Last year before covid-19 my family and I bought passes for Busch Gardens during a Black Friday sale. We live in Orlando so it's a bit of a drive, but we like roller coasters, so we thought it was a good deal. It wasn't. We've only gone twice, first in September when the crowds were a little thinner and the covid precautions were a little stricter, and then today 12/30/20. I knew it would be busier due to kids still having off from school, but I was not prepared for the awfulness that was today.
First, you have to make a reservation (that absolutely no one checked), and to do that you have to go to the website, only, never once have I been able to make a reservation through the website, so I called their number and had my phone on speaker for 90 minutes of hold before I hung up. I was able to make a reservation using the phone app which is a terrible app in general.
We got to the park at 11 am and we waited for an HOUR just to park the car. Then we waited about 30 minutes for the temperature check which was done by some sort of group infrared scanner instead of the simple forehead thing that every other place does, and actually moves quickly. Already there was absolutely no social distancing and poor mask enforcement. We should have just turned around and left, but we had already gotten this far.
Needless to say, the lines were long, and I'm not sure if it's the mentality of the guests or the fact that there is no enforcement of safety policies, or both, but no one maintained any distance whatsoever. I bring this up because they are pretty strict about the rules at Disney. At Busch Gardens there are no rules.
We didn't bother to try and eat anything, because in September we waited through long lines for the worst theme park food any of us have ever had, so we just ate before entering the park. However, that didn't stop me from noticing that every food vendor in the park had a giant line, mostly due to the fact that most of the other stands were closed.
The lone bright spot during the day came when we were in line for Montu. We talked with one of the employees and asked about Cheetah Hunt. They must give their employees special passes to give out to guests, and this employee filled out one for Cheetah Hunt for us, allowing us to bypass a 130 minute line. Unfortunately, to look a gift horse in the mouth, it was the most uncomfortable ride I've ever been on. I'm 5' 10" and the harness compacted me into the ride so tightly that I was in pain the entire time. I can't imagine anyone taller than me being able to go on that ride.
Although this looks like it's just a list of gripes and complaints, there is a conclusion that I've come to, but to review:
Busch Gardens can't make a website that works well.
They can't make a phone app that works well.
They can't answer the phone in a timely fashion.
They don't know how to run a parking lot with any efficiency.
They can't figure out a way to move people through a simple temperature check in a timely fashion.
They can't move people through a security check in a timely fashion.
They can't even be bothered to attempt to enforce a mask policy.
They can't even be bothered to attempt to enforce a social distancing policy.
They can't make a digital park map with any interactive features.
They can't cook a hamburger that doesn't taste terrible.
They can't efficiently manage a food line of any kind.
They put some of the animals right next to super loud roller coasters (think dogs on the 4th of July, but every single day all day).
Now, I have two questions for you before you go. If they can't do any of these things well, and in fact, do all of these things poorly, how do you think they treat their animals? And how well do you think they actually maintain their rides?
The conclusion that I've come to is that it is highly unlikely that they can be terrible at all of these things (many of them incredibly simple) but somehow they do a good job taking care of the animals and the rides. Simply put, the park is awful, and I honestly didn't feel safe in it. I don't care if there are a few months left on my pass. There's no way I'm going back.