Aimster & Wonderpup's Busch Gardens Adventure! (photo heavy)

[aimster]

Wonderpup & I visited Busch Gardens Tampa this weekend. It was Wonderpup's first visit and my first since the fall of 2001. The park opened at 9:00... we got there around 9:15. It was busy, but not overly crowded. The longest wait all day was 15-20 minutes from the front row of Montu (the 3rd time I rode it).

Onto the photos!

Wonderpup found a horse his size!




Pretty birds


The flamingos were having their breakfast (note the keeper in the background)


Flamingos are Wonderpup approved


First ride of the day...


Yep... It's...


I was a little scared, but I got the courage to do the front row first time out. Of course I got stuck with an end seat, which made it extra freaky. The view at the top of the lift hill is amazing though. You can see the downtown Tampa skyline and the bay. But they won't let you take loose articles on any of the coasters so nothing gets lost. You have to rent a locker nearby the coasters to store your stuff. The lockers are 50¢ a pop, which really isn't too bad. Anyhow, Sheikra was awesome. I went right back on and tried the back row.

Coaster porn


Next up, we hit the newest area of Busch Gardens...


A hint of what we'll see...


Kitties!








The kids's climbing area in Jungala


Next up...




Had lunch at the Zambia Smokehouse near Sheikra. They have BBQ ribs, chicken, salmon... you get the idea. I got the quarter chicken (it comes with fries & a dinner roll) and some warm bread pudding topped with hot caramel sauce for dessert (you don't find that very often). It was pretty good too.

From there, we visited...


Wonderpup met a freaky-eyed giraffe




We were going to do the Rhino Rally, but it was a 30 minute wait.


This bird was following the tortoise around like he was its bodyguard




More crazy flamingos


The world-famous Budweiser Clydesdale horses


This year is Busch Gardens Tampa's 50th birthday! The park first opened as a brewery tour, gardens and aviary back in June 1959. They had a little exhibit about the history of the park across from the Crown Colony House restaurant.


Crown Colony House


Ok onto more coasters...

MONTU!


This one of my favorite coasters


Next up, we visited the Edge of Africa area.

Lemurs!


Wonderpup got hungry...


Kitty!


Meerkats are freaking hilarious.


On the way out of Edge of Africa, I spotted...

Two baby bunnies!




Random details on a wall in the Egypt section


Another clydesdale horse






Rode both sides of Gwazi. It's a dueling woodie coaster. I forgot how rough it is. I could still feel my brain rattling around in my head even after I got home. They really need to do something about that. I love the speed, but that rough ride... ouch.

Guys were lining up to play this game over by the Gwazi coaster. It's a 3 point shoot-out. If you get 15 points, you could win your choice of an iPod Touch or a Playstation 3. Highest I saw anyone get while I watched was 7 points.


The park closed at 7:30 that day. That was fine with me as I was pooped after almost 10 hours. I took one more spin om Sheikra, then headed out around 7:00.

THE END!

[Melonballer]

Hooray! I realy enjoyed my visit to Busch in 2004. It is a great park. Thanks for the report.

[PiG_GuRl]

Yay. I love it!
I was just there on the 5th. I haven't started my TR.
I also love the Montu, and Sheikra was great.

[Stitchy]

YAY!!! What fun! I loved seeing the tigers. I adore white tigers. They have some at the New orleans zoo, and I could just stand there all day and watch them.

Our zoo here has meerkats. We love watching those. It seems they are just as interested in you as you are in them.

Look like you had a great time. There's NO way you'd get me on those coasters!

[daragez]

cool pics....love it...

[aashee]

Glad you had a good time.

[aimster]

Originally Posted by Stitchy

YAY!!! What fun! I loved seeing the tigers. I adore white tigers. They have some at the New orleans zoo, and I could just stand there all day and watch them.

Our zoo here has meerkats. We love watching those. It seems they are just as interested in you as you are in them.

Look like you had a great time. There's NO way you'd get me on those coasters!

Yeah I could have spent hours just watching the tigers. I love them. They took out the tug of war rope though. One tiger was laying on top of the pop-up viewing area, which was hilarious. Look up and nothing but a big blob of black & white fur.

Oh and those meerkats were a riot. They were all digging except one, who was just sitting there like he was the "supervisor" or something. Then another one sat down and was just staring at people. I couldn't stop laughing.

And RE: the coasters.... CHICKEN!
I'm a coaster freak and Busch Gardens has some really good ones. Never going to ride Gwazi again though. The headache I had afterwards was not worth it. First time a coaster ever gave me one.

[seenoevil]

It looks like a beautiful place. It's good to see you and Wonderpup enjoy yourselves!

[WheresMickey]

Nice report! I wish i can try out those rides!

[aimster]

Busch Gardens is actually bigger than you'd think it is. I did a lot of walking. I probably did as much walking as I would at say, MK. Sure I had to backtrack a few times because I hadn't been there in almost 8 years and couldn't remember where everything was, even with the help of a map. But even leaving that out, I still did more walking than I was anticipating. But there's lots of shade and lots of places to stop and rest in the park, which is great.

Part of me could have just sat and watched some of the animals for hours... like the tigers and the lions. The smaller flock of flamingos in another section of the park were highly amusing. I started clicking at them and all of a sudden they all started honking and the "leader" spread its wings and did this crazy little dance. I was like, "Is this today's big musical number?" Then two flamingos got in a fight and third came along and was biting one in the butt. And then some other bird wandered into the habitat and the flamingos chased it out! Apparently it wasn't a member of the Crazy Pink Bird Club.

[Rex Dopey24]

nice pictures of the park and the animals. it looks like fun place to go. thanks.

[Rex Dopey24]

[quote=
Part of me could have just sat and watched some of the animals for hours... like the tigers and the lions.


me too.

[Armadillo4]

Aimster and Wonderpup, thanks for the terrific trip report and awesome photos. I keep meaning to take a day at Busch Gardens on one of my Florida trips, but never seem to make it. Trip reports with photos like yours are very persuasive though. I really really do need to visit...preferably sooner rather than later.

Thanks again for a terrific report!!!

[Joshrzmeup]

Those rides look great!! You'd have to get a few drinks in me to get me on some of them though....lol
But all in all it looks like you and wonderpup had a fun time and he even got to make some new friends!!!!

[PretzelSouls]

Nice report! Those coasters look fun!