I DO NOT Recommend Visiting Aquatica Until Something Changes...
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- Опубликовано: 22 мар 2023
- We took a trip to Aquatica today... It was NOT what we expected. I can't believe I saw a police chase at this park. I am very upset that it tooke 30 minutes to get a bag of chips. The guests visiting the park are not making it enjoyable, and most importantly, the staff DOES NOT care. Sea World, Busch Gardens, Aquatica... What is going on? I hope they can turn their parks around, because at this point, I'm not sure what else you can expect from these theme parks anymore.
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I do hope something changes for them. There's way too much potential to let it keep going this direction. 😪
I’m sorry you had issues I’m an annual pass member and have not seen anything unusual they are also refurbishing
I completely disagree with you all the way around I have not had any bad experiences I did see them hiring some new employees in the last cpl weeks I believe you went the wrong day I will let you know how tomorrow goes with the opening of new kids area
@@megandube1499 Ya, as I stated this may not be EVERYONE'S experience, to be fair. But I have watched multiple other vloggers and read online talking about similar issues. And even on this video, I've seen a number of people explaining they had issues when they went, too. I do overall think the park is a great park (rides and things to do), but it's the management of the park that's causing the issues, like I said. Employees don't seem to care, guests are disrespectful and are just doing whatever they want without control, nobody is abiding by the Quick Queue rules and anybody can just practically cut the line since they aren't checking. It's just crazy that a fun park can have management and employee issues that bring it down like that.
As stated, you can have a WILDLY different experience day-to-day, and that's for ANY park. Not just Aquatica. But I have seen MANY reports on the issues Aquatica is having and continues to have, and apparently it's been going on a very long time. That all said, you can 100% have a very good day there, still. But to anybody that asks for a recommendation at the water parks in Central Florida, I would not currently recommend them to spend their money here. For as expensive as it is, I don't see the value of Aquatica being a better value than Universal's Volcano Bay or either of the Disney Park options. This is also 100000% just MY opinion, everyone can have their own opinion and thoughts. I'm sure many people believe this to be the best waterpark around. And that definitely is ok. But based on my experience, and the other vloggers I know that have experienced this park, and the many issues I have read from other consumers. I personally would not recommend this park to a visitor.
@@Dillon.Thomas yeah I did notice that during the week they phase open everything or don’t open some of the rides due to staffing most likely I told my little one to the new kids area when it opened and I will say we had a blast we loved the tamariki twirl and she loved all the other slides as well
@megan dube I definitely think we will try it again. I'm just hesitant to tell people to spend their money on the park with other great options available. I actually ran into an employee at the park who said he watched my video and he said they were aware of these issues and looking to address it. And that's great news. As long as the issue is recognized, that's the first step to getting it fixed.
Your first mistake was to go to a park during Spring Break. Locals know better. And during the pandemic, people lost the few manners they did have. The parks are too full and the tourists are insane!
We fully expected INSANE crowds. And we definitely are picking up on the spring break crowds and differences in time of the year (just moved down last year), so we're learning the ropes haha.
However, the staff at the park just felt like they were non-existent. None of the lifeguards at the lazy river were moving around or checking much, it's like they just sunbathed the whole time lol. And then just the operations of the park felt like they had no idea how to handle situations. There was an employee at one of the waterslides just sitting in the corner under an umbrella and everyone just kind of did it on their own, once the light turned green they were in their raft and left, they didn't say a word, direct you, anything. That was super bizarre ha. I'm wondering if maybe they weren't prepared for spring break and that was part of it then? I'm not sure, but it was so sad to see...
I do feel like post pandemic, though, nobody really has manners anymore. It's so sad... The number of times I'm treated as if I don't exist by another human, especially at these parks makes me frustrated that we can't just be nice to each other.
I don't really understand the purpose of this 23 minute video?
Humm.. Spring break : full of running and cutting line people?? Humm.. yes!
It happens everywhere and all the time on busiest days!! Plus, don't expect the employees to play police officers : Unfortunately they will never change bad manners people 😮
I have never been to Aquatica and this is the first video I've seen while doing research before going. I was expecting to see video content of the actual park itself, the rides, the layout, and the whole experience visiting. But instead all it actually is, is 5 minutes of actual park footage, 1 ride and then complaining about the park for 20+ minutes while pacing back and forth in a parking lot.
Having lived in Tampa for over 40 years, what you've described I've seen at Adventure Island multiple times and yet I still decided to try to enjoy myself regardless of the negative experiences. It is not wise to visit a popular water park during the absolute busiest days of the year and have such high expectations of all days during spring break. I will check it out and make my own determination.
I encourage everyone to try it out! Hopefully it works out and you have a better experience than we did!
Go first thing in the morning during off season. Once it gets too crowded leave. Usually 2 to 3 hours.
I have definitely been hearing the time to visit is off season and could be an issue otherwise. It stinks if you have to be careful on when you visit, obviously the other parks are similar if you want to avoid crowds. That said, I just wish they would increase their operations and training. I think that would go a long way for this park.
You saved me a ticket. Thanks for taking the loss for us.
I'm hoping things change for them, but ya... for now, I don't think I would go until some change happens. I'm glad I saved you some money, though!
Thanks so much for this. I was considering aquatica over volcano bay for our first trip from Canada to Florida in the fall. We are bringing our two boys one of him is still a bit young and I was thinking maybe the Sea world water park would be more family friendly and a better fit for us. After watching this video and the other by the RUclipsr you mention we will definitely be skipping Aquatica. Thank you so much for the heads up and saving us what sounds like an unpleasant and potentially unsafe (?) visit to this water park.
Of course, that's what this channels for! Updates, News, Entertainment and Information. We try and make sure everyone knows everything going on down here at the Central Florida theme parks. I'm sorry it changes your plans, there are a lot of Water Parks here in Central Florida and I think Disney and Universal's are great. Universal has a lot, but if it's a busy time of the year, the lines can be quite long, because you have to use your wristband to "wait in line". We actually plan on making a video on Volcano Bay soon, but Disney's options are great, too. I would highly recommend doing some research on those.
