Gift Shop

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! – Orlando, FL

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This week I headed back over to International Drive in Orlando to visit another roadside attraction.  I had visited a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! back in New Jersey on the Atlantic City Boardwalk years ago.  All I remember is being more disturbed than anything just due to some of the very strange things Mr. Ripley supposedly found along his world travels.

Since this is located right on I-Drive it has to stick out somehow from all the other tourist attractions so the building was designed to look like it was sinking into the group.  It’s a fun little optical illusion, similar to the upside down building at WonderWorks.

As soon as you walk inside there is a small lobby area where you can buy your admission tickets if you didn’t pre-purchase online.  In this area you can find the penny press machine.  Little disclaimer, I have heard that from time to time this machine moves inside the attraction and paid admission is needed.  But for now the machine is right out front and no ticket needed to use it.

For some reason I always find that these style machines tend to roll short more often than not but this one wasn’t too bad.

The designs included in this set were of the Ripley’s Orlando Building, the Two-headed Calf, a Tiny Car, and a Shrunken Head.  Even though I had the pennies already I figured since I was here may as well head inside and see what they have to offer.

When you first get inside you are shown the original Ripley desk.  There is a spooky hologram they project of Robert Ripley sitting behind the desk giving some anecdotes of his travels.  As I mentioned above there are some distributing things in this museum that deal with animal birth defects, to tribal rituals including pretty graphic piercings and other things I’m just going to skip over.  Some people find it fascinating but wasn’t really my cup of tea.  I skipped ahead to a large artifact room that had some more PG items on display.

Such as this cute Wall-E sculpture.  I stood there for a few minutes hoping it would move or talk but it doesn’t.  Just a nice piece of artwork.

After visited with Wall-E I found myself in the Medieval torture section, and I’m pretty sure you can guess the crazy contraptions they had on display in here.  They aren’t too graphic, but just looking at some of these devices can set your imagination wild.

Since we have been living in Florida for about a year and still getting used to all the thunderstorms I thought the above sign was a fun fact.

Eventually I headed into an area with some fun little interactive exhibits like seeing how flexible you are.

Or try your hand at a giant Operation game but for some reason the infamous funny bone is missing.

There was also a room with a large piece of the Berlin Wall, and also a room with some wax figures of Ripley’s famous human attractions so you can take selfies with.

As a last test for some reason before you exit into the gift shop you get to walk down this hallway that spins around you.  Of course you get dizzy and you have trouble walking straight through.  There is a bypass but this is fun to watch people experience.  Once you pass through this area you exit into the gift shop which is very small and hard to get through if there are even a few people in there.

This is a place that is just a little too weird for me, and I’m usually into that kind of stuff. I’m glad the penny press machine is outside so you don’t necessarily have to go through the museum if you are a little squeamish or just not interesting in this type of museum.  I probably won’t be back any time soon unless someone from out-of-town really want to check it out.  There is a lot of stuff inside and you could spend a few hours if you take your time but I would recommend checking out their website first to sample what’s there before you venture inside.

SeaWorld Seven Seas Food Festival – Orlando, FL

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In some past posts I’ve reviewed the different festivals that have gone on over at Epcot, but just recently I tried something new.  My youngest daughter has really enjoyed SeaWorld lately and we have found ourselves over there more often than I had anticipated.

On a recent trip we found ourselves visiting the park in the middle of their Seven Seas Food.  I had heard some advertisements on the radio and TV about the festival but to be honest it has started to seem like every park and town are having their own food festivals now.

However since we had been to SeaWorld quite few times in the last month I was looking for something different to try.  As much as I like the Food and Wine or Flower and Garden at Epcot they can definitely get pricey after while.  At the Seven Seas Food Festival you can buy everything al la carte, or they do offer special lanyard.

These lanyard can be purchased for a set price depending on the total number of samples you would like.  As an annual passholder they also had special bonus samples offered for free when you buy a lanyard.  Then when you visit the different booths you can get any of the food or beverage options and each will only cost you one punch on the lanyard regardless of the item price.

The food options were overall pretty good.  As you enter the main festival area there are passport booklets that review the festival, and the food/beverage options.  There is also a map inside showing you where all the booth locations are throughout the park.

I didn’t want to go too crazy with the food, but figured we would at least sample a few things as we walked around.  First we stopped by the Cocina Criolla booth and tried the Pincho de Cerdo con Tostones which was skewered flame grilled pork with a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce which I have pictured above.

