Busch Gardens Tampa Florida

Busch Gardens

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Arriving at Busch Gardens

Spending a week on Pine Island was awesome enough but then add in a stop at Busch Gardens on our way home just put the vacation over the top for how much fun we had. Sun was shining, weather was comfortable and we were doing something we loved which was enjoying being together.

Upon arriving to the parking lot we were greeted by a very nice staff member who made my morning. A bright and cheerful welcome to the park and well wishes for a great day starts things off great! After parking we hopped into a train that took us over to Busch Gardens.

Upon getting to the park we got in line to get the Quick Que passes. While they were more than we expected them to be we sprung for the extra so we could make sure to hit all the rides we wanted too. They price their Quick Que passes depending on the day and traffic.

Christmas at Busch Gardens

The park was all decorated up for Christmas and was so pretty. Hard for this Minnesota girl to think of Christmas when there is no snow, but with all the decorations and such all I kept thinking was, I could get used to never seeing snow again! I might have been born in Minnesota, but am not what one would call a Minnesota girl,  I am a warm weather kind of girl.

Wrapping my head around Christmas decorations and Christmas music playing, even though it was December, was so hard due to the fact we left home and it was cold, spent a week in warm Florida weather which makes you think it’s middle of summer. So strange.

Busch Gardens Rides

The first ride we went on was Gwazi. This ride was totally awesome!  Hubby is a bit scared of coaster, but he gave this a try and loved it! Thanks to the Quick Que passes when we got off we got right back in line and did it a second time.

Next came SheiKra for me as hubby took one look and said NO WAY! The ride is crazy and has a huge drop right at the beginning which I absolutely love but he was not up for that. I was in the very front row, and when it reaches the top, and you are just dangling there looking down it is one of those, WHAT AM I DOING moments.

SheiKra is a total thrill as when you hit the top and it takes off you are wishing you hadn’t climbed on but at the same time loving every second. It was for sure an eye opening ride!

There is a gondola that takes you to the other side of the park and went on a ride my friend said is the best coaster ever! Well, she was right. No, it’s not a huge rush like SheiKra, but it is right up there with the best of the best coasters I have been on.

Cheetah Hunt is long, fast, and has great twists and turns. This was my hubby’s favorite as well which is why we actually went on it 3 times in total! If we could have stayed all day and just did this ride over and over we sure would have.

More Rides and Food

After riding the Cheetah Hunt, we decided to check out Montu. Well, that was a HUGE mistake. That ride was the end of our fun day, sad to say.

The ride an awesome ride but was not for us. Spinning rides are not for me, but hubby can usually handle them. This time for whatever reason he just didn’t do well.

For whatever reason this just had to much spinning/twisting and it did us both in. We got off it, felt dizzy and out of sorts and kinda stumbled around in a daze for a bit. Thought maybe food would help so we grabbed a bite to eat in a little eatery by Montu and just chilled out for a bit.

More to See

There is so much to see so we took some time walking around looking at animal exhibits, feeding kangaroos and Lory’s and looking at all the Christmas displays. This amusement park is huge and there is so much to see and do.

There were some really neat trees and shrubs done up to look like animals, like these ones. There is a lot of time and care put into maintaining Busch Gardens to keep it looking as beautiful as it does.

One More Ride

Even though we both were still feeling a bit out of sorts, maybe due to the ride, the long week we had, all the driving, or something else all together we don’t know. But, we wanted to do the Cheetah one more time so got in line and had one more rush!

The Cheetah is a ride I highly recommend if ever you visit Busch Gardens Tampa.

Time to Leave

As much as we wanted to stay longer, we had a lot of hours of driving ahead of us and I needed to get out of the sun, and into a car and close my eyes, and pop some Advil.

As we got off the last ride we realized we still had the Quick Que passes we bought and thought we should give our Quick Que passes to 2 people so they can enjoy them.

A young guy and girl walked by and I said, Hey are you going on this ride? They stopped, looked at me kinda strange, and said, we were going to, is if fun?

We both said, yes this is the best ride in the park. I asked them if they got the Quick Que passes today when they got to the park. The girl said, no, we didn’t have money for those. So I said how would you like ours, we are leaving and there is front of the line for 5 more rides today.

The look on the girls face was priceless and she said, “they are worth $40 each”. We said.. YUP.. Merry Christmas and enjoy. Shook their hands and they kept saying thank you, thank you. I love paying it forward and that put a huge smile on our faces, on their faces and warmed our hearts to do a good deed.

On Our Way Out

On our way to the exit we went by one of my favorite stands, The DOTS stand. I couldn’t leave the park without having DOTS, even if I felt like crap. So, got some DIPPIN DOTS, and even a picture to show my son, who loves them and would be jealous! Yes, even texted him this picture just to tease him a bit.

Wrap it Up

Busch Gardens is a great place to visit, for families, couples, honeymoons, girl’s weekend getaways, etc.  I also did a review of Busch Garden’s here ~ Living Smart Girl.

There is so much to see and do there. If you like rides, or animals, or just looking at beautiful scenery then this park is for you.

They have it all, and I can’t wait to go back again. Really had planned on riding every ride I could that day, which was why we sprung for the Quick Que passes, but thanks to Montu that didn’t happen. Oh Well, next time!

Busch Gardens On Social Media

You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Visit Busch Gardens

You can also plan and book your vacation using my Book Your Trip site or fill out the form and I can get your trip booked for you.

ps. A side note here. All my original pictures were lost so the edited pictures have an ‘ in Gardens and I know that is not how it is spelled but can’t edit these. Bummer on my part.