Tours at Busch Gardens

[Danauk]

DH and I are planning to go to Busch Gardens for the day during our December trip to WDW. We expect the park to be very busy but we want to make the most out of our day as we both love rollercoasters. I have read on their website that they do tours and the Thrillseaker tour (4-5 hours long) gives you front of the line access to a lot of the coasters (hopefully they will add Sheikra to the list when it opens.)

So has anyone done this or any of the Busch Garden tours?

 

[Aidensmom]

Never done the tours, but I am an annual passholder to BG and can tell you that during the last two weeks of December, when schools are out, the lines for the coasters are very long. If you are only going one day, and are going during that time, if you want to be able to do all the coasters, the tour may be a big benefit by getting you to the front of the lines.

 

[kellymonaghan]

I've done several of the animal-oriented tours and they are all terrific.

Unless you go at the very busiest of times, the thrill ride tour may not be absolutely necessary. Getting there early and hitting the coasters first is usually a good plan. if you are used to the crowds at Disney, BGT will seem deserted by comparison.

Reviews of all the tours are posted here.

 

[Danauk]

Thanks guys. We will be there during the busy time (the week between Christmas and New Year) and will only be there for a day. It looks like the tour will be a good idea as we really want to ride the major coasters.

 

[riu girl]

I just wanted to thank the posters who took the time to reply to this thread.
Kellymonaghan: thank you so much for providing the link to the info. from your book. I just spent an hour reading it.

We are planning on taking our two kids to Busch during the last two weeks of December. We will purchase the 2005 fun card and go 3-4 times.
One child (DD8) has non-visible special needs . I talked briefly to customer service at Busch Gardens and they told me that they offer a "disability pass" similar to the guest assistance card at WDW.
Is anyone at all familiar with it? If so, please tell me what you can about it? The person I talked to at Busch was not very informative. I am sort of afraid to go to anywhere except WDW since they treated DD8 so well there but DH told me to at least try another theme park in Florida. We will be staying in Siesta Key the last two weeks of this year, thats why we thought we would try Busch Gardens.

Any info. would be greatly appreciated.
Suzy V.

 

[Aidensmom]

I just wanted to thank the posters who took the time to reply to this thread.
Kellymonaghan: thank you so much for providing the link to the info. from your book. I just spent an hour reading it.

We are planning on taking our two kids to Busch during the last two weeks of December. We will purchase the 2005 fun card and go 3-4 times.
One child (DD8) has non-visible special needs . I talked briefly to customer service at Busch Gardens and they told me that they offer a "disability pass" similar to the guest assistance card at WDW.
Is anyone at all familiar with it? If so, please tell me what you can about it? The person I talked to at Busch was not very informative. I am sort of afraid to go to anywhere except WDW since they treated DD8 so well there but DH told me to at least try another theme park in Florida. We will be staying in Siesta Key the last two weeks of this year, thats why we thought we would try Busch Gardens.

Any info. would be greatly appreciated.
Suzy V.

We go to BG at least once a month (We have gold passes), so I will definately try to find out for you the next time we go. If knowledge of what your DD special need is would make any difference in the info I may be able to get, feel free to PM me.

 

[PattiPB]

I don't mean to hijack a thread, but I was coming over here to ask a BGT question this morning!

We will be in Orlando in early August, and again in mid-December. We will be getting the fun card and will have fairly open availability for BGT. What days do you locals suggest we visit BGT in August and December? Both months, we can go Thurs-Sunday.

We have the SWSD fun card---what an awesome deal it is!!!

Any advice from locals/recent visitors very much appreciated! TIA!

 

[riu girl]

Patti:
Can you please outline the details of the SWSD fun card? What it invloves, prices etc. etc.
Thank you
Suzy V.

 

[Aidensmom]

I don't mean to hijack a thread, but I was coming over here to ask a BGT question this morning!

We will be in Orlando in early August, and again in mid-December. We will be getting the fun card and will have fairly open availability for BGT. What days do you locals suggest we visit BGT in August and December? Both months, we can go Thurs-Sunday.

We have the SWSD fun card---what an awesome deal it is!!!

Any advice from locals/recent visitors very much appreciated! TIA!

BGT's crowds are very affected by locals. School is still out through at least the first half of August, so everyday is going to be fairly crowded. Get there early to do the things you really want to do. Same for mid-December if school has already gotten out for Christmas break. If you are lucky enough to be getting there before schools get out, Thursday or Friday will be much less crowded than the weekends.

 

[PattiPB]

Hi Suzy!

Visit their website! It's an awesome deal: Buy a day, get the rest of the calendar year free. It's $62 for adults, and $52 for kids (I may be a buck or two off, but I'm darn close!). Seaworld, and Universal Hollywood do the same deal, and we LOVE it!

It's CALENDAR year, not 365 days from purchase, so plan carefully!