Busch Gardens during Christmas Week

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Just wondering if anyone has ever visited BG during Christmas week. Is it doable with Quick Queue passes? Are the park decorations worth seeing? We wouldn't be there during their Christmas Town event (which ends on December 23), but rather the week between Christmas and New Years.

We can pick up pretty cheap admission passes with our SeaWorld package ($41 pp) and transportation to and from the park is free. Trying to decide if we should add BG to this trip or schedule a trip to Cocoa Beach instead . We are already doing SeaWorld, Aquatica, Gatorland, an airboat ride, and an Orlando Magic game, among some other smaller stuff.

My boys are coaster lovers. I love the exhibits, the animals, the shows, that kind of thing.

 

[cheerky]

We have friends that went to BG-Tampa on Christmas Day last year and had a blast! After spending 2 days in Orlando at Universal, they reported significantly fewer crowds and awesome rides. As a matter of fact, they said the park felt empty.

We went to BG during our August trip and had a great time. The rollercoasters and animals are great! It's worth the trip to Tampa just to ride Cheetah Hunt! We didn't use the shuttle. We drove there and it took 50 minutes from the 192 resort area. We're passholders so admission and parking were included.

I say go for it! It's a great park to visit.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We have friends that went to BG-Tampa on Christmas Day last year and had a blast! After spending 2 days in Orlando at Universal, they reported significantly fewer crowds and awesome rides. As a matter of fact, they said the park felt empty.

We went to BG during our August trip and had a great time. The rollercoasters and animals are great! It's worth the trip to Tampa just to ride Cheetah Hunt! We didn't use the shuttle. We drove there and it took 50 minutes from the 192 resort area. We're passholders so admission and parking were included.

I say go for it! It's a great park to visit.

Thanks so much for the great feedback!!! So hard to decide.....beach or BG?......wishing I had a crystal ball and could know what the weather would be like that week .

 

[2girlsmom]

As a local resident, albeit only for the past year & a half, I would recommend BG. It is a terrific park, with both really great coasters and lots of animal exhibits and shows to enjoy. And as far as the beach is concerned, we did swim in a heated pool on Christmas last year (weather was about 85) but the ocean water is NO WHERE NEAR warm enough at that time, not even in the gulf, and cocoa beach would be even colder. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE the beach, and go to gulf beaches frequently, including on New Year's, but NOBODY went in the water, just played on the sand.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

As a local resident, albeit only for the past year & a half, I would recommend BG. It is a terrific park, with both really great coasters and lots of animal exhibits and shows to enjoy. And as far as the beach is concerned, we did swim in a heated pool on Christmas last year (weather was about 85) but the ocean water is NO WHERE NEAR warm enough at that time, not even in the gulf, and cocoa beach would be even colder. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE the beach, and go to gulf beaches frequently, including on New Year's, but NOBODY went in the water, just played on the sand.

A definite consideration. I doubt we would be swimming much anyway (my DS has an irrational fear of sharks ), but weather (and air temps) are certainly a factor. We are from Canada, so Florida's "cold" is still pretty tolerable when compared with our northern winters, but unseasonably low temperatures would definitely make a beach visit less enjoyable, swimming or not.

You know what's drawing us to the beach and away from BG? The fact that I've never seen the ocean (DH and DS both have.....and I am feeling left out!!! ). And the potential for large holiday crowds at BG. So hard to know if we will need that day away from the masses......or if BG is less apt to be victim to the masses when compared with the Orlando area parks. I wish I knew how crowded it would be that week...... . Oh crystal ball, where are you??

 

[formill]

We went twice over Christmas Time last year- and had read on this board how much less busy Busch Garden is than other places.....for us that was wrong. It was busy. Kids wanted on all the roller coasters and they were all over an hour wait and we never did get on the newest coaster as it was super long waits (Cheetah?)......exhibits etc were fine. We loved the park but it was cold enough they had white sheets on so many of the shrubs/plants etc as they were expecting frost so it was disappointing to see all white rather than tropical green. We also really liked the free transportation we took there and that was NOT busy at all-only a few on the bus (had the Sea World combo tickets) but it did not get us there at park opening which may have really helped with the ride waits if we got there early enough.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We went twice over Christmas Time last year- and had read on this board how much less busy Busch Garden is than other places.....for us that was wrong. It was busy. Kids wanted on all the roller coasters and they were all over an hour wait and we never did get on the newest coaster as it was super long waits.

That's what we are afraid of.

We are now considering taking in ICE! at Gaylord Palms and the ShrekFeast as an alternative to a beach day and to BG. Oh, decisions, decisions!