Thrills and spills for all the family in Florida
Swimming with dolphins, petting tropical birds, hitting the roller coasters, Eoin Murphy has serious fun in Florida... (Oh, and so do his boys)
Don’t hit the dolphin’, I begged through gritted teeth as I wore a smile that belied my rising sense of panic. It’s not a sentence that I thought I’d ever have to utter to my three-year-old son Rían. But as we bobbed up and down in the sun-drenched lagoon at Discovery Cove and Kayleigh the bottlenose dolphin snuggled up to my family, I knew this was going to be a holiday like no other. Orlando in central Florida is, I’m sure, famous for a cornucopia of various cultural offerings like everglades, alligators and of course, orange juice.
But for anyone with a whisper of adventure in their souls and a love of the wild side, it is theme parks, wild roller coasters and face-gurning water-slide parks that float a particular boat. This December, my brood (two boys, aged three and two, and dutiful wife) elected to try out the holy quartet of SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, Busch Gardens and Aquatica. Winter is a good time to visit as you can enjoy temperatures ranging between 18-24C which is perfect for young children, especially those with pasty-white Irish skin. As a regular visitor to Orlando, I was initially concerned that many of the theme parks would be heavily geared towards young adults who refuse to grow up, aka kidults.
So I wasn’t sure how much the boys would be able to do once we got into the theme parks. But first things first – the flight. Transporting two under-fours on a nine-hour transatlantic flight is akin to wrestling salmon for half a day and there needed to be a bountiful pay off at the end.
After surving long haul, the first stop on our travels is Discovery Cove. This is a park that has been built separately from the SeaWorld campus but is very much part of the overall SeaWorld family. It is a paradise island where you can lounge around drinking beers or sipping cocktails while your partner explores the artificial coral reefs, wellstocked with native fish and rays. But who am I kidding? The real attraction is the dolphin swim where you get up close and personal with one of several highly trained mammals. In Ireland, the only real chance you have to pet a dolphin is by heading to Dingle and braving all sorts of inclement weather for the a glimpse of a dolphin that has been around for so long, he must have a picture in an attic somewhere.
But in Discovery Cove, it’s a whole new ballgame. Upon arrival, we check in at one of several concierge-like workstations in the main reception area. The staff are incredible here (and across all parks) and when you take into account that looking after my boys is akin to minding mice at the cross-roads, they were patient and kind.
First your picture is taken, and you are issued a badge with your photo and imprinted details of which package you bought. Breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks, including a selection of alcoholic drinks, are all included in the price of admission, so you don’t have to want for anything.
There is also a fairly magnificent float-through river complete with white-sand beaches and waterfalls, which takes you through a jaw-dropping walk-through free-flight aviary. Both my boys watched in sheer amazement as tropical birds landed on their arms to take feed from paper cups that are dished out on entry.
Now, I used to watch Flipper as a boy growing up in Loughrea
and I remember being so envious of Sandy and Bud as they dived into the sea to join the show’s star in another heroic rescue. So when it was my time to swim I was probably the biggest child in the group. On this visit, we had the additional luxury of a secluded cabana, with covered and uncovered seating, overlooking the Dolphin Swim area so our kids could watch (or shout and cheer) as Mom and Dad petted, kissed and swam with Kayleigh the dolphin.
You need to be six years old to do the full swim, but after our encounters the handler brought Kayleigh into the shallows and we were able to bring Rían and Liam into the water to play and pet her. Believe me there is nothing more precious to a parent than seeing that look of sheer delight and wonderment as your little darlings get up close and personal with such a magical creature. It is also somewhat disappointing to realise that the dolphin has better manners than your children as one of them attempted to give her a clip on the nose. But kids, eh?
Our second stop was SeaWorld itself, the park which opened as a dedicated home to killer whales but has now become a rip-roaring theme park with some of the best coasters in Orlando. Manta is my personal favourite, a steel flying coaster that aims to mirror the glide and motion of a giant ray by tipping you face down and hurtling you around a track. It is closely followed by Kraken, Orlando’s only floorless roller coaster.
