion & Otter Theater: I especially love the sea lion topiary!
We decided to make our first attraction of the morning Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. It usually gets busier later in the day and boasts some of the longest lines in the park, and with taking a pass on the Quick Queue, we thought it was smart to take in his park feature now just in case the Guest Services rep was off on his prediction of low attendance. Just to be on the safe side!
Jake struck a “cool” pose in honour of the park’s coldest attraction:
You can imagine how gutted we were to see this sign, then, prominently displayed as we proceeded toward the ride queue:
Say it isn’t so!
We were super grateful we had a second Seaworld day planned for one week from now…..the penguins are some of our favourites.
We toyed with the idea of just going through the penguin viewing line (that part of the attraction was still open to visitors) but for now, we decided to move onward toward Journey to Atlantis instead. The boys were itching for the thrill of the first ride of the trip, and I was anxious to indulge them.
We are just getting started….much more SeaWorld coming up!
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We have fabulous restaurants as well! 
(you can tell you I'm only a Dutch wannabe.....my authentic Dutch hubby adores them). For the rest of you who have NO idea what we are talking about, you can read about them here:
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. Jake's a wonderful person and we have always enjoyed a great relationship with each other. We have been very blessed, indeed. He very much appreciated one final foray in the Florida sunshine as he starts embarking into official adulthood. I know he treasured each experience a little more than normal knowing there's no specific return date in his future.
. My favourite KK of all time. I can't believe they were a limited offering......its going to be hard to top those, let me tell ya. 
. Surely our out of country medical coverage would cover illness that's self-inflicted where gluttony is concerned? 
. The LBV location is the one will will probably eat at anyway, so that's perfect!
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. Triple salt!?!?! 
Oh dear!! LOL
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