Busch Gardens, Tampa Theme Park
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Around Orlando > Busch Garden - More in this category > Clearwater Beach Orlando > Daytona Beach Florida > Tampa FloridaBusch Gardens Tampa makes a great day trip from Orlando with some of Florida's best roller coasters and one of the top zoos in the US. The wait for rides is much shorter than in the Orlando theme parks too so it's a good bet for impatient children and adults alike.
Born back in the fifties when brewer Anheuser-Busch opened a beer garden - complete with free beer - and a bird show in front of its brewery, Busch Gardens Tampa was an instant success and soon a 70-acre park, the Serengeti Plains, was added where elephants, giraffes and other exotic animals could roam free. By the seventies more African-themed areas had been added as well as some adventure rides, but the park really took off in the eighties when two giant roller coasters, the 'Python' and the 'Scorpion' were built.
Although the brewery itself closed in the mid nineties, you can still get free beer on site and remarkably, the high-adrenaline rides of the theme park and the serene African parklands seem to coexist in harmony. The first two coasters have now been superseded by Kumba with its stomach-wrenching loops and 135-foot drop and the new SheiKra, North America's first dive coaster, with a 200ft vertical drop, an Immelmann loop, a second 138ft drop into an underground tunnel and a splash-down finale.
Navigating the Tampa Bay Theme Park
The park is divided up into a number of different African-themed areas, each with its own attractions. The Egyptian area has a replica of King Tutankhamen's tomb, a giant wall of hieroglyphics and a sand dig area for children, not to mention 'Montu' one of the world's tallest and longest inverted roller coasters hitting a top G-force of 3.85.
For animal viewing the Serengeti Plains is where zebras, hippos, lions, and buffaloes roam free. The animals are best seen from the monorail in the early morning. You can get even closer to the animals at the Edge of Africa and Myombe Reserve areas which are more like conventional zoos except for their animal acts starring alligators, elephants and orangutans. You can also take part in the Rhino Rally, a bumpy jeep ride through the animal habitats; join the Keeper for a day Program and help care for the animals in the park; or take wildlife tours with park zoologists.
The water rides and water parks are another key draw of Busch Gardens Tampa and Adventure Island is the biggest of them all. The 25-acre park features the Key West Rapids, a six story twist of rapids to be negotiated in rafts - be prepared to get very wet! And if that's not enough for you, you can take in the wave pools, water twists, vertical slides, leaking boats and surprise flash floods.
For children there are plenty of pint-sized rides, special gondolas on the Sky Ride to view the large free-roaming species, purpose-built petting areas and an animal nursery.
The gut-wrenching rides, excellent water parks, exotic architecture, beautiful landscaping and variety of animals make Busch Gardens well worth the steep admission prices. A combined three-day pass for Busch Gardens Tampa and Adventure Island costs about $70 for an adult and $60 for a child. And a rain guarantee means that if your trip is ruined by bad weather you can come back for free within seven days. For more information on the Tampa Bay theme park visit BuschGardens.com.
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