Orlando theme park tries a 'no re-entry' policy

What an unfriendly guest policy. So, in the heat and blazing sun, I cannot return to my car to reapply sun screen, I need to carry it around with me all day. Wonderful. Policies like these and purchase surcharges (I am also looking at you Six Flags with your $1.30 per purchase surcharge) erode guests desire to return in the future. I am sure Sea World will have some weather related excuse for attendance continuing to slide, but it is the death by a million cuts of these little irritating policies that eventually people say no more; I just won't go.

Wow - that’s harsh.
Honestly, I don’t usually leave and return to a park on the same day. My trips are usually day trips, and I’m not the type to go back to the hotel for a snooze or a dip in the pool. There are lots of people who do exactly the that. This would be a huge issue for them.
Don’t see this being an issue at multigate resorts. Of course; SeaWorld Orlando has Aquatica.
Curious to see how long this continues.

This is really odd...I'm wondering if it is a capacity issue or for the upcoming holiday weekend?

I can't see this being a permanent policy at all...

This is definitely a ploy to deter people from leaving the park to eat at nearby restaurants. I don't suspect that this policy will stay in place long once the massive (and well-deserved) blowback occurs. This policy (and the sneaky 5% surcharge at the bottom of all the menus) is giving SeaWorld an extremely bad look. If they really want to get people spending money in the parks, they should seriously make an effort to have unique and quality food offerings, upfront pricing, and consistently clean restaurants. SWO, you can do better.

From what I’ve heard, this is a temporary measure in response to threats of a large-scale gathering with expected violence. I think there are better ways to address it, but understand the position with all the fights that have taken place across the country over the past couple of years.

Having said that, they really need to put this sign outside the gates and give guests warning of the policy before entering the park. There is no excuse otherwise.

SeaWorld continues to add grease to their dumpster fire. We’re locals and annual pass holders with year round quick queue and haven’t been in months.

They seem hell bent on aggravating their guests.

The 5% surcharge is super irritating.

On our last visit all of the kiosks at the front of the park were broken, long lines at guest services, sent to pass lounge to get item printed only to be told their machine was broken.

When you arrive to a loading platform it feels like a scene from a Mad Max movie.

Adding more rides over the last 10 years is a good direction, but if you can’t staff maintenance, ops, etc properly it won’t matter.

Rant over? Probably.

Yeah, I think it's exactly what James is referring to. Do I think this adequately addresses that problem? No. Does it drop the illusion that the park's security theater is just that? Yes, a bit.

A summer day in an Orlando theme park absolutely requires a mid day return trip to the hotel…All day in the park just isn’t an option…

IF this actually is about potential fights then shame on Sea World for being too cheap to hire CSC security or paying for Orange County Officers to come patrol (Orange County rents out their officers to theme parks all the time for an hourly rate per officer). Potential threats or violence is in no way a new issue, parks have been dealing with this forever and there is no need to force every single person that goes to the park to buy your overpriced food or starve, and/or not allow them to take a heat break during the day.

While I haven't seen this type of policy put in place at a North American park before (outside of separate ticket events), I've actually encountered it at several parks abroad (especially in Japan, where it's the norm). Granted, those parks usually have only 7-8 hour operating days rather than the 11-12 hour days common during peak season in the US so it's a bit more manageable, but I did have to deal with it at USJ with their 14 hour operating days at the time of my visit (and yes, that means you can't even leave to visit CityWalk at that park).

Personally, I consider it an inconvenience but not a deal breaker, especially at a park like SeaWorld Orlando. My guess is most guests to that park aren't leaving and returning the way they do at the resort properties, and particularly with some of the issues that the parks have faced lately it does serve as a bit of a deterrent to potential troublemakers. As this is the busiest week of the summer and the park will likely hit capacity crowds, I don't fault them for what is likely a temporary policy change (similar to the way Fun Spot put a temporary chaperone policy in place due to expected extreme crowds).

how does this actually address the "troublemaker" problem seaworld is facing, though?

I'm usually not one to come and go from a park but this really is stupid.