Next we headed over towards the Brazilian Market and sampled a few things.

Above was the Brazilian Churrasco which was grilled skirt steak with chimichurri and garbanzo frito.

There was also an interesting Brazilian chicken salad with chicken, ham, raisins, carrots, apples and olives topped with shoestring potatoes.

My daughter likes the Arctic Encounter so we always make sure and check that out so we can visit the beluga whales and polar bears.  As we exited there was the Polynesian Market where I sampled a Lumpia which was a spring roll filled with pork and served with a Thai pineapple sauce.

There were a few additional items I sampled while we walked around the park but we actually had a surprise encounter.  Over near the Mexican Market we ran into Executive Chef Hector Colon.  He oversees the menu development for not just SeaWorld Orlando, but also Discovery Cove and Aquatica water park.  I had recognized him from a behind the scene documentary on SeaWorld.  It was really fantastic to meet him and we appreciated the time he took out of his day to chat with us and take a picture.  We thanked him for all his work on the festival and the food throughout the parks as they really have raised the bar.  I felt that was a great way to top off our day at the park and decided it was time to head out.

As we headed towards the exit we passed by the Shamu Emporium.  It’s still under construction right now, and a whole bunch of penny machines from around the park are now temporary located here.  I took a quick review of each machine in the area and found one that was either new or somehow missed on my previous trips.

The machine was working nicely but I did have an issue pressing one of the designs.  I tried it a couple of times and each time rolled a little short.

The designs look to be some classic SeaWorld images of Shamu the famous Orca whale.  When I was back home I checked my collection and didn’t see these included so I think they may be new designs or at the very least new to me.

The Seven Seas Food Festival was a lot of fun, the live music was great and the food was really fantastic and different.  Unfortunately the festival concluded at the end of April but I will definitely be back next year.

Legoland Florida – Winter Haven, FL

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A few years ago I took it upon myself to digital a whole bunch of old home videos my parents had made of my sister and I growing up.  There were a few family vacations which were fun to go back and experience, especially the ones where we visited Florida in the early 80’s.  During one of these videos we had visited a place called Cypress Gardens that I had no recollection of but figured it had to be pretty close to the Orlando area as we never wondered too far from there when on vacation.  To my surprise it was still around but had changed quite a bit in the 30 plus years since my last visit.

What did it turn into?  Legoland of all things.  I decided to take my youngest daughter with me to check it out as I’ve never been to one of these parks.

This place was amazing.  I have always loved Lego but my building skills are pretty rudimentary.  Simple square buildings with walls not structurally sound and fall over whenever I tried to move my creation from one place to another.  But the sculptures they have here are really unbelievable.

Two familiar friends we found were Emmet and Wyldstyle from the Lego Movie.  Nearby was a store called the minifigure market and is where I found the first penny press machine.

The penny machines found through this park were pretty unique.  The machines were almost silent when used, but did take a little more effort than usually to press the coins.

   

The pennies did roll a little short, but most of the design was visible.  This first set of pennies included images of Cypress Gardens, a Carousel Horse, Lego Duplo and some Lego people faces.

This park is huge and there is quite a bit of walking to do but the theming changes with each area.  There are sections like Duplo Valley pictures above.

The World of Chima is where an interesting water attraction can be found.  You ride in a boat with a water cannon in front of each seat that allows you to shoot streams of water at targets throughout the ride.

It was a little chilly when we visited and this ride looked like you got pretty soaked so we decided to skip this visit.  But will be checking this out again the next time.

The next area we headed into was the Lego Kingdoms which is themed around Kings and Queens, Castles, Knights and of course Dragons.

There is a ride called the Dragon, and the exit to the attraction takes you right by the King’s Market.  This is where I found the second penny machine.

   

These pennies pressed much better than the first.  The designs included images of a Knight’s Horse, a Lego Jester, the lost Kingdom Adventure, and The Dragon.

A short walk away was the next area called the Land of Adventure.  This area was kind of all over the place.  It started out like we were in Egypt with a Pharaoh and hieroglyphics, then to a jungle safari with Lego animals all over the place.

The area then ends with a dinosaur themed coaster called Coastersarus and is where the third penny press was found.

This was an interesting location for a penny press.  I’ve used machines inside restaurants, near bathrooms, and up at the top of the Empire State Building but this was a first.  The coaster actually had part of the track running right overtop of this machine.  So as I used it I could near people screaming as they coasted just a few feet over my head.

