Busch Gardens/Sea World Staycation: Day Two

Orlando, Florida:  The second day of the Busch Gardens/Sea World sets our sights on Sea World Orlando.  Our season passes were set to expire soon so we figured to get another trip to Sea World before they expire.  

Our morning plans had to be modified thanks to the unauthorized bait and switch by our hotel.  We originally booked the Holiday Inn Express at Sea World due to their hot breakfast, but they moved us to the Towneplace Suites by Marriott which breakfast consisted of an apple, banana nut muffin and a bottle of water.  It would be hard to tackle a day at the park without a good breakfast so we set out to Orlando for breakfast.  We had a hard time finding something initially because so many places were closed due to COVID.  So rather than keep looking online, we decided to hit the road and try and find something.

Following our amazing breakfast at Keke’s Breakfast Cafe in Sarasota yesterday, we hit up the Keke’s in Orlando.  There was one of the breakfast chains just about 15 minutes from the hotel so we headed there for another amazing breakfast.  Just like yesterday, they did to disappoint.  My son had the southwest omelet, I had pancakes and my wife had the Florida pancake pictured here. It was delicious and filling and a perfect way to kick off a day at the theme park.  

We arrived at the park a little after park opening and it was surprisingly full for a weekday.  The parking lot had a bunch of rows filled in preferred parking and quite a bit in standard parking and we were not even an hour into the day.  The line for temperature checks was quite busy as well.

Once inside the park the cancellation drama from yesterday carried over into today.  The shows were limited scheduled with some not even showing today.   But we tried to make the best of it and ride some rides.  The first one we rode was Manta.  This thrilling coaster puts you on your stomach, riding through the sky like a Manta through the water.  It is a fun coaster and makes it even better on your stomach.  One of the cool parts of the ride is how they integrate a tropical reef aquarium into the ride queue.  This makes for some good entertainment while waiting in line for the ride but also gives non-riders something to do while they wait for the rest of their party to get off the coaster.  This is also a good spot to beat the heat and get out of the sun for a little and check out some sharks, manta rays and other tropical fish.

Next up was another family favorite, Journey to Atlantis.  Part flume ride/part coaster.  However it was closed due to a maintenance issue.  Strike one on the day.  So we decided to head over to ride one of the newest attractions, Empire of the Penguin but it too was closed.  Strike two of the trip. The ride portion was closed but you could wait in the ride line and skip to the penguin exhibit at the end.  

So my son and I headed to coaster number two of the day, Kraken.  A fun coaster but instantly knocked the fun out due to stupid people. We were assigned row 4, in the row in front of us there were four foreigners on vacation.  The whole time while waiting, the ride staff kept having to tell them to wear their mask. Staff would turn their back and they would take them off.  When it came time to load the coaster, they split their party and put half in the row they were assigned and the other half in our row.  Once again the staff shrugged their shoulders and said what can you do.  The coaster was delayed in going because they had to wait for them to put their masks back on.  Once it departed, they again pulled their masks off.  When the train pulled back in the station, they were again reminded about the mask policy.  They then refused to get off the coaster because they wanted to ride again and once again the staff accommodated this despite people waiting.  And once again they had to be told about their masks.  At this point I said something to the ride staff first because they are blatantly not following the mask policy, I mean do you think I want to wear one all day?  I’m fat and its 96 degrees out, I’d love to not have to wear one, but I chose to come to the park in a pandemic therefore I follow the safety guidelines in place.  Secondly it took us 30 minutes to ride a ride with a 5 minute wait because of the stupidity of them and their “me first” mentality.  Very frustrating!

Once that cluster was over, we tried to head over to another family friendly ride, Infinity Fall.  We have been teased by their social media posts that it's now reopened.  Fake news!  Got over there and it was drained and out of service.  Strike three Sea World.  Had enough of the letdowns.  Doubled back to Mako to get a ride on my son’s favorite coaster before heading out.

On the way out of the park we passed through Sesame Street Land to grab some photos of the new land.  Then tried to ride Wild Arctic but it too had the ride closed and only the animal exhibits open.

The Sea World Orlando portion of the trip was a giant let down. I said something to a team member about the disappointment and they said due to the pandemic they are operating at reduced operations on weekdays.  There is no mention of this on the website or at the entrance.  If that is the case, then maybe they should be only open on the weekends.  It would be a waste of a full-day admission to have that kind of experience.

 We attempted to grab Disney passes to make the most of a crappy day but they are not selling annual passes at this time.

This Staycation trip was a big disappointment.  I clearly understand the pandemic but either open or close, it's a bad experience for guests to do this half attempt.  I mean it made up my mind to allow my passes to expire and not renew.  Not necessarily because of the reduced operations, but the mindset of the organization, this is clearly a matter of putting money before guest experiences.  That I have a problem with.

I also have a problem with the bait and switch operations by Holiday Inn Express Sea World and the lack of follow-up from IHG.  If you are gonna close the hotel, then do it. Do not advertise it and its amenities and they bait and switch you to another brand without the amenities.  Then when called out about it respond back “we are sorry” and nothing further.  To this day they still advertise that they are open and operating.

I am clearly ready for another trip somewhere to make up for this let down.  Until then, click on the photos above to view the Busch Gardens/Sea World photo gallery.