Busch Gardens Tampa
Overview
What exactly is Busch Gardens? Is it a zoo? Is it a theme park? Is it a water park? The answer is Busch Gardens is quite simply… Busch Gardens. An extraordinary 335-acre adventure park combining wild animals with even wilder rides that is visited by more than 4 million people each year.
Nowhere else in Florida can you come face-to-face with some of the world's most endangered species, see what life is really like high up in the jungle canopy or ride a dive coaster that hurtles along at speeds of up to 70mph all in the same place.
Thrilling Rides: For those guests looking for excitement with the thrills and spills of white-knuckle rides, then be prepared to be amazed at what is on offer here. Falcon's Fury, which opened in 2014, is the first drop tower ride of its kind in the world, mimicking the dive speeds of the fastest animal on earth. If you're still up for a challenge then how about one of the park's other signature rides Cheetah Hunt or SheiKra? The multiple launch Cheetah Hunt sends riders through an African inspired landscape at speeds of up to 60mph, mimicking the speed, power and agility of this beautiful cat with super fast twists, turns and three accelerations – before plunging 130ft into a trench. If 60mph isn't fast enough then the 70mph SheiKra must be the one for you! It is the very first dive coaster in North America – and it's a good one! 200ft up, and then straight back down again with a 90 degree drop.
The other thrill-seeker rides at Busch Gardens include Montu, one of the world's longest, tallest, inverted roller coasters in the world where you loop, drop, and speed along at over 60mph with your feet dangling free beneath you. Kumba is a big, fast hair-raising roller coaster taking you on white-knuckle manoeuvres for over 3 minutes at 60mph. Scorpion is one of only three rides of its kind in the world! It sends riders racing along at speeds of over 40mph before diving into a 360-degree vertical loop - the sting in the tail here is the lunge into an unforgettable forward spiral.
Cobra's Curse and Tigris are the newest coasters at the park adding even more thrills to Busch Gardens!
Family Fun: Of course, no theme park in Florida is all about the roller coasters, Busch Gardens offers plenty of family fun as well. Fans of Sesame Street can join Elmo, Big Bird and all their friends having fun on the rides, shows and adventures just for the little ones. Air Grover is a junior roller coaster with plenty of fun turns and mini dives! Also for the younger family members is Sand Serpent, a crazy roller coaster with curves and hairpin turns the whole family will want to ride again and again! For something more sedate then how about the Serengeti Express? It's a hundred-year-old experience of everything that's breathtaking and magnificent about Africa. Travel on one of four replica locomotives, to take in free-roaming herds of giraffe, zebra, antelope and more. Get a glimpse of the park's spectacular rides and stop off at the Congo, Nairobi and Stanleyville areas. For those that want to get wet then Busch Gardens also offers a number of water rides; Stanley Falls and Congo River Rapids - all of them guarantee that you will get wet having fun and have fun getting wet!
Animal Attractions: Since Busch Gardens started off as a zoo when it first opened its doors to the public, we mustn't forget the animals. As well as travelling on the previously mentioned Serengeti Express, you can visit 500 tropical birds in the world-class free-flying aviary or have lorikeets and hornbills literally eating out of your hand.
A trip to the Myombe Reserve will allow you to see magnificent lowland gorillas and cheeky, playful, chimpanzees having fun in a lush, natural rainforest habitat. For a chance to see some of the world's rarest and least-glimpsed species head for Jungala, to get up close to playful orangutans and majestic Bengal tigers having a dip in their plunge pool. Go back a few evolutionary stages and see what it's like to climb around in the jungle canopy. Waterfalls and gravity-defying rides just add to the excitement. To encounter lions, hippos, hyenas, meerkats, lemurs and giraffes head towards the Edge of Africa zone and safari through a remote Masai village. True animal lovers might want to visit the Animal Care Center where you can closely observe animals being looked after by expert staff. From nutrition to treatments, X-rays to surgeries, much of Busch Gardens' animal care will be conducted in guest view in this new state-of-the-art facility. If you really want to add an extra special touch to your day then why not consider a Serengeti Safari? Travel across 65 acres of Serengeti Plain in an open-truck tour, with resident giraffe, zebras, eland, ostriches and more, coming nose to nose with the exotic creatures (literally, when you hand-feed the giraffes) of this proud continent.
Showtime: One way of enjoying yourself in the parks without doing too much walking about is to sit down and enjoy a show or two. Busch Gardens offers a couple of cracking shows in Tampa suitable for the whole family!
