Bush Gardens

[mikeje99]

As this is our first post a big hello to Everyone

Now down to the planning

We're booked to fly to Orlando 19th April - 03 May next year and as yet haven't booked our accommodation. Last time we went we did mostly Disney so this time we thought we would do a 14 day Flexi Pass for Universal, Sea World Etc.

What we haven't decided on is should we stay in Orlando for 2 weeks or do 1 week in Orlando and 1 week on the Gulf Coast.

What we need to know is how far it is to drive to Bush Gardens from Orlando. If it is a long drive where are the best places to stay on the gulf coast.

The other thing is we've been told that because we are going around easter we need to book are accommodation now. The only problem being there doesn't seem to be many good deals around at the moment.

The Edwards Family (It's been two year's since the first time so we can't wait to go again )

 

[snookhams]

As you can see below we are due to leave any time now. This is our 5th visit and we have been to busch every time, I think it takes about an hour to an hour and a half to drive there and we've always thoroghly enjoyed ourselves - bought this years tickets via there website.

 

[GARY & HELEN]

Hi there mikejee99,

Welcome to the dis,
I agree with snookhams, it takes about an hour and a half to get to Busch Gardens from Orlando.
We have been there 3 times and we plan to go again when we go in dec.
Busch Gardens is a must if you can fit it in, we love it, we love the big coasters, and we are looking forward to trying the new Rhino Rally ride,(was'nt there when we went 2 years ago).
Cant help with somewhere to stay down the Gulf Coast though, as we have never stayed there. By the way where in wales are you from.
Hope that helps a little,

GARY & HELEN

 

[manaris]

<font size=3 color="purple">
Another vote for Busch! As already said, it's only about 1-1 1/2 hours drive from Orlando, and well worth it. What I found the twice I was there is that it is a little bit more "relaxed" than the Orlando parks. You can take the day at a bit more of a leisurely pace, and still see everything no problem. The rides are brilliant, and if you are even a little bit of an animal lover, you will be very impressed with the range of animals you can see.
IMHO, I think Busch is unmissable. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
</font>
<font size=4 color="red"><i>Andrew.</i>

 

[mikeje99]

Wow now that's what I call a quick responces. Thanks Everyone

Well looks like we'll be staying in Orlando for the 2 weeks. Hopefully we can then visit both east and west coasts.

We've found a 3 bedroom villa 10-15mins from Universal and they want £900 for the 2 weeks. Does this seem about right or would we be better booking a hotels as there are only 4 of us this time.


Gary & Helen we're from Bridgend in South Wales.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Shuttle Fan]

Mike,

We've stayed a few days in Orlando, then a few days at the coast, then back to Orlando for the remaining days and that was great. Really nice just to relax on the beach for a couple of days after the busy parks, re-fuel, then back to the parks before going home. We've stayed in hotels each time.

Last year we stayed in Orlando for the full two weeks and just drove to the coast, but this year we're going back to a fly drive - we prefer it that way.

There's some good websites around with details of hotels.

 

[vernon]

Over Easter, that seems to be "about right" for 2 weeks. I'm sure you'll find somewhere cheaper if you really search hard, but I doubt if you'll find a saving of much more than £100150. The cheaper places,generally but not always, tend to be a little further away or a little smaller or a little older or a combination of all of the above. If you've found a villa you like the look of and it's in an area you are happy with I think it's sensible to settle on that. I would spend more time in Orlando and less on the beach, unless you're BIG fans of the beach. I would suggest a 10/4 split ( although personally I'd stay the whole time in one destination). The drive time from Clearwater/St Pete's to BG is going to be close to an hour so it doesn't really make much difference if you drive from Orlando or the beach to visit the park. My kids have always prefered a day at one of the Disney water parks to a day at the beach.

You don't say how old your kids are, that does make a difference on the parks you'll want to visit ( although I think that all round BG is one of the best family parks around with a good mix of thrill rides, animals and things for younger kids to do ( AND FREE BEER ) it also affects the size car you need. With two teen girls they'll want more clothes (and SHOES) space and there is less room to pack things around and under them (re other post) with two under 10's their needs can be covered with a lot less space ( usually LOL)

 

[UKDEB]

Where are you finding that saving, Vernon - I'll have some of that!

Villas are definitely the way to go, IMHO. Easter is probably the most expensive time (together with Christmas/New Year), so £450 sounds reasonable. It rather depends on how old it is and what its location is. Do you know the name of the subdivision it's on?

 

[mikeje99]

Hi UKDEB

The house is in a place called Crescent Lakes. Do you know the area?

Mike

 

[UKDEB]

Hi Mike,

Not the closest to the attractions - south of east 192 - but still within comfortable travelling distance. I would doubt that it can possibly be within 10-15 minutes of Universal, though. WDW, yes.

It's one of the newer communities (although some of the villas will be several years older than others) and I would happily pay £450/week peak season.

Take a look at these links:

Subdivisions locator
Crescent Lakes location map

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

We are HUGE fans of the Gulf Coast. Couldn't imagine going to Florida and not visiting for a time

We like one week Orlando, then the last few years one week either Clearwater, or our fave, St Pete's. Busch Gardens is an absolute must if you've the time. If you do stay down on the Gulf Coast, you can get some good deals for return visits, or alternatively pick up a good deal for BG's sister park, Adventure Island which is a really good water park right next door to BG.