   

The pennies from this machine had images of the Legoland water park, the Statue of Liberty, an Elephant and the Coastersaurus.

Did I mention this place was big?  Next we found ourselves in the Lego City section.

The fun thing about this area is that it’s just like a mini town.  There is a Lego firehouse, police station and ice cream parlor.

There is even a Lego version of the DMV.  Well technically not, but it’s actually the Ford driving school.

Just outside the driving school shop is a Lego Ford Mustang that is pretty awesome with some realizing engine noises.  Right behind the mustang was the last penny machine we found.

   

The designs available at this last machine included Jet Ski, a Lego person driving a Lego car, Skipper School, and a Ride Vehicle.  Nearby was the water park but due to the cold weather it wasn’t open this day.  I’m not sure if there are any additional penny machines there but I’ll definitely be back to confirm.

Instead we headed over to the area that started this whole thing Cypress Gardens.

I was hoping to see some of the same locations I saw in the old home videos but nothing really looked the same.  It was still nice to walk along the trails through the gardens and hoped that maybe I had walked this same trail as a child.

We did spend a good amount of time walking around the gardens, but eventually made out way to the center piece of Legoland call miniland USA.  This was really cool to walk through.  They recreated US cities all made entirely out of Lego.

There was the Las Vegas strip with all the different casinos.

Even part of International Drive in Orlando with the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds and the Sea Life Aquarium.

I even came across the Daytona 500 with racing cars flying around the track.

We had spent a long day at the park and done a lot of walking so we decided it was about time to head out.  On our way back to the front of the park we checked out The Big Shop.  Basically this was one big Lego store with Lego sets, t-shirts, candy, and even some Disney stuff.

Near one of the check out registers I found a pressed penny booklet for Legoland which I had to pickup for my collection.

This theme park was a lot more fun than I had anticipated.  I’m not really sure what I thought it would be like but my daughter loved it.  There were a lot of rides for her age which was nice and made the experience a lot more fun for her.  So many times at the other parks she ends up not being tall enough and has to watch from the sidelines.  The Lego creations and details they have all around the park are really incredible and you could spend and entire day just looking at those.  They even have Lego birds in some of the trees.  If you haven’t tried Legoland and are looking for something different be sure to check this place out, and remember to bring some pennies!

Animal Kingdom 20th Anniversary – WDW Florida

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Update at the bottom (4/18/18)
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In just over a week it will be April 22, 2018 also known as Earth Day and my birthday.  However around here in Florida this is also known as the day Disney’s Animal Kingdom celebrates it birthday.  Back on April 22, 1998 the park first opened and as the cast members say “It’s not a zoo it a jungle out there.”

Now for anyone that can do some simple math next Sunday will mark the 20th anniversary of Animal Kingdom.  As Disney is known to do they are celebrating this big achievement in style.

A lot of the gift shops have all sorts of 20th anniversary merchandise including pins, t-shirts, mugs, magic bands and lots more.

Plus a nice special treat for us pressed penny collectors, six new special penny designs.  Now these are spread out in three different machines in the park.  The first one is located back in Rafiki’s Planet Watch at the Conservation Station.

To get here you need to take the Harambe Railroad on a short trip, and then a long walk back to the conservation station.  Please note that this place is not open the same hours as the park.  On my recent trip I was just able to get on the last train which left the station at 4:30pm and it was closing at 5pm.  Make sure you check the hours before trying to collect these coins as it may not be open if you are visiting later in the day.

Inside the conservation station you can meet Doc McStuffins, and sometimes Rafiki himself.  Towards the back of the building in the corner is where the penny machine is located.

This machine has been here for a year or so with other designs which have now been replaced.  In this machine all three of the designs have been changed and are of Simba, Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King.  All designs say “Disney’s Animal Kingdom 20th Anniversary.”

After taking the train back to Harambe Station in Africa you can head towards the icon of the park The Tree of Life.

Sorry I really like this tree and the details of it when you get up close are really amazing.  If you stay late enough once it gets dark there is also a new projection show on the tree where the animals all come to life.  The next set of pennies is actually located outside the park at The Outpost Shop.

This shop is right near the tram loading area just before the security check at the entrance to the park.

As with the other stores inside the park you can also get some 20th Anniversary merchandise.

This store has two penny machines inside.  The first machine has three images but only two of them have been changed.

For you Up! fans out there you can get new designs of Doug and Russell both with “Disney’s Animal Kingdom 20th Anniversary” included in the image.

