Soaring Like a Manta Ray...

While you might not think of manta rays as flying animals, if you’ve ever been on Sea World’s new flying roller coaster called the Manta, you’d change your mind. We got to the park early so we could beat the crowds to this ride that opened in May. I knew that we’d be in a prone position, but was still calm when the bars closed around my legs and my neck. I did, however, freak out when my feet were lifted up behind me as we were still parked in the station. I started screaming (with some minor swear words thrown in) at that moment and continued until we pulled back in 2 1/2 minutes later. Despite being terrified, I thought it was awesome! We soared above the park with nothing below us, which was even more amazing to see when we went on again at night (this time I just screamed without swearing).

Enjoying Sea World...

While I had been to Sea World many times while I lived in San Diego, the girls had never been. They had seen dolphin, seal and walrus shows before, but this was their first time to experience a killer whale show. They even dared to sit in the splash zone (Sharon and I preferred to stay dry despite the heat), but were disappointingly dry at the end. After experiencing how strong bottlenose dolphins are yesterday, we had an even greater appreciation of just how powerful this largest member of the dolphin family must be. Ashlynn is now more convinced than ever that she’d like to be a dolphin trainer when she grows up.

More Time with Old Friends...

I was thrilled that Sharon and Brett, Jr. were able to drive up and meet us at the hotel when we returned from Discovery Cove. We were happy that Big Brett had just started a new job, but were bummed that he wasn’t able to sneak away. We went out that night to a nice Chinese restaurant that had an awesome koi pond out front. It was early to bed that night as we had another big day ahead of us the next day.

We Love Dolphins!

The final encounter with the dolphins was completely amazing. This time we swam out into the deep water and laid down. The two dolphins then put their noses in the curve of our feet and pushed us back to shore. Just like in dolphin shows, we naturally rose out of the water. This ride probably didn’t last more than 15 seconds, but it was incredibly exciting and we all agreed that it was the best part of the day. Jimmy actually got to do it twice because one of the dolphins decided not to participate the first time and had to try again. Afterwards, we had about two hours to enjoy the lazy river, the aviary and the coral reef. What an unforgettable experience!

More Time with the Dolphins...

Our second time in the dolphin lagoon was very special as this encounter was just for the Trainers for the Day. There was only our group of six plus the trainers with two dolphins, Diego and Rascal. This time both dolphins pulled us back from the deep water to the shore. This was a much faster and exhilarating ride with an incredible amount of water thrown into our faces.

Beyond Dolphins...

After lunch, Eddie took us into the Ray Lagoon to feed the stingrays (with the stingers removed for obvious reasons). It felt very strange to stand in the water and feed these very slippery creatures while they were surrounding us. Then we got to pet a nurse shark that is being trained to take food from a trainer using a tube. Afterwards, we had some free time to go snorkeling in the coral reef. It was very exciting for the girls to put their snorkeling lessons to good use for the first time to swim with fish. Veronica tried having a giant stingray pull her, but the lifeguard wasn’t amused.

Our First Deep Water Interaction...

We were all smiles during our first deep water interaction with Capricorn, which consisted of us swimming into the deep water, holding onto two of his fins and having him pull us back to shore. It was a very gentle ride and we all thought it was great fun.