a little love for the animals

On Monday (Day 3 of our vacation), we headed down to San Diego to visit the Wildlife Animal Park and Sea World. Our original itinerary had us visiting these two attractions on two different days, but after only one day of trekking around Disneyland, we knew we were going to need a day off sometime in the week. Plus, our drive to San Diego was a good hour and a half each way and anything to avoid doing this two times in the week, we were willing to do!

We got up way too early for a vacation, and headed to San Diego for our first stop at the Wildlife Animal Park. This was part of our City Pass that we bought at Costco in preparation for the trip. (Such a great deal if you're looking for a lot to do on vacation in Southern California and plan on staying for a good week or so.) The pass included the African Safari Tour where we hopped on a tram and got to see many species of African animals in their expanded enclosures.


After our ride, we then walked around to see many more animals. This place is not your average zoo, people. When I say walked. I mean hiked.


We struggled a little with our sense of direction...


And Ryan helped feed the deer in the petting kraal...


After a fun morning, we hopped in the car, grabbed some Subway goodness, and headed to Sea World to spend the afternoon. It ended up being a little bit cooler than expected, which made it a bit more chilly. Our first stop when we got inside was to the show Pets Rule! I love these kind of shows where the animals do their tricks, so I was super excited. We sat in the "wet zone", but we figured since there was no water close by that we would be safe. We got sprayed with a water hose at one point during the show, but nothing major. Cute, cute show!


My favorite show by far was Believe! with the killer whales. I was so amazed by the ability these animals have. We stayed out of the soak zone, but others weren't so lucky. I'm pretty sure they were asking for it...must have been part of the thrill of the show! I would watch this over and over if I had the chance.


We finished the afternoon with a couple more shows, like the infamous dolphins and a cute show with seals as the star attraction. We also saw many different marine life.


We took a ride on the Raging River Raft Ride where we got soaking wet (of course, more me than Ryan). Then to finish the evening before heading home, we took a ride on Journey of Atlantis where we got just a little bit more wet. It would have felt great if the weather was a bit nicer. The ride home was spent with the heaters cranked on high.

All in all our long day was a lot of fun and although I may not repeat the safari, I would definitely love to bring the kids back one day to join in the fun at Sea World.