On the other side of the store is the second machine, but this has only one design that was changed.

Keeping with the Up! designs this machine has a new image of Kevin also with the “20th Anniversary” as part of the design.  Kind of a strange way to disperse six new designs over three machines but who am I to complain.  I love these special sets and hope they do more.  I was at Epcot’s 35th anniversary last year and was sad to see now special coins were available.  Hopefully if this is a success they will continue to offer more like these.  When I pressed these coins earlier today they were definitely popular and lots of people were waiting in line to press their own.

Here is a shot of the complete set of six designs that are currently available.  I’m not sure if these will be permanent or only available for a limited time.  If you get a chance to press these make sure you do just in case they don’t stick around and it’s a really great set of pennies.
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Updated 04/18/2018:
I’m not sure if this was an unintentional mistake but the set of pressed pennies listed above from the Pixar movie Up! were just recently combined into one machine.  Initially as I had listed above two of the designs were in one machine and the third was in a separate machine both located in The Outpost Shop.

As you can see from the marquee picture below the designs have not changed they were just combined into one machine.

This does seem to make a little more than having the set split up among two machines, but both machines were in the same store so you didn’t really have far to go to find them initially.  In any case for now if you are interested in this 20th Anniversary set you just have to find the one machine.

Crayola Experience Visit #2 – Orlando, FL

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Last summer I had gone over to the Florida mall in Orlando and found a few penny machines inside.  Two at the M&M Candy Store, and another machine in the Crayola Experience.  You can check it out here.  During that visit I only used the 8-Design machine located in the crayola store but I knew there was another machine there but a paid admission ticket was required.  I knew at some point we would need to go back.

 My daughters love to make a mess especially when it comes to arts and crafts.  We decided to take another trip over to the mall but this time specifically just to check out the rest of the Crayola Experience.

If you park in the right area of the parking lot you can walk right inside, or if you are already in the mall shopping there is a separate entrance from the mall as well.  Once inside we bought our tickets and headed up to the second floor.

My girls fell in love with this place as soon as we got upstairs.  Everything is painted really bright and colorful.  The whole area is pretty big and have various sections where kids and adults can try different types of art.

There are areas with plain old crayons, and paint, or more interesting things like melted wax or digital coloring.

There are stations where you can create your own crayon which really means you just design a custom label that gets stuck on a stock crayon from a machine.

There is also a small cafe inside.  We just checked out the snack bar area that had soda, candy and fresh made fudge.

There are also a couple different indoor play grounds for the kids to expel some energy after eating candy and fudge from the snack bar.  We had spent a good part of the day and had a bag full of custom crayons and fresh new artwork for our refrigerator at home.  On the way back towards the stairs and elevators there is a desk where you can view some of the digital artwork created during your visit.

Right beside this desk was the second penny machine which was a four design hand crank model.

As with the rest of the building this machine was bright and colorful.  I wish I had thought to take pictures of the side of this machine as there was some cute artwork of crayons people melting in the Florida sunshine.

The designs on these pennies are of some crayon people experiencing some of Florida fun activities like a roller coaster, playing gold, the water skier pyramid, and building sand castles on the beach.

After pressing the pennies we headed back downstairs and over to the food court for some lunch.  The crayola experience is a great place to visit if you have children that really enjoy creating artwork.  The staff is very nice and helped show us what to do at each station.  I don’t think there is enough there to spend an entire day, but you can definitely enjoy a few hours here.  The cost seems a little pricey but after seeing all the art work we came home with which was included in the admission price it seems to justify the cost.  It was a lot of fun here and our kids are already asking when we will be heading back.

NEW Pirates of the Caribbean – Magic Kingdom

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I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my all time favorite Disney attraction is the Haunted Mansion, but coming in a very close second is Pirates of the Caribbean.  In the past there have been pressed coins designed for the ride, and the most recent was in a unique machine that looked like a treasure chest.  There is always something special when a new machine is made available in the Magic Kingdom so when I heard a new machine appeared there and was themed around Pirates I had to head over immediately.

With spring break still going on the parks were busier than usual.  After making our way down Main Street we headed into Adventureland.

The construction walls on the right side of the pathway are hiding the new Club 33.

For those of you that may not have known, the Pirates ride has been under a refurbishment that extended from mid February to March 2018.  Part of this closure was to update part of the ride known as the Auction scene.  The famous Redhead was being transformed into a Pirate auctioning off items plundered from the town.  The stand by line was over an hour, but I managed to get a fastpass and was on within 10 minutes.

