Bush Gardens, Show Palace Dinner Theater, Riverside Dinner Theater Reviews

Christmas town is awesome and worth going. The Santa experiment is the best I've ever seen. If you didn't make it this year. Put it in your 2019 to-do-list. Great for ALL ages!

The reduced hours got me, cause it still took an hour and half to get through the gates get an Express pass and a food band even though we purchased online and made reservations. We need our time back every single ride still had a 60 to 105 minute wait. So you have less time to get to every ride. They cheating us! Smokehouse was subpar as well.

We bought annual passes and spent lots of money at this park. On 3 different occasions we were spoken too in a rude manner over nothing. One was because I asked them to double cut the pizza and the other was because I left my door open while getting my special needs kid out of the car. Recently my kid lost his glasses and I called to see if it was found and I was told that I had to fill out a form online. I told them that my son needs his glasses today and can t wait for a call back and they would not transfer me to lost and found or even call them themselves to see if they were there. I would expect a place that charges so much money at their park to have a little more care and respect for their customers. Will not go back again.

Went with the family yesterday (a weekday) and had the quickest access ever to our favorite roller coasters. What a blast! We were only there for slightly over 3 hours yet did 10 coaster rides, plus the train, skyride and bumper cars! As a FL resident, the annual pass is the way to go, since you don't feel you have to be there for 10 hours to justify the expense of a single entrance ticket, and you get free parking (which you don't get with the funcard) which really adds up when you go a lot for short trips.

Another great family night out. Everything was reasonably priced. I loved the adult drink stand and Busch Gardens never seems to disappoint from their many events to the added thrill rides. This place continues to be my family favorite.

The best roller coaster park in Florida! The number of tides and attractions is beyond being able to experience in one day. Great experience for a whole family.

It was great...a nice break from the "Disney" mob rules! Much less bratty unsupervised kids! Much less crowded. Way way less wait on rides. No need for the quick Q. We had less than 1 hour on most rides.
They could use a bit more signage in the park for what is where. And they could use some help on people mover skills. Disney has them there.

Its definitely not Disney lol. Or universal, but for the money its a good experience. Christmas decorations were really nice. Wait times for rides arent as bad as Disney or Universal. Food smelled better for sure. The animals were really cool. Safari looked cool but is additional money to ride. Overall we had a good experience. Nice outing for friends or family

What fun! Everyone was so nice, not crowded, just a Delightful day!

Very well maintained. Staff friendly. Will be back on our next trip to Florida.

Love the bird feeding and kangaroo experience, oh yes and roller coasters. TIGRIS!!! CHEETAH CHILLER YUM flatbread pizza not bad either

We had an amazing experience here seeing all the animals, together with all the amazing rides, the landscape is beautiful for some nice pictures,
the rollercoasters are a bit to much for me but it looked like people really enjoyed it.

Got dropped on the Falcon Fury and it changed my life.

When you contact customer service via email no one responds. When you call in you get hung up by supervisors, very disappointing.

Great fun for active families. Staff is very friendly and helpful. My wife is not a big coaster/ thrill ride fan and that is what they mostly have. Food is what you expect - just *pretty* good with relatively high prices.

Good and bad time to go because of the pandemic. They close too early but you get to get on all the rides...

Hit or miss experiences, when lines arent long they are pretty good. Food definitely is mediocre throughout the park, snacks like the funnel cake are a little better.

Such a great place to hang out and vacation at. All the staff members are very friendly and helpful. It's a great place to learn about the animals up close.

Way better than the Orlando theme parks. The rides were geared more towards teens/adults. The best part about Busch Gardens is the animals. You are able to get up close and personal with nearly every animal from Africa. They also have great food and beer selections from all over the world.

Never disappointed through all the years its such a delight.
Jerry

Great fun for the whole family. It's like a zoo with roller coaster rides. Beautiful holiday lights.

You can ride the train to go from one area to the next fun things to see.

I am there to satisfy my need for speed. The roller coasters are my favorite. Howl O Scream was awesome. Was there again yesterday for the Christmas theme. Watched the "Christmas on Ice", very nice. Roller coasters met my need for speed again

Haven't been in 15 years until today. It was such a great experience. The lines for the rides weren't very long and the food was good. Will definitely be looking into getting annual passes.

It had been a while since I had been here last and was it awesome, we always love Sheikra ( hope I spelled it right) and we had some arcade fun too. Amazing time as usual

Busch Gardens is a great way to spend time with the family! Animals, coasters, and kiddie rides, something for everyone!

The only way to cancel your pass is to call their customer service number. I've called multiple times for the past few months to see why I've been charged while the park was closed.

