Busch Gardens

[disney_princess_85]

DBF has decided he would like to go to Busch Gardens but I'm not sure if it's worth it? From my (very brief) bit of research, I've found that it takes two hours to get there via a shuttle from the Premium Outlets. Obviously, this would be four hours in total.

Any thoughts/advice?!

 

[jtlover]

We went for the first time last year and fed the giraffes which was why I wanted to go.

By car is wasnt too bad.

I personally am not bothered to go back again as the park is too exposed for me and not enough shade. But then it has got some really great rides.

It is a shame that it is so far away from all the other parks. It wasnt as busy as the others either - which is obviously an advantage

 

[EvertonCJ]

We travelled there by coach a few years ago. The trouble is that the coach didn't arrive at Busch Gardens until about midday and by that time the queues were enormous. The queue was over 3 hours for one of the rollercoasters. If we went again we would travel up by car and get there for opening. We went in August. I don't know what it is like at other times of the year.

 

[wayneg]

Even though Busch is my Favourite park in Florida I am not sure I would do it by coach, I like to get there for opening and do one of the tours, the coach gets there too late for me. We also like to come out mid afternoon, again you are tied to the coach times.
We will go down a couple of times in August but its just under the hour by car.
Keep it for another year when you are driving.

 

[scottishgirl87]

We did Busch last month and didn't really enjoy it

We used the free coach service included with the FlexTicket Plus and were picked up from Universal. We got there for about 10.30/11 which wasn't bad at all but the return pick-up was at 6.50 - 50 minutes AFTER park closing. Plus it no way left at that time as the driver kept disappearing for minutes on end.

Don't get me wrong, I can't really fault the service itself but we felt a bit confined being that we couldn't leave when we wanted. It was the only full park day we did (we were tending to go in the morning, leave mid afternoon, go back later most park days). I think if we'd done 2 half days we would probably have enjoyed it alot more.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Thanks guys.

I think we might leave it for this year then, mainly based on the inconvenience of the coach. I'm sure we will get round to it one day.

 

[Pinky166]

I've been several times using the free coach, picked it up from both Seaworld & Universal (wherever was nearest to where we were staying) it never took 2 hours, I would say 80-90 mins at most. We have always arrived about 30 mins after park opening & left in time with park closing or just before - there is plenty to do & you won't struggle to fill a whole day there.

I love Busch Gardens, it has a great mix of animals & great rides. Plus where else can you hand feed giraffes!!!!

I would highly recommend it.

ETA - I drove there last time we went & it took an hour, maybe a bit more so it's not all that much longer going on the free shuttle.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Thanks for your input Claire, it's good to hear about a more positive experience with the shuttle. I'll have a chat with DBF.

 

[LoodlesNoodles]

We went last year, got the free shuttle from Seaworld, took around 1hr20minutes, which wasn't too bad. Crowds didn't seem too bad from the little we experienced. (We went on 5th July)
Can't comment on going back via the shuttle though as we had to pay $200 for a taxi not long after we arrived - but that's another story completely unrelated to Busch.

I can't wait to finally experience Busch Gardens this year! It looked like a really beautiful park.

 

[Tinks1984]

We hit Busch this time around too and have to say that although we enjoyed the big thrill rides, we won't be heading back there next trip. It's one we'll leave for a while now.

We found the animals hard to find, if that makes sense, we didn't think the directions within the park were that great. We did manage to find the rides, obviously!

As we've been previously, we were looking forward to Rhino Rally (Busch's version of the safari) as this was brilliant last time we rode it, but they've sadly changed it from it's former self and now AK's safari far surpasses this ride!

We did go by car and it took just over an hour to get there. Personally, I wouldn't have taken the shuttle, I think it'd be too long on there and there's not much to be seen scenery wise on the way down there

On a positive note, we did the meal deal. Gets you your meals and drinks through-out the day. This was $29.99 for adults, but we got breakfast, dinner and evening meal out of this, alongside drinks. You're given a wristband and when you choose which restaurant you want to eat in, pick your items and drink and then head to the tills, show the band and you're off. You can go back through as many times as you like too

 

[BethEJo]

Can't speak from my own experience, but just wanted to pass on something a friend said:

My friend did the ICP last year, and said that out of the 2 months she spent working for Disney in Orlando, the day she spent at Busch Gardens was amazing. She said it's an absolute must