2 days SW • 2 days BG • 1 day Aquatica in May

[momof2n2]

Our familiy will be in FL for two weeks in May in a rental house in Davenport. We are skipping out for four nights for DCL, and had originally planned on five park days at WDW. HOWEVER, as FP+ is currently not conducive to our touring style (go-go-go!) our family has overwhelmingly thrown our interest and excitement into exploring SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens.

Our travel party is myself, DH, six kids (13, 11, 9, 8, 3, 1) and my mom and sister.

We are getting DH a SuperGrover pass from SP (we are HUGE SP fans with 8 trips under our belts) and then the rest of us are getting the passes that allow us 14 days unlimited access to Aq/SW/BG.

As of right now we are penciling in:
Sunday 5/4 - Aquatica
Mon 5/5-5/9 cruise
Sat 5/10 - rest
Sun 5/11 Mother's Day - SeaWorld
Mon 5/12 BG
Tue - 5/13 rest
Weds - 5/14 BG
Thurs - 5/15 SW
Fri - 5/16 - rest day and start our trek back to NY after dinner.

After years of doing WDW trips and having such a high degree of planning done it is a bit uncomfortable for me to be going in so blind. I'm up for any and all suggestions, and a touring plan would be even better.

Specific items:
1) Does the time-per-park sound like we can do most of everything in the parks?
2) We are planning to do all day dining at least the first day at SeaWorld (Mother's Day). Can anyone offer insight into where we'd most likely enjoy our meals?
3) With all day dining will each member of the party have to go through the line? Like as a huge group?
4) At BG - we don't plan to do all day dining. The park is only open 10-6 the week we are there. We will be there at opening having eaten in our rental home. We will buy lunch there. I'm thinking we will have a heavy snack late in the day and then eat something back at the house.
5) How long do you think lines will be in mid-May? Will Mother's Day be mobbed at SW? If yes, I suppose we can concentrate on shows that day and rides the second day.
6) We aren't interested in animal feeding (we live near MarineLand Canada and have done that [and loved it]). We are more interested in the things SeaWorld has that MarineLand does not.

I know I have more questions and I know this board isn't heavily traveled as the WDW ones. I do appreciate everything you can help me with.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Specific items:
1) Does the time-per-park sound like we can do most of everything in the parks?

I always recommend 2 days at SeaWorld...it allows you to see and do almost everything without having to tour at break-neck speed, and even revisit some of your favourites on day two. So I think you are good there .

We love Aquatica, and we're big waterpark people, so if it were me, I would turn part of your rest day into another Aquatica day (or even a half day). Its fun, fun, fun (I could spend an extra half day in Roa's Rapids alone) .

2) We are planning to do all day dining at least the first day at SeaWorld (Mother's Day). Can anyone offer insight into where we'd most likely enjoy our meals?

For dinners, our favourites are Voyageurs (for barbecue platters) and SeaFire Inn (which offers an assortment of different meals). For lunch we enjoy Mango Joes. The only one I would say to avoid is the Terrace Garden Buffet (pizza/pasta). The food there isn't terrible but there are much better places to eat in the park.

3) With all day dining will each member of the party have to go through the line? Like as a huge group?

Yes, each member has to go through the line. Everyone will have a wrist band that must be shown for your entitlement each time through the line.

6) We aren't interested in animal feeding (we live near MarineLand Canada and have done that [and loved it]). We are more interested in the things SeaWorld has that MarineLand does not.

We live in Ontario and are frequent/yearly visitors to Niagara Falls (my favourite staycation location!). Over our son's childhood, we have been to Marineland multiple times. Let me tell you....if you enjoyed Marineland, SeaWorld will knock your socks off. They aren't even comparable....and I can almost assure you that you won't want to return to Marineland ever again after you see what a true marine park should be operated like. The differences between the two are staggering, and not in a way that's favourable to Marineland. Be prepared to be wowed. Its THAT much better.

While I have not been to BG (so can't be much help there), I have answered some of your questions above in red. Hopefully you will find these boards to be a good resource for your planning!

One of the things that I adore about a SW parks vacation is that you can go with the flow. No super-crazy planning ahead required. No prebooking meals six months in advance. No firm touring plan required in order to enjoy the attractions....follow some basic principles (arrive at least a half hour before a show in order to get a good seat, arrive at park opening, ride the headliners like Manta and Antarctica early in the day, etc.) and you will have an amazing time.

If Dine with Shamu is back open by the time your visit rolls around, that's something else I would recommend. The food is excellent and its a very informative and interesting presentation. Worth considering if its back open by May.

 

[mjmcca]

You might want to rethink not having the all day dining at BG. It is at least an hour to BG from Davenport probably more with traffic which means you have to be out of the house at 830 at the latest in order to be at the gates at park opening. How early are you going to get up I order to feed everyone before you leave?

