Up Close & Personal: Marineland

reposted from the i.seekissimmee.com website...

Today we started our “2 Days Away Staycation” in beautiful St. Augustine. One more reason I love Kissimmee, is that it’s central to so many other places, and you can do a quick getaway for a day or two to nearly anywhere in Florida. We chose St. Augustine because we love it there. History geeks that we are – what holds greater appeal than the Nation’s Oldest City? To begin our stay, we headed over to Marineland Dolphin Adventure, which recently joined forces with the Georgia Aquarium. Apparently, this fixture has been here since the early 1930’s  – something this Floridian never even knew about! The good folks at Marineland Dolphin Adventure gave us a one-on-one up close and personal tour, and I have to say, I’ve never enjoyed myself more!

Our tour guide, Meredith, who also happens to be the Education liaison [think Summer Camps, School Groups, etc.] led us to the first tank. Here we were able to meet several playful bottlenose dolphins and also learn about them via the many informative signs posted nearby. She told us about Nelly, the world’s oldest [in captivity] dolphin – who at age 59, continues to break records every day. We were able to see her “baby” and in turn, their baby… so it was neat to see the generations! We continued on past the other tanks, stopping to look and observe the many dolphins there at Marineland, before heading down below for a true “Behind the Seas” tour.

Here we were able to see other marine life in their environments, learn about feedings, safety and health of the sea creatures. The kids were particularly fond of the turtles and crabs, while Kevin and I were fascinated by the quarantine tank! Lol. Then we were led into what they call the “Event Room” – a cozy room, with historical paraphernalia that dated back to Marineland’s opening, a comfy couch, and the coolest window ever… looking right into the dolphin tank! After taking a break in the cool air, we headed back up top to really get up close and personal.

Here we met Pebbles… a playful and friendly dolphin. The kids were ecstatic at being able to feed the dolphins, and since they had no idea about the touching aspect of the “touch and feed” program there – we were totally looking forward to their reactions when it came down to the fun part! As Pebbles rolled over onto her back, the kids and I leaned down to rub her belly. All we could hear were murmurs of “coooool” and “she’s so soft” and “this is so neat” – which merely confirmed that this was the right place to go! Then we learned some tricks, like how to signal for a wave, how to ask Pebbles to do flips, and oh yeah, how to make a dolphin splash you!

We finished our tour and took home our disc full of images… did we forget to mention that a photographer will take tons of photos from your experience that you get to take with you? As most of our girls are Girl Scouts, they were all trying to plan a trip back there with their Girl Scout troop next year. For me, I’m trying to figure out a way where we can go again – as I’d never had as much fun as I did at Marineland. For visitors and locals alike – this little hidden gem is definitely my diamond in the rough!

A Relaxing Day of Fun & Family at Sea World

REPOSTED from the i.seekissimmee.com website... 

With all our talk about doing the lesser known attractions in Central Florida, we still love our visits to the major theme parks – and Sea World is among our favorites! Today it was just Kevin, Laurel, Ella and I (our nieces arrive Monday morning!) and we thought we’d start off with a nice relaxing day watching the shows and catching a few rides. Before I begin to describe our experience, I feel compelled to point out that my husband, Kevin, is from the UK and has only been in the US for a year. So this is fun as many of our experiences are done from both local and tourist viewpoints. Kevin has been to all of the major area attractions with the exception of Sea World – and it’s always pleasurable to see someone experience something for the first time!

"...it’s always pleasurable to see someone experience something for the first time!..."

We made a late day of it, because we wanted to have the energy to stay until the fireworks – so we arrived at the park around midday. What I love about Sea World is the way you can literally work your way around the park in a circle! So we headed straight for Key West to Dolphin Cove. One place you can cool down, escape the blistering sun & chill out is to enter “behind” the Dolphin Cove & go to the underwater viewing tank. There you can see the dolphins playing and interacting with the people above who are petting & feeding them!

This time, as we curled around the cove, we noticed Turtle Trek – a brand new exhibit/experience! We were so excited to get to see this! For Sea World pros, this has been incorporated into the [formerly] Manatee exhibit…and it was really well done! Of all 3D experiences I’ve ever been to… nothing has ever had such a WOW impact as this! It was not only in 3D, but it was what I like to refer to as 360 degrees of eye candy. You are experiencing the trek of an endangered sea turtle from hatching to adulthood to laying its’ own eggs. There is still the reminder of our impact on the world, explaining the importance of recycling, and picking up trash – teaching us to turn off lights during nesting season as well! And of course, the interactive zone as you leave where you can pretend to be a turtle swimming to shore, and you can still view the manatees from above the tanks!

We also decided to make a point to catch shows on this trip. My daughter, Laurel, and I are die hard Clyde & Seymour fans – but we wanted to see a few of the other shows as well! Kevin absolutely LOVED the Blue Horizon show with the dolphins! We were fortunate enough that we saw 5 shows, which included Clyde & Seymour as they made of parody of all the other shows, as well as Pets Ahoy! and Shamu Rocks and fireworks at the end of the night. We didn’t only do shows though… Kevin went for a ride on Manta and said it was “one of the best rollercoaster experiences” he had ever been on. And dining at the Voyager Restaurant was both a relaxing reprieve from the heat, as well as a yummy BBQ feast! All in all, I’d say Sea World still ranks top notch in our book – and only 15 minutes away from Kissimmee makes it even easier to visit on a regular basis!

We'll be back tomorrow with a new adventure! Be sure to check out i.seekissimmee.com as well (for our adventures and more!)