Busch Gardens...worth it???

[WDWMagicGirlie]

We are going to Orlando in the next few weeks and were considering going to Busch Gardens? Has anyone been there? Is it worth it?

Thank you,

Cheri

 

[mungo]

Yes we really enjoyed busch gardens, its great if you like coasters. The chance to feed the giraffes etc is excellent too.

 

[isla bonita]

We love the park it is our favorite believe it or not. We had season passes last year and we took down 11 people ages 65-4. There was something for every one.

 

[iainh23]

Best park in Florida for my money, great rides, loads of animals and generally quieter than the Orlando parks.

 

[AJKMOM]

We liked it a lot, too. Pleasant atmosphere. great coasters, low crowds.

 

[Luv2Trvl]

We, too, love Busch Gardens! Always make the trip to Tampa while we're in Orlando. Yes, it's a LONG day - but, WELL worth it in our family's opinion. We are there before the park opens & stay til they shut it down!

 

[smdigh]

How long does it take to drive from the WDW area to Busch Gardens?

 

[motofox4]

my fiancee and i just returned last night from a trip down to Busch Gardens (and Clearwater Beach). We went to Busch Gardens on Friday and the crowds were fairly low and the lines for rides were not long at all. The longest we waited was a 1/2 hour and that was for SheiKra (they will be taking the floor out of this ride at the end of the month so expect that it will be closed for a little while). It was hot (in the mid-90s) so the animals were pretty lazy but still worth seeing. Busch Gardens is about an hour from Disney, not a bad ride at all - expect that traffic in the Tampa area can be pretty backed up at any time.. it's still definitely worth it in my opinion.

 

[Isaac1]

I love Busch Gardens, they have a great sections for small children with mini rides and a hugh sort of play area for them (mine were 5 & 4) The rides for adults are great and the animal side is great. There are lots of plants and flowers and it is not quite as busy as Disney World.

It is quite a long day as it takes about an hour to get there by car from H27, but it is well worth it.

 

[Ruth B]

I love Busg garden, but am planning to drive down for the first time this summer- is it a fairly easy drive?

 

[mungo]

it's not too bad at all. It takes about an hour from the 27. We had heard that there wasn't enough signs, but we got there ok, no mishaps.

 

[Detailor]

I love Busg garden, but am planning to drive down for the first time this summer- is it a fairly easy drive?

Pretty easy...
Take I-4 West to Tampa - 55 miles from the intersection of I-4 and Route 192 in Kissimmee.
Exit 9 to I-75 North to exit 265 - about 3 miles.
Take the left fork on the exit ramp and go West on East Fowler Avenue.
Turn left at the traffic light after the University of South Florida onto McKinley Drive. Follow the signs to the parking lot on the left, you'll take a tram across to the park.

Depending on where you actually start, the traffic and your speed it should take an hour or so. We went from Busch Gardens to DTD in about an hour and five minutes last June.

Dick Taylor

 

[isla bonita]

Its very easy driving. It is also worth every minute.

 

[mumzie2three]

Get there when they open and try the valet parking, $18. When you get out of your car you will be at the gates. I'm not a coaster person but I loved the River Rapid ride, Rhino Rally, and the African animal area is awesome. I could've watched the hippo all day. Very cool.

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

We went over Spring Break this year as my DM lives nearby. It was fun but very busy (what isn't during SB?). If you like coasters this is the place for you! If you are intersted in doing Sea World you can get a really good deal on both parks and they will provide transportation to Tampa. Check out their website. Oh, and buy your tix online 7 days before you leave and everyone pays the kid price. *The option of going out on the Savannah and feeding the giraffes is VERY expensive - not included in the admission price. Since we've done that elsewhere for much less, we opted to not do that. Anyhoo... if you have extra days and like what you see on their website I'd recommend it for sure.
Have a great trip!
p.s. The corndogs are especially yummy!

 

[Disbabe]

We didn't go our first year to Orlando, but now wouldn't miss Busch Gardens off our itinery at all!! Well worth the journey!

 

[NCRedding]

I hate to be a dissenting voice, but we really didn't care for our BG trip. It was disappointing, since we LOVE BG-Williamsburg, but I don't care if I ever go back there. We went in Late Sept/Oct several years ago, and found everything to be SLOW--it took over 15 minutes to get through the gates, and that was with prepurchased tickets, and no bag check! The wooden twin coaster (can't remember name) wasn't open any time we were there, yet it wasn't down for rehab--not sure what the problem was. The lines moved very slowly; it wasn't that there were so many people there, it just wasn't efficient. MY dh and dd rode Road Rally first thing in the morning, and still had a 50 minute wait, with only about 100 people in line in front of them. Our hotel right across the street from BG, but we couldn't walk to the park since the sidewalks were closed all around, and the only entrance was on the exact opposite side as our hotel. Because of no parking control, it took us over 1 hour to get from the BG parking lot to our hotel, and then we got trapped in Howl-o_Scream traffic. In fact, when we came back from dinner at 9:45, there was still a mile long back-up from traffic waiting to get into the park for Howl-O-Scream, which started at 7.

 

[disneygirlatheart]

We loved Busch Gardens. Plenty of rides, if you like that sort of thing, lots of animals, a very nice park.

 

[mumzie2three]

Our first day there wasn't a great day. We went without any knowledge of the park layout and we had my DH's parents with us (who have been many times yet insisted on acting like they had no idea where to go and what to do). I made sure to get our second day tickets and when we went back on a Tues (during spring break) there was less of a crowd than the previous Fri.

We got to see all the things we had missed; KaTonga, Rhino Rally, the train ride, and a lot of the animals we had skipped. We ate at Crown Colony and the food was good, I just wished we had waited to get a table with a view (then again, the kids might have spent less time eating).

Even the first day we went, we were there just after park opening, valet parked and had no wait to get into the park. My husband is a coaster person and the day would've gone a little smoother if we had started with Montu and then worked our way around the park counter-clockwise. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

[BettyBoop.IOA]

It depends to be honest, if your a coaster fanatic this is your heaven! Otherwise theres great shows and great smaller rides. The people who hated coasters in our group just chose to drink some beer instead and they loved it
Well worth the trip!