Tampa Bay, Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens was really great and fun for all the family. You have to get there early to find the better rides. The picnic areas are good. You can expect queue's for thrilling rides. Look for joint Seaworld tickets. Good to have a park away from Orlando.

Busch Gardens (or Busch Gardens Africa to give it it's official name) opened in Tampa in 1959 as an admission-free hospitality facility for the Tampa Anheuser-Busch brewery on the grounds of the manufacturing plant. The manufacturing plant has long gone, but you can still enjoy a beer at the "Budweiser Beer School" - Which almost sounds like something out of the Simpsons.

Busch Gardens is one the best theme parks in Florida and is well worth the hour or so drive from Orlando to visit.

The park manages to maintain a good mixture of;

Education - With the Serengeti Plain, Edge of Africa and Aviary.

Raw thrills - Kumba, Scorpian, Python, Gwazi and the latest and most impressive Sheekra.

Wet rides - Congo River Rapids (where spectators can assist in the squirting) and Tidal Wave

While for the younger kids is the enormous play area known as "Land of the Dragon" that's just so much fun you can't help getting involved as well.

Spanning the entire theme park is the Skyride system that not only gives you a birds eye view of the whole park, but also gets you from "Stanleyville" all the way to the Safari kick off point in under 5 minutes.

There are a lot of great places to eat in Busch Gardens, but can I recommend that if you joined the traffic during the week down the freeway from Orlando, that its best to get something to eat at Zagora Cafe just after the entrance because by 11.30 all the other eateries will be very busy.

To get the best tickets you should look for joint Seaworld park tickets. These are widely available before you leave and can be bought from a number of sources in Florida, at terrific prices.

The bottom line is that if you go to Florida you MUST go to Busch Gardens. Its just too good an experience to miss.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a large park with many water stops, shops and restaurants, well designed, our party of 10 were in the age range 10 - 65. If you can afford it get a personal tour. No waiting at every ride, seated first at the front for all shows with dinner and safari included plus a member of staff escorts you round (I think we got our moneys worth of free chilled bottled water alone) For rollercoaster fans try the old wooden ride, it is simply terrifying and makes the new 'scary' rides look quite tame.

Journey time from Orlando, about 70 minutes eats into your day, best advice is to get up well rested after a day off and get there early to enjoy the whole day

We were a large party with lots of different age groups (7-45). We had a great day out at Busch Gardens, which passed far too quickly. The safari was a bit expensive but worth the money.