Busch Gardens Tampa

[Scarpozzi]

My wife and I haven't taken a vacation in a long while and have an extended weekend that's being planned out as a mini-vacation. We're going to fly to Tampa next month and hit Clearwater Beach....

We're thinking about throwing in a day of Busch Gardens since we'll be there on a weekday and probably won't have to battle the weekend crowds. Can anyone give me the rundown on what rides/attractions I can't miss or which ones to avoid?

Also, if you know of any good seafood restaurants in/around Clearwater that aren't pricey, but are good... (I'm a fan of the dives that offer good food and cold beer rather than the touristy places that only have moderate quality, high prices, and popular tshirts)

Thanks.

 

[overst33r]

I love Sheikra, Phoenix, Montu & Kumba. Gwazi too if you like wooden coasters, I thought it was meh.

I liked Frenchy's on Clearwater Beach, but it's crowded during dinner time/weekends.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I love Sheikra, Phoenix, Montu & Kumba. Gwazi too if you like wooden coasters, I thought it was meh.

I liked Frenchy's on Clearwater Beach, but it's crowded during dinner time/weekends.

Any other decent rides aside from the coasters?

Thanks...I'll look into Frenchy's...

 

[overst33r]

Any other decent rides aside from the coasters?

Thanks...I'll look into Frenchy's...

The Skyride is pretty nice. You get to see the whole park from a gondola.

 

[KGB]

The rest of the rides are kinda like a water park. Plus the zoo stuff.

If you like Cajun food, try the Cajun Cafe

 

[Scarpozzi]

The rest of the rides are kinda like a water park. Plus the zoo stuff.

If you like Cajun food, try the Cajun Cafe

Looks awesome. I'm a huge fan of the local places that you can't find anywhere else...and have started training my wife to like spicy food, so cajun is welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Rudee]

My gal and I spend a couple weeks between Clearwater and St Pete Beach each summer. We usually go in mid June just before all the kiddies get out of school, so it's far less crowded. For seafood in Clearwater Beach, your best bet be the seafood buffet at Shepards waterfront restaurant. It's only a couple miles from the Pier. Awesome seafood buffet. This year we did something a little different. We stayed in St Pete Beach (which is much cheaper) and visited Clearwater Beach a couple times via the Suncoast Beach Trolly that runs between Clearwater Beach and Pass A Grille. We stayed at hotel right on the beach in St Pete Beach for under $110/night. There was a Publix grocery strore across the street, and a dollar store as well, so buying groceries and cold beverages was dirt cheap. Next summer we will do the same thing.. Stay in St Pete Beach and just take the trolly to Clearwater Beach if we feel like it. St Pete Beach is awesome as well, just doesn't have a pier like Clearwater, and it's far less busy and far less annoying kids running around. I also recommend the Segway Tour, which takes you to Fort Desoto Park if you visit St Pete Beach. Had more fun on the Segway tour than we did at Busch Gardens or any of those other so called attractions in the Clearwater/St Pete beach area.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I'll second Frenchy's. Just know that there are 4 different Frenchy's locations and some are better that others, though they are all good. (At least the 3 I've been to were good. Haven't been to Frenchy's South Beach Cafe.) I prefer Frenchy's Original Cafe. They seem to produce the most consistently good food. Parking can be a bitch at any of the Frenchy's though, especially on the weekends.

I also like PJ's Oyster bar. It's a bit of a drive down to Redington Beach but they serve great seafood at a fair price. There are also 2 of these. The one in Indian Rocks is OK but doesn't seem to come close to what the Redington Beach location produces. It's worth the extra time to go a bit further south.

Another nice place for dinner, mainly for the view but the food is very good too, is Paradise Grille in Treasure Island. It's outdoors and right on the beach. Try to get there a little before sunset.

As far as Busch gardens, haven't been there in 30 years so can't help you there.

 

[BillGates]

Bern's Steakhouse, om nom nom nom

http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/

 

[KaOTiK]

My fav amusement park, I haven't been there in some years though sadly

First thing I suggest, since it will be hot as hell out, go on one of the water rides so you get all wet. This will keep you cool for awhile and you'll be very happy you did it. Second, I'm not sure if it is still there or not, but if it is, go to the hospitality house and sign up for beer school, it is free, it is basically an advertisement on how they make Bud and other beers, but you get free beer and at the end you get a diploma with your name on it saying you graduated beer school and they usually give you some other freebies as well (I've gotten a nice heavy pint glass, bottle openers, other small things, and coupons to the bud store in the park from my trips). Again, not sure if they still do this or not, but you are allowed 2 free beers when at the hospitality house as well. The great thing about this is, they have 4 stations and they change the bartenders out like every 30 mins, so you can just keep going from line to line lol.

As for the rides, they are all pretty good, the sky ride is nice getting to see everything and there is one place to eat in a giant white building that has decent food, but more importantly it is indoors so you get AC (all the others were outside places iirc)

 

[CPA]

My family and I went about 3 years ago. Purchased the Safari tour and the personal assistant (got us up front on the rides). Excellent, excellent park. Safari tour could have been longer, but you get to touch and feed the animals as they come up right to the vehicle. Rides were good, but we only got a handful of tickets to get up front (they don't use a wristband like most parks do or at least they didn't when we went).

