Busch Gardens Tampa is Florida’s best theme park for thrills. With the opening of Iron Gwazi,
this park now features 10 different roller coasters across 335 acres. But the park is about
so much more than just rides. It also features an extensive collection of animals rivaling most
zoos. Busch Gardens Tampa may be the best hybrid amusement park and zoo in the world. Find out
everything you need to know in this review! Anheuser-Busch built a new brewery in Tampa
Bay in 1959 and it was accompanied by a free botanical garden. In the mid-1960s, the park added
the Serengeti Plains section. This became the largest, free-roaming habitat outside of Africa.
It opened with 29 acres and now spans 70 acres. This is still a massive component of the park.
Busch Gardens started to morph into the amusement park we know today in the 1970s.
Gated admission was added to fund future expansions. And the park started adding
traditional amusement rides, eventually growing into Florida’s premier roller coaster park.
But Busch Gardens never lost their focus on animal exhibits and landscaping.
There are animal encounters in all corners of the park. And the entire park is beautiful between the
tropical landscaping and themed lands. It’s one of the most beautiful theme parks in the world.
It’s especially remarkable given the park’s location. Busch Gardens Tampa is landlocked by a
city block. The park’s boundaries have very little distance from the outside world. But you are fully
immersed in Africa while inside the park. Speaking of location, Busch Gardens Tampa is
1-1.5 hours from all of the other major parks in Orlando. If you don’t have a car, Mears Shuttle
offers a free shuttle service between Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa as long as you have an annual
pass or an admission ticket. The shuttle has a few different pick-up locations and typically gets you
to the park 30-60 minutes after opening. Then it typically leaves just before closing. I’ve used
this service in the past and it was a great way to save money if you don’t want to buy a rental car.
If you arrive by car, Busch Gardens costs $30 per vehicle. Most spots are across the street.
If you pay $5 more for preferred parking or have a Platinum Pass, you can park
on the same side of the street by Montu. Daily admission can cost just under $100 without
any discounts. You can often find discounts or combo tickets, but I have always visited with an
annual pass. If you want a Platinum Pass good for all the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks,
consider where you purchase it. Busch Gardens Tampa has one of the most expensive ones,
costly nearly $400. Compare that to SeaWorld San Antonio that is roughly half the cost.
And others like SeaWorld San Diego and Sesame Place can save you over $100.
There are some benefits specific to your home park such as one-time quick queues
and other experiences, so you just need to weigh if that’s worth the added upfront cost.
Now let’s talk about the ride lineup. This park has the best coaster lineup in Florida
and one of the most well-rounded lineups in the industry. It covers all genres of coasters from
kiddie to family to thrill. And the coasters in each tier are some of the best of the bunch.
For many years, the only gap in this park’s coaster lineup was an airtime machine.
That is rectified with the park’s newest and best roller coater in Iron Gwazi. This Rocky Mountain
Construction conversion of the former Gwazi wood coaster was delayed nearly 2 years due to the
pandemic, but it was worth the wait. Iron Gwazi is relentless. This
coaster has incredible ejector airtime. You have the massive beyond vertical drop, the gigantic
outer banked turn, the high-speed wave turn, plus a series of strong hills in the second half. Then
you also have one of the craziest inversion in the world in the death roll. Getting whip, laterals,
and sustained ejector airtime simultaneously is sublime. Then this coaster has impeccable pacing,
incredible speed, and surprising positive Gs to compliment the usual RMC goodness. I have
a separate review going into more detail, but this ride alone is worth the cost of admission.
The park is also home to a trio of B&Ms. SheiKra was America’s first dive machine.
The ride features two vertical drops with some great floater airtime. There isn’t much
else to the ride, but those two drops carry the experience and it’s visually stunning off-ride.
Kumba was the chain’s first B&M and this sit-down looper is still one of the best.
This coaster is unrelenting. All 7 inversions deliver crushing positive Gs and/or extreme
whip. It’s an endurance test in the best way possible. And the ride is also well-integrated
into the park, zooming past trees and by pathways. I have a separate review going into more detail,
but this is a must for inversion lovers. And then you have Montu, which I think is
an inverted and better version of Kumba. This coaster also features 7 marvelous inversions.
