A Day in the Wild at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is an Africa-themed park and zoo. We were wowed by the attractions and the animals at this hybrid park!
Arrival & Parking
We arrived a bit before park opening and waited a few minutes for the parking kiosks to open. As it was our first time, we didn’t anticipate that parking would be separated from the park by a major road. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is located surprisingly close to the city, partially in suburbia!
Most visitors park in the main lot and take a shuttle to the entrance. Because our annual passes included preferred parking, we were able to use a tunnel below the interstate to access parking right by the main gate. It was raining when we arrived and we were even more grateful we didn’t need to take the open-sided shuttle.
Attractions
We were familiar with the vibe of many of the coasters at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay because we’d visited its sister parks (Busch Gardens Williamsburg and SeaWorld Orlando). We found the same smooth, high-intensity coasters, fun family rides, engaging play spaces, and even some familiar foods.
The Sesame Street area of the park was bright and beautiful, though shaded well. It featured a giant treehouse climbing structure that my kids loved!
I rode the two family coasters, Cobra’s Curse and Phoenix Rising, and enjoyed both. Cobra’s Curse is an innovative coaster with an elevator lift and freely-spinning cars. I loved it, but the risk of spinning kept my husband, who is prone to motion sickness, off of it. Phoenix Rising was much more intense than I expected since it was billed as a coaster for kids who aren’t ready for the “big coasters.” It was smooth, but it is very fast and felt very aggressive despite the fact that it didn’t invert. The restraint system, which is the same as Penguin Trek at SeaWorld, is an awkward one for hand placement, made me feel less secure during the ride.
Animals
While we knew Busch Gardens Tampa Bay would have animals, we didn’t realize how many or at what scale. By acreage, the park is largely a reserve .
Due to the weather, the train was only partially open and only one loop was active. Luckily, it was the loop that went through the animal reserve, so we were pleased we had the chance to experience it!
Mold-o-Matic Machines
The park has Mold-o-Matic machines in a dozen different locations. Using plastic and a mold that is sealed with two mechanical arms, these machines create animal figurines right in front of you!
It didn’t take us long to decide we’d seek out all 12 of them and attempt to collect the souvenir animals!
We ran into a couple hiccups along the way. First, our credit card was declined because it was being charged the same amount from the same vendor over and over and over! We switched to a debit card and no longer faced that issue. Then we ran into one machine that didn’t actually work. The Mold-o-Matic created a very shoddy-looking animal, but it never fell into the collection tray. We sorted this out with Guest Services and they gave us a replacement.
Overall Impression
Our day was greatly impacted by the weather. It was a cold, rainy day with occasional lightning. Many attractions were closed for part of the day and, much to our dismay, the entire park closed 2 hours early with little warning!
By 6:00PM, when the park did close, the rides were operational and the weather had cleared. However, the decision had already been made. This was the only negative part of our experience.
Our experience was otherwise wonderful! It’s a unique park with thrilling rides, live animals, good food, and friendly staff.
Plan Your Visit
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
10165 N McKinley Drive
Tampa, FL 33612
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