busch gardens tampa :: fun for the whole family

I love it when I can find a fun vacation destination that our whole family can enjoy.  My kids range in age from 3 to almost 10 and their interests are as different as night and day.  So we have a hard time finding something that everyone can get excited about. But at Busch Gardens, my kids were all excited (and, admittedly, the adults had a blast, too)!

At Busch Gardens, there are three main categories of things to do:  animals, rides and shows.  We started with the animals.  One of the largest zoos in North America, Busch Gardens Tampa boasts over 12,000 animals.  My son loved watching the cheetahs, my younger son loved the hippos and my daughter loved seeing the African animals like giraffe and zebra together in a more natural habitat (that was my favorite part, too!).  The highlight for both big kids was hand feeding the wallabies and seeing the joey leave its mama’s pouch for the first time.  And even though my little guy was too young to feed a wallaby, he was happy as could be feeding the ducks and other birds.

We went to two great shows at Busch Gardens–Opening Night Critters and A is for Africa (the Sesame Street show).  We were amazed at how well-trained the animals were in Opening Night Critters–birds flying right over our heads, a mini horse on stage, dogs, cats, a skunk and all kinds of other animals were a blast to watch.  My husband said that was his favorite part of the whole park.  And watching my little guy groove with his favorite Sesame Street characters was so much fun.  Even though he is normally scared of characters and mascots, he wasted no time in giving Elmo a high-five and getting his picture with some other Sesame Street friends.   I just loved all the preschool excitement in this show!

While I planned on spending most of our time riding the rides, we were having so much fun with the rest of the park that we didn’t ride as many as I had expected–but the ones we did ride did not disappoint.  Rides like the Serengeti Train and the Sky Ride were perfect for everyone.  These rides let you see the animals in a whole new perspective–riding the train through the zoo felt a bit like a safari– the animals get super close and the conductor tells about each animal you see.  And the Sky Ride lets you see the animals from more of a bird’s eye view.  My bigger kids loved the SandSerpent–a roller coaster perfect for bigger kids who might not be quite ready for the really big coasters.  And my husband and I had to try Falcon’s Fury–the tallest free-standing drop tower in North America.  It turns you so you drop while facing the ground and I have to tell you the scariest part by far was when you are at the top and they turn you to face down and you wait.  And wait.  And wait. And it’s almost a relief when you finally drop!  My husband had to convince me just a bit to go on it but we had such a blast.  And thankfully there are lots of places for kids to play, too, which is perfect for my active children.  They spent a lot of time just climbing and running in all of the Treetop Trails.

To top it all off, while we went on a Sunday, the lines weren’t bad at all.  In fact, we were able to walk right on most of the rides and get great seats for the shows–not at all like Disney crowds or even the crowds at our local amusement park!  Busch Gardens Tampa is a great way to spend a day of vacation–and worth the drive to head in to Tampa for a day trip, too.