No more free beer at Seaworld (boo!)

[eeyoreguy]

Employees of Sea World were told this week that the parent company, Anheuser Busch-InBev, has decided to stop the policy of offering complimentary beer tastings at all its theme parks.

For many years, the Anheuser Busch hospitality center (located in all Sea World/Busch Gardens theme parks) offered complimentary beer tastings for guests 21 and older. The decision comes as Belgian based InBev (the new owners of Anheuser Busch) are looking to sell off the entertainment division to help pay for the $52 billion acquisition that was finalized last year.

InBev laid off some 1400 employees last month, although none of those layoffs affected park operations.

[Keith]

Im not surprised

I was there last month and I was amazed how many more people there were at the free beer counter than in the rest of the park

Kinda inevitable this one I think

[Tink]

We've heard (well, Herself read) that Seaworld is going to close and refurbish that entire pavilion area. It is supposed to reopen once done?

Not sure that they'd truly need to close the entire park!? We have tickets to Seaworld so are trying to get the closing "issue" confirmed.

[Taja]

I'm surprised they've continued serving the beer samples all these years! They used to serve it at Busch Gardens in California (closed ages ago), and the line always was long! They eventually added quick service food to go with it--at a reasonable price.

[Keith]

We've heard (well, Herself read) that Seaworld is going to close and refurbish that entire pavilion area. It is supposed to reopen once done?

Not sure that they'd truly need to close the entire park!? We have tickets to Seaworld so are trying to get the closing "issue" confirmed.

Agreed, it's a very easy part of seaworld to close off whilst they're redoing it, I wouldnt have expected them to close the whole park at all

(hope not, we bought fun passes so we can go back on our next visit)

[josh.p.]

How cool would it be if Disney purchased seaworld?!

[Keith]

How cool would it be if Disney purchased seaworld?!

It could certainly do with some Disney magic in the CM department. The ones who look after the animals seem really great and dedicated but wow the food and counter staff leave a heck of a lot to be desired.

Funny really but the first time we went to seaworld it was a sunday and we went to a counter service place for lunch. It was 11:55am I recall and I asked for a beer. The woman behind the counter got really angry, actually angry and went on about it being a sunday and they didnt serve alcohol till midday. Fine, whatever, but she was realllllly nasty.

This time we went into a place for lunch and asked for a burger and something else. The girl behind the counter was doing one of those walks they do when they don't want to be there and everything is too much trouble. You know the one? where they walk REALLY slowly pouting she pointed without saying a word to a cabinet which was supposed to have them. Erm none left we said. She sighed and walked oh so... very....slowly to the grill. Then whilst it was doing she walked veeerrrry slowly back to get the bun from a pile that looked like they'd been out for a month and had seen better days. I said, no salad thanks (since it looked pretty awful), she looked at the salad on the bun for a longgggggg time, looked at me and muttered "they've all got it on". I suggested that perhaps a new one wouldnt? or perhaps the salad could be taken off the one she was holding, which she did verrrrrry slowwwwwwwly whilst sighing.

That was the story everywhere we went at seaworld. At the place by shamu's theatre a guy was trying to buy two beers. They wouldn't serve him two until he phoned his wife who'd gone to sit down to come and prove there were two of them because omg the world would just stop if one person had two small beers. Again it was all said in a very officious "I dont want to be here but because I am, I'm important and you're just a visitor" kinda way.

Shows brilliant, animals wonderful and on the way out the lights, water shows and snow was all brilliant but WOW the staff could do with some disney magic

[Britchick]

you call that beer?

[Isafari]

There was a poster up saying the free beer was finishing this month and they were turning the area into a counter service pizza place.