Seaworld/Gatorland/Volcano Bay

Seaworld

During our time on I Drive, we visited Seaworld twice. Always a favourite despite its controversial ideas, we enjoy the mix of animals and rides. This year however I found Seaworld a little challenging. Take Atlantis. This ride used to be an all time favourite, I`ve ridden this ride back to back on multiple occasions in years gone by and loved it. We came here two years ago and this ride was absolutely abysmal. How can this iconic ride be so bad? Non of the animatronics worked, no lights, no quirky seahorse, no audio, just a boat following a track through a building that was quite frankly showing serious signs of age and was in places even falling apart. We said there and then that this ride should be ended forever. Last year, it was closed for refurbishment. So happy! All the signs pointed to a new Atlantis, rising from the depths. We couldn`t wait. The reality? Its been partially repainted and ...and...well sorry, but Seaworld, you really need to tell your visitors what changes you actually made, because as per the previous year, still no animatronics were working, no seahorse, no story, your building is still falling apart, the drinking fountain in the queue line is nothing short of disgusting, and the actual ride is just as jerky and uncomfortable as it has ever been. Ride it if you must, just know that it is not the ride of old. Kraken. My very first big rollercoaster as of 2004 and I loved it. This time however, two out of three bunnies came off with banging headaches and a resolve that once was enough. Twenty One years ago it was a a great ride...Now? with its many thousands of turns later, its a vibrating head banging ride once and leave it at that. Penguin Trek!! Now surely that has got to be a brilliant smooth ride? New last year, a ride that emulates the speed and glide of a penguin must be pretty special. Nope, not for me it wasn`t. I think the ride designers were trying to add too much detail, in particular a vibrating track to chatter your teeth to convey a sense of cold. Smooth it is not. We rode this twice, and found the front to be smoother, but not as sleek and silent as perhaps it could be. Mako. Now this ride is pretty awesome. I cannot tell you just how scary high it is, because I could not bring myself to open my eyes at the top but I can tell you that the whole effect is smooth with plenty of air time, long waves of track and a sense of freedom as you ride with just a lap bar type safety feature. I thought this would freak me out, but I was pleasantly surprised at how safe I felt. Not a favourite for Mr Bunny, but little B managed to ride this 5 times. Pipeline. A stand up surfing coaster. Hit this one first thing in the morning as the turn around for this ride is painfully slow. I actually quite like this ride, its fairly smooth, got a couple of decent moves and is just the right length. Quite the Baby Bear ride for me. Not too high, not too long, just about right. There are other rides at Seaworld including Icebreaker (never tried) and a couple of water rides to name a few. Another favourite part of Seaworld used to be Wild Arctic. The old stationary or moving `aerial` ride has been removed and a new Soarin` type ride has been added called Odyssey. This is an aerial view of all aspects of the arctic, but personally this bunny found it entirely nauseating. Soarin at Epcot is easy, Odyssey requires motion sickness bags if you are of that disposition. Definitely a once only for me. Wild Arctic is a tired grubby vastly different place to the place I once enjoyed so much. Seaworld, where are you spending the vast fortune you are making on entry tickets and overpriced food? , because its not going on your exhibits! What a tired, dirty lack lustre place this has become. With little to no changes in the past 20 years, this is another area of the park that requires a huge overhaul. The glass windows, blah, so filthy, scratched and smeared by goodness knows what. Whilst having the Polar Bear was both sad and exciting a few years ago, his loss is great. Not convinced more penguins is the answer still they are better than the grumpy leopard seal of late. Talking about penguins, whatever happened to the huge inspiring `Empire of the Penguin` exhibit? A large part of the park dedicated to the Penguin. The penguin enclosure of old was to be replaced by a whole new state of the art land, a trackless ride, and a superb penguin viewing area. Yes, the penguin exhibit has been built, but the trackless ride almost a non starter, now replaced by the Penguin Trek roller coaster, as previously described, which ends with a walk through the penguin exhibit which quite frankly is the coldest smelliest most uninviting enclosure ever built. The rest of the `Arctic Area` of Seaworld is just a dirty mishmash of buildings trying to `theme to Arctic` but personally I think it fails miserably. Some of the food options are ok, but don`t get me started on the awful service or crazy drink selection. Does anyone remember the old Clyde and Seymour show with the mime as the front of house?  quite possibly the funniest, most entertaining show I have ever watched involving animals. A few years ago they changed it` s persona to an `education show` and it was dreadful, and now? Well quite honestly none of the bunnies have ever witnessed a show quite so bad. I cannot even begin to tell you what it was supposed to be. One idiotic over excited clown trying to be funny (failing miserably) and a second person so uninspiring with the lousiest script ever, that I cannot remember a single thing to describe this 15 minutes of ridiculous and tedious waffle. Last, but not least I should mention both the dolphins and the Orcas. No matter how `educational` how they dress it up as `conservation` you cannot escape the fact that these are very big fish in very small ponds. (yes, I know they are mammals) All the bunnies watched the show with feeling of conflict. One of us has seen Orca in the wild, two have seen these same Orca in this small pond two years ago. Hearing the commentary of `born here` was just sad. Sentenced to a life of living in the confines of this small pool v the worlds oceans? Yes, it is the same for zoo animals, but when does an elephant or koala traverse thousands of miles. Last but not least I have to mention the hall/restaurant eating place called Seafarers Grill. Of all the places to eat at Seaworld this has to be the most disgusting. The kitchen area is fine, as is the food to a degree, but if you choose to eat indoors, be warned, it is the most filthy place imaginable. The carpet is frayed, worn, dirty, a trip hazard and deplorable. The tables have probably never been deep cleaned since day dot, and as for the floors underneath the tables, lets say its better if you just don`t look. I swear the table at which we sat last year had the same mouldy burger still glued to its table leg. The reality of Seaworld is a far cry from its glossy picture perfect website, and whilst families will probably love Sesame street area, glossing over other areas of the park, the more discerning visitor will see its true colours.

