We did this trip with 8 of us. My husband and I.....two 20 year olds....two fifteen year olds, and 8 and 7 yr old and just returned on Aug 25th. This is how the trip went.......
Discovery Cove- That was lovely. Kinda like a relaxing beach day! We arrived at 7:45am and they moved us fast through registration. Then we were off for breakfast and our swimvest fittings. We found chairs and laid the towels down but I have to say we never really went back to them. Well. Maybe my DH who took about a 15 min nap.
We were off exploring for the rest of the day. The lazy river is a LOT of work. There is no current and you have to make your own way around. The little girls with us (good swimmers. 7 and 8) made it around several times without a vest but I used a noodle. I don't have their energy! LOL! There were deep spots but rocks to use as 'skipping stones' or break areas. We also visited the aviary first thing which was a good recommendation. The birds were very active then compared to later in the day. The girls were squealing with laughter as they landed on their heads! The reef...well....we are from NJ and I thought "75 degrees? NO problem. Thats our temp up here in the ocean in Aug!" Oh heck no. Maybe it was cause it was so hot down there and the water hit you like ice but wow! The girls were not so keen on the fish swimming about them or the cold water so we only stayed a bit. If I were to go back, I would be getting the full wet suit! Yes I would! The older kids and my husband stayed though and loved it. They spent most of their day there exploring and seeing the fish/stingrays. I, myself, was rather happy floating around after the little girls on the other side in the warm water!!
We did get some weather during the trip (which you will see we did almost everyday) and they shut down the river but the rest was left open. It mainly just rained and within about 45 min the river was opened back up. The food was good. I have no complaints. Breakfast was your standard eggs, breakfast meats, potatos. There was fruit and things like muffins and cereal along with juice. There was a nice selection for lunch as well although due to the heat we ate light and stuck with basics like the chicken fingers. The snacks were yummy and I think I about ate half of the parks lemon icies! 
We did not do the dolphin swim and it was probably a good thing with the little girls as I doubt they would have gone in now but I don't feel like we missed out really. We filled our day with other things and it was well worth it. We were there at opening and left as one of the last people. We will def. go back!
Seaworld- This was our second time there. We never seem to have enough time. I have never been able to see everything in one day! It is soooooooooooooooooo hot this time of the year and there are few places for breaks from the heat. I was actually nauseous from it. This kinda takes away from the experience but all in all it is a wonderful park. The kids love the animal shows. The teens love the rides. They did the new Antarctica ride and the teens went on three times. Said it was the best ride! My little girls were too afraid and so we skipped it (it is kinda dark on the entry and shows you spinning in the seats on the ride and they said NOPE outta here! LOL) We fed dolphins and saw shows and had a really nice time. I wasn't overly thrilled with my meals there. It all seemed a little over or under cooked. By mid day we got....can you guess?.....a storm. The large rides shut down and the dolphin feeding but some of the smaller shows were still running and the enclosed exhibits were still open. So we trailed off the find some things to do. After a bit it was all opened back up and we ended the day with some more rides and a feeding and some icecream for us. We love Seaworld (no matter how hot it is) and will go back!!
Busch Gardens- This was the worst experience of our trip. If I could have taken it back and done a Disney park, I would have. We arrived just at opening about 10am and yet most of the stalls (food, face painting, etc) was closed. A few of the restaurants were closed as well as some of the rides. It kinda seemed like the park wasn't really opened yet. Some of them opened up later in the day while others never did. The attitudes of the workers truly need to be improved. I left like asking for salad dressing, which should have been there already, was like asking for them to pull a tooth out! The food was standard park fare. No complaints really. By 1pm they had shut down the park due to weather. There was no weather. I get that something may have been nearby (BTW I had a storm tracker on my cell and nothing was in the area at this time) and closing things like the coasters would be normal. They SHUT DOWN THE PARK. No shows. No kid rides. No kid play areas. Nothing. Only a few venders that were open. We stayed around thinking they would open back up as there was not a cloud in the sky. It took TWO HOURS before the clouds showed up. By then I had pulled my kids from waiting endlessly for a ride and was heading out. We live near the shore. I understand storms. I have been to FL and experienced the rules and shut downs. But I have never seen an entire park shut down like this! We paid the $20 add on and this is about the only reason why I didn't flip all over someone! Not that it would have mattered as the workers skipped town the second they shut down the rides and disappeared! I think the $20 itself wasn't worth it! Since we only got to see things in a three hour period, I don't think we were through a 1/4 of the park! I will never, ever go back to Busch. This park gets a raspberry from me! JMO
Aquatica- This is about our most fav park. We got here at opening and rented the Roa loungers. They walked us back and we got set up in there and dove into the 'lazy' river. We have been here twice before and there is little I can complain about here. It is always clean. The people friendly. The rides fun. I am not sure if I would bother with the Roas again. We thought it would be nice to have such a large group in one place. It was nice back there. Quiet. Accessible to almost everything depending on which exit you took. But we were hardly there! LOL! We were too busy playing and swimming to bother much. The park was hit with another storm that day and large rides were shut down but they smaller pool areas were still running. We milked that till the kids got tired and then we picked up snacks and headed out about a half hour before closing. Still was a blast even with some rides shut down. The teens had to be kicked out of the river. That was their last ride cause, well, it isn't big and fast and tall and doesn't look fun to them. But once in....they wouldn't get out! We all had on life vests and were doing a train ride around at one point by holding onto the back of each others vest. So much fun. Would go back!
The rest of our stay was Disney so I won't bother posting here for that
but all in all we really had a nice time. Heat, rain and all!! The kids said this was about the best trip they ever did. Next time I will leave out the Busch add on and keep the rest. So can't wait to go back!