Some people are not happy about the change as this is a classic Disney ride, but I actually was impressed with the changes and really liked the new Pirate Redhead.  After the ride was over we exited through the Plaza del Sol Caribe Bazaar also known as the gift shop.

I remember taking home numerous plastic pirate swords from here when I was a kid, and can only imaging how TSA would feel about them now at the airport.  This is a pretty big store and has everything you could imagine that is pirate related.

Over near where the restrooms are located is where the new penny machine is found.  This is the same place the previous 3 design machine was located but has now been retired.

These new 8-Design machines seem to be the new norm throughout the parks.  I’m still a die-hard pre-1982 penny person, but have been getting the hang of these new machines.  Being able to get more designs and with the electronic payment available makes collecting these a little more easy not having to carry around a pocket full of change.  If they could just figure out a way that I could use my own pennies in these I would be in heaven.

For anyone that hasn’t used one of these machines yet, should you come across one make sure to try it at least once.  The inner works of the press is really fun to watch.

The machine pressed all the “pennies” nicely.  I did roll  a couple sets and a few of them were a little short or off-center but nothing too serious.  The designs in this set include Pirate Mickey, Pirate Minnie, Pluto with the Jail cell key as seen in the ride, Pirate Goofy, Pirate Donald on a Cannon, a Skull and Crossbones, Dead Men Tell No Tales, and the Pirate Ship.

I’m not sure why but I just get the feeling that 2018 is going to be a big year for new Disney pressed coins.  This new machine is a great theme and I’m glad the Pirate attraction got these great new coins.  My fingers are crossed for maybe an 8-Design Haunted Mansion set which would be awesome (hint hint Disney).  But whatever comes out next I’ll be sure to get there as soon as possible to check them out.

Dinosaur World – Plant City, FL

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A few months ago we had taken a day trip down to Tampa and checked out the Florida Aquarium.  To get there we had traveled straight down the dreaded I-4 highway but I remember seeing a few roadside attractions along the way and made a mental note to look into them.  This past weekend I decided it was time to check out one of those places.

Dinosaur World is located just off of I-4 about 15 minutes outside of Tampa.  As we pulled up we were welcomed by this stone wall covered with dinosaurs that seemed a little cheesy but intriguing at the same time.

After we found a parking spot in the busy lot we headed towards the main building.  This is a combination gift shop and entry ticket area.  I was actually caught a little off guard as I entered this building.

As I’m sure you would expect nothing less of me I did research online before the visit to see if there were any penny machines here and thankfully there was.  However my surprise was that the machine I found just inside the main door was actually a quarter machine.

   

Luckily I always bring spare change and had just enough to press each of the four designs.  When I was young I was obsessed with dinosaurs and would have been able to name most of these without hesitation.  However as I’ve gotten older those crazy long names have escaped me.  To help me out thankfully these designs included the names of each dino and were of a T-Rex, Brachiosaurus, Velociraptor, and Pteranodon.

These pressed quarters also had a nice design on the back of each coin of a T-Rex and Dinosaur World.

   

Just beside this machine was a table and basket holding a collection of pressed penny booklets.  There was a generic penny passport that had a sticker stating it would hold pressed quarters.  The second booklet which I purchased was themed for Dinosaur World but would only hold pressed pennies.  That was okay for me since I don’t store my coins in these booklets anyways, but can resist buying these booklets anyways as a separate collection.  While I paid for the booklet I also bought our entrance ticket to the park and headed back outside.

As we exited out the back of the gift shop we encountered a large open area with some huge dinosaurs keeping an eye on everyone.  These were stationary and not animated at all but the details on them were still pretty amazing.  This first area of the park had a lot of picnic tables and signs reserving some of the sections for birthday parties (lucky kids).  There was also a dino themed playground, and a fossil hunt area that you could buy a separate ticket to participate with.

We just kept following the path through the park and came to a stone archway that reminded me of the Jurassic Park entrance just much less intimidating.  This welcomed us to Dinosaur World.

In this area we were on a raised boardwalk that wound through the thick foliage and trees.  There were dinosaurs around each corner and had signage nearby listing their name and some details about them.

We found some mammoths in one area but was surprised they weren’t inside a glacier or other ice age type cavern.  But I guess that’s hard to find in the hot Florida weather.

I was a little disappointed that these dinosaurs didn’t move.  Some had speakers nearby that would broadcast generic dinosaur roars or noises.