For Aquatica, I just think until they make some changes, I wouldn't spend a penny there. They're very pricey, and while the attractions are pretty good, you can't justify it with the lack of leadership in that park. Maybe in another year or two things will change, but I've been hearing this has been ongoing for MANY MANY years, so I don't know WHEN the change comes, if ever.... sadly.
I hope y'all have a fun trip here to Florida! There's really some AMAZING theme parks, and so many fun things to do outside of the parks, too!
Volcano bay destroys this horrible park
Spring Break for sure. I think Broward County was also off those days. New Smyrna Beach was not as insane as last year, but the police set up a big mobile station for the week. My guess is next year Aquatica will be better prepared.
My bar is hosting a perk-trip there soon for surviving spring break and bike week. Amusing. 😊
It definitely could have been the increase of crowds from Spring Break, but I only say that MAY not be the case because I've seen other people sharing their stories about Aquatica at different points during the year. I do feel like they were VERY overwhelmed, but I don't know if they adjust to compensate the increased crowds or they just say "forget it" and take the hit for a few weeks. Some other locals say they still visit Aquatica because they like a lot of the park, but they know it's just not under control and they said that's kind of the price you pay to go. You get fun slides/rides but it's really a free-for-all. I imagine some solid support from management turns that place around, though.
That should at least be fun that you will have a full group and crew to hangout with! I imagine a larger group can have their own control, doesn't really necessarily mean you won't see some of the craziness, though! Haha 😂
Dude this park is hilarious 😂 after watching pcdevs experience this park is a classic it seems like. Very similar to six flags New England during the summer. But you are very right. No one should ever waste their time and money at this park. It makes me wanna go to experience the chaos 😂 but thats just me. This park should be a meme at this point. Thanks for sharing your experience and sorry you had to deal with all that. Only issue i had at sea world was people smoking in line which made me sick. But someone needs to step in and take some order! You should be getting a great experience with the price you pay!
Weirdly enough my Sea World and Busch Gardens experiences have been alright, not amazing, but not as bad as Aquatica. This was a whole different animal, honestly. The fact people will spend the amount of money they do to experience this, is honestly not right of the Sea World corporation. It will suck the enjoyment out of your vacation, and that's wrong. I really hope they turn this place around because there is SOOO much potential. Operations at all of their parks is horrible, but Aquatica was definitely the one that you can see how much is going wrong with it. I'd love to go check out all of the Six Flags, but even back in the day they felt poorly ran and managed, so I'm not sure it's gotten any better lol. I imagine 15+ years later, it's still going to be possibly even worse!
Please do not base your entire decision on Aquatica on your one bad visit. Granted you went there at the time of year where it was spring break and it was absolutely packed even pass members do not go with this time of year because it’s either spring break or field trips it end of year. You also never go during the summer. If you truly want to enjoy the park you need to go during the weekdays or on off holidays. I have been a pass member now for 2+ years and I have all four parts and I have never been disappointed with Aquatica if you go and the times I suggested. Yes if you book in the middle of spring break, it’s going to be packed. If you book at the middle of summer is going to be packed if you go with any time that any amount of schools are out for any sort of vacation it is going to be packed you have to prepare for this and remember this is a theme park this is where people wait all year to go for their vacations. As you did to. Choose a better time and do better research.
I think as a local, we're ok going in busy periods. The issue I have with this idea of "don't go during busy times" is really that you can't expect a normal consumer to have time off during "non-busy times". So for myself, it's ok if I have a bad experience during spring break, I can return another month. HOWEVER, this wasn't the issue, as stated in the video. They seem to be SEVERELY understaffed, and the staff they do have does not seem to care about the operations of the company and seem to not have the proper training.
So as I mentioned in the video, the crowds were definitely busy, but that's not the issue I had that day.... at all. My issue was the lack of care from employees, the people attending the park didn't treat the park well and I think there were no employees enforcing stricter guidelines for guest safety and satisfaction. There were people taking things from the concessions for free as paying customers were watching it happen, it was taking 20+ minutes to get through 10 guests in the food lines (again understaffed), people were skipping through the quick queue without having quick queue. Again, all things I listed in the video. It had nothing to do with the crowd levels, Disney and Universal have VERY busy seasons, and they manage the crowds very well (not perfect by any means). So crowd levels aren't really a factor, in this specific situation. I did note the crowd levels, more as an informative bit.
So, I made this video so others can "do better research" for this park. This is me giving the research to the the guests that would look to visit. Nobody has to listen or take me seriously, that's the beauty of having so many videos on Aquatica. But for my specific experience, and my multiple experiences with the Sea World company at their other parks, there is definitely an issue within the company when it comes to their staff.
We will visit again when we feel like we want to see if things change. However, friends of ours that have lived down here their entire lives have mentioned that they've been going for many years and they know no matter what it's going to be like this, but they still just go for the slides. It's a "push and pull" situation. The rides are fun, but the experience may suffer. But this is all again specifically an opinion of mine, and by no means the only opinion on it.
I went to Aquatica yesterday. When we were ordering food there was only one person working the restaurant and when the customers criticized him for holding up the line his response was that it wasn’t his problem and to talk to customer service. The staff there were not good and the lines were very disorganized.
Oh no! And that's my point, I think they're severely understaffed for starters, and secondly it just feels like the employees don't care to be there at all. It's upsetting. It feels very "I'm just here to get paid and clock out" feeling, vs trying to make a lasting experience. Which is overall hurting the customer experience.
Can fat people go on the waterslide lol 😅 it looks fun but I haven't seen any video of anyone larger is it possible?
@@monaymonay7446 I am not too certain if I'm being honest with you, I have seen all shapes and sizes at all of the parks and waterparks, so I imagine it may not be a problem. But I also don't want to give you false information. They do have guidelines posted, so that may be a better resource for you, but again I've seen all shapes and sizes go on the attractions/slides!
The staff are paid significantly less than the other two big theme parks. I think they are also poorly trained. They always look so miserable.
Thank you for letting us know the Aquatica condition. I already have 2 tickets w a meal plan. But i will wait until Aquatica improves before visiting
Of course! Being locals, we have the ability to visit these parks so often and I wanted to make sure I gave a realistic review of the park from our experience. We just hope that it eventually gets better, because it's really too sad to see a park like that be ran so poorly. There's still other great options in Central Florida, though!