Additionally as my 11 y/o likes to say Florida has 2 seasons Spring and Summer. May is firmlyi n Summer time with temps generally in the high 80s to mid 90s. I think the meal deal can pay for itself in water bottles alone on really hot days since they are $2.79 each before tax.


Remember the Super Grover passes are on sale until March 1. I think they are $48 off the normal price.

 

[momof2n2]

While I have not been to BG (so can't be much help there), I have answered some of your questions above in red. Hopefully you will find these boards to be a good resource for your planning!

One of the things that I adore about a SW parks vacation is that you can go with the flow. No super-crazy planning ahead required. No prebooking meals six months in advance. No firm touring plan required in order to enjoy the attractions....follow some basic principles (arrive at least a half hour before a show in order to get a good seat, arrive at park opening, ride the headliners like Manta and Antarctica early in the day, etc.) and you will have an amazing time.

If Dine with Shamu is back open by the time your visit rolls around, that's something else I would recommend. The food is excellent and its a very informative and interesting presentation. Worth considering if its back open by May.

Wow - thank you for this information! I'll plan on hitting those restaurants and am so glad to hear we can sort of make our own pace and still see/do everything. We do love roller coasters and I expect they will want to hit them up a few times. Thank you for the suggestion to do Dine with Shamu. I must admit, I really, really pictured a character meal thing with a guy dressed in an orca costume and was thinking, "Nuh-uh." I had no idea what it really was and wouldn't have bothered looking if you hadn't mentioned it. It would be a huge expense for the 8 of us, so I am going to read more and see if I think we can swing it.

We are totally park-opening-to-park-closing people. I'm thinking we should be there for opening and maybe hit Manta right away, THEN go look for breakfast? My crew will already be starving by 9AM though. LOL.

As the comparison to ML goes, I am even more excited to see SeaWorld. We genuinely love ML. I love how VAST the place is. And it is so clean. [I've gone there my whole life (we have family in NF) and joke I was raised on Clifton Hill.] We only go every few years now and the last trip the lot was FULL of buses. FULL. And yet once we were in the park it felt like we had the place to ourselves. The park absorbs crowds so well. I also love the variety of rides. The animal shows are sadly NOT what they were twenty years ago. And it was only as we were watching the dolphin show that I realized there were no orcas in the pools! But we love how easy it is to have animal interactions there and the photo ops are fantastic. I look at what they wish/hope they could develop ML to be, but with so many other things in NF vying for the tourists' dollars I'm glad they haven't over expanded to where they can't maintain it.

You might want to rethink not having the all day dining at BG. It is at least an hour to BG from Davenport probably more with traffic which means you have to be out of the house at 830 at the latest in order to be at the gates at park opening. How early are you going to get up I order to feed everyone before you leave?

Additionally as my 11 y/o likes to say Florida has 2 seasons Spring and Summer. May is firmlyi n Summer time with temps generally in the high 80s to mid 90s. I think the meal deal can pay for itself in water bottles alone on really hot days since they are $2.79 each before tax.


Remember the Super Grover passes are on sale until March 1. I think they are $48 off the normal price.

Thank you for this thoughful reply! Yes - I see the Super Grover is on sale until March 1 and we'll grab it before then. We are sort of lingering trying to decide if we should get them for the whole family if we think we can swing a visit to Sesame Place later in the summer. (We are huge fans.) But the SG pass is only $30 more than the passes we are getting for SW/BG/Aq and it will pay for the parking after two days.

I love your 11 y. o.'s observation! Too true.

As far as distance and being up, I will share that DH and I are early risers, even on vacation. I am always up by 5 and the latest my kids sleep is 6:30/7 even after a big day/late night. And I love to cook. Love it. So to me having the time to make a huge breakfast for everyone is part of the treat of being on vacation. Having DH and my mom and sister there to help me with clean up just sweetens the deal. So getting in the car by 8/8:30 is nothing for us. But your observation is a great one and I appreciate you putting thought into it.

The reason I hesitate with ADD at BG is that the park is only open 8 hours. If we already are going to eat lunch (and likely lose an hour of park touring) I hate to lose time for another meal.

 

[momof2n2]

Has anyone done the all day dining at Aquatica? Is that worth it?

 

[mjmcca]

I bought the Supper Grover APs around Christmas time they were a bargin. We were there for the Christmas park festivities and they applied the ticket price I paid towards them. We are currently in Florida using those tickets. I want to get to BG VA sometime before the end of the year.

If you do decide to get APs for everyone the Tampa Water Park is included in you admission media. I have never been there and it is closed now but might be open when you visit. I have been to the Viginia Water Park and it is very nice.