This area of the park had pathways that headed in all different directions but was much larger than I anticipated.  There was a lot of walking but thankfully the tall trees overhead gave a lot of nice shade.

Eventually we seemed to have visited with all the different dinosaurs in this area of the park and headed back to the front area to one last section yet to see.

The museum.  When we had bought our tickets the nice woman at the counter told us to prepare our daughters for the animatronic dinos inside as they can be scary.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as you can see from the picture above there was another machine to use first.

   

This machine had three designs all pressed on pennies.  This machine did roll the designs a little short on the one end but the finished product wasn’t too bad.  The images on the coins included a Brontosaurus, a Dimetrodon, and of course the famous T-Rex.  These pressed pennies did not have a back design on them.

Inside the museum the pathway went back and forth hiding the animatronics at the end, but you could hear them making noise.  The walls had little windows that displayed different fossils and prehistoric items.

Eventually we made our way  to the end where the moving dinosaurs were but to be honest they were pretty tame.  My youngest daughter who is just 2 years old ran right up to them and didn’t seem to be bothered by them at all.

They didn’t move much and their sounds much but they were still detailed nicely to make for a fun finale to our visit.  After quite a bit of walking and sun shine it was about time we headed back to the modern-day.  It was a nice surprise to find two coin press machines here.  Dinosaur world was a cute little park and my kids really enjoyed it, but I think it would be difficult to spend an entire day here.  I’m sure we will be back to visit some day to visit the dinos and hopefully find some new pressed coins.

SeaWorld Part 3 – Orlando, FL

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On this third time around to SeaWorld another few weeks after my previous visit I decided to start early in the day and stay late if needed to find the last batch of penny machines.  The entire drive over to the park my youngest daughter kept saying she wanted to see sharks.  So I make sure that our first stop once we got through security was over to the shark exhibit.

This type of exhibit is pretty common now among aquariums where you are surrounded by the tanks.

Once nice feature is that when you do make it to the large main tank with the sharks, there is a moving walkway which prevents people from blocking the pathway.  This keeps everyone moving through, but at a nice leisurely pace so you can take some nice pictures or have the sharks swim along with you.  After we were done with the sharks we headed into the far side of the park that we hadn’t visited before.

A strange sight in the middle of Florida were ice glaciers, and snow.  This was all themed to be like you were in Antarctica and is where we found the Empire of the Penguin exhibit.

Once inside where you can see all the penguins I will admit it’s freezing in there.  This obviously is for the comfort of the penguins, but since we were wearing t-shirts and shorts we didn’t stay inside too long.  As we exited of course we found ourselves in a penguin themed gift shop.

The shop wasn’t too big, but did have a penny machine located inside.  It’s kind of around the corner, and I think that if we didn’t go through the penguin exhibit I may not have noticed it was here.

   

With these pennies pressed and stored away we headed out the far side of “Antarctica” and heard the familiar screams / laughter from a water flume ride.  Here at SeaWorld they have one called Journey to Atlantis..

I’m not a fan of getting soaking wet in a theme park and avoid these water drop rides most of the time.  My sister loves Splash Mountain so when her family is in town visiting I’ll join her on that one just like when we were kids.

On this visit I decided to try to stay dry so we just stood by and watched a few boats go down the large drop and get drenched at the bottom.  When you are looking directly at this ride if you turn 180 degrees you will see the above three machines just waiting to be used.

   

The first machine on the left side was labeled around the Journey to Atlantis ride but strangely the penny designs didn’t have anything to do with that ride.

   

The machine in the middle of this trio was themed around the Kraken which is another intense roller coaster nearby.

   

The third machine has designs of some seals.  This is probably due to the Pacific Point Preserve area of the park back near Antarctica.

Before we headed on I wanted to make a quick stop into the gift shop for the Journey to Atlantis ride.  Whenever I’m hunting for penny machines Disney has met pretty trained to look inside souvenir stores.  Unfortunately there weren’t any penny machines there but they did have a small little aquarium.  As we wandered around the store I also found a pressed penny booklet that I just had to get.

I’ve posted in the past that I store all my pressed coins in 2×2 cardboard holders inside three-ring binders.  However that still doesn’t stop me from collecting these booklets.  I have a large plastic container in my house just filled with them.

A little further past the Journey to Atlantis ride was a pit stop area with some restrooms.  We made the stop but only because two more penny machines were located here.