So I watch RUclips everyday on a variety of personal interests. I have seen TWO videos on Seaworld Aquatia Yours and Dev’s and I am flabbergasted! Women’s sanitary napkins, police chases, a kid taking a #2 break in the lazy river, tripping over used underwear and so much more!! So amazing how respect for others and more importantly self respect have vanished from this once great country! Its like a zombie apocalypse except these savages dont eat brains they just promote being total low life’s!!!!!!! Thank you and Dev for your valued videos because I was thinking of visiting there but I am 1000% sure I now never will!!! God bless!
Firstly, thank you for checking out my video! 😀 But honestly, I think it's crazy this park operates like this. And as I stated, the slides and attractions are pretty fun, but that doesn't overshadow the issues they have in the park. I think I'm just surprised that this seems to happen SOOO frequently in this park, specifically. Seaworld as a whole has some issues, but Aquatica was definitely the worst experience I've had at their parks. Not to say it's "stuck" like this, but from friends that have been going to the park for many years, they said they expect it to be a rough experience with the crowds that attend and the staff that works there. They just go because they're local and can muster the courage to brave the issues haha. I genuinely hope Seaworld management gets control over this, otherwise I'm very concerned for the longevity of their parks and their brand.
@@Dillon.Thomas most definitely young people now a days act entitled and feel they don’t need to do there job properly and college kids have no respect for the places they visit they just toss there trash everywhere and just not care
I went during off season early morning when the park was empty. It was clean and we had good time. I can imagine the FL spring break crowd being wild though!!
I do plan on returning at some point to see what's going on with the park. And I do believe in trying things multiple times before having a final opinion. I just want to see them change up the operations a bit so the experience is better across the board. I think many parks can do well in non-peak times of the year, it's more about how they handle the crowds and issues that will inevitably pop up in the busier times of the year. I think that shines a brighter light on what might be causing issues in the parks.
I just returned a couple days ago and it was also my first time. I completely agree with you regarding the service , the park, and prettt much everything. My experience was just simply bad. Wouldn’t want to return!
It honestly seems to be everyone's situation... I was debating trying to go again soon to see if things have changed, but it doesn't sound like it from what people are saying..
So I work at Aquatica and the parts about kids running around and no authority I can see why it seems that way but we all do try to tell them to stop running we really try but unfortunately sometimes it is very crowded and often when we tell people to stop running the year won't listen it they'll stop and go back to running when they get far enough away and the fast past that is how a lot of parks have it and unfortunately we do have workers like that where they won't check they're wristbands or anything and we never find out that they're doing this so thankful you for telling me this and I can let my supervisor know about some of these issues because these are real issues I've seen as a lifeguard at Aquatica and if someone cuts you in line for the rides please let the lifeguard know we take that very seriously when we see it people can be dismissed from the park WITHOUT regunds and yes we are expensive which I completely agree with that and yes that does happen a lot with the police because unfortunately we do need better security we have had people sneak in we completely need better security that is very much something we need to work on and yes we do have people do this and whenever we see this we do tell them to stop and we recently did hire new janitors specifically because of this reason I am so sorry that you had a bad experience at Aquatica and I would love to try and fix some things we really need to work on a lot of things and thank you so much for explaining all of these issues and I will do my very best to fix all of these problems
I really do think the park seems like a lot of fun. But there were just a lot of issues we had in such a short amount of time. I think upper management just needs to make some changes. And a few bad employees wouldn't speak on behalf of EVERYONE that works there. But there were definitely a handful of employees that just didn't care, and it made operations run poorly. I think some increased security might help, but realistically just higher management enforcing the rules would probably help a lot, even. I imagine it's hard at theme parks, because everyone is running around, so I understand that struggle. I just think a slight re-evaluation from upper management, and taking into account what they can do to turn around some of these issues could go a long way!
@@Dillon.ThomasI too work with the parks of Aquatica and Discovery Cove as a Guest Arrivals/Lifeguard and I appreciate your honesty not every park is perfect tho I advise the best time to visit is right after summer before fall
@@austincruz5757 I do need to return and try again, I just hope they change some stuff up there because the waterpark itself is full of some great attractions.
So 11 months ago there is another you tuber that made a video saying that a kid about 6 or 7 years old was taking a number 2 or dump near the entrance of the lazy river and the lifeguards didn't stop it and were doing nothing about it. They also didn't shut down the area to clean and shock the water. Please tell me this has been fixed and addressed with protocols to handle this situation?
@@WAFFLE25625 we haven't been back since, but I'd like to try again to see if I we have a different experience. I continue to hear about bad experiences, but I want to see if things have changed. But it certainly feels bad knowing this has still been going for others, though.
When I went to Aquatica a couple of weeks the lifeguards didn’t seem care if somebody gotten hurt on one of the rides and they have a shortage of staff & the lines were disorganized at the food lines when I gotten something to eat for lunch price for lunch is too expensive. The lines for the slides were also too long of a wait like an hour wait for one slide.
Unfortunately, that seems like a common theme at the moment for them 😕 I'm sorry you had such a crappy experience, that never feels good to spend your money to have that happen to you. Thankfully, there are very good water parks here in Orlando, we just filmed a video at typhoon lagoon and it was a lot of fun. That'll release this weekend, but I think aquatica is not being ran very well. Maybe they'll turn this around by next year... 🫣
I went to this park back in 2016 and it was AWESOME.! Some idiots trying to skip lines but we hold our own in my family so we were ok there
I think the park overall is very cool, nice slides and attractions. It was the way it was ran and felt like nobody had control of the park is what really was a "no" for me. But I do think with some good management, this park could be amazing.
Thank for your honesty on this matter. I really appreciate what must have been a difficult decision to release this type of video. Im a big believer in attracting positively, but sometimes some experiences need to be highlighted to promote change. We've just got back from Portaventura and we experienced something similar, but looking at other vloggers they hide behind the truth, maybe they benefit some how. Anyway, thanks again 👍, I'll spend my money at Volcano Bay and Typhoon Lagoon instead.
