I woke up early and excited today. And still barely made it out the door on schedule. But anywho. Today was a day I was especially looking forward to.
I got up and got ready which took extra time this morning. The “you’re really getting too old to do Disney in flip flops” blisters were forming, and with a day in the water coming up, my feet required some serious bandaid art. And then I raced out the door, hopped in the car, and drove to the Boardwalk. Could someone please explain why they need to see my ID when they clearly don’t actually cross-check it?
Anyway, I parked and realized my car had a lovely view this morning.
Then I walked down to the Boardwalk. I do kind of really like those side stairs that go straight to the Boardwalk, rather than having to traipse through the lobby.
The first destination of the day? Trattoria Al Forno for breakfast! As I approached I did the mobile check-in that MDE was begging me to do. That was pretty easy; hit one button. Then I took some pictures. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning.
The first destination of the day? Trattoria Al Forno for breakfast! As I approached I did the mobile check-in that MDE was begging me to do. That was pretty easy; hit one button. Then I took some pictures. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning.
By the time I’d finished taking a handful of pictures, I had a notification that my table was ready, so I headed inside. I was seated within minutes, by very friendly and pleasant cast members, with a great view of the open kitchen. I also noticed they were taking care at that (not very busy) hour (7:40?) to spread parties out around the restaurant. Thumbs up already.
Breakfast at Trattoria Al Forno was awesome. Great service, pleasant environment, and terrific food. I had the buttermilk pancakes, and they were everything pancakes should be. I’ll absolutely be eating here again.
After breakfast I made a quick trip back to the hotel for reasons that I already don’t remember, and then headed for my next destination, Aquatica. It was time to play in the water.
Entering Aquatica was pretty quick, and I was ready for a day of relaxing!
Finding the locker rentals was not as quick, but I found them eventually and even got the automated rental machine to work on the first try. But apparently they’ve decided to subsidize their low ticket prices with locker fees. They charged me how much for that locker?! I found my locker and got ready for the day.
First stop was Aquatica’s newest attraction, Riptide Race, which I discovered was on a “delayed opening for maintenance”. So, I walked back to the entrance and did the dolphin plunge, which I think I liked even less than 10 years ago. Body slides are not my style.
Next up was a float in Loggerhead Lane, Aquatica’s lazy river. I did three laps through it, because it has a few different routes. One route sends you past the commersons dolphins, one past the tropical fish tank, and one brings you to the entrance to Tassie’s Twisters. My third trip through, I did Tassie’s Twisters. This is a tube slide, and was quite the intense experience! I’m glad I did it!
Twisting and tube floating complete, I made my way to Roa’s Rapids. Roa’s Rapids was my favorite when I was here years ago (2010?) with my family, and that’s definitely still the case. The best way to experience Roa’s Rapids is to put on a life jacket and just let the current carry you. Some people were trying to swim, which was obnoxious, because they became obstacles in the rapids. Thankfully most seemed to understand how this attraction works best though.
I did 3 wonderful loops in Roa’s Rapids before I got out to figure out what time it was. I was very much regretting no longer having a true waterproof watch. Technically I can swim with my fitbit, but honestly, I don’t know enough about it to be comfortable doing so, which meant I was completely clueless as to what time it was, and that was a problem.
So I headed for my locker and realized that not only was I somehow hungry, but it was definitely an appropriate time for lunch. So I grabbed my ticket, my phone, shoes, mask and towel, and headed for Waterstone Grill for some food.
When I’d bought my park ticket, it had only been $20 to add on All Day Dining. Knowing that essentially equated to a meal and an extra bottle of water, I did exactly that. Sea World parks have generally had pretty good park food, and I would definitely be there until after lunch time.
The line at Waterstone Grill was pretty long for 11:30, but it moved. The selection seemed significantly less than the last time I was in a Sea World/Busch park, but, I found food, so it was all good. Since you can now only go through the line once an hour with the All Day Dining, I got lunch and dessert all at once.
First stop was Aquatica’s newest attraction, Riptide Race, which I discovered was on a “delayed opening for maintenance”. So, I walked back to the entrance and did the dolphin plunge, which I think I liked even less than 10 years ago. Body slides are not my style.
Next up was a float in Loggerhead Lane, Aquatica’s lazy river. I did three laps through it, because it has a few different routes. One route sends you past the commersons dolphins, one past the tropical fish tank, and one brings you to the entrance to Tassie’s Twisters. My third trip through, I did Tassie’s Twisters. This is a tube slide, and was quite the intense experience! I’m glad I did it!
Twisting and tube floating complete, I made my way to Roa’s Rapids. Roa’s Rapids was my favorite when I was here years ago (2010?) with my family, and that’s definitely still the case. The best way to experience Roa’s Rapids is to put on a life jacket and just let the current carry you. Some people were trying to swim, which was obnoxious, because they became obstacles in the rapids. Thankfully most seemed to understand how this attraction works best though.
I did 3 wonderful loops in Roa’s Rapids before I got out to figure out what time it was. I was very much regretting no longer having a true waterproof watch. Technically I can swim with my fitbit, but honestly, I don’t know enough about it to be comfortable doing so, which meant I was completely clueless as to what time it was, and that was a problem.
