Happy Halloween...

... From our ocean to yours!

Day six brought us back to SeaWorld for the Halloween Spooktacular among other things... We had a nautical theme going on, which included Ariel, Sebastian, Nemo, and Squirt. Phil and I dressed as the ocean...


We started the day off at the show, "Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island". I missed this show two years ago, because Caleb would not sit still. As it turns out, Ian is pretty good about sitting through shows. That's not to say he doesn't ever whine or cry (as was the case with the last show tonight, since he was tired), but I actually was able to take in a total of six SeaWorld shows on this trip, four of them today! I am happy! The other three shows were "Blue Horizons", which I thought was fantastic; "Count Down to Halloween", which... hey... was Sesame Street... and Ian loved dancing to the music, so I can't complain about that one; and "Shamu Rocks" which was fantabulous!

Today we also had the opportunity to play with dolphins and pet stingrays! Since we rode everything in "Shamu's Happy Harbor" on Wednesday, we were able to concentrate more on the animals today! We enjoyed sharks, alligators, manatee, beluga whales, a polar bear, seals, sea lions, a walrus, sea turtles... and I am no doubt missing something!

We also experienced the "big rides" today! Phil and I walked on to Krakken, and Phil, Grace, Caleb, and I rode "Journey to Atlantis"! I am posting video of Caleb's ride:



We ate at "Shark's Underwater Grill" which was a great experience, but the food was not outstanding. I am glad we ate there, but I wouldn't do it again... if that makes sense. I am posting a picture of my plate. I know that there is steak in the middle of it. That was pretty good. The other things are foreign to me. I think they're called vegetables... or something like that. I ate the orange ones... hehehe... That pile of stuff to the right of the meat was supposed to be mashed potatoes of some sort... but I don't believe it... I mean, why would there be a tree growing out of my mashed potatoes?

The kids loved Trick-or -Treating, and Spooktacular was definitely Spectacular! After having researched amusement parks and their Halloween activities, and after having visited Cedar Point on Halloweekends, I was a little nervous about attending another Halloween event, even though it was advertised as family friendly. However, SeaWorld really lived up to it's reputation, with friendly sea creatures roaming throughout the midways and posing for photo opportunities. There were even Pumpkin Fish! There was nothing scary about this Halloween event at all! It was the way Halloween is meant to be... in my opinion! And they even let the adults Trick-or-Treat, so I have a little bag of candy, myself!

The only potentially negative thing that happened during our Trick-or-Treating time was that I set off an incident that I am now referring to as "Smoke Rage"... Most parks are now non-smoking, except in designated areas, which is a really good thing... especially for families with multiple asthmatics! So... I really have no shame when it comes to letting people know that they need to put out their cigarettes if they are not in a designated smoking area. Well... one particular guy didn't seem to have gotten the memo about designated smoking areas, and he was smoking right there on the Trick-or-Treating path, so as my kids ran by... holding their breath... I shouted out to him that SeaWorld is a smoke free park and that he wasn't in a designated smoking area... which he completely ignored... but I figured "no harm done". Then... a lady in front of me... with two little kids... turned around, thanked me, and proceeded to yell back at the guy about what an idiot he was... and she kind of went on about it, which made me laugh... even though the guy continued to ignore her... Moral of the story... If you smoke, that's your business, but don't do it where it's illegal, because there's no sense killing my family just because you want to kill yourself... Besides... I might call you out on it... and you never know what kind of riot that might start!

The best part of our Trick-or-Treating experience was probably the singing bug... This guy had a line of people waiting to have their pictures taken with him, but he took a liking to our family and walked down the midway with us for quite some time... serenading us... with made up verses to popular songs from "The Little Mermaid"! We promised him we'd upload it to youtube... and we will... soon... It was absolutely hilarious!

That pretty much sums up our day! I think the lack of sleep is getting to me just a bit, as I am feeling sort of crabby. However, it doesn't look like there's any hope of things gettin' better in the sleep department, so on we press toward theme park domination!

Lisa