Crowd Level: SeaWorld-4 Universal-3

In terms of crowd levels in the parks themselves, SeaWorld had an obvious edge over Universal in this matchup. Partly attributed to the layout and design of the park itself, SeaWorld was better able to handle crowds in most areas than Universal. The layout of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure presents several opportunities for crowds to accumulate in bottlenecked walkways and winding streets while SeaWorld's more open park design allowed guests to stay comfortably separated from other travel parties without having to awkwardly step around people or wait for groups of crowds to pass in order to maintain social distancing. Also, SeaWorld requires that guests make a reservation before coming to the park, so they know exactly how many people are there and can limit the amount of tickets they sell to maintain crowd size. Universal does not have a system like this, and while they do cap park capacity eventually, it still felt like Universal allowed in way more guests than SeaWorld did partly because there is no real way for them to know how many people are going to attend the park on a given day due to factors like Florida residents and annual passholders not having to buy a ticket. One area of crowd maintenance that SeaWorld could improve on though, is crowding within lines for rides. More on that in the "social distancing enforcement" category.

Mask Enforcement: SeaWorld-3 Universal-5

Surprisingly enough, I think Universal's policy of enforcing mask wearing is one of the best I've seen at pretty much any public place I've been in since the pandemic started. The last time I was there I witnessed a group of men quite literally being hunted down by a park worker with a loudspeaker because they were violating park guidelines in wearing their masks below their noses. Amazing! Also, Universal provides guests the opportunity to take mask breaks in designated "U-Rest Zones" which encourages park goers to keep their masks on at other times in the park knowing that they can safely remove them at any point throughout their vacation in these specific areas. SeaWorld on the other hand, was a little lackluster in this category. While I did appreciate that they specified that masks with exhalation vents were not permitted in the parks, they were not enforcing the wearing of masks very much at all. While Universal had workers stationed with signs reminding guests to mask up both around the park and in the lines for the rides, the only time I remember seeing a sign enforcing mask wearing at SeaWorld was at the entrance to the park. I'll reiterate that I did still feel pretty safe at SeaWorld especially considering that crowd levels were low and I was not in any close contact with people who weren't wearing masks, but I will also say that I saw way more noses poking out of masks at SeaWorld than I did at Universal and I also didn't see any meaningful effort by the SeaWorld staff to correct this issue. For that reason, Universal takes the cake for mask enforcement policies in this matchup.

High-Touch Surfaces: SeaWorld-3.5 Universal-4.5

In this category, I think Universal also took the edge over SeaWorld. At Universal, there are not only hand sanitizer stations located throughout the park for guests to use at their convenience, but there are also workers standing at the load stations of rides with hand sanitizer that all guests must use before riding. This precaution makes me feel much safer about holding onto ride restraints because I know the person to ride before me had clean hands. Additionally, workers are constantly sanitizing hand rails whether they be for the moving walkways at CityWalk, or the handrails in switchback lines for their rides. On the other hand, SeaWorld did provide hand sanitizer around the parks and in the ride load stations, but using it was not mandatory before going on an attraction meaning the person to ride before me may have held onto the restraints with germy hands. Additionally, I thought Universal did a better job at minimizing guest interaction with potentially high touch areas by blocking off access to things like the Knight Bus, and certain areas of Seuss Landing where children typically run around and press buttons to interact with different characters. SeaWorld did not take this precaution, and all interactive buttons and games were left open for people to touch and I didn't see any park workers sanitizing buttons, balls, game chips, or handrails in between guest use. That being said, I understand that COVID-19 doesn't last long on surfaces, and you're more likely to be infected by breathing in aerosolized droplets, however I do think that COVID-19 can last on most surfaces for longer than a few minutes which was about the length of time in between each guest interaction with these high touch areas. All in all, Universal definitely performed better in this category.

