Car park security at Busch?

[Mike Jones]

How secure is the car lot at Busch? One of our itinerary options is to do Busch on the day we head to Orlando from Siesta Key, but this means leaving all our gear in the car boot while we're in the park. My recollections of it are hazy at best from the last trip in 08, but I vaguely recall it being kind of 'open'. Any thoughts?

 

[disneyholic family]

i'm sure people will say it's ok, but i would never feel comfortable doing this.

I'll add to that, that the company i work for has a standing order to never leave anything in a car boot when on business visits to the states.

i found an article from 2010 about safety in tampa.
the following section from the article is about the area around Busch Gardens:

Due to its transient nature, "Suitcase City" is the name often used to describe the Tampa area near the University of South Florida (4202 E. Fowler Avenue, (813) 974-2011).
It's also the home of Busch Gardens (10165 N. McKinley Drive, (888) 800-5447). Generally considered to be the area between Fowler and Busch Boulevards to the north and south, 22nd Street and 30th to the east and west, this part of North Tampa poses dangers to residents and visitors. It is just a few blocks from a safer area that begins northeast of the campus. As you might guess, home break-ins and car theft are major issues.

Busch Gardens is safe and heavily policed, however the parking lot is vast. Tip: Out-of-state license plates scream "vulnerable tourist" to an opportunistic thief. Try to rent a car with local plates and no identifying rental stickers.

you can read the entire article here:
http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/09/14/safe-and-dangerous-places-in-tampa/

 

[Kath2003]

How secure is the car lot at Busch? One of our itinerary options is to do Busch on the day we head to Orlando from Siesta Key, but this means leaving all our gear in the car boot while we're in the park. My recollections of it are hazy at best from the last trip in 08, but I vaguely recall it being kind of 'open'. Any thoughts?

Your travel insurance will not cover this. Don't leave anything in your car that you'd like to see again.

 

[wayneg]

Many, many times we have left the car loaded up in the car parks(theme parks or public). Usually on our last day we will load the car up or like last year we did a road trip from Miami to Key West to Orlando, a week on the road leaving it in loads of places.
We just make sure we take our documents and valuables with us but have to leave our cases in the car. Been doing it for years but we know there is always a risk.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

If you pay for preferred parking you will be further into the car park, but still no guarantee.

We have left cases in the car before but at WDW.

 

[scoobydooby]

I wouldn't leave what would be a couple of grands worth of clothes in a car boot. Too much of a risk to me.