I really try and avoid being negative, because I feel I can be honest and not necessarily negative. But the experience was honestly just a very negative one and I'd heard a few other people having issues with the park. Weird enough... I had an employee of Aquatica come up to me in one of the parks one day and said thanks for making the video, because they were already telling management about the issues they were having. So I think being able to be honest and real with people is genuinely the best thing a company could have as feedback, it lets them know where there are issues that need to be addressed. Not saying this can't be an AMAZING waterpark, but without the change, I find it hard to believe it gets better over time. Highly recommend Volcano Bay and the Disney Water Parks! Volcano Bay can have some seriously long wait times, but it's such an experience! ☺
Totally agree, feedback, either postive or negative should be considered like gold. Massive opportunities arise from constructive feedback, something I felt you delivered in your video. Thanks again and I love forward to your other videos now I've discovered you on RUclips. Watching your Typhoon Lagoon one from last month. Amazing how different the experience is 🤯 I'll be looking for your Volcano Bay one shortly ❤
@@leeblanchard6434 I feel like it's free research for these companies haha, they get to hear real feedback without spending a penny, they just watch a video that a normal guest makes. Seriously invaluable. We actually did a Volcano Bay Cabana which was INCREDIBLE. But I definitely agree, Typhoon Lagoon was such a different experience from Aquatica. I appreciate you checking out the channel!
Also forgot to mention that yesterday around 4:30 they shut down the rides due to weather. It was perfectly sunny. Their reasoning was that there was a storm 5 miles away. The storm never hit us. There was not even one drop of rain. They closed the water park for nothing and wasted our time. There was barley even any clouds in the sky.
That's definitely harder to assess, only because weather is so sporadic. However, if there was nothing in sight, even, I'm surprised they'd shut it down that quick. I feel like waterparks love to shut things down early for weather, probably just because of the water or something around that haha. I know SeaWorld/Aquatica don't have the same rules like Disney/Universal, though. They kind of operate on the sense of "parks closed at 8, we're out of here at 8" vs lines being closed at 8. You can see how frustrated the are when people get in line last minute, or the way they don't want to continue operations if they don't have to. Whereas, Disney and Universal certainly keep things going when you have guests in the park. They won't start anything new, but they'll at least keep you immersed till you leave for the most part.
@@Dillon.ThomasThat is how it’s supposed to work. I work at Publix and when we close, we don’t kick out the customers if they are still in the building. We close after bagging the remaining customers.
@@NinjaDog9123 which I think helps the customer experience for sure. It's just a bizarre situation all around sometimes haha
They did that at Busch gardens on Saturday the storm went right past us
Wow, sounds like a really awful time. Like you say, you expect crowds during spring break, but not complete chaos. It's not as if these places are cheap to visit like you also say.
We had a bad experience at Typhoon Lagoon last year, this family next to us kept trying to steal one of our sunbeds for their child. When I went off for a cigarette, the husband/dad started hassling my wife and god daughter and wouldn't leave them alone, even though they couldn't understand a word he was saying since he was speaking in Spanish. I only found out after that he actually ended up grabbing hold of my god daughters arm, otherwise I'd have told security.
What I also noticed was somebody there was clearly smoking weed, which doesn't really bother me elsewhere since I know the US are a lot more relaxed over that stuff these days compared to the UK where it's still illegal, but I've never known it at any other theme park.
I just think water parks in general seem to have a more chaotic feel to them compared to actual theme parks, and I'd probably be happy to swerve em all together if the lasses weren't bothered about them.
It unfortunately was... I've never had Nicole so ready to leave a park since I've met her. She was ready to go home and never come back. I think we'll still give them another shot at some point, but not anytime soon...
I'm surprised Typhoon Lagoon was that bad, maybe because it was still so close to re-opening from covid last year still, the staff wasn't quite up to par yet? That seems bizarre. But, I do notice more people smoking pot at the parks more and more, and I didn't think they allowed that in the parks. Some of them do have smoking sections, but I thought it was for cigarettes only, but I don't smoke myself, so I'm actually not positive. However, Disney doesn't allow smoking in any of their parks if I'm not mistaken. So that's a surprise they not only attempted to smoke in the park, but also we're attempting to smoke marijuana in the park. Much like you, I couldn't care less, but a lot of people are still very bothered by pot smoke and I know families are MUCH more likely to complain about that over regular cigarettes. For myself, I just kind of keep existing and moving forward, but I imagine for a large family that becomes harder to move and navigate around someone if it's bothering them, unfortunately. ☹
I can 100% agree that water parks don't have the same security/authority in the parks that the regular parks do. I wonder if that's not just how much more difficult it is to manage everyone with personnel in water parks. I imagine you're always within a VERY short range of an employee at Disney or Universal at all times in the parks, but at water parks, I think you tend to have instances of one set of eyes watching over potentially hundreds of guests, and it's harder to control? Most of the time in the parks you have multiple people posted up at their locations, strength in numbers haha!
Maybe the food scan thing had to do with the all day food program thing and the food was already included.
I'm not certain, they seemed frustrated and just told them to just kind of go and move on. 🤔😐
Thank you Dillon for making this video. You literally just saved me sooo much money, a headache, and buyers remorse.
What is your favorite waterpark?
I'm glad it helped! I would say it REALLY depends. If you want the most thrilling attractions, I would say Volcano Bay, but it's pricier and if it's a busy time of the season, you'd probably have to get the Express Pass for everyone to do everything. But it's the best themed waterpark and some of the best attractions around.
That said, we just did a video at Typhoon Lagoon, and earlier this year we did Blizzard Beach, and both were a lot of fun! Typhoon Lagoon is a lot of fun, and we didn't have to wait more than probably 15-20 minutes for the longest wait! They have a massive wave pool and just a good selection of slides. It's not on the same level as something like Volcano Bay, but also it's definitely cheaper.
If Aquatica fixed it's staffing issues and management, I would say it would probably be right behind Volcano Bay for attractions, but not even close for theming still.
So TLDR:
Value - Typhoon Lagoon/Blizzard Beach (whichever is operational at the time)
Thrills/Excitement - Volcano Bay (but much pricier and crowded)
@@Dillon.Thomas wow thanks so much for all the info! I’m going to try out Typhoon Lagoon in Sept, then I’ll try Volcano Bay in April for my sons 12th birthday. Then Blizzard Beach. I’ll definitely be checking out your typhoon lagoon video!