Wouldn’t seem it’s a capacity issue. They are doing cheap tickets right now, so perhaps a temporary thing in anticipation of crowds for peak summer season?

It couldn’t be that they are trying to force people to eat in the park and not go across the street and come back…could it?

As for security, that’s the park’s problem, not the honest, rule abiding, paying customer’s problem. If this is a security problem, hire more security and get tough on troublemakers. If you are going to create bigger crowds by cutting ticket prices in half, then gotta pay the cost of dealing with them.

In any event, bad idea and bad look, and then not explaining it makes it worse.

@ James - Is this the same "large gathering" that Fun Spot was dealing with/attempted to address with their chaperone policy? If this isn't a new policy, but rather the security issue, let your guests know in advance like Fun Spot. And if this is a "security issue," it reeks of cheapness because not only are they potentially using a no re-entry policy as a way to deter a large potentially dangerous "gathering" instead of hiring adequate security; they are also unwilling to let guests know because they may not choose to visit SWO on that day. If there is an incident, and God forbid fights where other guests are injured; SWO deserves all of the scorn they will get for being too cheap to have proper security AND not warning potential guests in advance (as Fun Spot did.)

It would be good for Sea World to properly publicize this and explain the rationale for implementing. As Robert noted, I spotted this sign on our way out of the park yesterday morning and didn't really think much about it since we were on our way to the airport. In most situations, we don't usually leave a park and re-enter later in the day, so a no-entry policy wouldn't typically change the way we tour parks, but I could see how it could be annoying to some. In fact, we actually did a re-entry on Sunday at BGT after spending a few hours over at Adventure Island and went back to BGT for a couple of night rides. We do sometime do re-entry at our home parks where we will leave during the heat of the midday to grab some lunch or shop at a local mall where the air conditioning is better than most park spaces.

I guess my gripe with this is that it just happened unannounced, and was not clearly advertised prior to guests entering the park. I do know a lot of guests like to go back to their cars for a picnic or just to grab some snacks/drinks from a cooler.

I have seen other parks institute a no-re-entry policy, but that has always been during special events like Six Flags Fright Fest, Haunt, and Winterfest, where that no-re-entry policy doesn't go into effect until later in the evening. I've always assumed that those parks did that primarily to control/manage crowds during times where they get close to capacity, and don't want to have to count guests coming and going. If this indeed a policy to control potential mobs/fights as James has noted, I'm not sure how a no-re-entry policy would prevent that. There was a report of a recent fight at BGT last week that was widely circulated over social media, but why a policy like this would prevent that type of activity is lost on me.

@ Russell - The Six Flags Fright Fest no re-entry policy (at least at Great America) is less about crowd control, and more about controlling alcohol (and now pot) consumption that leads to rowdy/unruly behaviors.

For those of us with toddlers or younger that may require extra unexpected changes of clothes or additional diaper supplies, or sometimes midday naps, I'd say this is a no thanks.

@AngryDuck: 100%

I was there Tuesday morning and it was nowhere near capacity. If they were just doing thus for the holiday and weekend I could understand it, but by stretching it into Tuesday, it feels more like a cash grab. That, combined with the 5% surcharge, and the tip prompts for counter-service meals (which go into a convoluted tip pooling that allows the park to dip into the pool to pay some wages) just make SeaWorld seem shady. The gimmicky bread and circus giveaways aren't going to cut it, especially if they rely on malfunctioning kiosks and long lines at Guest Services.

Seaworld be ghetto sometimes. And the ghetto people sneak in using other people's tickets. Honest folks and families probably won't have a problem if they talk to a manager and explain that they aren't ghetto.

While I am still upset at Disney for their Lightning Lane stunt, one thing they absolutely excel at is dealing with idiots. There was an extremely intoxicated woman acting a fool and trying to take her clothes off at AK, and it was like the security staff magically teleported to her and got her out super fast.

Agree that if Sea World is dealing with a security matter, then, yes, they need to pony up and hire professionals. I would think you could eliminate problems in ways that don’t impact decent families.