   

One machine is by the women’s restroom and the second by the mens.  I’ve never been a fan of having penny machines hear restrooms as they just end up being used to lean on, or people loitering around them.  Most are nice enough to move aside when asked, and more often than not you also get a group of kids wanting to see how the machine works.

   

While using this second machine I did have a nice family give me a heads up about some other penny machines near by.  We chatted for a bit about pressing coins and also let them know about TEC (The Elongated Collectors)  Club which they were unaware of.  Wishing each other well on our collection we split up and went in search of the last few machines.

Taking the instructions from my new friends we headed over to the TurtleTrek and Manatee rehabilitation area.

Turtles are cool, but there is nothing like a manatee.  I’m still fascinated by these creatures.  There was a staff member near by giving a little presentation about some of their newest additions.

Two orphaned baby manatees.  It was a heartbreaking story that is always sad to hear.  People just not paying attention with their boats and these slows moving animals.  The two just don’t mix.  But these little ones were being well taken care of and they were just really fun to watch.

   

After visiting with the baby manatees I headed back over to the Turtle area and found the next penny machine.  By this time we had explored almost the entire park, but we had one last area to check out.

Dolphins, how could I have forgotten about dolphins.  At the top of the tank they do have feeding times where you can help feed the dolphins.  Or for a better view of these amazing mammals you can go to the underwater viewing area.

If you walk down the pathway towards the viewing area is where we found the last two penny machines.

   

The machines are on either side of the pathway, but because this is both the entrance and exit to the viewing area and of course with the popularity of dolphins this area does get a little congested.

   

It had been another busy day but we enjoyed every moment of it.  After visiting with the dolphins for a little while we headed back towards the front of the park.  We had visited every corner and gift shop of the park and found all the penny machines currently available.

SeaWorld definitely has a lot of offer and we will be back hopefully before too long.  With a total of 24 machines each with 4 penny designs that’s a total of 96 pennies.  Most of the machines do have the ability to make change if needed but I always recommend coming prepared whenever possible.  This would be a massive project to try to collect all of these during one visit, but not completely out of the question.  I’m not sure you would have time for much else.  As I mentioned there is a lot to see and do here so take your time and enjoy it.

SeaWorld Part 2 – Orlando, FL

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A couple of weeks after my first visit to SeaWorld I finally got some free time to go back and pick up where I left off.  There were still quite a few penny machines here somewhere and I was determined to find them.

I headed back towards the Mako roller coaster but turned in towards the Shark Underwater Grill & Bar.  This is a restaurant that is similar to the Coral Reef in Epcot if you have ever visit it.  Basically you get to eat a table service meal in front of a large aquarium tank.  This one as the name would imply has quite a few sharks keeping their eyes on you while you eat.

Just outside the Shark restaurant is an area that you can feed sharks at certain designated times during the day.  Now I will admit you won’t be feeding great white sharks, instead they are much smaller and friendlier.

Located in this area are two penny machines.  One at each end of the feeding tank.

   

During feeding times this area can get a little crowded, and it was hard to use these machines as people were completely surrounding them.  But if you go during a non-feeding time they are pretty easily accessible.

   

Just down a short walk away is the other big roller coaster this park is home to called Manta.  This is a coaster that has you flying kind of like superman underneath a Manta Ray ride vehicle.  It looks really cool, but would be way out of my league.

Just outside the entrance / exit to Manta is a small little gift shop, and directly across the walk way is where I found the next penny machine.

   

There is a second penny machine just down the pathway towards the Flamingo exhibit.

   

It was getting a little late in the afternoon and I was supposed to meet my father over at the Orlando Convention Center to check out the Auto Show.  So unfortunately I only had time for a couple more machines.  There was one place I remember having a few machines years ago and thought I would stop by.

The Sting Ray lagoon and Feeding area is one big touch tank, and they do have staff nearby willing to answer questions and give presentations about the rays.

   

This first machine is located right in front of the lagoon as you walk up towards it.  The machine seemed like it needed a new dose of grease in the gears as it was really squeaky.  The hand crank was pretty tough to turn, and as you can see by the coins above they were rolling short.  I actually tried using this machine a few times over a couple other trips and the set pictured was the best of each coin.  Hopefully they will get someone out there to do some service on it.

There are quite a lot of rays available in this tank.  If you reference the times guide for the park you can find out when the feedings take place and for a small fee can help feed them.

At the back of the lagoon are some sinks so you can wash your hands after feeding or touching the sting rays.  This is also the area where you can buy the food during feeding times.  Back here is also where you can find the second penny machine.

