This is the final chapter of our first trip to Disney (Payton and me; Lindsey has been there a few times). If you want to go back and read about the actual Disney stuff, I say read parts one, two, and three. Today will be about something else.
Friday was our last day in Florida. Fortunately, our flight was not until 7:30 p.m. We had to find something to do and we decided to hit up SeaWorld. I was critical about going to SeaWorld (I was one of those people that was moved by the documentary Blackfish), I do not think dolphins or killer whales should perform. Go ahead and read the post.
We had a pretty good time at the park. Payton really liked the dolphin show. I also enjoyed it because the trainers did a great job of making it educational. They really pointed out the evolutionary advantages of dolphins and how their skeletons are similar to humans. The killer whale show was not as good. They did some tricks and the trainers had some thing about one world, but it was not that captivating.
Payton’s favorite part was the sea lions/seals/sea otters part. She thought they were so funny. She also enjoyed the beluga whale part. I liked that area as well. Mostly because it was pretty cool, like temperature wise.
Adam and I rode two of the roller coasters at one point. The Manta and Kraken. The Kraken went pretty fast. There was one loop where you hit it pretty hard and I would love to know what the G-Force is on that one. You definitely could feel your body being pressed into the seat.
The Manta was actually pretty scary. That was my first coaster where you hang. First of all, it was tough on the shoulders and core. Secondly, once it started going, all I could think about was “I wonder how well they test these harnesses?” I then worried about that the entire time. I asked Adam after and he said he kept thinking the same thing. It was fun and I would definitely do it again.
The one thing I noticed about SeaWorld, after being at the Disney parks…the service is nowhere near the Disney level. They tried, but they just do not have the staff. The food took awhile, there were mistakes, there was confusion as to how to fix the mistakes.
We left the park and made our way to the airport. We gave ourselves plenty of time to get there, check the weight of our bags, return the cars, etc. There were no hiccups…nope, none at all. Right, Adam? Okay, maybe there were some navigational issues. All I will say.
This was my first time going through security and TSA had the dogs out. I did not know that I did not have to take my shoes off or do any of that normal stuff. Some guy kept telling me that “when the dogs runnin’, we just move on through.” I had no clue what he was babbling about. Oh well, I wore mesh shorts and sneakers, so I had no troubles getting through.
And yet…my backpack gets flagged. They went through it and discovered an oddity. It was Payton’s thermometer. Lindsey put the damn thing in my bag. Once the TSA girl found it, she explained that the battery shows up on the scanner and that it is no big deal. They were on edge there that day because they had a major incident a few days before.
Finally, I need to talk about the flight. We hit some turbulence on the way home because it was raining pretty hard in Latrobe. Lindsey was pretty scared. Payton was cool. However, as the plane touched down, it was incredibly rough. It was by far the hardest landing I have ever had in a plane. Most people gasped, I think Lindsey may have let out a tiny scream.
It was a fun trip. I was glad to be home though. Granted, it was not for long because we had to drive to Washington DC the next day for a family function. It was definitely a busy vacation.