They’re similarly intense with the super snappy batwing being the highlight.
This coaster is also glossy smooth so it’s super reridable despite all that force.
And the visuals are incredible since many inversions dive into Egyptian themed trenches.
This is America’s best invert and I have its own review explaining why.
Tigiris is another intense one. The compact layout features three ok launches,
some intense ejector airtime, and a super slow barrel roll high above the ground.
These Premier Rides Sky Rocket IIs are one ride I don’t mind seeing cloned.
Cheetah Hunt is arguably the most popular coaster in the park and it’s not hard to see
why. This Intamin multi-launch coaster has a sprawling layout traveling over pathways,
past rockwork, and through animal exhibits. And beyond these visuals, you have a diverse layout.
The launches are decent. Then you also have some airtime hills
and a heartline roll loaded with hangtime. This may not be the most intense coaster in the world,
but it’s just pure fun as a I speak to in its own review.
Scorpion is the perfect first inverting coaster for kids. It has just one loop and it has a low
42” height requirement. This Schwarzkopf has some forceful helixes plus a good loop,
but its smoothness and moderate height make it approachable for all.
Cobra’s Curse is a Mack spinning coaster. This is arguably the park’s best themed coaster with the
projection mapping in the queue line plus the giant snake after the lift. The ride has three
distinct parts. The first third goes forwards, offering some decent Gs. The second third is
a slow but entirely backwards bit. Then the final third allows the vehicles to spin freely,
which is disorienting with the horseshoe turns. The most forgettable coaster in the lineup is
Sand Serpent, an off-the-shelf Mack wild mouse. The first half has the usually good laterals,
but the second half is heavily braked. Lastly there is Air Grover,
an admittedly good Zierer junior coaster comfortable for both kids and adults.
And the helixes have a little force to them, which is a nice surprise for a ride of its scale.
On that note, the park has a few clusters of kiddie rides.
The most notable is the Sesame Street Safari of Fun. This is area has been rethemed a few times,
but it’s a colorful area with a water pad and a giant treehouse for kids to burn off energy.
Then there are some smaller rides exclusive to kids.
Jungala is another sizable area, but it has looked abandoned in my recent visits. There
are a few other kiddie sections by Iron Gwazi and Pantopia as well, but they are much smaller
than the aforementioned Sesame Street area. Flat rides for adults are extremely limited.
There never have been many at this park. And one of the bigger ones in Phoenix, the Intamin
looping starship, has been closed for years. The one that you cannot miss is Falcon’s Fury.
This 335 foot or 102 meter tall drop tower was the prototype Intamin Sky Jump. Not
only did this ride open as the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower, but it also features
seats that tilt 90 degrees. This results in one of the most frightening visuals of any attraction
and a unique sensation on the drop as you plunge towards the asphalt. The drop isn’t as forceful
as others, but it’s still quite floaty. Florida gets extremely hot and humid,
so the park fittingly features two water rides. Stanley Falls is an average Arrow
log flume with a lengthy layout and a final splash that soaks those up front.
The wetter of the two is Congo River Rapids, a well-landscaped Intamin rapids ride. Most of
the rapids are on the mild side, but there is one super soaking one. And then there are some
extra sprayers and geysers along the way. If that’s not enough, there’s the adjacent
Adventure Island water park. It’s a separate gate and I have never visited there, but I
have heard good things about this park. The park also has some safari rides. Both
the Sky Ride and the Serengeti Express offer amazing views of the Serengeti plain animals.
The park also used to have Rhino Rally, but it was removed due to technical issues.
There also is the Serengeti Safari upcharge that’ll run you $40-70 per visitor.
This 30 minute off-road adventure offers some of the best views of the park’s most
popular animals and even allows guests to hand feed giraffes.
My favorite animal experience in the park is the Cheetah Run.
This takes place one or two times per day. The park has one of their cheetahs chase a toy
down a track and it’s surreal seeing an animal hit speeds rivaling that of a roller coaster.