Temperature Screenings: SeaWorld-4 Universal-4.5

Both parks implemented temperature screening measures before allowing guests to enter the park, and both parks followed the same procedure of denying entry to any guest with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher. The parks did differ though in how exactly they took the temperature of each guest. SeaWorld opted for guests to walk through a tented area before entering the park, and at the exit of the tent was what appeared to be a thermal imaging camera taking the temperature of each guest. It's difficult for me to judge the efficacy of the thermal camera, simply because I don't know too much about thermal imaging cameras or the specificity of the measurement they are able to provide, but I did feel as though the camera had the potential to be less accurate than an individual thermometer scan like they did at Universal. Before going through security at Universal, a worker will scan your forehead with a thermometer which in my opinion felt much more targeted and accurate than walking through a tent with a thermal camera. Additionally, I appreciated that Universal made a consistent effort to keep guests separated from each other throughout their time at the park by making sure that only one person was being scanned at a time and that the line behind them was socially distanced. I don't love the idea of being in that crowded SeaWorld tent and having a guest near me pulled out of line because they were running a temperature of over 100.4 degrees. Overall at SeaWorld there was little effort made to keep guests separated while they were entering the park. While I do appreciate the parks screening for symptomatic guests, I also understand that asymptomatic carriers would have no issue getting past the temperature check and potentially spreading COVID-19 at the parks. That's why I think this measure is good, but could be improved with the use of rapid tests to test for any positive cases in the future. This precaution also relies heavily on the strength of other measures used by the parks in order to protect all guests from asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, making it rank slightly lower for the "how safe does it make me feel" factor.

Social Distancing Enforcement: SeaWorld-3.5 Universal-4.5

This preventative measure is probably the second most important to me behind mask enforcement, and both parks did make an effort to enforce social distancing throughout their parks. Both parks had floor markers in locations where lines form like queues for rides and food, and both parks had overhead announcements throughout the lines to remind guests to remain behind their floor marker to ensure 6 feet of social distancing. Where things got a little bit sticky for SeaWorld was their handling of social distancing within the lines for rides. It appeared that SeaWorld only put social distancing markers in place assuming that the lines would not open any switchback portions, however when lines got long the switchbacks were opened and there were no indications of where guests should safely stand to remain 6 feet apart. This left responsible guests to do their best to keep their distance from others, while some guests packed into the line like it was 2019 with no regard for social distancing at all. Universal on the other hand, has placed social distancing markers throughout their lines, and they even measured a 6 foot radius around each marker in switchback areas. Most people think of social distancing as being a front-to-back spacing of 6 feet, but coronavirus can travel sideways too so when you're zig-zagging through a switchback line it's important to have a 6 foot radius of space rather than just front-to-back distance. Finally, Universal had ride workers stationed at various points throughout the lines to sanitize hand rails and remind people to wear their masks and maintain social distance. SeaWorld on the other hand did not have any park workers present in the lines leaving guests to fend for themselves and do their best to keep distance between themselves and other travel parties. While both parks made an effort, it's always going to be difficult to keep an excited person from inching up behind you in a line, especially if the line is long or if they are a first time rider of a certain attraction. There were times at both parks when people behind me failed to wait at their designated social distancing marker, but at SeaWorld the issue was more prevalent and there were fewer steps taken to prevent it from happening as frequently which leaves Universal to take this category as well.

TOTALS: SeaWorld-18/25 Universal-21.5/25

Winner: Universal!

Universal Orlando Resort takes the grand prize for being the most coronavirus safe based on my experiences and visits to both SeaWorld and Universal. I want to reiterate that I felt safe attending both parks and would feel safe attending both again in the future thanks to their coronavirus prevention methods. However, there were a few key spots where SeaWorld fell short of the standard set by Universal, especially in how they dealt with guests waiting in lines. If you're someone who loves theme parks, but has felt unsure about the safety of attending, I would encourage you to look into the specific precautions theme parks are taking and weigh them against the precautions other public places are taking. For example, getting groceries at Publix is a higher risk for my family as people are not enforcing social distancing, minimizing contact with high-touch areas, or even wearing masks (my family counted over 16 unmasked plague rats at Publix just this Sunday). You aren't required to put on hand sanitizer before you touch the mailbox that your mailman just touched or before you pick up that cute shirt at Target that someone else just put back from their cart. Not to mention that Taco Bell doesn't scan customer temperatures before they are allowed to enter the restaurant. Every day in life we take risks and expose ourselves to dangerous scenarios whether that's by driving in a car or by shopping in a store or by eating in a restaurant. But, if we can act responsibly and take accountability for our own actions by taking meaningful steps to protect ourselves and others from getting sick, it's important that we continue to do our best to pursue experiences that make us happy and provide us with memories and joy in this year that has been so much of the same COVID-19 lockdown routine. I agree with the sentiment that we shouldn't live our lives in fear, however I also believe that we should live our lives with reasonable caution and lead the charge against the coronavirus by implementing effective measures to prevent the spread of illness, which is something I feel like both SeaWorld and Universal are doing well.