Hopefully Aquatica gets it together! But I won’t be visiting until I see an updated
“they got it together” video from you lol 😂
@@atmchicks I definitely would! Typhoon Lagoon is a lot of fun, still. Volcano Bay is ton of fun, you'll love it! I think it's something completely unique when it comes to waterparks, there's really nothing like it.
I really am hoping they figure it out over there, because I don't want it to go to waste. It's got so much potential, but it takes more than some good rides to have a good theme park :(
So he goes during spring break time which is an ultimate No No. Any local Floridan knows that. Like the other water parks weren't packed and full of chaos? The others were worse. Aquatica is a great place and don't go off of his one personal experience.
I am not the only one who unfortunately shares these experiences. I do agree, Aquatica is a great waterpark, but the way it's being ran right now is ruining what the park has to offer. If you're saying that because I went during Spring Break, my experience is invalid, you have to think about those who can only travel during Spring Break. Disney and Universal's waterparks are much better managed, by no means perfect, but better. It just feels out of control here. Again, you can find multiple instances of people having issues with the park besides myself, I am very much only one person, and I encourage everyone to watch and do their own research before making a decision. This is just my experience, and how I see it as of now. If they manage the park better, I imagine it would be arguably one of the best waterparks around. But unfortunately good slides don't make up for the faulty issues that are still there. But again, 100% my opinion.
About 6 years ago I had a Sea World/ Aquatica pass. Aquatica was included. I agree that the Sea World/Aquatica in Orlando is not cared for. I dropped my pass after the year was up even with the actual pass being extremely cheap. I agree that you can have the absolute best attraction(s) but if the quality of the park experience is low, I'll take my money elsewhere... and I have. I, like you, did not have high expectations of Aquatica. I was told at the time that it was the "best waterpark in Orlando." After my one and only visit, I found that to be false. At that time I felt the park(s) were in disrepair, unorganized and mismanaged. I can see nothing has changed, and has gotten worse with you and other vloggers recently visiting. I would hope that the management over the Sea World Orlando parks would take note and listen to the people. We have some amazing attractions in the central Florida corridor and state overall. I'd hate to see these parks end up closing one day when they could really be something great!
Love the channel btw! 🌟🐝🌟
First of all, thank you very much for the kind words! I really appreciate that! 🤗
That seems crazy that it's been this way for potentially 6+ years, and it's just getting worse. This our first year in Orlando and we figured we should get passes to all of the parks, but at this point, I'm not sure I would spend money on the Sea World parks. Busch Gardens is great for the rollercoasters, but the operations feel SO bad at all of the parks ran by Sea World, and the price of the everything in the parks just feels insane. The food booths for the events are all like $10+ for each item, where at least Disney and Universal have a good amount of items under $10 (granted they're all still too pricey).
The one nice thing with Sea World is the lanyards during the events, and I do feel like the small perks and gifts for Passholders are nice, but I don't think that's really worth it when the park itself feels just dirty and not cared for on all fronts. I know I may not be a big channel, but I hope it at least reaches someone looking to book a trip and they reconsider for the time being. But obviously when the larger vloggers are repeating the same thing, it's definitely time the corporation takes notice. I heard Sea World was looking to buy the Cedar Fair parks, and all I can imagine is... How do you imagine you would run THAT many more parks when the handful you have are being run poorly already? As you stated, we have some AMAZING parks and attractions here in Central Florida, and you have to step your game up to be on the same playing field as the others. But, I imagine a little effort in fixing either management, training or something, would help get the parks under control for them.
Yea, I noticed food and merch is very expensive at SeaWorld. The annual passes are far less expensive.
It's kind of a give and take, pay less for passes, but more for what seems to be everything else ha.
I just went this weekend june 30th 2024/Sunday and it was an absolute zoo. It was either the smell of garbage or piss. Please ya'll dont tell me it was because it was the weekend!! There were a LOT of things they couldve improved upon if they want to hit Disney and Uni standards. Even the standards of their own park, Seaworld. We used to be passholders 2019-2020 and it was never like this.
The water within the sealife tanks looks so unkept. And seeing the camoran (?) Dolphins in those algaed tanks is so depressing!!
What this man describes wasnt much different to my experience (except for the police) but to add to that, the strong odor of urine was everywhere. You just couldnt escape it just makes an entire day miserable. 3 days later i still have trauma LOL.
All i can say is, if you really must go, take an uber. The line just to get into the park is horrible unless you get there EARLY. Like, rope drop early. Like 8:30 pm early. If you go an hour later, you will have NO umbrella seat (and you will need one for when it inevitably rains). Plus waiting through the long security line sucks. They only have 2-3 working walkthroughs for guests without strollers.
Dont bother with the lazy river. There is always a monumental log jam of inflatables. And that fish tank has all alge in it. Its sad.
How the hell does disney and universal have plenty of staff and the sea world parks never do?? They running on bare minimum or what?
No idea lol. Maybe wages and benefits? That's the only thing I could think. Disney and Universal are paying decently well for theme parks, and the access to go to those parks feels pretty "worth it" in terms of value. But I'm not sure otherwise ha.
I was debating between this or Blizzard Beach for my 7 year old's birthday. Guess which one I am choosing now? LOL. I am so curious about what made the cops chase that man.
Blizzard beach is a great choice! Typhoon Lagoon is fun, too! So I think you will have a good time and your child's birthday will be much better haha. We have NOOO idea, especially considering he had to be tackled and cuffed by cops, it honestly just killed the whole day... It really stunk.