I was able to finally talk to someone after they gave me a call back and she told me that Seaworld Parks planned on crediting pass holders some months to make up for the charges during quarantine. The call disconnected, but I asked her before it disconnected to cancel my pass and see if I could be issued a refund instead of getting those free few months. She didn't. Not only did I not get credited a month this time around, but I was also charged AGAIN just yesterday.

Please give your pass holders another way to manage their passes. I've been on hold for 3+ hours during multiple calls and got to reach someone only once. I won't be going to the park again.

Me and my wife went for the first time since we were kid's and we loved it so much

Had a great time with my son Noah and he was able to go on the kids rollercoaster ride

Annual member. This is a Great place to go and walk and enjoy the animals.

Oh and this year is 'The year of Beer ' so grab that and walk and enjoy. (Wish this could continue! - please)
The orangutan family was all together on the landing outside the glass! This was a first for us to see and so wonderful to watch. Always something new here, we just love it

Loved every moment here. Recommend all the rollercoasters.

I am so happy I went to Howl-O-scream! If you haven't gone, go! It isn't terrifying, but you will get some good sneaky scares from it. The haunted houses would have been better if you didn't have to wait in a line for 45+ mins for a maybe 5 min house. The fast pass lines were backing up as well. You could ride some of the ride still and some shopping and food was still available. The games area was cool, but warning about ALL the claw machines... you will not win and if you do you probably invested more money than the toy you won is worth. I did enjoy the rides I got to get on before the haunted houses started. Make sure you have a fast pass for those as well or you will be waiting a while. Although during the haunted houses the lines did seem shorter then.

It was an awesome food & wine festival. Spent the day eating with the family at all the variety of vendors. Busch Gardens' staff keep the park clean and enjoyable.

Best rides and guest service ever. Everyone very nice and the view of the animals is just amazing

Used a crowd meter website and chose to go on a slow day. 1 roller coaster had a 25min wait and didn't wait more than 5mins for any other ride in the park. Almost everything was a walk on. I've been many times since 2002 and can't recall a bad experience caused by the employees or rides. Summertime definitely has long waits, but you have to expect that! Locals should visit January- early March for the best experience. If you love roller coasters, this park has been adding an impressive lineup with rumors of steady additions in the future.

If you want the BEST thrill rides (smooth, good length, diversity, exhilarating) AND incredible animal attractions, Busch Gardens is for you!!
If you want your money to go towards conservation, research, and saving lives- Busch Gardens is for YOU!
We will always return as frequently as possible!! Amazing park!

Love Busch Gardens. They have been updating and maintaining the park to a higher degree in most recent years. Updates in bathrooms are needed with kid level sinks in my opinion; however, overall, great hometown park.

So my daughter is on a field trip with her school today. I m at work (2 1/2 hours away from bush gardens) and my daughter FaceTime me saying she is stuck on the Cheetah Ride . Her friends are stuck right before the big drop and now I m panicking. 3 of their rides today are having issues. Do you have any idea what I m feeling right now bush gardens?. Something could happen to my daughter and her friends. I m will never send or visit bush gardens again, Not worth my kids life. God forbid something happens to my daughter. Absolutely horrific!!!

I really like this park. It is never super crowded and usually the crowds aren't bad. Lots of great roller coasters and animals. It is what it is. A zoo and an amusement park. It is not a theme park or movie park. I think this park is a great place to come.

Food festivals, petting the wallaby s, and really really fun roller coasters. Busch gardens has really evolved over the years. I ve had a yearly pass for over 10 years and I still really enjoy going and taking people who visit Tampa. They have events and different parts of the park that appeal to everyone.

Can t wait to see what new things they think of!

Love that this park is never over crowded. The wait times here are usually no more then 30 minutes but most rides took probably 15minutes in line. The christmas lights were beautiful.

Does it make sense to shut down transportation while it's raining, making all your customers walk half a mile to their vehicles? The excuse that was given to me was that if there is lightning within 5 miles, they shut down transportation. Busch Gardens, enlighten me on why this is.

I love Bush Gardens, I have been teaching for fifteen years and Bush Garden is the field trip I will still volunteer for. Yes the building are showing their age, but the rides are well maintained and there is something for every member of your party. For the adventurer rides of speed and power, for the just righter a gondola ride might meet the need, and for the Walker content with a easy stroll to view the wild life. All have a place in the Bush at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

This place doesn't cost as much as some other Florida theme parks but as a coaster enthusiast, their ride selections beats the "big two" in my wife and I's opinion. Ride ques are also typically a much more reasonable length and there is amazing wildlife exhibits throughout the park. Can't go wrong going here for a day of entertainment.

