Which Way Do We Go...

... Which way do we go?

Day 5 began with a bit of mass chaos, as we originally planned to set out for Wet and Wild but then changed our minds, because we didn't have tickets yet... and it looked like Saturday was going to be kinda rainy... and we'd planned to go to Aquatica on Saturday, because we had seven day passes that included Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, and Aquatica... except we are really looking forward to going to Aquatica... so we didn't want to risk the rain...

With all of that in mind, we decided to go to Aquatica... until we found out that we actually have 14 day passes to Busch, SeaWorld, and Aquatica... at which point we realized that we could visit Aquatica on a better weather day if Saturday really does turn out to be yucky... and at which point we discussed the value of going to Wet and Wild today, because we were going to be able to get a substantial discount for being college students (see... really does pay to be in school all these years later)...

And so we went to Wet and Wild...


I had never been there before, but Phil has wonderful memories of Wet and Wild from previous family vacations! Now I know why... Today was a blast!

We started out on the "Bubba Tub"... which you have to be 36" tall to ride, and since Ian is 35 1/2" tall, they let him on... this probably has something to do with the way Ian's Mommy was huffing and puffing after carrying him up all those stairs! I think they took pity on me! At any rate, a split second into the ride, Ian says, "I need up"... which can really be translated into, "I am going to try to stand up and escape now, even though we are plummeting down a hill"... I held onto him, and he was all smiles at the end.

Then, Phil, Seth, and Grace rode "Brain Wash", which neither of the kids wanted to ride again, but I was able to talk Seth into going one more time, because I really wanted to ride! It was a great ride, but it was very difficult to carry the four person clover leaf tube to the top... by myself! Here's a video:



After this, we played in the wave pool for a while, which all of the kids loved, even though it made me nervous! Then we went in search of the lazy river but took a short detour to "Bubble Up", which I can't really describe, but I can post a pic. Seth and Grace both managed to climb to the top, but only Seth slid down. Grace kind of inched her way back down, holding the rope, and I'm shocked that she does not have rope burn!


We finally did make our way to the lazy river, which we circled three times! Ian kept saying, "big boat"... which seems to be a recurring theme for him on this trip! Here's a pic of Phil and Grace:


We then checked out "The Storm", which was an amazing body slide funnel ride. As it emptied into 6 1/2 feet of water, with water still rushing down at you, I did not ride. The kids thought it was pretty funny that there was something there that Mommy couldn't ride, because I am not a strong enough swimmer! Phil did, however, take the challenge, and it was really fun to watch his adventure!

From there we proceeded to the "Kids Park", which was one of the nicest children's water play areas I have ever visited! There were at least 7 slides, 2 zip lines, a float area, a small pool, a kid sized lazy river, and a baby pool! We had an interesting experience on the tube slide when Caleb lost his tube and then proceeded to walk down the slide! I am posting video of Grace and Caleb on the zip line:





One of my favorite parts of the day was sitting with Ian in the baby pool, because we had it all to ourselves, and I was able to snag a tube from the kid sized lazy river and just spin him around and let him float! During this time, Phil took a brief... uh... nap (not really, but the pic. is incriminating) while Seth, Grace, and Caleb met some new friends from England who they played with in the other pool. We stayed here for around an hour, and it was so relaxing! My exact comment was, "this is vacation"...

Catchin' Some Zzzs...

Have You Ever Seen Anything Like This?

We decided to hit a few more slides after this. Caleb and I rode "The Blast"... which was a little surprising! I did not expect the forceful water jets, the waterfalls, or the steep drop at the end, but Caleb was all smiles coming off, so it's all good! As far as how I felt about it... well, the expression on my face in the pic. pretty much sums it up!

Grace rode with Phil after Caleb and I got off, but we couldn't talk Seth into riding this one. Seth was pretty much frozen at this point, even though it did turn out to be a nice day. It wasn't terribly hot, though, that's for sure...

Seth, Grace, Caleb and I rode "The Flyer" next, which was an incredibly fun family raft type ride! In fact, it was so fun that both Phil and I rode it with them twice!

We walked past a couple of rides that were closed for refurbishment... bummer... and then Grace and I took a spin on "The Black Hole: The Next Generation". It was tons of fun, and although Seth did not originally want to ride it, we talked him into going with Phil, and it ended up being his favorite ride of the day!

Then, Grace and Caleb read the map and decided we needed to go back to the wave pool again!!


Which we did...

We left the park around 3:30, after having ridden everything we wanted to... and, as mentioned, some of those things multiple times! It was a great day to go, because there were almost no lines, and we were able to maximize our fun!

We ate at Cicis Pizza, just down the road from the park, and then we returned to the hotel to find that Grandma and Grandpa had arrived!

After bath time for all the kids and a quick briefing on Grandma and Grandpa's trip as well as Brad, Sheri, and Abby's day at Hollywood Studios, it was time for all "little people" to go to bed... and apparently for most "big people" too... I am headed there shortly myself!

Lisa