I don't leave too many reviews, but I was so infuriated by my experience that I felt compelled to do so.
I've had an annual pass to Busch Gardens & Adventure Island for over 20 years now, though I haven't actually gone to AI in several. I happened to have a day off work and randomly decided to go over to the park and enjoy the limited weekday crowds. As I said, I haven't been in a few years so I was excited to see that several new attractions have been added since; including Colossal Curl, a style of water slide I've always wanted to experience.
Imagine my disappointment when I find out there is absolutely no way to ride if you are visiting the park solo. Zip. None. Only parties of 2 or 4 are allowed and the staff will do ABSOLUTELY nothing whatsoever to help you try and pair with another group. I spent about 10 minutes standing at the entrance trying in vain to spot another solo rider or a group of three I could ride with but nothing (and again the ride attendant at the entrance was useless and essentially said"not my problem").
OK, fine I said (increasingly frustrated), well I guess I'll go ride the new slide next door, Solar Vortex. After spending another 20 minutes in line waiting for a tube I am once again told single riders are prohibited... WHAT??? I can somewhat understand Colossal Curl's restriction due to the unique nature of the cloverleaf shaped ride tubes but Solar Vortex uses nothing but a large round doughnut with a fabric bottom that seats 4 people. We're not talking Verrückt here folks. After complaining that I just stood in line for 20 minutes I was condescendingly informed that it's on the sign. Oh, you mean the TINY single line of text buried in the massive jungle of legalese safety information no one reads? Literally there is a giant illustration about wearing GoPro's but only that single line of text about singles. A+ Luckily with my loud statement of displeasure it just so happened the family of 5 behind me had an odd person out and invited me to ride with one of them so at least there's that (also the ride is fun but nothing to write home about).
But it doesn't end there either. You also cannot ride Wahoo! Remix solo (at least after getting burned twice I made sure to carefully check the sign where it was again buried). This one is particularly galling since Wahoo! is not a new slide. It's been there for 22 years and only got a refurb and new paint job. In all the years I've ridden it it was never singles restricted. So yeah, all 3 of the biggest rides (that is 30% of ALL the non-kiddie slides in the park) are off limits if you're flying solo.
And to top all that off the only water fountains I could find were broken meaning if you don't feel like dying of heat stroke you're going to be shelling out $5 for a 50 cent PLASTIC bottle of water (great job on that environmental consciousness there). Water, water everywhere...Exploitation gonna exploit.
I get that AI is geared toward a "family experience" but the sheer hostility they seem to have taken against solo visitors is infuriating and I honestly struggle to find any logic in it (but again, I guess if I'm not coming with an entire family to exploit why would they care?). This is extremely disappointing for a park I have such fond childhood memories of. I probably won't get to ride Colossal Curl anytime soon since doing so requires getting a couple friends to go on a weekday and burning a day of vacation on a park that really isn't worth it (Oh yeah, FORGET having any fun here on a summer weekend. The crowds are insane and the ride throughput is like continental drift).
I'm not sure who on the management team thought this was a smart policy, but essentially blackballing an entire community of people simply because some of us can have fun alone is frustrating and insulting. Whatever the supposed "logic" here is, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out a work around so that the rest of us paying customers can enjoy our day.
Response from Host
Jun 2022
We regret to read about your disappointment with your recent visit to Adventure Island. At Adventure Island, safety is the only thing that takes precedence over fun. There are certain attractions where single riders are not permitted, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We recommend checking out some of our body slides like Vanish Point and Caribbean Corkscrew on your next visit. We would like to assure you that we have forwarded your comments regarding the attractions and water fountains to the appropriate leadership for their continued improvement. -AN