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Credit: Aquatica San AntonioFor decades, Walt Disney World Resort was considered the premier vacation destination in Central Florida. However, that does not mean it was the only vacation spot guests loved — far from it. In 1973 — just two years after the Magic Kingdom opened in Disney World — another theme park opened in Orlando, just about 20 minutes away from Disney.
SeaWorld Orlando allowed guests to get up close and personal with some truly incredible animals, such as dolphins, seals, penguins, and even orcas (AKA killer whales). Guests could enjoy the rides and attractions at the Magic Kingdom and then head over to SeaWorld for a truly different and unique experience.
Since then, Walt Disney World has expanded and now includes EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, and Disney Springs. It remains the premier vacation spot in Florida, generating billions of dollars in revenue and billions in tax dollars for the state of Florida.
However, SeaWorld has vastly improved in its own right. The theme park went from show-based to one that was ride-based. It also expanded and has multiple locations, including one in San Antonio, Texas.
SeaWorld also got into the water park game — opening Aquatica water parks in both Orlando and San Antonio.
Related: Opening Date Revealed for History-Making SeaWorld Attraction
And it was during a trip to Aquatica San Antonio that one angry guest says she was fat-shamed by an employee, and she wants answers.
TikToker Thewwanderingrodgeresfam said that she was visiting the water park with her husband, her daughter, and her mother. Tickets alone were over $200. Once she added in the parking, it was early $300, and they had not even entered the park yet.
Once in the water park, she could not find a place to sit, so to keep her mother safe in the summer heat, she upgraded their tickets for another nearly $200 so they could reserve lounge chairs with umbrellas.
Related: Amid Mass Controversies, SeaWorld Endorses Surprising New Direction for Theme Park
The trouble came when the group decided to ride a tandem ride — she and her mother would go together, and her husband and daughter would ride together.
The frustrated mom then says that she was physically pulled aside and weighed, then told that she was too heavy to go on the attraction. She said that she knows that she is bigger, but there is no way she and her mother exceeded the ride’s 400-pound weight limit. She said that the employee told her she was too heavy to ride the ride at all.
The devastated mom said she was forced to exit the ride in tears while her husband, daughter, and mother rode. When her husband got off the ride, he was “livid”.
“He walks over to the lifeguard at the bottom and was like, ‘Um, they just denied my wife to ride this ride here, and I just saw behind me, as I was loading to get on, a dad that was like 6’5″, probably 300 pounds, getting on the ride with his teenage son, that was easily like another 200 pounds.”
She said that the lifeguard apologized, but there was not much he could do about it because he was not there and did not see what happened.
@thewanderingrodgersfam This is for @SeaWorldSATX @seaworld san antonio .. PSA this is NOT how you should be treating your customers when were paying $500+ dollars to be at your water park all day. Do better. #fyp #storytime #doyourthingtiktok #aquaticasanantoniotexas #seaworldsanantonio #blowthisup #viraltiktok #viral
What was most upsetting to the mom was how she was treated in such a public setting. She said that employees don’t know what people go through or how much it can take for someone to get into a bathing suit. She revealed that she had an eating disorder when she was younger and couldn’t emphasize enough how traumatic it can be to physically weigh someone in front of dozens of strangers.
The TikToker said that she also spoke to an employee who appeared to be a manager. Unfortunately, she was pretty much told the exact same thing that the lifeguard said to her. She was then told to “Take it up with corporate, maybe write an email.”
She said Aquatica should not allow employees to embarrass guests the way she was embarrassed. The guest also said that if the park is going to enforce weight limits, then they need to do so across the board.
Did SeaWorld handle this entire situation terribly? What do you think they should have done differently? Let us know in the comments.