Sea World Vacation - June 2009

The Burnette family went on vacation, the first that did not involve traveling to visit family. We dropped the pets off at the vets office for their checkups, shots and to be boarded for 2 nights and headed to San Diego Sea World.

We arrived in San Diego around 2pm on Thursday, checked into our hotel and went on a mission to see the ocean.



We didn't stay long at the beach, it was a little chilly and crowded. Also, we wanted to get to Sea World, we had 2 day tickets and wanted to make the most of them. The first stop at Sea World was, of course, the penguin exhibit. Honestly, we were not very impressed. I think we've been spoiled with the St. Louis Zoo penguin exhibit and so far, nothing can compare. The penguins were behind glass at Sea World and it was very reminiscent of the movie Happy Feet when Mumble is put into the exhibit and starts seeing things. We saw the otters, dolphins, orcas, turtles, starfish, bat rays and various fish.


The only show we went and saw on the first day was the 4D Elmo show, which was an experience. Not only did we see a 3D show, but some of the scenes actually got us wet, made our chairs jiggle and bubbles flew through the theatre. Zoe enjoyed it for sure!



We ended the day by ordering our complimentary pizza at the hotel and watching our free movie, we chose a kid movie for Zoe. The hotel pool was outside our window and it was pretty noisy up until 10pm. We had a good night sleep and headed back to Sea World for the gate opening at 9am.

Our first stop was the dolphin encounter area where we saw the dolphins up close. In fact, this was the best part of the trip for me. The park wasn't very crowded yet and we spent a good hour just watching the dolphins during the morning activities. While I was holding Zoe, watching them from the glass wall, one came up and threw water at us from her mouth. It was such a shock and surprise and Zoe and I laughed very hard. The dolphin then did it again.. and again. We got soaked and laughed and smiled at her. Dave caught a couple pictures of her filling up with water and getting ready to soak us each time.



Later, the trainer came out and was talking to one of the dolphins, I just happened to be standing beside her and admiring the conversation. I asked if I could give the dolphin a little love pat on the nose and she let me. They are truly amazing creatures.


Dave and Zoe had their own encounters, too. There was one dolphin that kept being silly for them.



We then watched the orca's during their morning weigh in and medicine time. Amazing creatures, too. The picture below, I believe, is their largest orca, Shamu, getting weighed.



We watched the dolphin show, the Shamu show (twice) and the Sea Lion show. Highlights were getting soaked at the Shamu show (both times) and at the end of the sea lion show, this friendly fellow decided to continue over the wall and come and see us. We were in the second row, this picture is not cropped in or zoomed in at all - this is how close we were:

Since we were extremely close to this 900 lb. creature who decided he wanted to come say hello, we were escorted to the other side exit. On our way out, one of the trainers explained to us that he was a younger walrus and has done this a few times. They were hopeful that they could coerce him back into the pool and that the last time this happened, he made his way up to the snack area. After we exited, we heard the crowd cheer, I believe he made it safely back into his pool. Awesome, just awesome!

Another upclose and personal experience, Zoe got to feed some sea lions.

Zoe was just tall enough (I think she tiptoed up to the measuring line) to ride the big kids ride. We took her on the Shipwreck Rapids ride, in which we got totally drenched. Yes, Dave got it worse than Zoe and I. But in fairness, at both Shamu shows, Zoe and I got drenched. Even having her on my lap didn't keep me any dryer! We all had fun, though, if a bit chilled. After getting drenched on the ride, we decided to see Shamu one last time before heading back to the hotel to take showers and find dinner. Zoe was exhausted, I think Dave was, too. After seeing Shamu, Zoe came out singing "Sham-oo Sham-oo".




We found a great local place for seafood, Zoe stayed awake long enough to eat one shrimp and then fell asleep on my lap. Dave and I enjoyed a lovely dinner and dessert! The view of the harbor was pretty amazing, too. Next time, we'll need to make time to tour the ships, too.

We were back on the road home by 5:30am the next morning, we had to pick up the pets before the office closed at noon.

I have a ton more pictures and videos if you care to sit through them.

Click here for the videos

Click here for the pictures

Overall, it was a fantastic vacation! I look forward to going back. I believe I will have a fund set up before our next trip so that I can get in the water with the dolphins. They took my breath away.