Henry goes to .... Sea World

We had a HUGE day in the last week of 2021, an outing to the theme parks on the Gold Coast.

Both little superheroes were given annual passes to the Roadshow Theme Parks for Christmas. They both love Movie World so we hit Sea World in the morning and Movie World after lunch. Neither of the little superheroes had been to Sea World so it has been high on their to-visit list since we moved back to Queensland.

And again, with Henry, we had an amazing day out. There is no way that we could ever have done two theme parks in one day prior to Henry being placed with us. He definitely helped both little superheroes to self regulate throughout the day.

In terms of Assistance Dogs. Sea World do not require any prior notice that a guest will be bringing their Assistance Dog with them. The only requirement that they have is that the dogs vaccination schedule is up to date, which Henry's is.

The Sea World staff were absolutely brilliant in accommodating Henry and us. Soon after arriving, a staff member paused where I was waiting with Henry (toilet stop for the other members of our family,) and said that the dolphin show was about to start. She went on to tell me where we could wait to gain early access to the show and that she'd let the staff know that we were coming. Wow! We thought that it was absolutely wonderful that the staff member took time out of her day to pass this information on us. 

L wanted to watch the dolphin show, so off he and I went. When we arrived at the gate to wait, two other staff members struck up a conversation with us, and when they found out that Henry was an Autism Assistance dog, they told us where the best area in Sea World was for a quiet break and that we could ask any if the food vendors for water for Henry. 

One of the staff members told me that she also was Autistic, she then struck up a conversation with L about his favourite anime characters (he was wearing an anime shirt,) and L responded. On our way out of the Dolphin show, she used key word signing to say goodbye and thank you.

The initial staff member who let me know about the Dolphin show, met us in the dolphin cove area and ensured that we had shaded seating for ourselves and Henry. During the show, this staff member was brilliant in not only keeping us informed, but also moving other families with very young children from sunny seating to shaded seating. It's all the little things that make a day out just that little much better.

While we take a water bottle for Henry any time we go out, we did end up asking for water from one of the food vendors for Henry, which they gave us without any hesitation.

I've since found out from Sea World that all guests who have a disability are welcome to attend the Guest Services counter upon arrival to get a wrist band that signals to all ride operators within the park that the guest may require additional support. The wrist band also allows early access onto the various rides, and if the guest isn't able to access a particular ride at the time they would like to, they'll be asked to return a specific time to be given early access.

If we hadn't already told the little superheroes that we were going to visit Movie World after Sea World, we would have stayed a lot longer!

So thank you Sea World, we had an awesome day out and will definitely be back soon.