Sea World - San Diego, CA

Growing up in Wisconsin it was pretty common for a lot of families to go down to Florida over Spring Break. My family was no exception. Every other year we would pack up the minivan with cold sodas, tanning lotion and funny hats and take a two-day car trip down to Tampa, Florida. After a couple of days there we would then drive over to Sanibel Island for the rest of the week. Being as fascinated with palm trees and Miami Vice as I was, I loved our Florida trips more than anything. I didn’t even mind the drive down (and my little brother throwing up all over the place before we realized he has chronic motion sickness). I would sit in the very back row of the van listening to Duran Duran tapes on my boom box (with headphones) while I mouthed the words of ‘Rio’ and ‘Planet Earth’ for 1,273 miles. I honestly only had about 3-4 cassette tapes for the entire trip so it doesn’t phase me at all that I can still sing-along with the entire ‘Notorious’ album.

While we were in Tampa for the couple days at the beginning of the trip, we would always either go to Busch Gardens or Disney World, never Sea World.


"Why don't you ever come and see me?"

On the drive down to Sea World on Sunday, I called up my folks.

“Hey Mom, how come we never went to Sea World?”

“We’ve been to Sea World.”

“I haven’t been to Sea World.”

“Yes you have.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Oh, well, we probably went after you stopped going to Florida with us.”

“Why didn’t we ever go to Sea World though? Busch Gardens bites*.”

(snicker)”Oh yes! You poor unfortunate child who never got to go to Sea World!”

“I know! That’s what I’m saying!”

We got to Sea World San Diego at about 11 AM Sunday morning. By 11:45, we were actually parking. 45 minutes line-standing later, we were actually inside the park. Unfortunately, at that point we were really hungry, so we stood in yet another line for 20 minutes to get a crummy $7 sandwich. We were beginning to wonder if we had made a mistake coming here. This was only intensified after I lost my digital camera after an hour of walking around.

I am pleased to tell you that someone did turn in my camera and that the park got a lot more fun from there. The fun actually started at the dolphin show. We sat in the ‘Soak Zone’ but purchased $6 ponchos. Pretty freakin’ expensive for a piece of plastic but well worth it; the only thing that got wet were our sandals. The ponchos also came in handy for the Shamu show, the Atlantis ride, and as general warmth when it started to get cold later in the day.


Believe it or not...Not the gay-est man at Sea World.

"Weeeee!"

After the dolphin show we saw Shamu. Or the orca who is now claiming to be the original Shamu. We also pet the bat rays, feed the ducks, went through the aquariums, saw the 3-D movie and other amusement park related things. It was a really good time. 15 minutes before the park closed we rode the Atlantis log ride\roller coaster…twice. Does everyone know what a log ride is? My only reference to the log ride is from Six Flags Great America in Chicago. They have the log ride there…. and a boat ride. The only difference is that the one is shaped like a boat and the other a log. I always preferred the log ride to the boat ride. Maybe it was the whole looking like a big piece of crap floating along.

Orca formally known as 'Tim'. You can call him Shamu.

Anyhow, most people have been to Sea World before so I’m hesitant to describe it that much. I will however, mention the Platinum Passport.

On Thursday when I bought the tickets, I debated with myself for awhile whether or not I was going to get the regular $56.00 one day ticket (with free Fun Pass upgrade) or if I would just go balls out and get the Platinum Passport at $164. I ended up getting the Platinum Passport and it was awesome.

Bat Ray

Not only was parking free and the guest pass for Kevin was free, but we got a 20% discount on everything else in the park, including the gift shop and beer. Not only that but anytime there was a line for a ride or show, all we had to do was show the passport and we got to skip everyone in line and walk right in. There is some debate on the ethical nature of paying more to get line-jumping privileges. I believe I have complained about it myself when I wasn’t the one who got to line jump. But now that I’ve experienced it, I’m all for it. Just saying.

Hey, has anyone else realized how many boat\sea\water related things I’ve done for this blog? I need to go inland I think.

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*By the way, I don't actually think Busch Gardens bites. In fact, it's pretty neat. I just said that to be difficult.