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L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:54 am
by Buggy
I only saw one REALLY stupid guest trick on my most recent visit to Fl, which included Sea World, Discovery Cove, and Universal Studios. Oh, there were lots of stupid guests, but most of them were the well behaved kind.

So, in Discovery Cove you can feed the stingrays. It's cool if you like that sort of thing, and a FREAKING TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE if you happen to be a small child who is afraid of rays.

Like the boy standing next to me at feeding time was. He was incredibly afraid of the rays and they were swarming because they wanted to be fed. He couldn't escape because they were all around him. I felt really sorry for him.

Luckily, his helpful mother was right next to him, offering him words of encouragement like, "you will stay right here and feed the rays," and "stop being so scared."

I almost got involved. I turned to her and got "Let" out before my brain activated and I realized all I would do is make the situation worse and face her wrath. I turned the other way and didn't get involved. (The full sentence would have been "Let the boy leave the pool").

Actually fortunately, the boy's older brother led the boy away from the rays, yelling at his mom, "he's having a panic attack. I'm taking him out of the tank." WTG non-SG brother!

....

I made a few SGTs myself, nothing quite so psyche damaging though. A while back, I used to publish games, and I wrote and published a game called PRAWN. It has a cool logo and I have a polo shirt with that logo on it.

I made the mistake of wearing it to Sea World, and at least three people asked me if I worked there as I wandered around the park. One of them said as one sentence, "Do you work here, no of course you don't" so that was nice. Lesson learned: watch what you wear.

I'll post my incredibly big SGT in a separate message if folks want to hear. It's not funny to me, but it's highly complementary toward the folks at Discovery Cove. (Which reminds me, I have a "thank you" e-mail I need to send to them).

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:02 am
by GRUMPY PIRATE
I guess the true adult in that family lead the kid out of the pool!

I would almost be willing to bet that if you had said something to mom, you would have got (at one point) in her tirade the "we paid a lot of money, so he is going to experience THIS!" sort of logic that makes kids cry on vacation!

You showed great restraint!

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:51 pm
by Noctourne Wonderland
GRUMPY PIRATE wrote:I guess the true adult in that family lead the kid out of the pool!

I would almost be willing to bet that if you had said something to mom, you would have got (at one point) in her tirade the "we paid a lot of money, so he is going to experience THIS!" sort of logic that makes kids cry on vacation!

You showed great restraint!
Is it still logic if it's illogical? I'M SO CONFUSED!

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:45 pm
by GRUMPY PIRATE
Noctourne Wonderland wrote:Is it still logic if it's illogical? I'M SO CONFUSED!

hmm, good point, there is NO true logic of SG's, That just seems to be their fall back argument/excuse to BE an SG!

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:02 pm
by turkeyham
I think Sea World should take out the rays and stick electric eels inside. ZAP!!!! There goes MOM! :D:

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:42 am
by Buggy
Noctourne Wonderland wrote:Is it still logic if it's illogical? I'M SO CONFUSED!
"Logic is little tweeting bird chirping in meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers that smell bad." - Spock.

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:13 am
by GRUMPY PIRATE
Buggy wrote:"Logic is little tweeting bird chirping in meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers that smell bad." - Spock.

Even Spock had his off days!

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:24 pm
by Amphigorey
Those poor rays! I hope Sea World treats them well. How is the pool set up, exactly? Do the humans stand in the tank with the rays? That seems questionable to me - stupid people can easily hurt rays, especially their tails. Their tails are somewhat brittle and can break off.

I expect that Sea World clips their stingers; that is easy to do and does not hurt the rays. The stingers grow back, like fingernails.

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:43 pm
by Ms. Matterhorn
That does seem risky (for the rays) that guests are allowed to stand in the tank with them! At Sea World San Diego, you just stick your hands in the water.

Re: L... Let.... (Turn away)

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:22 pm
by Cranbiz
The purpose of Discovery Cove is for the guest to swim with the sea creatures. That's why it's almost $300 a person and the number of guests is fixed at 1000.

The staff does a great job working with the animals and guests but it's always possible for either to get hurt. Then again, YOU DON"T HAVE to swim with the dolphins and rays and you will pay less too!