Ngl the thing you did worng was going on the most shortest ride but the longest line ngl it is fun but its not worth the wait and when its too crowded they are trained to not pay attention much plus ever since the pandemic everything changed i reccomend going on a normal weekend or just a week day thats not during summer or a break bc a lot of tourist come at that time and you wont be able to do anything its a really good park but all you need it the perfect timing to go ive been going ever since i was a little kid i am a teenager now and seeing this kinda pushed my buttons but i know where you're coming from i understand what you mean but there are some stuff you will need to know before going for example timing you need to get there early if you plan on going during summer or spring break you also need to pick a day where there wont be much people and for getting there early i recommend like 10-20 minutes before they open and getting the yearly pass is worth it for examply you are able to go on specific rides that u choose before the park opens during may and you're allowed to go before the park opens and u do need yearly passes but they are really worth it and next time i recommend not getting a locker for its just a waste of money
Thanks for the input! We have definitely heard people giving some feedback on timing. Much like the other parks, I think there are definitely going to be "good" and "bad" times to visit the park. With that said, though, I think the experience we had was based on the employees, not really the crowd levels. I think the crowds were to be expected, it was spring break, it was busy, it was hot, it made sense to have such big crowds. I think the lack of employee knowledge, interaction or training is what really did the park poorly. I appreciate the comment and the feedback, though! I always enjoy hearing peoples thoughts on the park and their interactions they had. Again, I'm not saying our time there is normal, but I have been hearing and reading similar stories that say they had a really bad experience. But, it's still an operating park and has high attendance for a reason at the end of the day.
I hate you had a horrible experience and I don't think you're being negative. Just know that its not an everyday occurrence; they have good days and bad days. I don't like crowds, so I try to avoid Spring Break or Summer Break (even though I did visit around the 4th of July last year lol). My only complaint was that they didn't tell people in Roa's Rapids not to stand in the middle of the river because you really can't stop. I slammed into someone because they were trying to wait for their friends. So I do agree with you that the staff can do much better. I believe PC Dev had a weird day because most of the rides and food booths were closed (which is what they do when the park isn't crowded but really isn't fair). We're going back this year just before my daughter is back in school so majority of the crowds should have died down; I made this assumption based on the prices of the cabanas lol. I've had people be rude to me before and after COVID at various parks so I just smile and go on my way. One bad moment can quickly ruin an entire vacation if you let it. Trust me, I was at Mall of America last year during an active shooting.
Edit: My apologies, PC Dev also witnessed a child use the restroom at the entrance of the river. Let me just say that's disgusting. And what's worse is the staff did nothing. But I will also say, this is one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of any waterpark. I go because my daughter loves anything having to do with water but can you imagine the little ones (and I'm sure some grown ones) that have let loose and weren't caught; I'm 100% sure this has happened at all waterparks. We're going to Volcano Bay this year for the first time. I'm just excited about the cabana but I try to enjoy everything else for her sake. My favorite is Discovery Cove (but it's more of an island).
I just don't love being negative in the video the entire time 😟. I do imagine any park has it's good and bad days, definitely, but I feel like your completely reliant on the guests to determine the day. Whereas at Universal and Disney, because they have more control over situations, and their staff is working under what I assume are better training conditions, they handle situations much better. So, unfortunately, anyone can have a very bad day at any park, for sure. But that said, I do think the amount of things I've heard from Aquatica, and then to have our own experience I think shows it's a bit too frequent of a problem happening to overlook. But you 100% are right, they certainly probably have days where things go very smoothly and there's not really any serious issues. I just think it's crazy the one time we go, we come across some crazy issues, where we've been to Volcano bay probably 3 or 4 times since last summer and haven't had any issues (you're going to love that park by the way!) and then blizzard beach and typhoon lagoon, and haven't had any of these similar problems. That said, the number of employees is significantly higher at these other parks, where I think Aquatica is also severely understaffed.
So really, I don't necessarily blame one individual thing, I think they need better training, more employees and having an understanding of the more "catastrophic" events that happen in the park and how to handle them. I think that's where a lot of people are having gripes with the park, it's not just that something crazy happens, it's that the staff just don't care about what's happening and it feels like there's just no control. But you said it perfectly, one bad moment can definitely ruin an entire vacation if you let it. And sometimes you really do have to just smile and move on from situations. Because many situations are really just out of our control, and if you get bent out of shape because of it, it can really hinder your experience. I do really hope Aquatica turns it around, though, because the park seems to be a REALLY fun park. I just don't know where you start, if it's training, management, hiring spree, etc. We definitely want to check out Discovery Cove, we've heard some great things about that park! It seems like it's such a unique take on a waterpark, if you can even really call it that. I love the way they designed the experience, and we're really looking forward to eventually getting out there!
I hope you enjoy Volcano Bay, a good tip is getting there early and scanning into the water coaster since that will be at like 360+ minutes most of the day during summer. So guaranteeing that ride early will help you beat that 5+ hour wait! 😝
@@Dillon.Thomas You're not being negative, you're being real. And you are absolutely right, I think I am basing my experience on the number of guest and hoping the park isn't crowded on the day I pick lol; I can't help it. And to be honest, when I was at Aquatica we stayed between the kid's area and Roa's Rapids. I love SeaWorld and Busch Gardens but my opinion may be a little flawed on that as well because I usually do the VIP tours so basically I'm paying for the level of customer service I receive...it sounds horrible saying it but it's just too hot in Florida to stand in line for over 30 minutes for a two minute ride 🤣! This is making me sound real prissy but I promise I'm not. BUT YOU ARE RIGHT, I do believe they are understaffed. And I think they should focus less on hiring students on break and more on hiring someone more permanent. Or even if they do hire younger adults, make sure they're committed and go through some significant training.
You would love Discovery Cove; just don't overbook your first visit with extra add-ons. I did that and it got real stressful lol. Very different vibe there. If you enjoy relaxing and marine life, you'll get hooked lol.
This will be our first visit to both Universal and Volcano Bay and I'm super excited. I don't know why I keep picking these hot months though; I usually visit in December lol. And I will most certainly make sure I'm there bright and early!
@@lashaysmith7783 Haha, there's nothing wrong with doing the parks the way you want! Whatever you need to have a good experience, you have to make it happen! I think a VIP experience at any park isn't going to give you enough of the normal consumers standpoint haha, but it's just the nature of it. Any given day is good or bad, and whoever experiences it will be the one who gets to make that judgement call. At the end of the day, there were still many people in the park that didn't see the experiences we did, and probably had a good time. I do really think the hiring process needs to be adjusted there, and they 100% need to figure out how to get solid employees and long-term employees. Especially to help train and give assistance to the newcomers who experience the weird issues.
