Can you say that five times fast? As you can tell by the title of this post, during our wonderful stay in San Diego we did the one thing every family should do while they’re in the area: visit SeaWorld. We arrived moments before the almighty Shamu was about to appear and delight the crowd and somehow managed to end up in row two – the section plastered with “Soak Zone” signs. The other moms around me were giving each other the nervous eye and asking, “What exactly does soak mean?” One lady across the aisle pulled out her heavy duty raincoat while another mother covered her family in plastic shopping bags from head to toe. In the meantime she draped herself in huge black garbage bags and I began to wonder the same.
The beginning of the show was a beautiful tribute to our American soldiers. Then, the performance began – and it was fantastic. The kids were entranced every second and we didn’t get nearly as drenched as I assumed we would, but I admit the anticipation was fun.
Throughout the day we explored the park and wandered from attraction to attraction. We saw the dolphins, sea otters, and (my favorite) the penguins. The kids touched and picked up starfish at the Tide Pool and we had a delicious lunch at the Shipwreck Reef Cafe. My salad was loaded with shrimp while the kids’ meals came in a souvenir lunch box – perfect since my DesertDaughter slept through lunch.
One of the other day’s delights is one of SeaWorld’s newest attractions: Sesame Street Bay of Play. The two-acre section is geared toward the little people and has a water fountain park where the kids can take off their shoes or run around in their swimsuits and cool off in the water. In addition, there are a handful of age appropriate rides: Elmo’s Flying Fish, Abby’s Sea Star Spin (think teacups), Oscar’s Rocking Eel (that’s the one with us in the photo above).
My son loved the huge climbing rope nets that lead up several levels to bridges and a big slide. (Keep a good eye on your children if you don’t venture up with them. It’s easy to lose track of your child when there is a crowd of kids up there.)
My son’s other favorite SeaWorld highlight was meeting Bert and Ernie at 1-2-3 Smile With Me (the staff takes photos you can purchase). And it did make him smile – all day long. In fact, I was smiling, too. There’s nothing like making family memories with your children and seeing the joy in their little faces as they experience a day of fun at the San Diego SeaWorld.
