We didn’t get to ride this one.
Yesterday, we went to Busch Gardens. We did nothing, got wet, walked too much, came back exhausted, soggy and poorer. We seem to have absolutely impeccable timing for getting places at exactly the wrong time!
We didn’t get to ride this either.
We planned carefully and sensibly. We figured that if we went late in the day, it would be cooler and probably less crowded too. Logical right? I mean, the park‘s open until 10 at night, so getting there at 3:30 should leave us more than ample time to whatever we wanted and ride whatever we wanted.
After we finally got through the long walk to the park from the very closest parking lot, we decided to take the train ride that loops around the park. It would give us something of an orientation, an overview.
After that we were nearly slavering with anticipation, we headed down the long road to Apollo’s Chariot, the first of the 6 big, bigger and biggest, baddest roller coasters we intended to ride.
We were at the front of the line on the platform, ready to board the ride. Which is when the announcement came that the ride was closing due to weather issues.
Not this one either.
Weather. Mainly, lightning. Not to mention wind and rain. So we stood around a bit, milled around in confusion, then eventually headed back the long road to the rest of the park.
With great anticipation, we waited for a weather update. We were in a code orange, which is bad, but the next announcement was “Code Red,” which was much worse and actually closed everything, except shops.
Shortly thereafter, the sky opened up and a sheet of water fell out. We stood under an awning speculating — along with everyone else — whether or not there was any chance the park would reopen.
Also, didn’t ride this one.
It did not reopen.
We hauled ass back to Guest Relations, where they were very gracious about the whole thing and seemed genuinely sorry that we come from so far away, didn’t get to do anything except eat a pretzel and get soaked. They refunded half the money because our friends had to leave today and we took rain checks and will make another stab at it tomorrow. We would have g0ne today, but the weather report doesn’t look promising and I couldn’t deal with the same scenario two days running.
The best experience of the day? The electric scooter that you can rent and drive around the park. I loved it! It was way zippier than I thought it would be and fun, too. Unfortunately, by the time I got it, I was already over-tired and when we finally got back to the hotel, having stopped at the grocery store in between and then cooking dinner … we had barely enough strength to climb into bed and pass out.
Today, the humidity is 99% and thunder storms are likely in the afternoon, so we are going to go tomorrow morning when hopefully, it won’t be raining because that really IS our last chance.
Talk about disappointing! Nice that Garry and I get another shot at it, but I so wanted to go with my friend too … but … well … it didn’t happen and if there’s one thing you cannot count on, it’s usually the weather.
They’ve left now and it’s very quiet and feels kind of empty. I’m trying not to be a bit down-hearted, but it’s difficult.
Tomorrow is another day, I hope.
Related articles
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September 27, 2012 at 3:11 am
I’ve been to Busch Gardens in Florida with my family. It was the vacation from hell. We drove there in a rental car from St. Louis. Our two kids, just entering their teens, tried to kill each other in the car while driving us madd. I threatened to stop on the shoulder of the interstate and kick them out. That stopped them temporarily. How do you respond to “Mom, he’s looking out my window”! or “He’s breathing my air”!
We went through 4 rental cars on that trip. You might want to avoid National Car Rentals for a 1,000 mile trip. It poured down rain at Busch Gardens while we were there. It was July.
The folks at the gardens passed out yellow bird rain ponchos to this who stuck around. That was a mistake. They were made of old fashioned PVC plastic and were so hot we were wetter on the inside than standing in the rain without them.
Suffice it to say I feel your pain. LOL
September 27, 2012 at 11:49 am
Garry and I were able to return the following day on a “rain check” ticket, and they refunded the price of the tickets for my friends who had to leave the following day. We had a good time — getting broken and bruised on rides designed for younger generations — and we took it slow and rented little scooters to keep from collapsing from that delightful combination of heat and exhuastion. The place we stayed was nice, comfortable and spacious. Driving back, we took our time and spent a couple of days in Gettysburg. NO kids, thank you. I remember being one then having them and now, I gratefully enjoy the company of grownups who don’t generally have food fights in the backseat. If anything makes me glad I’m not young, it’s NOT having little kids at the center of my life. It was fun when I was young … I had energy and patience and I was a kid myself. Now I’m a cranky old lady. Small children in small doses.