SeaWorld or Busch Gardens?

[HLAuburn]

We are going to the beach at the end of the week and on the drive home (through Tampa and Orlando), we'd like to plan a day at one of the parks. Our Disney seasonal passes are "blacked out", so we are thinking about taking advantage of the $50 deal at SW or BG.

We went to SW about 2 years ago, but I'm interested to do the penguin ride/exhibit. The kids have never been to BG - my 9 year old will ride ANYTHING and my 4 year old will do most anything that she's tall enough for. But it looked like DD9 is not tall enough for a lot of the major coasters, and we will only have about 9 hours there, so not sure if it's worth it.

Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[June84]

If you're into major coasters, BG is the place... I'm not into it, so I personally prefer SW

 

[Lynne G]

Would your family rather do a water park, like Aquadica instead? For $50 a person, I would think BGT would be a better fit. There's lots to see, some shows, and many more rides than in SWO. There's even a sesame themed kids area that may be fun for the younger one. If you don't want to go to a park, check out all the amusements and mini golfs along I Drive, and maybe that would be of interest to your family.

My kids liked the carnival rides and go carts in the Fun Spot at the end of I Drive near Universal. We rode the go carts so many times, it was a fun 5 or so hours we had in that park. We then did mini golf to round out the day, and went back to our SW hotel to relax. It was a low key day, as the Fun Spot did not open early, and we had the park to ourselves the first two or so hours. This was at the end of August 2 years ago.

 

[hydrotony]

Remember, the $50 ticket is for weekdays, not weekends. Offer good for US and PR residents only. If you buy the $50 ticket, for another $25 you get a day at the adjacent water park. Not sure if the water park day has to be a weekday also. Go to their websites to find out. Also, you have to buy the ticket on-line.

Even though the ads say you can add a water park for $25 to the $50 weekday ticket, I went to the websites and could not see how to do it.

 

[old lady]

I would love to go to both, but there is no time.

 

[kathy884]

They are both beautiful parks. My family's personal favorite is SeaWorld as we are huge marine mammal fans, love their shows, animal exhibits, and they have a few fun coasters too. Busch Gardens reminds me a lot of a world class zoo with a bunch of coasters and a few shows that aren't bad, but not must dos. // Everyone has different opinions and likes, but for my family SeaWorld would be our choice for sure out of the two.

 

[N_Phoenix]

BG has lots of things for younger kids to do. Our 5 year old was able to ride his first coaster there (he's tall). It was called the scorpion and after some convincing, he rode it and loved it. We're going back in Sept and he is now 8 and tall enough for everything. I'm wondering if he'll attempt Sheikra as that coaster freaks me out.