Why I don't recommend visiting Beto Carrero in the summer

Before you jump to conclusions from the title, let me clarify: I adore him Beto Carrero. I've been there many times, both with the school and on my own, and I've always had a great time.

However, none of my visits were in high summer. Considering that Santa Catarina is full of tourists at this time (the forecast for 2017 was 20% increase, even with the crisis), I imagined it was not a good idea.

Even so, when my cousin from Rio de Janeiro came to visit floripa and he told me he wanted to go to the park, I said yes right away. I knew I was going to face huge queues and I was prepared.

Visiting Beto Carrero in the summer

As I hadn't been to Beto Carrero since 2010, I found the changes they made interesting. They put on more shows, increased the number of restaurants, the children's area... I didn't remember that the park had such a detailed setting, and I was very impressed.

Until it was time to go to the toys. Like I said, I was already expecting to spend a lot of time in lines, so I wasn't surprised that FireWhip was estimating two hours. What I found absurd was that the structure of the park is, apparently, the same during all seasons of the year.

Here I'm going to make a comparison that might be a little boring. When visiting the Disney or Universal, most attractions have waiting lines covered, often with air conditioning and even with some Entertainment. Which is understandable, after all, the parks are in regions with high temperatures most of the year (Florida and California), so they know that, in general, guests will be hot.

And Beto Carrero is completely inspired by these parks. And I don’t say that with the intention of saying that they “They're trying to be Disney”, nothing like that. The park itself is proud of having adapted some foreign ideas within Brazil, and talks about it to anyone who wants to listen.

So I wonder, Why didn't they do the same thing with the queues? Why were they only inspired by the rides and shows themselves, and not the part where visitors will spend most of their time?

In winter or spring, I never questioned the lines not being covered or closed. The weather is usually pleasant and it's nice to get some sunshine to warm up on colder days. But this same situation is absurd in the summer!

How can a park that has been in operation for 25 years, in a region that reaches 40ºC in December and January, not think about putting up at least one awning to shade the queues? It's okay to have no air conditioning or entertainment, but no attempt to make the place where visitors will spend long hours cooler? Extremely poorly planned.

Returning to the story, when waiting for my turn at FireWhip, I realized that it would be two hours under the midday sun, without water, without shade, nothing. The line was already poorly assembled, taking turns that didn't make sense, but the heat made everything 30 times worse.

I left the ride feeling times with Headache, I realized that I already had burned where the blouse didn't cover it and, even though it was my favorite attraction in the park, with the feeling that it wasn't worth the wait and wondering if it was a good idea to visit Beto Carrero in the summer.

Next to FireWhip there is a kiosk selling Fast Pass. It is a bracelet that allows you to take a much smaller “special queue”. I knew that all the extreme attractions (with the exception of the other roller coaster) also had open-air queues, and I considered buying it.

Until I saw the price: R$112 reais to be able to use 16 times (maximum two per toy). Assuming the ticket price for one day is R$140, you practically need to buy two tickets to skip the queues. I already think Universal Express is absurd, which is the equivalent of Universal, which costs half the price of a one-day ticket and has unlimited. So imagine a limited FastPass that costs 80% of the price of a ticket? Surreal.

At the time I told myself it wasn't worth it, and that I was probably finding it all so outrageous because I was hungry. We went to the food court for lunch and I'm surprised to say that it hasn't changed at all in the last 7 years. This means that it continues to be a huge space, without air conditioning. I dare say that it was even cooler outside, as there was a breeze.

So, in addition to standing in line in the sun, you'll still be hot having lunch at Beto Carrero in the summer. To be fair, I even had um air-conditioned restaurant in the square, but as expected, it was more than full and no tables were available.

To summarize the rest of the day, we went (or tried to go) on four other rides: Madagascar Crazy River Adventure, Viking Boat, Big Tower and Free Fall (elevator). The last three had queues with a reasonable waiting time (I would say it was around half an hour each), and, with the exception of a small part of the queue at the Big Tower, all the waiting was in the sun.

The Madagascar attraction, which used to be called Império das Águas, had a queue of 3 hours and 10 minutes without any type of shade. We gave up due to the heat and because it was a not so cool attraction. Instead, we went to Cinema 4D, hoping to spend a few minutes in a refrigerated room. I'm sorry to say that the air conditioning was either off or wasn't working.

This visit was, without a doubt, the worst experience I've ever had at Beto Carrero. And look, I've even gone on days when it rained and almost all the rides were closed. I returned home frustrated and, without a doubt, if it was the first time, my opinion would be horrible.

I didn't want them to stop the heat. I didn't expect it to magically be 20ºC in January. I didn't want them to be Disney. I didn't expect short queues. I just imagined that they would care about the visitors' experience enough to not let them stand for hours in the afternoon sun without a single umbrella.

As I already said, I love the park. But knowing all the potential of other times of the year, I don't recommend going to Beto Carrero in the summer.

If this season is your only opportunity, don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to have fun and beat the heat. But, if you are like me and know that you will be bothered by the park's disregard on the matter, it is worth considering purchasing the Fast Pass, despite the abusive price (there is no other word!!!!).

Honestly, I couldn't gather material for any other post besides this one, because I was very indignant hahaha. But if you want tips on the best attractions, where to stay and other information, I recommend taking a look at the blog Come to the Park. They have a very complete section about Beto Carrero World.

Has anyone else visited Beto Carrero in the summer? Did you have a different experience? Tell me!