WDW and Busch Gardens in same trip

[jjarman]

Has anyone ever done this? DS15 wants to go to Busch Gardens one day of our trip next year since his teacher told him how big the roller coasters are. If left up to me I would only do WDW. I can't get enough of it. I am trying to figure out how to do this as I wanted to fly and not drive if I could help it. I thought maybe flying to Tampa and staying one night and doing Busch the next day. Then renting a car to drive to WDW. Or fly to Orlando and just do a day trip to Tampa. Is that feasible? Doable?

 

[mamacatnv]

We flew into Tampa last year it is where the in-laws live and we did a day at Busch. My Ds loved Busch and the big coasters, the rest of us whimps enjoyed the slower portions of the parks as well as a couple of the shows. From Tampa to WDW is about a 90 mile drive. I was able to rent a car in Tampa thru Thrifty that I turned in at the Orlando airport location.

The night we flew in we got in so late that we stayed at the Comfort Inn that is across the street from the stadium where the Buc's play, it was only a couple of miles from the airport and very reasonably priced.

We are contemplating Sea World on our next trip, I am like you once I get to Disney I don't want to leave!

Have Fun
MamaCatNV

 

[ChrisFL]

Getting from WDW to Busch is about 1.5 to 2 hours to drive, not too bad...however Id also highly reccomend Islands of Adventure if he loves rollercoasters. That's only about 15 mins from WDW, and the theming can't be beat outside of WDW

 

[LISAMWDW]

I went to Busch Gardens last year and we very disappointed. Other than the animals, I did not enjoy this park compared to WDW! I'd go to Busch Gardens first so you won't be shocked at the difference so much. The drive is not bad at all. I'd fly into Tampa then do WDW and drive back. That is what I did last year and it worked out great. I agree with ChrisFL about Islands of Adventure. IOA is tons tons better! However, a different type of park, no animals at IOA. The coasters and rides are better at IOA. It is fun to check out other parks/attractions in Florida also. It is very hard to leave WDW to do this, there are still some things I haven't done if Florida yet because of that reason. Such as Kennedy Space Center! I just can't get over there!

 

[Danauk]

We did this on our 2 week WDW trip over christmas and new year. We went to Busch Gardens on December 26th. DH and I are real coaster nuts, so if your son loves coasters I really recommend a trip to Busch. We decided that as we were only spending one day there and we wanted to make the most of it we would book on the adventure thrills tour. Doing this we had a guide and didn't have to wait in line for any ride, instead we just walked up the exit and got to ride each coaster twice (bypassing a 2 hour wait!) We hired a car and drove from WDW to Busch. The trip took about an hour and was an easy drive.
I recommend a day at Busch for your son if he loves coasters as much as we do.

 

[jjarman]

If we flew into Orlando and didn't rent a car but took the Magical Express, or whatever it is called, how do we get to IOA? Is there some type of shuttle or should we rent a cab?

 

[ChrisFL]

Unfortunately thats one thing I don't know, however you can most likely find your answer on the Universal/IOA section of this site

 

[DOOM1001]

It's about 1-1.5 hour drive to Tampa from Orlando, So you could easily just drive over and come back the same day.As far as comparing the coasters at Busch Gardens and Islands of Adventure, BGT has surpassed IOA in my opinion with Sheikra opening last may.I've also been surprised how much better BGT is being run from just 2 years ago, I would even say it's being run better than the Universal parks which I used to go to all the time, lately in my last visits to IOA and USF I've been pretty dissapointed.

 

[clonetothebone]

2003 we went and DW wanted the kids to see the ocean for the first time and she loves whales so she wanted to go to Seaworld. Well, after driving over to Cocoa Beach and the kids getting in the water for 2 minutes and complaining about the salt and seaweed we headed back. Next day was Seaworld and other than the Shamu show we could have seen everything they had there at our zoo (we have a really cool zoo). After wasting these two days and not getting to see everything we wanted at WDW we vowed never to leave WDW on our next trip.

In short, if you have the time it will work but make sure you don't short yourself and miss something at WDW.

p.s. We rented a car at the Alamo/National at WDW and returned it when we were done so we didn't have the car for the entire trip. Used Disney transportation to and from there.

 

[KimWDW]

If he wants coasters, I'd recommend Universal Islands of Adventure rather than Busch. Busch does have good coasters, but it's 1.5-2 hours away (driving). Universal Islands is right down the street and has The Hulk (best coaster ever), Dueling Dragons, Jurassic Park, Spiderman, etc. Great park for a coaster enthusiast. And I think Universal does a good job in service, cleanliness, etc like Disney does. Busch does not, IMO.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

Next day was Seaworld and other than the Shamu show we could have seen everything they had there at our zoo (we have a really cool zoo).

it must be one hell of a zoo you have.

