Looking for Busch Garden suggestions

[hawktalksl]

We have a 7 trip at Universal this coming Oct/Nov. We're thinking of maybe spending a day down at Busch Gardens. Any tips for saving money on tickets, and/or transportation? Park hours are relatively short during that period, so the plan is rent a car for a day so we can be there when it opens and leave when it closes. Anyone have any good suggestions? Thanks!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Look at the tickets they have online. They are currently offering all day dining with the ticket. Undercover Tourist also sells Busch Gardens tickets.

 

[jaceraden]

I found it to be a great deal to get UT tickets for Sea World/Busch Gardens. Way cheaper than US or WDW and we enjoyed SW and BG more than WDW.
Getting there before rope drop is a great idea. Though I noticed BG is a lot more loose and free with when rides actually get going. Take a look at the attractions and make sure you have an idea where you're going and what are must dos. We got terribly lost while there (while following a map) - this was in no way a bad thing because the park is beautiful but most of our party was too tired for Cheetah Hunt by the time we back tracked to it and that was a terrible loss for them!!!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Note that the parking lot doesn't open until 30min before the park (at least, it didn't when I went a few weeks ago, also in the off season).

 

[KorbensMomma]

Don’t forget to do the tiger pop-up dome, it was cool and a tiger was sleeping against it when we went in October.

 

[hawktalksl]

Don’t forget to do the tiger pop-up dome, it was cool and a tiger was sleeping against it when we went in October.

What were the crowds like when you went during October?

 

[KorbensMomma]

Crowds were very light. I think we went Oct 23rd. Was very manageable, we did get the meal deal and photo package. We didn’t have any long lines for food and rode the rides multiple times.