Make-A-Wish Trip (Part 1- Manatee Swim and Sea World)

We just got back from Peyton's Make-A-Wish trip. His wish was to swim with manatees. That's it. Simple, right? Well, I guess the folks at Make-A-Wish thought it was a little too simple. They went ahead and threw Disney and Sea World in too. We didn't know about this until we got our travel plans 6 days before our scheduled departure. Our trip was perfect.


We were welcomed at the Orlando Airport by a greeter from Make-A-Wish with a sign with Peyton's name on it. She escorted us to the rental car area and we were on our way.
This was on the property of our hotel. We were walking distance to Sea World and 10 minutes from Disney at the largest Marriott Residence Inn in the world. The kids were each in their own queen size bed, even Jack.

Our first full day we drove to Crystal River where we met up with the folks at Manatee Tour and Dive. There we were suited up and taken out on the bay with Captain Mick. This is NOT the best time of the year to do this. We knew this. During the winter there are far more manatees and they are in the crystal clear parts of the river. Being the summer we had to find them in the murkier waters of the bay. The kids were having a good time spotting little manatee heads that would occasionally bob up for air. They were on and off the boat a couple of times before we decided to just send Robert in to go chase down the manatees and see if he could convince them to stay and play. Finally we found one willing to oblige and all the boys were able to pet it. Bailey and I didn't make in time but no worries, she was perfectly content playing mermaid with her pink fins. After Peyton had officially swam with manatees, our captain told us he would take us somewhere to rinse off. He took us down the river where the manatees are during the winter and dropped the anchor. We all jumped in the water, even Jack, and we were directed to go through a passage, stay clear of the rocks on either side, and keep going. Um, okay, I guess. What could possibly go wrong with Robert and I toting 5 little kids down the real life equivalent of Disney's Jungle Cruise? We did as instructed and ended up in a 45foot deep, crystal clear natural spring called Three Sisters. Holy Cow, I'd never seen any thing like it. The water even smelled like the bottled water I buy. We have pictures but they were done with our underwater cameras that haven't been developed yet so hopefully the turn out well. It was such a fun experience for all of us and something I never thought I'd ever do let alone as a family vacation. We will try to make it back for peak swimming time it was that fun. I highly recommend it!

Part of our trip included a day at Sea World. Unique to the Orlando park is the manatee exhibit. What this meant for us was that Peyton could kiss the manatees as he had hoped to do. Granted this was done through glass (thankfully making the interaction a bit more sanitary) but none the less he was thrilled to kiss each of them 3 times.

At the dolphin tank...