 

[momof2n2]

I haven't been to BG VA in 16+ years but we loved-loved it.
We are huge SP fans; the park is beautifully maintained (but it is much more expensive than 10 years ago.)
I'm so glad to see SW & BG are tying some Sesame Street into their parks finally. It makes too much sense not to...

Speaking of which - can you comment on how well done (or not) the tie-ins are at BG & SW?

 

[mjmcca]

My kids are the ages of your oldest, 13 and 11 when we went Sunday they hit the coasters over and over. The Sesame Street stuff at SW is seasonal as I understand it. I don't think it starts until May.we haven't been to BG yet and now the kids are kind of saying they just want to stay in Orlando so I am not sure if we will make it there or not.

I love SP as well have taken the kids many times. Christmas was awesome! They had trees everywhere real live ones just trimmed with lights in addition to the large tree in the front of the park. If you like the landscaping at SP, SW will blow you away.

I know it is much more expensive then it used to be that is why I was so glad about the AP sale. With this trip it basically paid for itself and we are going on a Disney Cruise this summer and will spend some time in central Florida for that. I will use these passes at least 2 more times. Since I have them and SP is only 90 to 2 hours away, I will prolly take them for the Halloween and Christmas events at SP too.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Has anyone done the all day dining at Aquatica? Is that worth it?

We have done both the all-day dining at the Banana Beach Buffet and the counter service at the Waterstone Grill.

For value, the Banana Beach Buffet can't be beat (and we have our tickets for this coming August, purchased at just $12 pp on the Black Friday sale). That said, the food options are limited and its very much "cafeteria style".

We much prefer, for food quality, the Waterstone Grill. But its going to cost you more than the buffet does.

I would be happier with the buffet if you could take your food back to your cabana or lounger, but everything must be eaten within the buffet boundaries (with the exception of drinks....you can fill and go with those). I understand why they have to restrict consumption to inside the buffet itself, but it would be sooo nice to grab a plate and kick back and relax while you eat.

Food options at the buffet include (if my memory serves me correctly) pizza, pulled pork, barbecued chicken legs, hot dogs, garlic buns, watermelon, un-iced chocolate cake, etc.

 

[andrews_dad]

I think your times sound fine. We stay in Reunion Resort in Davenport. Our family are Super Grover regulars... best deal in the industry IMO and still 20% off until March 1. We are Aquatica addicts and do that more than you alloted time for, but to each thyeir own. All 3 parks are GREAT and all different.

 

[momof2n2]

Thanks Andrews Dad. Good to here another set of ideas!

Since watching some Aquatica commercials from 2013 on YouTube this weekend my kids are psyched and already begging to do two days. We'll play it by year, but I'm open to it. I love water parks but with six kids it sometimes gets stressful trying to keep our eyes on all of them. But it seems we have lots of options there.

 

[momof2n2]

We have done both the all-day dining at the Banana Beach Buffet and the counter service at the Waterstone Grill. For value, the Banana Beach Buffet can't be beat (and we have our tickets for this coming August, purchased at just $12 pp on the Black Friday sale). That said, the food options are limited and its very much "cafeteria style". We much prefer, for food quality, the Waterstone Grill. But its going to cost you more than the buffet does. I would be happier with the buffet if you could take your food back to your cabana or lounger, but everything must be eaten within the buffet boundaries (with the exception of drinks....you can fill and go with those). I understand why they have to restrict consumption to inside the buffet itself, but it would be sooo nice to grab a plate and kick back and relax while you eat. Food options at the buffet include (if my memory serves me correctly) pizza, pulled pork, barbecued chicken legs, hot dogs, garlic buns, watermelon, un-iced chocolate cake, etc.

That does stink you can't take food back to the cabanas, but I get why not.

Hard decision... Better food & comfort vs. all you care to eat!

Sounds like a decision for DH.

 

[rowan555]

My daughter and I both find we get hungry and thirty a lot more often when we're at a water park, so we appreciated the all-you-can-eat aspect of the buffet. We probably spent 4 hours just going around and around Roa's Rapids, and we joked that we'd get off at the exit near the restroom, hit the restroom, then grab a slice of pizza and a soda, then hop back in the rapids and do it again. The buffet was perfect for casually grazing throughout the day. With your wristband, you just walk in and out, and there's very seldom a long line for food.

 

[momof2n2]

My daughter and I both find we get hungry and thirty a lot more often when we're at a water park, so we appreciated the all-you-can-eat aspect of the buffet. We probably spent 4 hours just going around and around Roa's Rapids, and we joked that we'd get off at the exit near the restroom, hit the restroom, then grab a slice of pizza and a soda, then hop back in the rapids and do it again. The buffet was perfect for casually grazing throughout the day. With your wristband, you just walk in and out, and there's very seldom a long line for food.

Good to know! Thank you.