 

[byoung]

Why not do it if you want to.

 

[makinorlando]

We visited Busch Gardens two weeks ago for the first time since moving her in 2003. DD9 and I LOVE the park. I could care less about riding coasters - but they have 7.... count em 7 pretty scary looking coasters. I found the "Edge of Africa" to be awesome and the Rhino Rally (their version of the safari) was much more fun! DD is not yet tall enough for some of the coasters - she has 2 inches.. and is doing stretching exercises everyday to try and grow for summer!

Our animal encoutners at BG far exceeded any of our visits to AK - I am not saying we don't like it there, but I was very impressed with BG.

If you want to check out any photos - click on My Pictures below, and the the Busch Garden folder.

But check out the drop (vertical) on this coaster - SheiKra the new one!

 

[dixipixi]

We used to go to Orlando and do the one week offsite/one week onsite thing. While offsite, we went to US, IOA, SW, BG, and Wet N Wild. For the last few trips, we have stayed at WDW and only taken one day per trip to do something offsite. Last year we went to KSC and had a really great time.

Our two favorites are SW and BG. Both myself and DS (17) are the "coaster junkies" in our family. We prefer BG to IOA. One reason is that there is something for everyone to do there. We also think the grounds/landscaping is much better at BG. Everyone in our family loves animals, so that's probably why SW and BG top our list. AK is actually one of favorite WDW parks.

This year I asked our boys to list the three things other than WDW they would both like to do and one of them listed BG, SW, and Wet n Wild. The other listed BG, IOA, and Wet n Wild (we love the water parks, too!).

It usually takes us about 1.5hrs to get from our hotel to BG. It is an easy drive over and back. We can easily do it in a day.

DH and I are still deciding what to do on our "extra" day this year. I have a feeling BG will win!

 

[jlovesee]

GO TO BUSCH GARDENS! Busch is NOT Disney but it is a very good park and if you love coasters Busch has an excellent collection. A lot of people have mentioned SheiKra, but Kumba is one of my husband's favorite coasters and he has ridden over 400 different coasters! Montu and Scorpion are my favorites there.

As long as you go with the mindset that Busch is an excellent amusement park, but not Disney World you will have a blast.


Jennifer

 

[Sylvester McBean]

BG is our 'backyard park'. it doesn't get the accolades WDW and Universal gets, but it's probably the most well-rounded park in Florida. It's suffered the same fate as Disneyland, a bad motel district built around it. but in terms of attendance in 2005, it held it's own:

1. Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom
2. Disneyland
3 . Epcot
4. Disney-MGM Studios
5. Disney's Animal Kingdom
6. Universal Studios Florida
7. Disney's California Adventure
8. Universal's Islands of Adventure
9. SeaWorld Orlando
10. Busch Gardens Tampa

 

[DebbieinWA]

Thanks for all the info! Busch Gardens is someplace we are contemplating visiting on our next trip as well. It sounds like the perfect place for someone like me - lover of animals and roller coasters!

 

[goofy4tink]

We're adding a trip to Tampa at the end of our May WDW trip...actually, it started as a trip to Tampa to visit ds, then I added a day or two at the beginning in WDW since ds has to be at work until Friday aftenoon. Now, it's 4 days in WDW, then over to Tampa and BG on Sat morning, flying home to Boston from Tampa late Sunday. We're really excited about going to BG...already got our passes!

 

[mjmcca]

I keep meaning to get over to BG I dont have any excuses. I have the PA to SW that includes the other parks but I just never get there on a trip. I did buy passes to US for this trip so we are going at least one day ( they are 3 day no expire passes). We always go to SW at least once for a trip sometimes twice on a longer trip.

 

[jjarman]

I really want to do BG but am having a problem working out the transportation. Here is my plan so far. Please help me where you can.

Fly to Orlando on a Saturday (this is in March, 2007)
Rent a car
Drive to Pop and do a park that day if there is time.
Turn car back in (but how to get back to hotel or are rental cars really cheap in Orlando?)
Sunday, drive to Tampa and do BG one day and drive back that night.
Monday-Saturday, WDW

Or

Fly to Tampa (Friday evening or Saturday afternoon)
Rent a car
Stay somewhere near BG that night
Do BG that day (Sunday) and drive to WDW that night
Monday-Saturday, WDW
Fly out of Orlando Saturday afternoon