Life with the B's


Monday, August 23, 2004

Everyone Loves Marineland! (NOT!)

"There's a place I know in Ontario, where the sealions kiss, so the story goes...."

Ok, so you've maybe heard the commercials that sing at you 5 times during the dinner hour alone, and the kids say "I want to go there!". You promise yourself that this will be the year you travel to Canada and take them there. Meanwhile, you can't get the stupid song out of your head. The season passes and you say, "Maybe next year, where did the summer go?". Then come next spring, the songs start again. Well, at least this year they came up with some new words to the same old song. We decided this would be the year we go and Emma invited her friend Erika to join us.

"How was it?" my friends ask, since they're kids are begging them to go too (it's the song! taunting you to go because you can't get the tune out of your head!). Well, plan on walking all day long. The park is soooo spread out, it takes forever to get from one part to the next. That wouldn't be a problem, if say, you could ride your bike through the park, or wear your roller blades or use a skateboard, but all of those options are forbidden! The roads are wide enough for three cars, why not give us a break? They could make a fortune transporting people on golf carts from place to place. Dress it up like a whale or something, and every kid will want to ride on it. Sell all-day passes for the Whale Tram! It's that bad! I think the only thing that kept the kids going was the promise of the next ride. Honestly, I must've walked 5 miles. And I'm not one to complain about exercise!

"How were the shows?". LAME. I believe all the shows are the same, as there is only one arena to watch them in. They spent the first 20 minutes telling a story about the Kings scepter, crown and cup getting stolen as a way to get the sea lion and walrus to follow the trainers around and mimic them thinking, scratching and waving. Finally, they got to the dophins jumping, which truly is amazing. Then the show was over - no killer whales! (they save them for the area where you have to pay to pet and feed them.) Anyway, the kids enjoyed the show, and that's what it's all about anyway.

The tanks of Killer whales and Belugas was cool. They would surface and you could see them up close - even feel the spray from their blowholes! But don't lean over the concrete wall, or stick your hand out, whatever you do! You will get yelled at! We paid for tickets to pet and feed the Beluga whales, and that was a neat experience. Their skin is so squishy and soft- not hard and rubbery like it looks. I lifted Emma up to look over the wall just as our Beluga was surfacing, and he blew air out of his blowhole and scared her. She started screaming to get down and wouldn't touch him! The good thing is you can view them underwater, but they don't really do any jumps. One tank had a 10 day-old baby girl killer whale. She was so cute, at 250 pounds!

The kids liked all the rides. Austin liked the Sky Screamer, (the newest ride they are advertising) which is a 450 feet tower that shoots you up, and then drops you down. You don't free-fall the whole way though; it kind of bounces you down so you don't get that free-fall feeling for more than a second. Emma's fave was the Yo-Yo swings. The Lady Bug roller coaster was a favorite of Erika, who would've ridden every ride if she were tall enough! She's a ride maniac! I was a bit disappointed in the "longest steel roller coaster in the world". It had 2 loops, a butterfly loop, and a corkscrew, then just alot of track! It was very bumpy, and whipped your head around. I only went on it once. I much prefer the Superman at Six Flags. My favorite ride was the one home, since I'd had enough by the time we left!

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