Orlando: Sea World and Great Friends

We spent the holiday weekend (well, one night of it anyway) in Orlando. My college roommate, who now lives in New Hampshire, was in Disney for the week so we decided to drive up and see her and her family. It had been a couple years since we had seen each other so it was great to get together and catch up. We also managed to squeeze in two trips to Sea World. We drove up Saturday morning and went straight to Sea World. They had a special Brews, Bands and BBQ going on this weekend and Trace Atkins was performing so the place was packed. Despite the crowds we managed to have a great time. When we first walked in we check out some cute dolphins:

Then we headed straight to see Shamu, or many Shamus:

After the show we grabbed some lunch and then the kids decided they wanted to have some real fun so we headed to the kids area. They went on a couple of the little rides and hopped on a boat:

Next Jeff and the kids attempted to conquer the gigantic maze of nets. I think they all got a good workout from it!

At this point the kids need a refresher so I bought them each an Icee type smoothie thingie. They both wanted blue raspberry which of course turned their lips, teeth and tongue blue:

After that we walked around the park and ran into a flock (?) of flamingos. The highlight of Allison's day was when then staff asked her to help herd them back to their home (she's now added flamingo herder to her list of talents):

Then it was time to play the steel drums and ride the merry-go-round:

Then the kids got stuck in a fish tank:

Once we manged to get them out of the fish tank, we went and checked out the sea turtles and learned about their shells:

After that we exited the park but not before a couple more photos ops:

That evening we met Gretchen, her husband Jeff and their sons Ryan and Ben for dinner at Disney's Boardwalk Hotel. The kids were all pretty worn out but we enjoyed catching up with them (so much so that I forgot to take any pictures). We went back to out hotel and got a good nights sleep. The next morning we got up early and Jeff went to the concierge to get our free "Quick Queue" passes for Sea World. When I planned the trip we weren't planning on going to Sea World on Sunday morning but when we checked into the hotel they told us that every day they give out about 100 Quick Queue passes to the guests (first come first serve). This allows you to cut to the front of the lines for the rides. Since it was so crowded on Saturday, Jeff didn't get a chance to ride the roller coasters. We decided to go back on Sunday before meeting Gretch for lunch at Downtown Disney. Sunday was much less crowded (Kenny Rogers was performing for Brews, Band and BBQ - apparently he doesn't have quite the draw). The quick queue pass worked out great. Jeff rode Manta and Kraken twice. Here is is on Manta:

We also went on some more kiddie rides:

We managed to do a lot in the couple hours that we were there thanks to the quick queue pass. We left around noon and headed to Downtown Disney for our 1pm lunch reservation at T-Rex Cafe. It has been a couple years since we ate there so Daniel didn't really remember it. It was a fun time but Daniel was a little scared that he was going to get eaten by the fierce-looking dinosaur behind us:

But then he was all smiles:

And finally, I managed to get a picture of Gretch and I, and then one with the kids (minus Gretch's third child Ellie who stayed with her grandma up north!):

After lunch we walked around Downtown Disney for a bit and then it was time to head home. It was a quick two-day trip but we made the most of it. It's always so wonderful to see great friends!