Busch Gardens, Seaworld and Aquatica

[eeyorefanuk]

Hello,

For a first time visit would you recommend only one day in each park or two days in each park? Have watched the free DVD and it seems alot to do in one day per park.

Also Aquatica, I know it is a water park, but would you say it is good enough to go back for a second day ?

Many thanks

 

[JillPTFLA]

As far as Aquatica goes, I think one day is adequate. There are not a huge number of attractions and if you get there early enough to avoid lines (or go on a day that it is not so crowded), you will have plenty of time to do and see everything at a leisurely pace. We went labor day wkend and spent most of the day there and did everything we wanted to do at least once or twice...some things more than that!
SeaWorld is a little tougher because of the shows. The times that we have been there, we have found that there is no way to see every show in one day b/c of the way they are scheduled. If you only want to see certain shows, it is easier. If you want to see every one and do every attraction, definitely take 2 days.

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Thank you

Any ideas re busch gardens?

 

[WiganTony]

Would agree about Aquatica being able to be done in a day, especially if you are planning on spending all day there.

With Seaworld, what we have tended to do is have one full day (when we go in August, the park is open until 10pm) and see the evening shows, then do a second day from mid-afternoon to catch any of the daytime shows we missed from the first day, then spend the evening on Kraiken and Atlantis which pre-Manta days were virtually walk-on in the evenings.

For Busch gardens, we have been twice, but only for a day each time. However, you may wish to consider staying in the Tampa/Clearwater Beach area overnight if you do want to have 2 days to save the drive down from Orlando.

 

[inkkognito]

You could do Busch in a day, especially if you buy QuickQueue (although many days it is not needed). You would be hustling vs. being able to take time to look at the animal areas slowly etc. but it can be done. We go there a lot, but our emphasis is on the thrill rides so we just get QuickQueue on the crowded days.

 

[Josh Hendy]

We did Busch Gardens in one day, by arriving early we got on all the rides we wanted with no line taking more than 15 minutes, and we got to see most of the animals. BUT we missed some animal displays, some of the animals happened to be sleeping/inert when we saw them, and it would have been nice to do a couple of re-rides (SHEIKRA!) Also we didn't see any live music shows.

To sum it up, we loved the park, we had a great day, we could have definitely enjoyed a second 1/2 day or full day there, but the 1 hour plus drive discouraged us.

I think we did an extra half-day at Seaworld and enjoyed it, and there are still a couple of shows we didn't see (Al'lure and the evening sealion and Shamu shows). If I had a long enough vacation I would do every big park in Orlando/Tampa for one full day each, then I would revisit every park in 1/2 day visits afterwards zeroing in on missed or favorite attractions.