Nicole is begging to go, so I think this summer that's DEFINITELY on the agenda! Everything we've seen about it has looked like such a good experience. And even with the price tag, people are seemingly ok with it because the experience justifies it.
I hope you love the parks! Universal is so much fun, and Volcano Bay is definitely a one of a kind waterpark. You just have to figure out the crowds situation there, or buy the express pass to skip those lines. Those are for sure some of the longer lines I've seen at the parks. If you're into the VIP experiences, then I'd say you'd be good to do the same there! This was an AMAZING winter in Florida, the weather was soooooo nice, it was the perfect time to visit haha. like 70s EVERY day with sun. Felt amazing. We are definitely in the hot season, now haha.
Believe it or not Adventure Island in Tampa ( across from Busch Gardens) is far worse than Aquatica. You couldn't pay me to go to Adventure Island 🤮
I didn't have any interest in that park, but after hearing this... I DEFINITELY have no interest at any point in the future now. So disappointing! 😩
Yapping of the yappingtons
You should watch PC Dev’s video about Aquatica. I’ve been to SeaWorld, but never Aquatica. After seeing his video concerning a kid and a bathroom accident have no plan on going.
I actually did check his video out! It's crazy how many people have similar situations out there... I would hope they'd hear about these incidents and be on the lookout for them more and be able to address them better. But unfortunately, it seems like people are still having these experiences. Love Seaworld and the company, but I think they need to figure out how to help manage their employees at the parks, and better equip them with the tools to address these scenarios.
What the babys gonna do if you do all the crying bro...
Aquatica with a fast pass tho is really, really fun!
I don't think the rides are bad at all, actually! I think it's just the operations and staffing problems they have that ruin the experience 😕
330 days a year aquatica is a nearly empty waterpark paradise. the other 35, peak seasons like 4th of july weekend, christmas and spring break at say 3pm lol you just dont go there. Sea World Parks don’t staff up for those few peak days, they just absorb the mess and rake in the profits.
As a local, total works for me. But what about those who only have these times available to travel and attend. That's just the unfortunate part about it.
@@Dillon.Thomas It’s a bummer for sure, especially since it’s usually even more expensive on those terrible days
@@jasonborucki ya, surge pricing really stinks 😔 but I understand it from a business perspective
I just went there a couple days ago. Simpler experience. To many people and slides and lazy river was down due to not enough lifeguards. Not to mention way over price. I preferred Disney's water parks. Nobody watching the customers.
It seems they haven't changed much unfortunately.... it's such a nice park, but not managed well. I'm sorry you had a bad experience like many of us 😔
Drinking is one of the problems they have. The should not allow it but they are greedy and don't care.
That first ride was definitely NOT worth the wait
Lol it may have not been, honestly...
Same thing happened with our experience as well at adventure island in Tampa ! No authority anywhere no check points no nothing ! We all had the fast pass and yet we still waited so long for these slides cause there was nobody checking our arm bands and or making sure we had the arm bands so we waited a very long time people with no arm bands got to go ahead of us and then I had bought a couple of all day food tickets and that was a whole other experience not good and then we had rented a cabana for the day and nobody came by to empty our trash nor was there any trash bins at our cabana it was a mess and we couldn’t even find a trash bin anywhere near our cabana either hell we couldn’t find one anywhere in the park 😮 We still had fun but I so know exactly what you are saying these water parks have no authority in them what so ever and not enough staff that’s for sure 😮 And when you pay big money to go into these parks and pay high prices for food you would think there would be a lot more order and staff making sure your experience there is one to be remembered!
I keep hearing these stories over and over, it's so sad 😢. I haven't heard too much about Adventure Island, but the one thing someone else commented was how much worse Adventure Island was over Aquatica. Which honestly, seems crazy to think there is another location doing even worse than Aquatica right now. It really just feels like it's a free-for-all in these parks sometimes. Without the authority and training, there's no way they turn things around on their own. I really hope they get management involved to do better training, hire more quality employees, and get their parks back under control.
I know what you mean where you mention having fun, but spending money like that to have those experiences, it just almost doesn't make sense. I think for our specific experience, the whole situation and escalation of issues within 30 minutes really turned us off. As I mention, I definitely think you can have a "good day" or "bad day" all just depending on what you witness and how the crowd levels are. That really stinks for you, though, how much the cabana situation really wasn't probably what you were expecting with something as simple as just trash removal/garbage cans. Again, such simple fixes, but they just aren't doing it right now... 😧
@@Dillon.Thomas I know right ! For the money we spend at these places there’s no excuse ! However I gotta say I watched your video on discovery cove and I think that will be our next adventure ❤️ So Thank you for that 😎 Looks like a lot of fun 🤩
@@Tricia2023 Hopefully you love Discovery Cove! You may be talking about PCD, he has a video on Discovery Cove! We haven't done one yet, but it's on the agenda for summer.
@@Dillon.Thomas Omg your right it was him I’m so sorry ! But yes I’m really wanting to go to discovery cove now lol 😎
@ No problem! He did a great video of Discovery Cove, made us want to go, so I don't blame you! Haha
We did not like Aquatica, did 9-5:30 7/2/23, wait times were STUPID for 20 seconds of fun!!!!
I just went to typhoon lagoon yesterday and it was great! I was thinking of trying to head back to aquatica to see if it's gotten any better, but it seems to not be the case 😕
Structure and order at the water park wtf is he talking about I get in the wave pool I go to a slide then I go here and there
Go to Adventure Island in Tampa!!!! It’s got more structure to it.
Really?? I heard it was actually worse over there, I'll have to give it a shot!
But its really run down and out dated. I would recommend it least of all the parks. We had a 4 pk annual pass.
I had a similar experience 2 years ago.
Unfortunately I think it's commonplace for so many people 😕
My son said today they visited this park and there was a lot of African-American young men had shirts on that said we're taking over and was very rude to his family and the way they were acting and scared his young son who started crying. He said someone had to pay for their tickets to get in and everyone was wearing a shirt that said we're taking over.
