Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Florida, United States

5Cindy 5:00 PM Sep 11, 2022

Get There Early
I got there early. As a tourist I wanted to get to see all the attractions, however the water slides were closed for the season. The boat ride, ranger show, and mermaids were all good. The beach has chairs and the water is crystal clean (Weeki Watcee River) for swimming. I loved it. Great value - all included with $13 admission (which might be the off season rate)

4jewelnev03 5:00 PM May 12, 2020

Old school attraction
My boyfriend and I love classic kitschy attractions so we definitely wanted to check out the infamous Weeki Wachee mermaids! After arriving excitedly, we were informed that half of their attractions were already booked for the day or closed. It was only an hour after opening so this was confusing and disappointing. It didnt seem overly busy or crowded, but each show/attraction had a very small seating area and people were clamoring over each other for seats after waiting in queue lines for upwards of 45 minutes. The shows/attractions are scheduled at awkward times that makes you feel like you need to rush from place to place. The staff warned us that everything is first-come, first-served so we felt extraordinary pressure to get places extra early and wait in lines just to make sure we wouldn't miss out. It's clear the attractions are run by the state park service and the place is definitely lacking a customer focused approach based on the long lines and frusterated people we witnessed. However, the ranger show was funny and educational. Even though we were told the boat ride was booked, we were able to talk one of the employees into letting us on the boat because a few people didn't show up. The river ride was beautiful, breezy, and relaxing, but short. The entire waterpark was closed due to the season, which was disappointing since it was spring break. I thought we'd at least be able to stick our toes in the springs, but no such luck. The mermaid show was the definite highlight of the day! After waiting outside in line for 30 long, hot, boring minutes, we were ushered into a theatre instantly filled to capacity where we still had to wait another 15 minutes for the show to start. But that part went quick because they played fascinating classic black and white clips of mermaid shows from decades past. When the show started, we were blown away! It was so much better than we even expected and worth the admission price alone. It was honestly truly magical and you have to see it to believe it! I give the mermaids themselves and the show 5 stars, but the confusing way the park is run lowers my rating.