I spent many of my summer vacations as a little girl visiting SeaWorld. I loved it so much that I almost pursued marine biology. The thought of riding Shamu was and still is more enticing to me than flying or any other magical act. So, bringing my family of four to SeaWorld last week was a no-brainer. This time, though, not only was I in search of fun ... I decided to dissect the park and find out how it fared in the healthy living department. Could we leave more fit than when we arrived?

I've done this experiment before at other major theme parks and vacation destinations and these are the things I look for.

• Is there an opportunity to be physically active?
• Is healthy food readily available?
• Will I and other guests be inspired to do and be better?
• Is the vacation fun?

Here, I focus on physical activity.

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I just returned from a place I've decided to be Man Heaven. Man Heaven is a place where loads and loads of men dressed in various colored athletic jerseys giddily board trams with feverish excitement to spend time with their favorite sports heroes. These men were squirming in their seats, beaming bright smiles and high-fiving their way all the way to the entrance gates of Disney World's Hollywood Studios. ESPN the Weekend is Man Heaven.

The weekend was filled with endless opportunities to meet, train with, question and listen to America's favorite ESPN stars: Donovan McNabb, Tony Gonzalez, Hershel Walker, John Stockton, Cal Ripken Jr., Chris Carter and more. Oodles of ESPN Sportscasters took stages across the park hosting their own scheduled and aired ESPN shows, and also hosted other fun question and answer sessions with the stars of Man Heaven.

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Swimming with dolphins seems like it would be a really fun experience. If I were on a tropical vacation, for instance, you can bet that's one of the first things I would do. But as far as medical treatment via these aquatic animals is concerned, two Emory researchers say it's just a dangerous money trap.

DAT, or dolphin-assisted therapy, is a way for chronic patients of mental and physical disabilities to get outside the realm of typical treatment. Proponents say dolphins help the healing potential of these individuals. But those against the therapeutic interactions say it's a lose-lose situation for both the dolphins and the patients.

For one, there's no evidence that suggests long-term benefits to swimming with dolphins. Sure, they're social creatures with great intelligence -- but that doesn't make them a doctor. Another reason picks at the fact that it is such a novel experience. Costing upwards of a thousand dollars or more for these private sessions, critics say it may just be an expensive sales pitch. The danger they talk about stems from the claim that children could be put in tanks with 400-pound animals caught in the wild with potential trauma. In all practicality, they don't know for sure if anything comes from swimming with the dolphins. But if it puts a smile on a child's face who would otherwise never get the opportunity, then it should be worth all the costs!

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