SeaWorld should never have allowed this. If they want to do community outreach, it’s all good. Close the park to the general public and host these youth groups. It was utter chaos in the park due to the crush of seemingly unsupervised kids. Numerous fights to the point they shutdown the park early.
We fortunately eeked out a fun day, but my kids were exposed to less than stellar behavior and some fist fights. Sufficed to say, we won’t be returning any time soon.
Oh my goodness what wrong with these people they are just nasty 🤢. Don’t be sorry that your job to tell us. Thanks for your honesty.
I don't know 😩 It's heartbreaking to see such a nice park like that just not under control at all. I never expected to see a police chase in a theme park here in Orlando, maybe at some smaller park in the middle of nowhere, but not at these large parks we have here.
It sucks because you go to Disney or Universal and though the crowds are not perfect, there's a LITTLE more decency with the people that interact with you there, but the best part about those 2 parks are the employees. Their employees will stop someone from being rude, and they know how to handle poor situations. It just felt like the park was ran by the people at Aquatica, and the people didn't care to run a nice park lol!
It’s not Disney or universal, what did you expect. Also they’re not going to hide stuff you can’t see if your in the ground level
I think I'll attempt to revisit at some point to see if it's any better, but I figured to compete with those companies, they would really put a lot more effort in. 😟
Yes I feel like I don’t exist in these parks. I was knocked to the ground Two guys were not looking where they were going and knocked me to the ground. I hate theme parks. This was at SeaWorld.
Unfortunately, that doesn't even seem like an uncommon occurrence anymore 😕. People in the parks are becoming increasingly rude and inconsiderate. It's really too bad... I'm sorry you had a bad experience like that, that really stinks..
From what is been showed on u utube valcano water park looks better
Volcano Bay is a great park! I'd highly recommend checking in out if you can! Probably the most pricey option, but worth it!
Soooooo we have SeaWorld/bush gardens/both water parks annual passes, are you seriously telling me that it was that bad? Did you ever go to wet n wild? Is it like that? My family is going tomorrow with 5 kids 😩 I really hope this was just a bad day b/c we wasted our 💰
I checked out the other guys video you mentioned… that was a bit dramatic m. He didn’t even tell anyone, he just assumed someone saw it.. I don’t think that’s right.. see something, say something
At the end of the day ANYONE can have a good or bad park day at ANY park, honestly. I would say, just temper your expectations, you may have a very good experience. It could have been the springbreak crowds on top of normal operations, I really couldn't tell you. There have been a few other videos saying they experienced issues, too. So, I would say if you go, keep to yourself and hopefully just don't mind having some issues at the park, then you'll be totally fine.
It's DEFINITELY NOT Universal or Disney caliber when it comes to experience, but the slides and such are cool. I don't know enough about Wet n Wild, but I haven't heard anything really pertaining to it being negative so that's probably a good sign? Really, that's why I make videos like this and some others do the same, to make sure visitors like yourself are informed! I hope you have a good time, and I'm rooting for you to not have a bad experience!
yeah no. cutting? i would have spoken up and been like excuse me CHILD find your freakin parents and get THEM to pay. no freakin manners now-a-days. it’s sad how disrespectful kids are. just shows their parents personalities and teaching style; well lack there-of
was considering with the deal going on. now i understand why tickets are 55% off
P.c Dev just had a vlog not too long ago same problems sounds like not a place to go
Ya, it definitely feels like this is a known problem about the park. That's really too sad... I guess I'll wait awhile to see if things change.
@@Dillon.Thomas might be a hot minute before that happens 😬
@@Pauls_Adventures Ya seriously... with the theme park wars in full swing again, maybe they don't let it keep falling.
Another vlogger said that someone used the bathroom in the rapid river and the life guards didn’t do anything
@@NinjaDog9123 I’ve heard same story 😬😬
not smart to go during spring break you live in Orlando you know the workers overworked and underpaid doing those jobs!! Park ran by teens and young adults!! What 30+ adult working at water park in the day to day operations!! Dont be ....
It’s a red state not a blue one - return to you slave system computers 💻- It’s a park for childrens a most - They not even know what day was - they yes want to gave fun - not going places for details- Question 🤔: A Disney is paying for you video-
I think I'm confused on your comment, I apologize. If you can clarify, I can try and better respond! If you're asking if Disney is paying me to make this video, absolutely not lol. Disney has their own issues, this was just our experience going to this Waterpark and it seems to not be only us having issues their. I do wish they would get their act together, because the park seems like it could be a contender for the best Waterpark in central Florida. But that won't happen until they fix the issues, unfortunately. 😔
This has nothing to do with politics tf
I was going to take my family this summer. Now I won't be.
I really hope they turn it around, but I think your dollar will be spent better at another waterpark here in Central Florida, there are some VERY nice ones for the same or less money. It seems you can find multiple videos about a multitude of issues happening there day to day... It's so sad.
Lol have you ever been to rapids? Lol waterparks generally attract a certain demographic. And its not rude to record. Go down to parkland down south and experience the culture there 😂
Personally I live in Orlando. I am here three years and ready to give up all park and my tickets. Too overpriced and have to put up with Public and nasty parents and nasty kids. No thanks I give up on them. 😢
That always stinks, maybe a good experience for you would change your mind. But I can imagine if you keep having issues, you may not be as interested, though. I'm sorry to hear that.
SeaWorld and Aquatica is the ghetto parks to go to they use to be great but not no more now it’s just ghetto and not worth it
Nuh uh.. SEA WORLD ??? 😭😭🥺🥺💀💀 I’m maddd
Hi , I hope you wrote an email of complaint directly to SeaWorld ? They would want to know about your experience for sure .
I have not, I certainly can, but I find often times they just offer you a gift card for your inconvenience. I don't care to get money from the company, I just want them to increase their operations. But maybe a review email to them would go a long way!
So Soft. "Honey I’m so disgusted I’m getting on RUclips"
Stop being a crybaby. I understand things might be unfair but get over it. Write them a letter.
very biased report not true reflection of park been hundreds of times never had these problems says more about you really
I don't think I'm being biased here. I think I explained my exact experience of what we encountered on this day. As I even stated, some people may or may not experience what we did. I 100% agree. But I don't think I am being biased about my experience.