Your feet dangle as you sit in open-sided seats, riding above the track as you hurtle through loops and corkscrews out above the park. Then you have Mako, the tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster in Orlando. This is not for the faint hearted as you dive head first out into the park at 120kph. If you are lucky enough to get the front seat here you had better have a strong stomach and had no Botox. But what is great about SeaWorld is that there is also a dedicated children’s play area where my two boys had a seriously fulfilling afternoon. on the huge slides, a train, and a ship in total security as you grab a cool drink – and your breath. What I loved about SeaWorld in general was the safety element and at all times you felt very secure as you towed your precious cargos around the park. Devotion was very much the theme of SeaWorld as all staff members seemed to be completely invested in their charges.
Even the handler in the penguin sanctuary, whom we meet with his flippered friends, told how he regularly brought home baby chicks that were under the weather so he could put them on 24-hour watch. Again getting the chance to interact with Whopper the King Penguin was as much the stuff of dreams for my wife and I as it was a new life experience for both my boys. Day three took us on a road trip to Busch Gardens which was for me a tale of two successes. This park lies in Tampa and is about an hour spin from your base in central Orlando but it is well worth the trip. The park is set on an open plain safari and coaster-wise I think these are the best in Orlando. Pride of place is the Falcon’s Fury, a ride that perches you at a 90degree angle, 335ft up into the Florida sky before dropping you towards terra firma at 95kph. For me Montu is without doubt the quickest, body-frapping, electrifying ride I have experienced and the most fun I have had with or without my clothes on. Elle our guide also helped hatch a plan that managed to lure my wife, a coaster virgin, onto the park’s new ride, the Cobra’s Curse. She admitted afterwards that she made the guide hold her hand the whole time – but was ridiculously proud of herself afterwards. The unique feature of the ride was that each train spins randomly depending on the weight of the rider. She also loved Cheetah Hunt, which has no nasty surprises and is just really long and fast so ideal as a ‘starter coaster’. SheiKra, named after an African hawk, climbs to 200ft before dropping off at 110kph and reaches 4G. With the help of Elle we managed to con the Mrs into going for a spin. It is incredible how you can make out the screams of your own wife when it is mingled with those of 20 others. After lunch we dedicated the rest of the day to the boys and headed to the Sesame Street Safari, a
‘Montu is without doubt the quickest, body-frapping, electrifying ride I have experienced’
theme park for children. And I don’t mean with a couple of paltry slides and half a bouncy castle. This is a custom-designed internal park and the two boys loved flying through the desert with Grover, which is a miniature coaster. Both loved Elmo’s Tree House and Cookie Monster’s Canopy Crawl which is a completely encased rope bridge that ends in a play area with slides. Big Bird’s Bouncy Castle and Telly’s Jungle Jam were hits too.
The staff are again patient and kind and particular mention must go out to those manning Zoe-patra and the Hippos of the Nile, the splashy ride which both boys rode ten times at least. Busch Gardens is one of those rare places where children are treated as equals and are not patronised. We spent four or five hours with them at the safari and took them back to the hotel worn out but happy little trackers.
Our final stop was virtual-drop water slide Ihu’s Breakaway Falls at Aquatica, SeaWorld’s affiliated water park. Standing on a trapdoor 80ft up on Orlando’s tallest and steepest multislide drop, this is the closest thing you will get to jumping out of a plane not advisable shortly after eating. The park’s signature ride is the Dolphin Plunge and if you haven’t taken up the option of swimming with them at Discovery Cove, this is the next best thing. Dolphin Plunge allows you to descend in an enclosed tube slide as beautiful black-and-white Commerson’s dolphins play around you. There is also, of course, a dedicated children’s area.
When it came time to take the flight home all our fears and concerns had disappeared, replaced by a photo album of memories for life: dolphin swims, luxury cabanas and the knowledge that a strong marriage can survive anything – even roller coaster deceit.