Monday, January 11, 2010

SeaWorld and Busch Garden Getaway

This trip to Florida I really saw a lot of stuff—Universal Studios and now Busch Gardens and SeaWorld. I was really looking forward to SeaWorld because I am fascinated by the underwater world and I really wanted to see dolphins because I have never seen a real one! SeaWorld definitely wasn’t as busy as Universal Studios, but there was still plenty to see! Have you been to SeaWorld?

The first stop was a necessary viewing of the dolphins! I would love to swim with them sometime, but this time the water would have been freezing!

SEAWORLD

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We also got to see the manatee rescue exhibit, penguins (and a really weird furry one!), seals and sea otters which I got a cool video of, Shamu, walk underneath the shark tanks, alligators, crazy looking fish, and we didn’t get to see the Polar exhibit because it was closed to take down the Christmas additions.

Manatees

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Penguins

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Weird furry penguin (Anyone know what he is called?)

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Shamu!

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Sharks

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Seals and Sea Otters (video to come soon!)

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Overall, SeaWorld was a great place to visit, but I would advise buying your tickets ahead of time—number one, they were way cheaper, number two, you will bypass the ticket lines which is nice!

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I was curious to see if I would like Busch Gardens because the last time we visited Florida, we had overheard mixed and negative reviews, but we got a double ticket which paired SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, so we figured we might as well!s

BUSCH GARDENS

It definitely is more of a theme park rather than a zoo which is what I was expecting. There is still tons of animal exhibits and things to see, just a lot more rollercoaster's and rides. For me, I could care less about the rides because I get sick anyway, so we just took in all the rest of the things to see.

My favorite part was definitely watching the orangutans—they were munching on apples and lettuce and came right up to glass where I could get great pictures and an up-close video!

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We wanted to take him home, but instead we had to settle for a stuffed orangutan.

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Then we decided to take a Sky Ride to get a birds eye view of the park and all of the animals from up high.

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Besides the fact that it was a bit colder up there, it was a fun time!! Then we saw even more animals—and the cool thing was they were all so close to us and it made it easier to get pictures.

Tigers

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Elephants

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Rhino

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Flamingoes

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And last were the zebras

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We came to the conclusion that we would recommend Busch Gardens as a place to visit if you’re in the area!

It took us about 3 hours or so to browse the park. Then we left and decided to start the 1 hour trek back to Orlando. Before we left, we grabbed something to eat at I-Hop across the street. I debated on getting a big breakfast with pancakes for dinner, but again I felt like eating chicken—their lemon garlic grilled chicken with red skinned potatoes and broccoli was just the right amount!

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Be back soon once I get settled with spring semester!

16 comments:

Sook said...

It looks like you had fun! I would love to go to seaworld someday. :)

Jenny said...

ever since I saw Free Willy it's always been my dream to go to Sea World haha. Perhaps one day!

The Purple Carrot said...

How fun! I want to go to Seaworld :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! How fun! I swam with dolphins during my honeymoon and it was THE coolest experience ever! Thanks for posting the pictures...love pictures : )

Krista said...

The marine exibit is my favourite spot at the Toronto Zoo. I've never been to Busch Gardens, but my friend went every year when we were kids and loved it there. And aren't flamingo's the most beautiful colour???

Kelly said...

Looks like a wonderful trip. I'm jealous of all the sun you got!

Shannon, Tropical Eats said...

ahh busch gardens is my favorite place ever :) The sky ride always is so relaxing and i love seeing all of the animals. Glad you had a nice trip!!! :) Good luck with the new semester. wahoo

Erica said...

So fun! Glad you had such a blast. Love animals- especially Manatees! They remind me of Frank haha. Sorry I've been a bad commenter!

Kerstin said...

I'm glad you've had such a wonderful vacation and got away from all the snow :)

katecooks said...

what a fun vacation! even though i hate seeing sea creatures in captivity, i have a huge love for sea world and even wanted to be a marine biologist or sea lion/orca/dolphin trainer growing up! they are just so beautiful!!!

Walt Disney World said...

Sea World orlando is Amazing and once u are there u can't miss the company of Dolphins.

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