Then the park’s midways bring you close to several notable animals. There’s always an
animal encounter around the corner. My favorite section is the Edge of Africa section with massive
mammals like lions and hyenas. But you also have some unexpected animals here like penguins.
This park is a must for animal lovers. There is a major gap in the park’s lineup though,
the lack of a dark ride. This is an issue at all the SeaWorld parks, but it’s more noticeable
here given the hot climate and frequency of afternoon thunderstorms. The park used
to have a simulator and a recurring 4D show, but both were removed over the past decade.
Now let’s talk about wait times. Busch Gardens Tampa is open 365 days a year.
I try to avoid summer both from a weather and crowd perspective.
If you can avoid weekends, crowds are usually manageable here. But if crowds are heavy,
you can purchase a Quick Queue skip-the-line pass that’ll run you anywhere from $20-$200
depending on when you buy it and the park’s expected attendance levels.
Dispatches at Busch Gardens Tampa are usually pretty good.
Rides will usually be running at max capacity in the peak months,
but they can be running at reduced capacity on quieter days due to staffing or maintenance.
Prior to visiting, I recommend checking the park’s refurbishment calendar.
It’s rare to see a major coaster closed in the summer, but in the winter months rides may be
closed for a month at a time, particularly Kumba. When planning how to tour this park,
an important thing to know is that this park often has staggered openings. The coasters towards the
front open with the park. But rides towards the back open later. Falcon’s Fury and Tigris often
don’t open until a half hour after opening. Then Kumba and Scorpion tend to open an hour late.
This park can be done in a day, but I like to have two so I have plenty of time for rerides.
Most people will tour this park in a loop. Whether you go clockwise or counterclockwise next depends
on your priorities. If you care about riding every coaster as quickly as possible, I would
go counterclockwise. If the water rides are a priority, I would go clockwise. The rides towards
the end of these loops will probably have lines. If you arrive at opening, the most important thing
is to start with either Iron Gwazi or Cheetah Hunt. I prefer to start with Cheetah Hunt.
Most days, that coaster’s line will hover around the 45-60 minute mark. I would then hit Cobra’s
Curse. It’s nearby, often gets one of the longest lines, and doesn’t have the highest capacity.
While Iron Gwazi is still in previews as of this recording, I suspect it’ll have one of the longest
lines most days. However, since it’s currently a one-time only and pricey upcharge on Quick Queue,
I suspect its standby line may be less than Cheetah Hunt and Cobra’s Curse.
Some other rides that are smart to hit early are Sand Serpent and Tigris
due to their lower capacities. And then the water rides are worth riding early on hot days
if they’re a priority for you. The B&Ms usually have fast-moving and manageable lines.
Kumba in particular is usually a walk-on because of its location.
If the park is open past sunset, the park has some notable night rides. Iron Gwazi is really
cool with how it’s lit and it does get faster as it cycles. Kumba and Montu are extra sweet
given their forces and placement. And then Cheetah Hunt’s setting is particularly special at night.
I recommend hopping in line for this coaster just before close.
Last but not least, I want to talk about this park’s food. I have only been to
two restaurants there. Because they’re so amazing, I haven’t tried anywhere else.
Twisted Tails pretzels makes my favorite snack of any theme park. The pretzels, when hot and fresh,
are doughy, buttery, and amazing. Unfortunately, they no longer offer the bacon wrapped version,
but the standard ones are still delicious. Zambia Smokehouse is the go-to place for meals.
The brisket is mouth-watering and juicy. So do I recommend Busch Gardens Tampa? Absolutely!
This is one of the best theme parks in the world. Iron Gwazi took an already
strong coaster lineup and made it truly special. You have that incredible atmosphere
between the theming, foliage, and friendly staff.
And the animal encounters give the park an advantage over comparable theme parks.
This park really has something for everyone. So those are my thoughts on Busch Gardens Tampa.
What are your thoughts on this Florida theme park? Do you think it’s the state’s best thrill park?
Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review,
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