Saturday, March 19, 2011

Life Lesson #7 - Getting Wet

Today I thought it was odd that SeaWorld had rides. Then we went on them, and I realised why: all rides at SeaWorld exist to get you wet.


---more on SeaWorld after the jump--- 

We had considered skipping SeaWorld, but every list we read said it was the #1 thing worth doing in San Diego. So we braved the crowds and went for it.

On the gondola with SeaWorld behind us.
First up was the worst roller coaster I have ever been on. It was fun-ish, but you know those big log flume drops that soak you? Well, this beast does that to you right at the start, and it only gets worse from there.

 

Next up was one of those water rides that puts you on a giant round thing down rapids. "I'm sure this one won't wet us so badly, we'll be fine" said I. Cue Tui billboard moment. The best/worst part was when we came up to one of those huge waterfalls. A child of Rainbow's End, I had complete faith that the water would magically stop just before we passed under. Apparently not. My shoes and socks did not dry for 12 hours.

The waterfall that did not part.
The dolphin show was full-on cheese. It was like Disney meets Cirque du Soleil, minus the good stuff. The dolphins were an afterthought; the whole show was about the trainers. They wear costumes and lip sync to music with cheesier lyrics than an idol winner's anthem. You can tell the songwriter's brief was "be inspiring".


The highlight of the day, and the reason we came at all, was definitely Shamu. I loved Free Willy as a kid, so this felt like meeting a celebrity. Just a pity the show had to come complete with it's own inspiring soundtrack and pithy propaganda about how "anyone can do anything if they just believe". Um, can I just watch the Killer Whale show please?



Despite my scathing review, I don't regret going. I'm sure 12 year old girls love SeaWorld. The whole cheesy show just felt a bit hollow coming from a city that borders Mexico.

Perhaps they should sing "any American can do anything if they just believe". Actually scratch that, it's still crap.

AA
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2 comments:

  1. kerri21 March, 2011 05:34

    agreed on the shows being lame (and I'll go one further and suggest that at the very least the orca ones are unethical) but what-everrr, rides that get you wet are awesome! Is that journey to atlantis I see behind your frowns? lucky!

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  2. Unknown21 March, 2011 05:51

    Fair enough, truth be told it was a bit fun... we just weren't expecting to get so wet that we could have gone swimming and been drier! Also we had a six hour drive after with no hope of a shower... so that does taint the experience somewhat!

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