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

My fav amusement park, I haven't been there in some years though sadly

First thing I suggest, since it will be hot as hell out, go on one of the water rides so you get all wet. This will keep you cool for awhile and you'll be very happy you did it. Second, I'm not sure if it is still there or not, but if it is, go to the hospitality house and sign up for beer school, it is free, it is basically an advertisement on how they make Bud and other beers, but you get free beer and at the end you get a diploma with your name on it saying you graduated beer school and they usually give you some other freebies as well (I've gotten a nice heavy pint glass, bottle openers, other small things, and coupons to the bud store in the park from my trips). Again, not sure if they still do this or not, but you are allowed 2 free beers when at the hospitality house as well. The great thing about this is, they have 4 stations and they change the bartenders out like every 30 mins, so you can just keep going from line to line lol.

As for the rides, they are all pretty good, the sky ride is nice getting to see everything and there is one place to eat in a giant white building that has decent food, but more importantly it is indoors so you get AC (all the others were outside places iirc)

No more free beer samples or beer school at Busch Gardens. InBev put a stop to that practice after they bought AB. Hooray for our gracious European overlords.

 

[Dedpuhl]

The rest of the rides are kinda like a water park. Plus the zoo stuff.

If you like Cajun food, try the Cajun Cafe

I'm always skeptical of places outside of my home state that claim to serve "authentic" Cajun food.

I've lived in Florida for over 5 years and haven't been to Busch Gardens. Some of the rides sound cool but it's not really worth the 3 hour drive for me...

 

[Rhoxed]

Dockside Daves in Madeira Beach (ask for Kris ill make sure it is awesome)

 

[KaOTiK]

No more free beer samples or beer school at Busch Gardens. InBev put a stop to that practice after they bought AB. Hooray for our gracious European overlords.

 

[Scarpozzi]

No more free beer samples or beer school at Busch Gardens. InBev put a stop to that practice after they bought AB. Hooray for our gracious European overlords.

That sucks. I went to the beer school thing in Williamsburg. It was cool, but I'm not surprised that they quit doing it. Good things never seem to last.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

That sucks. I went to the beer school thing in Williamsburg. It was cool, but I'm not surprised that they quit doing it. Good things never seem to last.

InBev ended a nearly 50 year old tradition. The free beer giveaway was actually older than the theme park itself. They really pissed off a lot of locals by doing that. They managed to piss off employees too. Prior to InBev, BG employees of legal drinking age got 2 free cases of the AB beer of their choice every month. Not any more.

 

[lokiju]

Honestly if you're there anyway, hit up Adventure Island. It's Busch Gardens water park that's right next door and it's a ton of fun.

Roller coasters are fun also at the main park and seeing the animal exhibits, if you're into that. Avoid the all wooden coaster if you have even the slightest of back issues. It's brutal and really screwed me up.

 

[JPS35]

All the coasters for sure, and the animals are pretty cool as well. If you get there at opening, you will have no trouble seeing/doing it all, but, don't kid yourself about going mid week; it is still very busy!

I don't know if it matters, but I seem to remember that one of the eateries on site sells some pretty damn good ribs. Just remember that it is all expensive.

Finally, the heat and humidity are a killer! The park will likely close around 2pm for about 45 minutes to an hour so the thunder storm can pass over. Duirng that time, no rides are going. Good time to take a break and get some eats. Drink plenty of liquids!

 

[Scarpozzi]

InBev ended a nearly 50 year old tradition. The free beer giveaway was actually older than the theme park itself. They really pissed off a lot of locals by doing that. They managed to piss off employees too. Prior to InBev, BG employees of legal drinking age got 2 free cases of the AB beer of their choice every month. Not any more.

Wow...A friend of my father's worked for AB and always talked about the 2 free cases & free park tickets he got from working there. It was actually his free tickets that got me into the Williamsburg park when I got to do the beer sampling.

I hate it when they see perks as liabilities. Corporations are sometimes evil.

 

[GCS]

BG Tampa is very very nice.

Coaster wise Montu and Kumba are 2 of the top rated coasters around. They also have a new ride this year Cheetah Hunt. It is a multi-launch family coaster through their new cheetah habitat. Reviews on it are very high. Sheikra is also a great coaster but short. Gwazi has new trains this year which have really lessened the brutal beatdown it gives. If you don't mind a rough woodie then ride it but if you have any back ailments be prepared to be in a lot of pain.

The shows and animal exhibits are great as well as Rhino Rally (even though they took out the water part its still a cool ride).

Overall its a great park and well worth a day's visit.

They do offer a Quick Que service for an upcharge now as well. You can pay to "skip the lines" on each coaster once for a fee. They have a Quick Que gold or express or something now also that allows you to still skip the lines but do it on each ride more than once -- costs more of course. If you are a big coaster fan and want plenty of rides then this is the way to go with only being there 1 day. If you just want to hit each ride once then you can probably go without it if you get there early start.

Can't speak for the "private tours" they do as we did not pay the extra $$ for those but the park was very very nice. Shows were great, food was great and the whole experience was a blast.

Enjoy it!

 

[Jeffg010]

No more free beer samples or beer school at Busch Gardens. InBev put a stop to that practice after they bought AB. Hooray for our gracious European overlords.

That is sad I had my first taste of beer at 12 there. My mom let me sip that and I about gagged on it. =(

 

[Gibson486]

I just came back from tampa...

We went to sea world ($78). What a rip...hahahaha...you can buy a combo pass with busch gardens for something like $120. Seems like a lot, but it's a 14 day pass, so you come and go as you please. If I could do it all over again, I would have skipped Sea World and just went to Busch Gardens again. Antiquatica (sp?) is a horrible water park.

 

[KGB]

I'm always skeptical of places outside of my home state that claim to serve "authentic" Cajun food.

I've lived in Florida for over 5 years and haven't been to Busch Gardens. Some of the rides sound cool but it's not really worth the 3 hour drive for me...

This is the closest to real Cajun food I've found. It's definitely worth it.