Discovery Cove- That was lovely. Kinda like a relaxing beach day! We arrived at 7:45am and they moved us fast through registration. Then we were off for breakfast and our swimvest fittings. We found chairs and laid the towels down but I have to say we never really went back to them. Well. Maybe my DH who took about a 15 min nap.
We were off exploring for the rest of the day. The lazy river is a LOT of work. There is no current and you have to make your own way around. The little girls with us (good swimmers. 7 and 8) made it around several times without a vest but I used a noodle. I don't have their energy! LOL! There were deep spots but rocks to use as 'skipping stones' or break areas. We also visited the aviary first thing which was a good recommendation. The birds were very active then compared to later in the day. The girls were squealing with laughter as they landed on their heads! The reef...well....we are from NJ and I thought "75 degrees? NO problem. Thats our temp up here in the ocean in Aug!" Oh heck no. Maybe it was cause it was so hot down there and the water hit you like ice but wow! The girls were not so keen on the fish swimming about them or the cold water so we only stayed a bit. If I were to go back, I would be getting the full wet suit! Yes I would! The older kids and my husband stayed though and loved it. They spent most of their day there exploring and seeing the fish/stingrays. I, myself, was rather happy floating around after the little girls on the other side in the warm water!! We did get some weather during the trip (which you will see we did almost everyday) and they shut down the river but the rest was left open. It mainly just rained and within about 45 min the river was opened back up. The food was good. I have no complaints. Breakfast was your standard eggs, breakfast meats, potatos. There was fruit and things like muffins and cereal along with juice. There was a nice selection for lunch as well although due to the heat we ate light and stuck with basics like the chicken fingers. The snacks were yummy and I think I about ate half of the parks lemon icies! We did not do the dolphin swim and it was probably a good thing with the little girls as I doubt they would have gone in now but I don't feel like we missed out really. We filled our day with other things and it was well worth it. We were there at opening and left as one of the last people. We will def. go back!Seaworld- This was our second time there. We never seem to have enough time. I have never been able to see everything in one day! It is soooooooooooooooooo hot this time of the year and there are few places for breaks from the heat. I was actually nauseous from it. This kinda takes away from the experience but all in all it is a wonderful park. The kids love the animal shows. The teens love the rides. They did the new Antarctica ride and the teens went on three times. Said it was the best ride! My little girls were too afraid and so we skipped it (it is kinda dark on the entry and shows you spinning in the seats on the ride and they said NOPE outta here! LOL) We fed dolphins and saw shows and had a really nice time. I wasn't overly thrilled with my meals there. It all seemed a little over or under cooked. By mid day we got....can you guess?.....a storm. The large rides shut down and the dolphin feeding but some of the smaller shows were still running and the enclosed exhibits were still open. So we trailed off the find some things to do. After a bit it was all opened back up and we ended the day with some more rides and a feeding and some icecream for us. We love Seaworld (no matter how hot it is) and will go back!!
Busch Gardens- This was the worst experience of our trip. If I could have taken it back and done a Disney park, I would have. We arrived just at opening about 10am and yet most of the stalls (food, face painting, etc) was closed. A few of the restaurants were closed as well as some of the rides. It kinda seemed like the park wasn't really opened yet. Some of them opened up later in the day while others never did. The attitudes of the workers truly need to be improved. I left like asking for salad dressing, which should have been there already, was like asking for them to pull a tooth out! The food was standard park fare. No complaints really. By 1pm they had shut down the park due to weather. There was no weather. I get that something may have been nearby (BTW I had a storm tracker on my cell and nothing was in the area at this time) and closing things like the coasters would be normal. They SHUT DOWN THE PARK. No shows. No kid rides. No kid play areas. Nothing. Only a few venders that were open. We stayed around thinking they would open back up as there was not a cloud in the sky. It took TWO HOURS before the clouds showed up. By then I had pulled my kids from waiting endlessly for a ride and was heading out. We live near the shore. I understand storms. I have been to FL and experienced the rules and shut downs. But I have never seen an entire park shut down like this! We paid the $20 add on and this is about the only reason why I didn't flip all over someone! Not that it would have mattered as the workers skipped town the second they shut down the rides and disappeared! I think the $20 itself wasn't worth it! Since we only got to see things in a three hour period, I don't think we were through a 1/4 of the park! I will never, ever go back to Busch. This park gets a raspberry from me! JMO
Aquatica- This is about our most fav park. We got here at opening and rented the Roa loungers. They walked us back and we got set up in there and dove into the 'lazy' river. We have been here twice before and there is little I can complain about here. It is always clean. The people friendly. The rides fun. I am not sure if I would bother with the Roas again. We thought it would be nice to have such a large group in one place. It was nice back there. Quiet. Accessible to almost everything depending on which exit you took. But we were hardly there! LOL! We were too busy playing and swimming to bother much. The park was hit with another storm that day and large rides were shut down but they smaller pool areas were still running. We milked that till the kids got tired and then we picked up snacks and headed out about a half hour before closing. Still was a blast even with some rides shut down. The teens had to be kicked out of the river. That was their last ride cause, well, it isn't big and fast and tall and doesn't look fun to them. But once in....they wouldn't get out!
We all had on life vests and were doing a train ride around at one point by holding onto the back of each others vest. So much fun. Would go back! The rest of our stay was Disney so I won't bother posting here for that
but all in all we really had a nice time. Heat, rain and all!! The kids said this was about the best trip they ever did. Next time I will leave out the Busch add on and keep the rest. So can't wait to go back!
I want one in my back yard. I would never get out! LOL! 
(ok...I probably couldn't get out! LOL)