Gatorland

Situated around 30 minutes from I Drive in the Kissimmee area of Florida, Gatorland has a reputation of being the best place to see Alligators up close and personal. They have around 2500 gators of all different ages, and colours. It was fun seeing so many alligators all in one place, they really are quite silent and disappear like ghosts in the water, quite eerie. Certainly made you think twice about what kind of water you are surrounded by. The main show was called Jumperoo, and here endeth my liking for the place. One huge pond filled with the largest gators, 2 exceedingly silly men and a speed talking commentary aimed to enthuse anyone under the age of 5. In a nutshell, first one silly man made a gator jump for its chicken dinner, then the other guy took a turn. It was neither exciting nor fun, it was just a little odd seeing big Gators teased into jumping up for their food. Made all the worse by an audience of mainly local residents of the country whooping and hollering cheering on these two fools doing the feeding. As little bunny, said to me earlier that day, I`m just too English to understand the need for all this silly shouting.

Volcano Bay

I had every intention of us visiting every water park during our stay but a couple of factors changed that plan. Starting with a visit to Volcano Bay. This is the new (ish) Water Park related to Universal, replacing the old Wet and Wild. From the moment we arrived we were overwhelmed by its sheer size and somewhat confusing walking paths. We were each given Tapu Tapu watches (soon to be phased out so I wont elaborate too much) that had some sort of use for ride queuing, I cannot actually say what use they had as none of us tapped anything. Ride queues...wow...this is a water park and they have rides with 3 and 4 hour wait times? bonkers! Two bunnies attempted a raft ride but were continually overlooked because they were not a full group, nor could they join others due to weight distribution. How silly. They spent far too long on a very hot day standing around waiting to ride. Little B attempted a raft ride but the operator failed to understand she was solo and she had to wait for a second person. The floating river was nice enough, but not enough fun to make me want to spend more than an hour max. All in all our experience at Volcano Bay was less than pleasant. Too big, too crowded, too much walking and terrible food. Even the sunbeds were placed in long rows with very little space between each bed. None of us are in any hurry to return here. 4 hours and we had had enough.

Other Water Parks, Aquatica, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon 

All on our list of places to visit. Non of which we did. We were so put off by the crowds at Volcano Bay, we couldn`t muster up the enthusiasm for any other water park. I have however been to the two Disney Water Parks on previous occasions, and enjoyed them both. Typhoon Lagoon being the favourite. This holiday, wet just didn`t seem to be on our list of must do.

From our stay on International Drive doing all things different, it was time to pack up and head to Universal Orlando.

Universal Studios. Islands of Adventure. Epic.

I think a new bunny blog is in order for these parks to do them justice and to spare your eyes from yet more reading. Adventure is Out There, let the blog continue....