   

This machine was working much better than the one out front.  With this second batch of pennies pressed my second visit was about over.  I headed back out of the park and eventually made it over to the convention center for the auto show.  Unfortunately there were not penny machines there (what were they thinking!).

SeaWorld was definitely growing on me and I couldn’t wait to get back.  There was another whole area I hadn’t checked out yet, more sea creatures to visit and of course a few more penny machines to find.

SeaWorld Part 1 – Orlando, FL

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My youngest daughter has really gotten bit by the theme park bug.  It has become almost a weekly tradition now where we get up Sunday morning and she immediately says “Animal Park”.  This is her signal that she wants to visit a park and who am I to deprive her of that but this time I thought I would actually try to let her see some animals.  It has been probably over 10 years since the last time I visited SeaWorld so I thought it was about time to go back.

Now the park has been receiving some bad press lately, and it seemed to show in the crowd level.  It was pretty light on the day we visited, and they also had some great deals on tickets.

   

As soon as you enter the park you way by the one of the main gift shops that I believe is call Shamu’s Emporium.  It’s and indoor and outdoor shop which a lot of merchandise.  This store was a nice welcome to the park with six penny machines right off the bat.

   

Usually I go over what designs are on each penny, but to be honest a lot of these designs are of the animals.  Not duplicate designs, but I figured you may get tired of me saying Manatee or Turtle too many times.  Plus to be honest sometimes I’m just not sure exactly what creature is on the coin.  The pictures will give you a good look at the designs available at each machine.

   

This second machine was literally just a few steps to the left of the first one, and also had a nice change machine built in should you not heed my advice and always come prepared for penny pressing.

   

At the corner of the building is the next machine and you can also see the fourth machine right beside it.

   

As you keep walking past the store to the far side you will come across the last two machines found here.

I remember years ago when I was here there were a few electric penny presses, but on this trip I can confirm they are all gone and you will need to bring some elbow grease.  If you are planning on pressing all the coins in one day your arm is going to be soar.  It actually took me a couple visits to get all of these.

   

The second machine here is right beside the other.

   

I had been in the park for probably less than 15 minutes and only walked about 100 feed but already I had 24 pennies pressed and my elbow was starting to throb.  But I wasn’t complaining as my day was just beginning.

Just past Shamu’s emporium the path splits and you can go either left or right.  But as you can see in the picture above straight ahead was the SeaWorld Rescue store and a penny machine right outside.

   

After pressing this next set of pennies I opted to head towards the right path.  This took me past some small snack stands, the dolphin nursery, a quick service tex-mex restaurant and more souvenir stores.

   

Somehow I ended up on a boardwalk style path that extended out over a big area of water.  During the holiday season they had Christmas trees out in the water as part of a  light show and some were still up during our visit.  At the far side we found the famous Shamu Stadium and the inside looked very familiar.  Some of it had been updated but I remember that large tail fin shaped screen.  Sadly no shows were going on while we were there but it was nice to see the stadium again.

We said goodbye for now to Shamu’s stadium and walked over to a place called the Wild Arctic.  This is kind of a ride, but not really.  There is a motion simulator that you can take which makes it seem like you are making the trek up to the Arctic via helicopter I believe.  But since I had my youngest daughter with me we opted to skip the ride and just walk to the Arctic.  It’s all inside a building as you can see from the above picture.  The A/C is blasting inside to make it a little colder but not uncomfortable.  This is where you can see the beluga whales and polar bears.

Once you exit the Wild Arctic and make your way outside you will find the next penny machine just off the path next to a bench so you can take a quick break.

   

We headed back over towards the stadium and walked around to Shamu’s Happy Harbor which is like a kids play area and water park.  They do have some small rides and carnival style games, but to my surprise no penny machines were here.  Eventually we walked up to the parks newest roller coaster (for now) called Mako.

If you zoom in on the picture above you can see the penny machine off in the distance.

   

This first visit to the park I found this machine but the coin slider was jammed and I couldn’t use it.  We made it back a few weeks later and I was able to press the coins, but they did roll a little short.  With the sounds of roller coaster riders screaming over our heads we headed on our way.

I think this is a good place to stop for now.  Trust me there were a lot more penny machines to find.  As I mentioned it did take me a few trips back to get all of these pennies and check out the rest of the park.  Be sure to check back so we can find the rest of the machine.  Happy collecting.