Day 1: Seaworld Orlando

Seaworld Orlando just has 1 type of ticket for anybody aged 3 and older. Kids younger than 3 years old get in for free.

Ticket gate prices are $89 + tax.
Seaworld Orlando website ticket prices: $89 + tax, there is currently a coupon for $10 off / ticket
We purchased our tickets through WorkingAdvantage, a website that provides discounted tickets & services, this is a perk of my employer. We paid around $76 for each ticket, inclusive of tax. Printed out our electronic tickets at the hotel business center and gate staff were able to scan the barcodes off of these printed tickets and let us in at the gates. No more queuing up at any windows or kiosks to claim actual tickets, so convenient!

Since our hotel's free shuttle service provided very limited trips to & from Seaworld and we knew that Swe-cha would not last the whole day, we opted to just drive and park. Parking fees are $17 for general parking and $20 for preferred parking (nearer the entrance gate).

It has been a few years since we visited a theme park. Our previous visit to one 4 years ago didn't really go that well. Back then, we had several points going against us:
- it was the farthest drive we've ever taken (around 2 hours) so he was already very impatient when we got there
- he didn't like lining up at the rides

We don't know what he expected to see and do and when we got to Seaworld and started posing for pictures, it was obviously NOT what he wanted to do. He was not happy.

We tried to watch the Sea Lion High show which was a comedy, we had to make our way out 10 minutes into the show. He was still not happy.

It wasn't until we got to the area with the rides when Swe-cha started smiling. Our first few rides were taken on the Sea Carousel.

Once he figured out that lining up also meant that he got to go on the rides, he didn't mind the wait that much anymore.

*whew*

I have to note that going to the park first thing in the morning worked out well because we got there ahead of the crowd. We took advantage by running out the exit right back to the entrance.

Feeling braver, we went over to Shamu Express which I thought was going to be a gentle train ride that would just go slightly faster. Swe-cha did an obligatory scream as the train was going up the first incline - "aaaaahhhh!" - but as soon as we felt that first drop, Swe-cha turned to me and hugged me really tight. As we felt the sharp angles of the succeeding turns, I started getting more and more worried that Swe-cha was going to get upset and start crying. I braced myself for a tantrum as our ride stopped but was very surprised when I didn't get that reaction. We got out of the cars and ran out the exit path and when he saw Daddy, he yells "one more time!" and drags me back to the entrance. (Pls don't ask me why I'm making that face in the photo.)

It was then that I knew that we were going to be okay and that we were all going to enjoy the next few days very much. We would try out the Swishy Fishies ride which is really just the Seaworld equivalent of the spinning teacups ride. Swe-cha liked it too but I was not a fan of anything spinning and rotating around an axis.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted but very happy. I had lost count of how many rides we'd taken by then but before I lost count, I had the following:

Sea Carousel - 3x
Shamu Express - 5x
Swishy Fishies - 2x

Swe-cha met Shamu for the first time, he was so excited!