It says those with special diets will be allowed to bring food.. If they handle similar to Cedar Fair parks, they will allow food for those visitors. We have 1 on the spectrum and regularly visited Cedar Point and a small cooler with food for him was never an issue.Some kids with disabilities/sensory issues have very limited diets that at times goes all the way to the brand or even the way a food is prepared.
Rather than asking expecting SeaWorld to meet these needs which would be very difficult families have historically just brought the needed food in.
SeaWorld will effectively be preventing these kids from visiting unless they can meet these specific needs. Not sure they thought this through
I hope so, the exception may be made language and approved day of are still problematic in my view, hopefully they will provide more clarification. In our families experience (ASD also) SeaWorld was always quite disability friendlyIt says those with special diets will be allowed to bring food.. If they handle similar to Cedar Fair parks, they will allow food for those visitors. We have 1 on the spectrum and regularly visited Cedar Point and a small cooler with food for him was never an issue.
SWO is the ONLY Autism accredited park in central Florida, they do make exceptions like the wording saysI hope so, the exception may be made language and approved day of are still problematic in my view, hopefully they will provide more clarification. In our families experience (ASD also) SeaWorld was always quite disability friendly
[/QUOTE]Families travel to Orlando to vacation for often a week or more. That is very different than one day at Six Flags. The cost of buying snacks everyday to keep kids feed will not be in all people's budgets.
This is not good pr long term even if it makes them a few extra bucks IMHO. But that might just be me. I would keep a cooler in the car and leave for snacks like we did at the zoo when we were kids. Not everyone is going to pay $5 a snack times number of kids. Or maybe they will add $1 pieces of fruit or other reasonably priced snacks?
Yeah, agreed about the need for things like single-serving fruit. Will they offer things like pouch applesauce and cereal bars? Single-serving Cheerios boxes? Not exactly baby food, but when a toddler/preschooler needs a snack, sometimes popcorn or ice cream won't cut it. Trying to figure out how to keep my young kids happy on an upcoming trip when we have a nonrefundable SeaWorld hotel stay already booked.
Unfortunately, my son won't eat a fruit cup, only bananas, dried fruits, and blueberries. I might be able to convince him to eat grapes. He won't eat carrot sticks, string cheese, chicken fingers, burgers, or hot dogs, only eats certain brands of mac and cheese and only certain types of yogurt. I wish he wasn't so picky, but despite my best efforts, he doesn't like trying new foods. Sure, the new policy might convince us to buy a pretzel we wouldn't have normally gotten, but it might mean we get just a snack and leave early, rather than buy a meal. Last time we were there, we ate lunch before we got there and then gave the kids nutri-grain bars, raisins, and applesauce as snacks to hold them over until we spent nearly $40 on pizza for supper. Anyways, thanks for the info. Good to know about the options for my less-picky other kid.Fruit cups (with varying options depending on season.....we have seen strawberries, grapes, oranges, melon, etc.) have long since been a "side" option at the quick service restaurants, so fruit will be easy to source. Cheese strings are showing as available at some of the food trucks in Sesame Street Land, as well as a variety of other toddler-friendly options (yogurt, etc.). Chicken fingers are readily available at multiple restaurants, and a soft pretzel from Mama's Pretzel Kitchen would appeal to many toddlers as well (and be equally enjoyed by mom, who of course would have to make the supreme sacrifice of sharing to ensure there is no waste ;-) ). Grilled cheese sandwiches are offered in Sesame Street, too, which usually appeals to the preschool crowd. They did have individual boxes of cereal available at whatever restaurant is serving breakfast at park opening for the all-day dining people, and I know you could purchase them a la carte as well (it's just been a while since we did the ADD, so I can't speak to what kinds of cereal might be currently offered). I'm sure there's even more toddler friendly snacks within the park, those are just the things I know of personally.
I know it was mentioned by another poster that they might/should offer $1 snack options with the implementation of the new policy, but I don't think that will be the case (and honestly, I can't blame SeaWorld). I don't expect that any theme park/amusement park/movie theater or other attraction that entertains a captive audience will be aiming for cheap &/or affordable foods for their guests. They don't need to, because that captive audience doesn't have other options. That said, I'd like to think they will offer a good variety of foods, but I'm pretty sure those choices will learn more toward a (hopefully) fair "theme park market value" versus consumer-budget-friendly. The same way as a bottle of beer at the park is $7 when you can buy the same beer at the grocery store for under $2. You expect a noticeable mark-up because it costs them to source it, store it, serve it, etc. And, because it's a money maker....it's offered to fill a need, but more so as another avenue to generate profit.
They also offer a refillable popcorn bucket that fills for .74 after AP discount, I believe it is .85 full price for a refill. That is a reasonable snack option for locals or someone coming for more than just a day.
This has been the case for a few years now (at least in San Diego, but I thought all of their parks) and they enforce it quite strictly, even for special dietary needs you have to have needs that the park cannot accommodate. The good news is their food is generally good and relatively inexpensive, especially with so many deals out there and they are very accommodating to most diets.Heads up everyone
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this is brand new policy at SWO.This has been the case for a few years now (at least in San Diego, but I thought all of their parks) and they enforce it quite strictly, even for special dietary needs you have to have needs that the park cannot accommodate. The good news is their food is generally good and relatively inexpensive, especially with so many deals out there and they are very accommodating to most diets.
Interesting, definitely not new in San Diego, their summer night time Sea Lion show even made fun of it when it started.this is brand new policy at SWO.