2023-06-15 04:48:14
Florida is theme park heaven. The so-called State of the Sun, just four hours by plane from Bogotá, is an Eden designed to have fun, be excited, be impressed and even rest in the United States. But the question is always: where do you start? Which plan suits what I want? What are the must-see attractions?
The answer is simple: choose what you like best (and here we help you with that). On this tour we will take you on a four day trip where you can do it all: sunbathing in an all-inclusive resort where the goal is to rest; meet, aboard a safari jeep, some of the most impressive animals in the world while learning the importance of their conservation, slide down some of the fastest and steepest slides in Orlando and, of course, scream as you take many, many twists and turns to land head first on some of the fastest, steepest and craziest roller coasters in America.
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(Also read: The 20 best amusement parks in the world, according to TripAdvisor)
This tour (through the parks that are part of the SeaWorld Group*) includes two cities, Orlando and Tampa, four parks (each with its peculiarities) and four days to give you the emotions that every tourist trip should have, in addition to the well-deserved rest after screaming non-stop.
With the time available, a lot of sunscreen and the warning that the only objective of this plan is to have guaranteed fun for young and old, let’s start the tour.
Aquatica: a water park for a mandatory dip
The holidays, indisputably, must have a dip. But just jumping into the pool is old fashioned. Today is to climb 126 steps, to get into an almost space capsule where, from one moment to the next, the floor disappears and lets you fall at about 20 kilometers per hour through a slide that seems eternal the first time you it’s done and then it’s over too quickly.
Those are the Ihu’s Breakaway Falls, the must-see attraction of our first destination: Aquatica Orlando.
What is, in fact, the number one outdoor water park in the United States, according to 10 Best Reader’s Choice Awards, de USA Todayit has everything: from a pool with waves to a river with rapids that can be crossed only by letting yourself be carried away by the current, but without a doubt the must-see attraction are its 10 slides.
And the options are several: you can go on slides for couples with twists and waterfalls at full speed, others for groups riding a giant float in the shape of a donut going through almost vertical 10-meter walls and even compete, mounted on a kind of carpet (photo) to go down in lanes designed to define who, among all, is the fastest.
(Also read: 10 theme parks in Colombia to visit on your next vacation).
For small children there is the swimming pool and the newly opened Turi’s Kid Cove baby area, where they can do the same as adults but on mini-slides.
Seaworld Orlando: ‘Surf’, roller coasters and conservation
The second day, already drier, it is time to put this trip on its head. The destination is Seaworld Orlando, a theme park with seven roller coasters, each one more unique than the last.
For a start: the newly opened Pipeline, the world’s first “surf roller coaster.” An unusual attraction where people go on their feet —yes, on their feet, on a roller coaster— traversing an 880-meter route with a maximum speed of 96 km/h and a height of up to 33 meters, to feel that is riding the waves of Nazaré, the destination where only the most experienced surfers in the world can go to master waves the size of buildings.
From there, the next destination is Manta, where the attraction is to cross, as if you were a manta ray —yes, horizontally, looking at the ground— a journey of more than a thousand meters, in which you will feel that you are flying from when it begins to rise, until it does one of the four exciting turns that carry the emotion from head to back (a curious sensation, and rare in these types of attractions).
Then comes Ice Breaker, where the gag is that the coaster goes backwards — yes, backwards, twice — to pick up the momentum it takes to reach its top speed of 84km/h. And there are still four more attractions to go, just as particular, illogical and exciting. And when you’re done with all the mountains, or if being upside down isn’t your thing, Seaworld is also the place to be to learn about marine life conservation.
(Also read: In Bogotá they will build the fastest and highest roller coaster in Latin America).
Seaworld is, in fact, a certified zoological organization and one of the largest marine animal rescue organizations in the world. In 2022 they reached the impressive number of more than 40,000 animal rescues. Some of them are recovered in the park where you can meet and learn from them.
Busch Gardens: The Next Level in Roller Coasters and Rides
After you’ve tried roller coasters, it’s time to take it to the next level – at Busch Gardens Tampa. For this destination you will have to travel to Tampa, which is just over an hour by car from Orlando and which you can get to for free (from Orlando) if you have a ticket to the park, through the buses provided by the Seaworld Group.
That being said: Busch Gardens is the destination for thrill seekers. Here you can ride Iron Gwazi, the tallest, fastest and steepest hybrid roller coaster (wooden and metal frame) in the world. This is not an attraction for everyone: it has falls with an angle of 91 degrees, from 61 meters high and reaches up to 122 km/h. It is a roller coaster like no other, full of emotions, surprises, the feeling that everything is going to collapse because it is made of wood and screams during absolutely each of its 1,242 meters of length.
After there it is best to walk towards the newly opened Serengeti Flyer, a swing ride that is the world’s highest and fastest of its kind. This swing takes the idea of a park to another level, because in it you reach, sitting on an immense pendulum that propels you at 109km/h, a height of up to 41m, which allows you to appreciate a large part of the park for seconds before feeling the throbbing thrill of the negative G-force.
(Also read: More than 150 km per hour: this is how the most extreme roller coasters in the world are).
Then comes one of the favorites of all who visit Busch Gardens: Cheetah Hunt. In it you literally run through the park through three impulses, like those of a cheetah, in which you reach 97 km/h in seconds. And there are still: SheiKra, Cobra’s Curse, Montu and Tigris, each one just as exciting as the last.
But again, if roller coasters aren’t your thing, you can also go on a safari (and even feed giraffes) at Busch Gradens.get to know the park’s veterinary hospital (and even see the doctors saving animals), enjoy one of the shows on offer (in May, for example, every weekend there were concerts with Latin music singers) or tour the area for Sesame Street kids.
Discovery Cove: un resort for the well-deserved rest
To finish, with a flourish, nothing better than a well-deserved rest, in a resort. In Orlando, in the park area, there is a paradisiacal enclave whose sole purpose is to relax and unwind. It’s almost idyllic: white sands, sunbathing, saltwater pools where you can swim with animals or freshwater pools where you can sit and have a cocktail.
The name of that earthly paradise is Discovery Cove. It is an all-inclusive, with food, liquor (for an additional price) and sun, plenty of sun to rest in any of its pools. It is different from everything else. It’s like being in the Bahamas, in Aruba or San Andrés, listening to birds sing, watching pink flamingos go by and enjoying everything you want to try.
(Also read: This will be the technology that the Caribe Aventura Park will have).
Discovery Cove is going to spend a day like no other. You can tour their aviary, swim with manta rays and fish in their barrier reef, scuba dive in their aquarium (with a scuba, which requires zero preparation and gives you plenty of visibility). Or sit down and enjoy one of their cocktails (the Serenity Bay Sunset is highly recommended). It is a space where, regardless of age and tastes, everyone will find fun.
If you go to the Seaworld Parks
EDWIN CAICEDO | SPECIAL ENVOY FOR TRAVEL
Seaworld Group Invitation*
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