So I headed for my locker and realized that not only was I somehow hungry, but it was definitely an appropriate time for lunch. So I grabbed my ticket, my phone, shoes, mask and towel, and headed for Waterstone Grill for some food.
When I’d bought my park ticket, it had only been $20 to add on All Day Dining. Knowing that essentially equated to a meal and an extra bottle of water, I did exactly that. Sea World parks have generally had pretty good park food, and I would definitely be there until after lunch time.
The line at Waterstone Grill was pretty long for 11:30, but it moved. The selection seemed significantly less than the last time I was in a Sea World/Busch park, but, I found food, so it was all good. Since you can now only go through the line once an hour with the All Day Dining, I got lunch and dessert all at once.
The food was good, although the fries were about as bland as could be. Cooked well, but boring. The chicken tenders and cookies were good though. And I promise I didn’t finish all of it.
Lunch finished I took a few pictures before getting ready for a bit more time in the water.
Getting ready for a bit more time in the water took more effort than I had anticipated. I think I won’t be back at a water park until I return to a point where I’m willing to put on a two piece swimsuit again (damn you remote learning!). That wet one piece swimsuit thing is a royal pain. But eventually, after like 10 minutes of fighting with the swimsuit in the ladies’ room, with a corner of lining still hanging out the bottom of my swimsuit, I headed back to Roa’s Rapids. It was quite a bit busier now, but I was still able to do another 3 laps before getting out to change into street clothes. No way was I wrestling with the swimsuit again, plus I figured tour pictures would look better in actual clothes.
Yes, I said tour. We’ll get there in a few. First I had to fight with the locker. For some reason, after I dug out what I needed to change, it wouldn’t re-lock, so I ended up just taking everything with me.
Aquatica has a surprisingly nice changing area. I got changed, and then did a bit more picture taking before checking in for my Commersons Close Up Tour.
Aquatica is home to small black and white dolphins. These are called Commersons dolphins. They’re pretty adorable, not exactly common, and when I booked my ticket they were offering a seemingly pretty reasonably priced tour where one learns about how they care for these creatures, and gets to interact with the dolphins out of the water. I took a giant leap of faith that this trip would work out and booked the tour, because that was definitely up my alley, and sometimes solo trips require cool little splurges.
My tour ticket said to be at the Commersons underwater viewing area 15 minutes before tour time. So I did that. The trainer doing the tour wasn’t there yet for check in, but the girl answering questions about the dolphins said I was in the right spot so I took some pictures of the dolphins and then just sat back waiting.
Aquatica is home to small black and white dolphins. These are called Commersons dolphins. They’re pretty adorable, not exactly common, and when I booked my ticket they were offering a seemingly pretty reasonably priced tour where one learns about how they care for these creatures, and gets to interact with the dolphins out of the water. I took a giant leap of faith that this trip would work out and booked the tour, because that was definitely up my alley, and sometimes solo trips require cool little splurges.
My tour ticket said to be at the Commersons underwater viewing area 15 minutes before tour time. So I did that. The trainer doing the tour wasn’t there yet for check in, but the girl answering questions about the dolphins said I was in the right spot so I took some pictures of the dolphins and then just sat back waiting.
Promptly at 1:15, the trainer doing the tour appeared and closed off the viewing area briefly. Once she had cleared the other guests out, she introduced herself, told me I was the only one booked, so I had a private tour today(!) and she got started.
The tour started with Brittany telling me about the Commersons dolphins species, the dolphins they have at Aquatica, and also the dynamic habitat model that they have moved towards (hence the green...they want the habitat to closely resemble the real environment). She then took me backstage where I, once again, fought with lockers, and then she showed me the kitchen and explained the nutrition/feeding of the dolphins and talked briefly about the water quality systems which were massive. Then we went to a platform above the water, where she (and I with her help) interacted with these adorable creatures. Following the above water interaction, we went back down to the underwater viewing area where we interacted a bit more through the window and my personal photographer and the trainer teamed up to get one of the dolphins (Pepe?) to pose for a picture. The tour includes one printed photo, so there’s a photographer present for the various interactions. Clearly I ended up buying more than one (additional pictures beyond the included one are $5 each).
This tour lasted about 45 minutes and it was awesome. The trainer was a wealth of knowledge and excited to share her knowledge. The Commersons dolphins are adorable, and it was great to learn about them and their care. It was also really cool to get to interact with them a bit. The price of the tour was fair for what it was. This was absolutely a trip highlight.
Following the end of the tour, I watched the dolphins for a few more minutes and then headed for the photo stand to select my picture(s). This was a quick process, and pretty soon I was on my way, eyeing the very ugly sky and listening to the park announcements that they were closing attractions due to impending severe weather. Definitely time to get out of here!
Following the end of the tour, I watched the dolphins for a few more minutes and then headed for the photo stand to select my picture(s). This was a quick process, and pretty soon I was on my way, eyeing the very ugly sky and listening to the park announcements that they were closing attractions due to impending severe weather. Definitely time to get out of here!
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