Busch Gardens

[Mom to 2]

I am in the early stages of planning our 3rd trip to the World in Dec. 2006. We will be doing all the Disney parks, but this time we have decided to skip SeaWorld, and Universal Studios, and go to Busch Gardens instead (never been there). Can anyone tell me how long of a drive it is from Disney, and if it is worth it to spend a day there?? My kids will be 12 and 8 at the time and love coasters (so does my husband and myself).
Thanks for any info on Busch Gardens.

Lory

 

[HappyLawyer]

hey sent you a pm will be there the same month, you might consider the orlando flex ticket it includes admission to universal, BG and Seaworld. Try not to skip it it is fun, but, it's understandable if it does not fit into the time frame, this will be our first trip to BG also,

 

[roberrl187]

We went in 1998 and I think that it took us about an hour or so. We will be going to WDW in August and plan to make another side trip to Busch Gardens. If you love coasters and animals, this is a fun park.

 

[twinz]

We went in 2001, and what an adventure it was....my sister got pooped on in the bird sanctuary ...we were on a rollercoaster (can't remember the name) and the ride stopped going up the hill, and we had to get out and walk down the stairs....then we got front of the line passes for any other ride inthe park...we were going to go onto the "safari" type ride they have...then THAT broke down. So we decided to call it a day. They do have some good rides, but it was just mishap after mishap for us.

 

[nhpooh]

We went a few years ago, it took about an hour from WDW. My kids love it, one loves the animals and the other loves the rides. Go for it it's great.

 

[Dopey's Girl]

Lived many years of my life about 2 miles from Busch Gardens. Should take you about an hour and 15 minutes to get there from Disney. BG is fun, but NO disney for sure. Given that you all like coasters, you'll have a good time. There are LOTS of them there! Plus the weather that time of year will make the animals that you do see more active and that's a little more exciting than just seeing them all lay in the shade trying to stay cool. Also, there are some other really fun rides and shows too. I think it's worth a day trip if you haven't been before given that you've done SeaWorld & Universal before. It'll be a different experience for sure! Have fun whatever you decide!

 

[2x_dis_dad]

I was at Busch Gardens this past Saturday. I had a really fun time. The new roller coaster Skeikra is awesome. It is about an hour from Orlando to Tampa, depending on the time of day. I am sure it will take a little longer if you hit rush hour in either direction.

 

[Cinderella2004]

We spent 3 days there in 2003. We booked the Serengeti Safari for one of our mornings. If your kids love animals, you should look into this!!! They take you out onto the safari, in the back of a large, pick-up type truck, and you get to feed the giraffes!!! It was wonderful. I believe it was about $30.pp. They also gave you all kinds of information about the other animals on the safari, but the highlight was definitely feeding the giraffes.

Have fun!! They have some great coasters, too!

 

[Motherfletcher]

I went to BGT in 1962 and rode the awesome escalator and was given free beer! They don't have the escalator anymore but they still give away free beer! They probably don't give it to 10 year olds anymore.
I would allow an hour and a half to 2 hours from Orlando with the I-4 construction delays. BGT is 'THE' park for rollercoasters and Sheikra is the scariest in the State! BGT is less crowded than Orlando parks too.

 

[cjb71870]

Some hotels have buses that go to BG. Our regular one does. If you like roller coasters that is the place to be! And, they just opened the new one!!

 

[Danauk]

We have a day at BG planned for our Christmas trip. We love coaster too and figured it would be busy (we will be there during christmas week) so we have booked on the adventure thrills tour so we will not have to wait in line for the major coasters. Sheik'ra does look amazing, I love dive coasters (I have an AP to Alton Towers in England that has Oblivion, the worlds first dive coaster and have riden it about 100 times.) I would definatley say there is enough to do for a whole day there.

 

[PhotobearSam]

We are going there in October but I am not a coaster fan....Is there anything else for me to do?


I just had to use this smilie...

 

[sherry66]

We have visited BG several times and loved it We are not interested in roller coasters but love the animals. We took the serengeti safari tour which awsome. You get aboard the back of a truck and drive out in the serengeti plains. You get to hand feed several kinds of animals including giraffes. It was well worth the money. The web site is very informative as well.

 

[riu girl]

sherry66:
I am considering the safari ride (the one where you can feed the giraffes) but I think it costs about $30/pp. That would be $120 US for us, so I don't know. Is it worth the $$.. Is there any way to get a discount for it??? I know DD would just love this, so I might go ahead and do it but its not like me to spend that much $.

Thanks
Suzy V.
photobearsam: if you check out www.bgtguide.com you will find a ton of info. on things to do besides the coasters. It looks like there is one very good show (Katonga) , plus a safari ride, train ride, skyway type ride, tuts tomb, bird avairy etc etc. I'm sure you could find a ton to do there for a day or two.
We are going to buy the unlimited passes and go there 3 or 4 times over two weeks. Since we will be with the kids I don't want to be there all day/night, so I am thinking about 4 half days. I think the 2005 fun cards (unlimted admissions for 2005) are $62.95 US for adults and $52.95 US for kids plus tax. If we went four days I think this would be a good price.

 

[sherry66]

riu girl;
I don't know of any discounts but I'm sure there are some at times. We got bush gardens/sea world tickets "at par" in 2004 .I think in was unlimited admissions to both parks for X number of days. I think it was 7 or 8. We spent 2 days at bush and didn't ride a coaster. The safari ride is worth every cent DH said that we are going to do it again in 2006.

 

[grover]

where can you get info on the flex ticket?
G in W

 

[sherry66]

I think you can get them from a TA or somewhere like ticketmania or maple leaf. We got the bush/sea world from our TA.

 

[lookingforward]

We just got back from a quick trip to Orlando and Busch Gardens. We loved Busch Gardens, very different than Disney but a total blast for our teen boys. We booked the Adventure Thrill Seekers tour and it was awesome. Totally worth the $75 per person charge because the average wait for roller coasters was 90 minutes and we did not have to wait on the tour. Rode Zheikra (spell?) twice in a row, the tour guide was amazing, I will post a trip report tomorrow. Stayed at the Shades of Green, had so much fun.
We bought season passes, for two years, per person $129, since we live in FL. I can't wait to do the safari and the halloween tour.

 

[dynamite100]

We just got back from a quick trip to Orlando and Busch Gardens. We loved Busch Gardens, very different than Disney but a total blast for our teen boys. We booked the Adventure Thrill Seekers tour and it was awesome. Totally worth the $75 per person charge because the average wait for roller coasters was 90 minutes and we did not have to wait on the tour. Rode Zheikra (spell?) twice in a row, the tour guide was amazing, I will post a trip report tomorrow. Stayed at the Shades of Green, had so much fun.
We bought season passes, for two years, per person $129, since we live in FL. I can't wait to do the safari and the halloween tour.

Hi.This is the second post on this thread to mention the Adventure Thrill Seekers Tour. Could one of you give me details about that please. How do you book it, and what does it include?
Thanks, Carl.

 

[Danauk]

The adventure thrills tour can be booked on the Busch Gardens website (that is where I booked it from.) It is a 4-5 hour tour which includes lunch. You get guided around the park and told info about the rides. Then you get front of the line access to all the major coasters, rhino ralley and prefered seating at the shows. Plus you can get a discount at the shops.
Here is a link to the page on their website with the info on http://www.4adventure.com/buschgardens/fla/sp_adventure_thrill.aspx
I hope this helps.