45/50 mins MAX drive from St Pete's to BG.

We would have no hesitation visiting St Pete's again this year, but my DH and DD have not experienced the Everglades, so we're off to Marco Island and then on to the Keys for the rest of our hols.

Admitedly, first time we went to the beach I was not sure how it would pan out. DH declared he was NOT a theme park fan (how I laugh now that he is ) so that's why we went to Clearwater for a week. However, we find SO much to do down there. You can relax on the beach all day if you want, enjoy the water sports, go visit places (Tampa and St Petersburg are well worth the visit).

Sorry to go on singing praise, do you think they'd give me a job over there promoting the place !!

 

[richard3330]

We did 1 week Orlando / 1 week New Port Richey (gulf coast).

We found that 1 week in Orlando was NOT ENOUGH TIME. We had visited 3 times before, btu still felt we didn't have enough time to do everything we wished. We ended up doing Busch and some other parks in the second week. The beaches are really great on the gulf coast, especially caladesi island/honeymoon island.

If you can stretch I would reccomend 2 weeks in Orlando / 1 week Gukf Coast. Or just 2 in orlando, visiting the beach on one of your days in the second week.

 

[trikky]

hi mike
last year we had 2 weeks in orlando,1 week on the gulf coast,staying at the Hilton Hotel on Longboat Key,nr Sarasota,
we drove up to B.Gardens/ST Petes for day trips.
personally i think trying to do a 2 centre holiday in 2 weeks will be a bit too much,,we did have 2 kids with us though. i recommend the Hilton if you like a quiet/relaxed time.

mike
:

 

[GO2209]

I am lucky - I have the use of a Condo in St Petes. I will be driving up to Orlando for a few days, then back to the beach. This is an unwinding/relaxing/shopping(?!) holiday for me. I will leave the 'real disney vacation' until next year

7 days in Orlando will not be enough - you will have to race around at breakneck speed and the multiday passes probably wont work for you as you will not have the 'free' time to visit the waterparks etc.

 

[SpottyDog]

Hiya and welcome Mike.
We normally drive to and from Orlando. As Vernon said the journey from the Gulf is almost as long ayway.

However, this year we did two nights at Clearwater beach and visited Busch on the way in and out ,so got the best of both worlds (at least we thought so).

 

[the Legend]

You already know it is an hour to an hour and a half drive from WDW. It is defintely worth the trip as we have found it to be one of the most relaxing parks in Central Florida.

SeaWorld and Busch Gardens are both owned by Annheiser-Busch so you can get discounted tickets for both if you intend to visit SeaWorld during your visit.

We always visit Busch Gardens when we are in Florida and doublely so this September because we are Gridiron fans as well, we use Busch Gardens as a jumping pad to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We are seeing the Monday Night Football game Bucs vs Rams on the 23rd Sept and a Busch visit puts us in Tampa for the game.

Because there are two us, we're split the driving duties and plan to drive there and back <phew long day>.

If I was going for a visit to the Gardens, I would drive there and back. They also do buses to Busch Gardens from SeaWorld, Old Town Kisseemee so maybe a drive to one of those locations would be better for you. You need to book seats in advance.

Hope you make it, Im sure you and family will enjoy it.

 

[snookhams]

We have just arrived home, landed at Gatwick this morning, and just checking my e-mails etc.

I really regret my previous comments about Busch Gardens, our recent visit was the worst day of our three week stay and we will never be going back. The staff were rude, and took the mickey out of us, the food was undoubtably the worst thing we ate all holiday and the rides were either not working, being repaired, being tested or only half the ride (i.e. Rhino rally) was working, in fact we left at about 1.30 pm and went back to Orlando for a swim. We have always enjoyed Busch in the past but now it has gone down hill, in fact we had a similar experience with the staff at seaworld, funny they are both run by the same organisation. I am about to compose an e-mail to both places to express our feelings.

 

[GO2209]

Surprised to read your comments about Busch Gardens... In what way were the staff offensive to you?

I haven't been to BG for three years - doesn't sound as though I should bother this time either.

 

[vernon]

I didn't find any problems in April at BG and had a great meal there as well. Please do take into account that all parks employ a large number of staff and it only takes one or two members to spoil a guests day. I wouldn't suggest not to visit ANY park on the basis of one persons bad experience.
It's a real pain if a number of the rides are down, sometimes this can be because there a lot of techical problems, sometimes you can just be unlucky and catch the 5 minutes of every rides downtime that day.

 

[WDWfan uk]

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience in Busch Gardens Snookhams

We also had experience of several rides being down at once but I understand that ours was because there was a malfunction on Kumba's computers and so they brought the other huge coaster rides down as a safety precaution since they are such big rides - they had enough trouble off-loading Kumba riders stuck very high in the air.

I do think encountering rude staff is really upsetting when you are so used to being welcomed with a smiling face in Florida - it sometimes pays to take note of their names and report them. They are not employed to be rude to visitors ......... please take time out to write to the powers that be at Busch and tell them of your experiences.

Hi and welcome Mike