Thursday, November 1st: SeaWorld, continued
I believe we last left off at our visit with the penguins:
We hadn't bothered to take advantage of the continental breakfast offerings on the dining plan when we arrived at the park....we just weren't very hungry at that point....but after wrapping up in Antarctica, we were starting to feel the need for some food. We opted to check out the Expedition Cafe which is located right across from Empire of the Penguin.
The Expedition Cafe has three different food stations (Asian, American, and Salad...though the salad, which was formerly an Italian station, has now returned to offering Italian foods since our fall visit), each featuring a different themed assortment of entrees, sides and desserts. Both Steve and I opted for selections from the Asian station: I didn't want fried chicken to be the first thing on my stomach that morning
, and salad?? That would be a big heck no
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With our trays in tow, we got our wristbands from the cashier (we had pre-paid for the all-day dining in advance of our trip for the crazy low pass member rate of $24.99 each, so all we needed to do was show our printed purchase confirmation to get our bands) and then proceeded to the adjacent Penguin Hall to find a table.
We literally had the entire place to ourselves. Hmmmmm....where to sit?
Because it was so empty and quiet, we had the chance to really take in all the fun little details that showcase the theme of this dining location. A "radio station" was played over the speakers, and the station is broadcast from (you guessed it) Antarctica. Large signs and advertisements on the walls all featured activities, tips and information about living a good life in the frigid Antarctic, and winter-worthy provisions (snowshoes, snowmobiles, and more) completed the decor.
We munched away on our meal in blissful peacefulness.....moments like these at theme parks are pretty darn rare.. Our food was good but not great: everything was tasty but pretty much every component could have been warmer. My orange chicken was quite a bit spicier than I had expected, making me grateful that beverages were bottomless. I drained my bottle of water before I had finished my plate
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And actually, neither one of us managed to make it through those ample portions. We ate what we wanted and ending up tossing the rest.....which makes me feel a tad guilty, but its either a benefit or pitfall (depending on how strongly you feel about waste) of the dining plan. One has to pace themselves
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Once we had wrapped up our early lunch, we headed to Journey to Atlantis.......Steve was kind enough to indulge me in my penguin admiration (and suffer through the cold temps while inside the exhibit), so the least I could do was reciprocate by making one of his favorite Seaworld rides our next stop.
With the park this empty, the ride was (not surprisingly) a walk on. He was through the queue and splashing down almost before I found a good viewing spot along the stone fence.
I met him at the photo kiosk after the ride, and we had his picture put on our Photokey. Yep, he definitely knows exactly where the photo is taken
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Since he was already wet, and there was no wait for the ride, as we walked through the gift shop I suggested he take advantage of the absence of crowds and ride again......and he needed no convincing.
This time, while he rode, I poked around the Jewels of the Sea Aquarium that's inside the Atlantis gift shop. It's one of my favorite things to do while Steve enjoys the ride.....and the exhibits never fail to impress me. It's so calming to sit and watch the jellyfish and other sea life in the beautiful underwater displays.
Steve knew just where to find me when his second ride concluded. We popped back out to the photo kiosk to have his second picture added to our Photokey, and then continued our tour of the park.
More SeaWorld to come!