The Oh! in Orlando

And now comes the apology. After spending an amazing day at Discovery Cove, I’m compelled to defend Orlando. I swam with a dolphin, waded with stingrays that bumped up against me like puppies, snorkeled with giant translucent fish, and floated along an artificial river while Mathilda climbed on my shoulders and did her best to drown me. It was gorgeous, with beach sand scattered everywhere and barracudas lurking with harmless charm in a shipwreck facsimile. Around the outskirts of the park, aviaries housed exotic birds that glided down from the trees and landed on my arm while bopping their heads.

Seaworld, however, was disappointing. We made reservations to “Dine with Shamu” but ended up dining with his understudy. This whale wasn’t much of a performer. He circled the tables listlessly and occasionally stuck his huge panda bear head out of the water and looked around. It was almost as if he was checking to see if he had bored us enough so that we would leave. Apparently, one of the whales just gave birth three days earlier and all of the whales have been acting strange and unfriendly.

We also spent an afternoon at Universal Studios, in Seuss Land. I was ravenous but had to wait to eat as we had made dinner reservations outside of the park. Not with a fox. Not in a box. Not in a house. Not with a mouse. Just some Thai place.