Busch Gardens

[cheryl.UK]

It's now 10 years since we ventured over to Busch Gardens. Last time we went we were,'t particularly impressed. Some of the Animals did not seem happy or well cared for and the general organisation was 'lacking'. Has there been an imporvement? Shoul we try again this year?

 

[dc1964]

yes, IMHO it is the best park, great rides, great weather, great animals. It is indeed......GREAT!

 

[FizzyPop]

We went there for the first time last year and we thought it was excellent, if you love coasters that is definately the park to do We will definately be going back.

 

[WDWfan uk]

If you have big ride lovers amongst you who are keen to go for the rides, then you/they should have a good time!

Although I'm not keen on the very big rides and not so keen on this park, the others in my family were very enthusiastic, so I just went along and had a good day, and was keen to see how it had come on since our previous visit.

The park is VERY clean and maintained well.

Compared to Disney, I find their shows rather ho-hum, and was disappointed with their 3D offering ( R L Steins haunted lighthouse) - Universal's Shrek is so much better!

We headed for the Rhino Rally first thing, and discovered they were only donig part of the ride as it was having technical problems, but found that they opened the ride fully about an hour and a half later. So be aware that unless a ride is officially down, they do work to get attractions fully operational.

 

[Floridafriend]

We last went in 2002, and found the park really enjoyable and all the animals great except the Elephants which we all thought looked a bit sad. I still think it's a great park and will go back again this year

 

[Red-Snapper]

Been a couple of times over the years and the park has grown on me - its not up to WDW standard quite but its still a nice day out and a bit of a change from Orlando.

 

[tink too]

We usually only go to BG every 5 years or so, but we missed out on Rhino Rally and the Gwazi coaster on our 2004 trip, so this is on our "to do" list for our next visit. They were still building their newest coaster - Sheikra - but I know this one is operational now, so we want to do this one as well! DD4 had fun on all the kiddies rides - they seem very well catered for with lots of rides, shows and animals to see.

Guess we'll be going back there this year...

 

[ely3857]

We went there for the first time last year and we thought it was excellent, if you love coasters that is definately the park to do We will definately be going back.

Ditto



Jodie

 

[Danauk]

DH and I went to Busch Gardens on Boxing day and loved it. The animals seemed well cared for an the rides were amazing. DH and I are real coaster nuts so we took the adventure thrills tour. I really recommend this as we didn't have to wait in line at all. We could go on whatever ride we wanted as many times as we wanted and we just walked up the exit with our guide. It was so worth it as most coasters had a 1 1/2 to 2 hour wait!

 

[Danauk]

sorry, posted again on wrong thread!

 

[rosiejo]

I have to say that in November last year we were extremely disapointed with BG- the animals looked depressed and there was just no atmosphere - rhino rally wasn't up to expectations either.

If you like big coasters then you probably should go - otherwise save the gas and go to AK instead.

Just my HO

 

[Julia Ann]

We first went to BG in 1995 and then again in 2003, noticed a huge difference. The first time i didn't even notice many animals! but in 2003 we focused mainly on the animals and didn't do any rides and it was fab. The animals looked pretty happy to us. and we did the extra giraffe feeding on a flat back truck experience, which was an extra price but worth it - although was extremely hot on the open serenghti. We are definately planning to go again this year. althought we had a car we took the complimentary bus from IDrive which was included in our 5 park flex ticket but was only 5 dollars if you hadn't got that ticket. In 95 we drove and got really lost, stressed and very tired on the journey back - so the bus was the best option for us.

 

[Lizdisdog]

We went in 2004 after a 10 year gap from our previous visit and we now do not intend to go back. Yes there has been a lot of development but a lot of the rides were disappointing and the animal wefare didn't appear as good. For example we came accross a family taunting a lion by banging loudly on the glass barrier it was dozzing against and not a staff member anywhere in sight to stop it.

With the Disney theme parks and Universal you get all you need and better all in Orlando - its not worth the long trip over to Tampa.

 

[daveyoghurt]

I think that BG is a must-do, the coasters are fantastic and they are well spread out over the park so you can take time to get your breath back! I'm not too sure of how to tell if the animals are unhappy, they seemed fine to me - they have a lot of space to run around in! I have to disagree with Rosiejo, BG is ten times better than Animal Kingdom (which I found to be a rip-off and totally disappointing) - but we're all different! Don't miss the cable-car ride and the train around the park, both give fantastic views of the animals.