Sea World/Aquatica Advice

#1

Hello!
We are thinking about doing a non Disney park FL vacation during spring break. We already have our resort booked offsite, using points from a family member. And were thinking about hitting up Sea World and Aquatica. Not sure if we will do a 2 day or 3 day ticket. I know Busch Gardens Tampa is usually included in the multi day tickets but not a lot to do with younger kids.
Any who, was just looking for general advice on touring plans, rope dropping, etc for Sea World and Aquatica for current COVID times. I was looking at some of the animal encounters/tours that are additional cost and wondering how those were and if they were worth the cost. Is the Quick Queue necessary right now, my DH and DS would be the only ones riding the coasters? DD9 and I will mainly do the other few rides, Sesame Street stuff I guess and shows. This would be during the week (M-F) but it’s the week before Easter. We typically go to WDW as a family during spring break and it’s so crowded but given the current situation I have no idea what to expect.

Do I need to find a touring plan somewhere? If we have quick queue is that even necessary, other than planning around show times?

Any advice, suggestions you can give would be great! Right now there is a promo until 1/24 for park tickets that include 1 meal ticket, so we probably would forego the All day dining. Although I do have a 14 1/2 year old son that eats all the time at home, but if he’s busy and distracted maybe not so much. :slight_smile:

Also what do you do with bags on rides and what can you bring into the park, snacks, water? Can you get free water like you can at Disney parks?

Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions, etc!

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#2

I have not been there since 2014. We did two days SW, two days BGT and one day Aquatica. Loved them all.

There is a pretty active page on Disboards that likely has recent experiences.

There is a ton to do for younger kids at BGT, BTW. And it’s been updated considerably since our trip in 2014.

HTH

#3

Hi! How old are your kids? Just 9 and 14? We took our 1 and 4 year old to SeaWorld last year and they loved it but I’m not sure if a 9 year old might be just a little too old for the Sesame Land.

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#4

Oh thanks, I didn’t even think to check Disboards. I was looking at rides at BGT and I didn’t really see any that she would like, she’s not riding any coasters there that I can tell. LOL

#5

Yes, just the 9 and 14, well she will actually almost be 10 by the time we go and DS will be 14 1/2 by then. DS and I just went to WDW in early December 2020 and I was looking for a lesser priced experiences but still something to do for a week. He doesn’t like to get up early so I was thinking about a rest day in between each park day. We would have 6 full days to do entertain them.
My DD just wants to go to water parks!

#6

We looked and yes she might be too big for Sesame Street land, we shall see. Disney is just so expensive, even for tickets now. Especially when it’s the 4 of us, when it was just two of us it was so much less, ha!

#7

Well after reading some of the comments on Disboards, maybe I should just suck up the extra money and go to Disney after all, lol

#8

Whoa, no, I’m not saying skip SeaWorld! We really liked it! And like you, I thought it was a GREAT deal! I just wanted to warn you about Sesame Street. I was worried that your kids would roll their eyes and laugh at you as you pull them into Mr. Hooper’s store! :rofl:

Would they enjoy the shows? There were tons of wet rides that could probably kind of be water-park esque. We did the free dining and I felt like the food was fantastic.

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#9

LOL, well after reading about mask compliance, I am not so sure now. I know how Disney is handling that after seeing first hand in December. DD really wants to do to Disney but me being a cheap skate and staying for free, is looking for other options. Even though I love me some Disney, it’s just harder sometimes to do it when offsite. And no FPP in case I can’t get the teenager out of bed.

#10

Oh I understand. I didn’t realize that was what you meant. We were there in 2019 so I don’t have any commentary on the Covid procedures unfortunately.

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