Had a really good time, park doing the best they could to provide social distancing measures and sanitation. Wasn't over crowded and they were still able to provide a good experience at the park.

Great collection of rollercoasters nice animal exhibits.

It's a tourist trap and I'm a local. My opinion is skewed. The food is truck stop worthy and the staff is too. We got free tickets from a friend and they were worth every penny.

Amazing rides! Made a reservation to enter the park and there were not many people. Maximum waiting time was like 10 minutes.

They are doing a great job keeping the park clean and safe for visitors.

I went there for a school trip and can I just say it was amazing. It is a great park with many rides for children. The food price was a bit higher but I can understand as the food tasted like the price.

Went to Howloscream which was sold as limited capacity . The park was so insanely packed and there were no policy enforcements to keep guest safe with Covid. Ride lines were 2-3 hours, so didn t get to ride anything and with no social distancing. Am a Florida resident and I ve never seen the park so full and overcrowded. Felt very unsafe and honestly lied to when it was sold as limited capacity.

I was impressed by the Christmas displays and decorations but the people who play the Sesame Street characters and the Christmas characters were amazing. They were professional and personable at the same time. The best of all was Santa's house. Set up as a regular house with vintage details, it contains a living room, kitchen and the room for taking pictures with Santa. Only one family at a time enters this room which makes it more intimate and special. The elves kept the children entertained while they waited their turn. My granddaughter had a blast!

I had a blast here at Busch Gardens. The lines were short for a Friday and all the staff we encountered were very knowledgeable and friendly. My only complaint was the price of the tickets that we couldn't find. We went online to check the prices, but they kept showing up differently depending on which of our group's phone we used (super weird) and then, when we found the cheapest price through the website, we weren't able to check out. We eventually called to see what the price actually was and to figure out how to get those prices over the phone, but the person helping us didn't actually know what the prices were supposed to be. She claimed that the price we were quoting was some sort of special that wasn't offered on Friday because it's considered a week day so we thanked her and tried to just get the best price through our phones, which eventually did happen, but it was such a big headache, that my friends and I almost said "f*** it" and planned to go to the beach instead.

Love this place...when I was younger I loved the coaster now not so much. Animals are a usually active and able to be seen. I've been coming here for 30+ years...keeps changing new coasters and show....best place for food is the smokehouse (I use to live there corn dogs by the carousel but they took out the little stand that sold them ) I have had annual passes forever it seems....I t better to come during week so not as many people cause they are either working or in school.

Nice great time you have to wear mask but there lot of places to chill with mask off

Very clean and fun park. We took our 18 month daughter and she LOVED it. We got to see some cool animals up close, meet Sesame Street characters, and play in the splash pad. Did not get to ride many rides myself since we had the daughter. But totally worth buying the CityPass for.

Had a great time at the park even with the Covid stuff going on . The employees were great . Suggest you get the food band and save in the long run .

This place was great it had lots of rides and I had so much fun

Amazing park! The rides, decorations and overall fun factor is super high. Great park for adults with plenty of coaster fun. Six of the most crazy coasters will make the day! The park was super clean and tidy. Toilets are sparkling and the animals look well fed.

An amazing mixture of theme park and zoo (think Chessington if your from the UK). It has a lovely atmosphere of screams and thundering rides along with amazing scenery stunning animals. There is a new ride Tigris with top speed of 62mph along with slow train and tree top chairlift. We were there from 10am to 11pm for a significant birthday and bought the 'eat as much as you care' food package which had some amazing options such as ribs. There is a small kids area with a Sesame Street theme and rides.

Honestly my favorite theme park. I love the rides they never disappoint me I would come here every week if I could. As a fan of roller coasters, the ones here are awesommeee.

Short lines, food was expensive! But overall, we had an amazing time! Park map was a bit difficult trying to navigate, we walked in circles...Loved seeing all the animals as well! We will visit Busch Gardens in Williamsburg...its closer to home!

If you are considering Tampa CityPASS, just pay for the other venues and avoid Busch Gardens. You'll save money and heartache.

We loved the idea of Busch Gardens. Rarely have we felt this lied to. Disappointment unmatched. I absolutely HATE this place.

WoW you'll have so Much fun at Busch Gardens, there something for everyone! Fun rides, good food, amazing animals, and so much more that you'll discover along the way!

Highly recommend!

A wonderful place. The combination of animal, food and ride is excellent. It s usually quieter than other Florida parks which means more time on rides and less time waiting. The staff were so helpful and it was a wonderful day. The animals were so beautiful and clearly well looked after.

