After the roller coasters, the girls decided to go on the Wild Arctic simulator ride. The seats were on machines that lifted the audience up and moved them around while they watched a large screen. Their simulated helicopter flight took them on an Arctic expedition.
"This feels so real!" Emma declared to Kacey, "I really feel like I'm in a helicopter over the Arctic! It's even cold in here!"
After the ride, the girls all agreed that it had been a very realistic ride over the Arctic, and wanted to visit an attraction called 'Antarctica: Empire of the Penguins'. There they found themselves twisting and turning in large round pods through a colorful cavern of flashing lights and music. Next, they journeyed down under the sea, swimming with sea lions and penguins. Their ride ended by passing a huge colony of live penguins hopping over the snow-covered rocks and ice. The girls loved watching the penguins waddle and slide over the ice.
"That was great!" Kacey exclaimed as they walked away from the ride.
"Yeah! I really felt like I was really diving under the water! I never expected our seats to move like that!" Emma cried.
The girls checked the show schedule and decided to watch the marine animals show in the large stadium. Before going inside, they bought drinks and popcorn.
"Let's not sit in the splash zone," Ava suggested, "I've had enough of swimming with marine animals for this trip."
The girls found seats up higher where they could see the entire gigantic pool. Soon, the host came out to greet the audience. Two large jumbo screens displayed everything in the show. The girls all cheered and clapped for the animals, and screamed when they splashed down into the water, sending a huge shower over the bottom rows of people below them.
"I loved that!" Kacey exclaimed as they left the stadium. "How cool it must be to work with those animals every day. They are so amazing!"
"It was pretty incredible all right," Ava agreed.
"Let's get some lunch. It's almost one o'clock!" Emma reminded them.
The girls had lunch at Mango Joe's where they were able to find healthy foods with tropical flavors. Leaving the restaurant, they visited the Stingray Lagoon where they could feed and touch the stingrays as they swam by. After interacting with the stingrays, Kacey suggested that they visit the Shark Encounter.
"Haven't you two had enough of sharks at Cocoa Beach?" Emma asked.
"These sharks won't bite," Ava assured her, "Come on, it'll be fun!"
They went into the tunnel and viewed the sharks as they swam around past the thick glass walls.
"Do you see the one that was at Cocoa Beach that you scared off?" Emma teased.
Ava nodded, "Yeah, I think it was that one with the bruised nose," she pointed. Kacey laughed.
"Don't get too close to the glass. You might scare him off again," Emma said.
The girls viewed the sharks for a while and learned some interesting facts about them from the displays on the tunnel walls.
In the afternoon, they got on the Journey to Atlantis ride and at the end, their car shot down into the large lagoon, soaking everyone to the skin. They all screamed and laughed at each other as they climbed out soaking wet, and then headed to view some of the wildlife in the park.
"This way we can dry off in the sun," Kacey suggested.
The girls spent the rest of the day going on more rides, exploring the unique gift shops, and viewing sea mammals. By evening, they were tired and hungry.
They decided to eat dinner at the park, and found a Tex-Mex restaurant called the Seafire Inn. Hungry after their active day, they ordered lots of different dishes and shared them. After dinner they went back to ride Kraken and Manta again, and enjoyed the view from the top of the Sky Tower.
After the sun slipped down to the horizon, they found a place to watch the fireworks show. The girls were thrilled by the sounds of colorful lights bursting high above, showering over the park in brilliant neon colors.
"That was great!" Ava cried after the show ended. The girls headed back to the parking lot.
"What a fantastic place to visit. I never realized there were so many fun things to do here," Emma remarked.
"I'm glad we came," Kacey agreed, "Remember, we promised the guys that we would wait until they got here to go to Disney World with us. So what should we do tomorrow?"
Kacey replied, "I saw an ad on TV for an awesome shopping mall not far from here."
Ava nodded, "Great, let's do that!"