Do not visit if you expect the "safety guidelines" they posted online to match what's going on at the park. No one enforced their mask policy or social distancing at all when we went, so we immediately left. We felt totally unsafe there, and we would not have gone if we had realized they weren't enforcing their own protocols. Normally we would also go to Howl-O-Scream (we've attended for the last ten years), but there's no way we can trust any proposed safety guidelines for that either.

the only good part was not a lot of people. some of the rides never opened most places to get something to eat were closed also. and they're still charging full price! and its pretty expensive as well. probably won't go back again

Still a great place to visit. Would like to see the trams cleaned more, but they're running fast as ever. Many of the children's areas are closed, understandably, but will hopefully reopen soon.

Awesome park to visit especially when kids are back in school, , no lone ups. Coaster mania. So much fun... Tiberius is the best!

Great way to mix the thrills with contact with nature.

We love visiting here. Lots of fun, the animals are our favorite part.

Amazing experience, we hoped on every ride. Tigris, Scorpion and Kumba amongst our favorites. Enjoyed the animal sights, specially the lion, giraffes and hippos. Get there early and you will be able to enjoy the park to its fullest. We got there around noon and had time to eat at least 6 snacks in between rides. Lockers that can be swapped from ride to ride was the highlight of the visit. I would definitely return.

I loved seeing all the animals so close. Very friendly staff and alot more rides than I thought. If you pay for prime parking you also get the fast pass

Busch Gardens is my favorite theme park in Florida. Possibly the world.

The rides are wild! Staff is so accommodating and you get to see the most amazing animals up close and personal!

We stayed for HOWL O SCREAM and boy what an incredible experience! Way better than Universal Horror Nights!

Great rollercoaster not as much for the animals we were hopping for.

Had a great time in Busch Gardens waiting to go again in about two or three weeks to see the Christmas lights Funtime

Great time at the park. My 2 sons loved it. Great weather while we were there.

Good experience, I will recommend to all my friends. In January found that there are short of employees in the game area

It's a cool place but the line are absolutely terrible. They need to chill out with the fast pass

My husband and I had a blast here! The rides are all extremely fun and the shows are incredible as well! We also got a delicious pizza pretzel from Twisted Tails pretzels that was very unexpected! I recommend downloading the app to see the wait times for rides and avoiding long lines. And don't forget that if it rains on your visit, you get complimentary tickets to come back another time! So many people left when it rained but didn't get their tickets.

Had a GREAT TIME AT BUSCH GARDENS
THE WEATHER WAS COOL AND THE ANIMALS WERE ACTIVE!!
My son and I spent the whole day riding the train,eating at the smoke house, and viewing the animals. I especially loved
The birds and feeding them was the best
Part of the day. Great , Great time. Got some gifts for the family too. Best day I've had in a long time!!!!! Go! Have fun!!!

Amazing park. One of the most beautiful in Florida. Is located in Tampa that is 1:15 from Orlando. The travel is long but it's worth it. The habitats for the animals are very large and beautiful, according to the animals needs.

Hall O Scream not as good as last year but good given the current situation

Went on a Friday before covid and lines were less than 15 minutes. The adult beverages were sooo good!

What a wonderful display of lights for Christmas Town ! In today s politically charged atmosphere where everyone is so damn sensitive to just about everything it was very refreshing to see there IS still businesses that won t cave to the PC PD BS! If you re looking for a place to relax and unwind you can do that here too! As a season ticket holder I have the opportunity to visit often but I must say during the Christmas Holiday season is by far my favorite time of year to go. They do such a great job presenting Christmas in a Christian manner. Always a good crowd too. All and all it s a great place to go. The parking fee is absolutely ridiculous though. I will say that it is excessive and probably unnecessary high but hey.....it is what it is.

Beautiful park, worth the hour plus drive from Orlando. Ride variety is INCREDIBLE, can't wait for iron gwazi!

Not too crowded. Short lines for most part. Crews wiped down everything constantly.

The park was not busy due to yhe pandemic. Ride wait was short, like, 20 minutes.
The animals were beautiful. I absolutely loved it. Fun rides, reasonable food prices, and just beautiful animals. Up close viewing windows.

Sheikra was closed today. Some rides are equipped with cubbies for personal items, others are not. Due to covid I do understand the absence of the cubbies, but I do think free locker usage should be available/discounted?
Penguin enclosure is quite small and sad.
The monkey's didn't look happy ):
I feel as if we should get some back stories on these animals and know their names.
Maybe I missed the signs with the information?

Rides were great perusal!

I felt safe the whole day!! They sanitized on a schedule and they were very efficient!! Kudos to the staff!!