Busch Gardens Tampa Bay — Attraction in Tampa

I went to Busch Gardens and their Bier Fest on back to back weekends this year. The Fest is actually in a small area. Helga’s Biergarten, The Springs Taproom and some ‘cabins’ offer the Fest beers and foods. I was surprised at just how many craft brews were offered. I was more surprised to see no Anheuser Busch beer products for sale. I would have liked to have something other than a craft beer. The Bier Fest website does a good job of telling you what beers are available and where. There is also a display board in the Fest area for reference. Here’s our opinion on each of the foods we tried. Helga’s Biergarten had a band playing German music, demonstrating the Alpenhorn, stein hoisting contests and more. Salted Mini Salted Pretzel Bites With Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce. Not worth the money. Beer Braised Currywurst and Sauerkraut with Tater Tots. This was good. A full size sausage. Bratwurst with Onion Mustard Relish with Tater Tots. This was good. Also a full size sausage. CABIN 2: Tipsy Bird. Smoked Pulled Duck Roll. Pulled duck with a brioche roll with grape apple slaw and house pickles. Very good, plenty of duck. CABIN 3: Island Hoppers. Mango Jerk Chicken Wings. Only 1 wing and 1 drummy on a scoop of rice. Not a good jerk flavor, not worth it. Jamaican Surf & Turf (Shrimp & Beef Skewers). Skip it. 2 very small pieces of beef on the sides of one skewered small shrimp. CABIN 4: Mis Amigos Cabin. Churrasco Street Taco. Marinated grilled steak, sliced thin and served on a warm corn tortilla with chopped onions and fresh cilantro. Two tacos that were very good and good value. Charred Street Corn. Sweet corn grilled and slathered in chili-lime mayo, cotija cheese, and a hint of lime. Tasty. The corn was grilled, but this is served as loose kernels in a cup. We liked it. CABIN 6: Local Knowledge. BBQ Grilled Pinchos (Beef Tips & Shishito). Marinated beef and pepper kabobs with sweet plantain mash. Pretty good. CABIN 7: Root Beer Floats. Peanut Butter Stout Float. Stout, peanut butter syrup and vanilla ice cream. This was good. CABIN 9: Out of the Box. Brisket Mac. Mac and cheese topped with smoked brisket in a waffle cone. I think our most favorite item. Mini Bison Slider with Honey Chipotle Slaw. Forget it. Very small burger and dry as shoe leather. Grilled Stuffed Avocado. Served cold. Flavorless. Pass on this. Chocolate Pecan Tart. Dark chocolate ganache tart with toasted pecans and sea salt. Excellent. Very rich. 3 people can share. CABIN 10: Lost in the Sauce. Root Beer Ribs. St. Louis Ribs, Root Beer BBQ Sauce, and Jalapeño cornbread. They give you 3 ribs. Sticky with good flavor. Southern Peach Sonker (Cobbler). Funnel cake peach cobbler with whipped cream. Tied with the Pecan Tart for best dessert. The Springs Taproom. A regular building with great A/C to escape the heat and tables to sit at. They have a full bar with many craft beers on tap. When it comes to getting the best value, buy the Sampler Punch Cards. Either 5 ($40) or 8 ($65) items per card so the cost per sampled item is $8.00. That is much better than paying the prices on the menu boards at the different cabins. We saw some food items priced at $13+. As for beer, one punch per 10 ounce beer. I did purchase a 20 ounce oatmeal stout at the Springs Taproom and I think it was $17.00. Oh well. You can buy the cards right at the park. As for the rest of the park, it’s small enough to get around and see a lot in one day. We went to the fun Rhythm of Nature ice skating show on real ice. We also took a ride on the Serengeti Express Train which winds through the property and through their Serengeti Plain, loaded with all kinds of animals. There’s a tour guide telling riders what they’re seeing and some interesting info about some. It is a zoo with rides so there are many cool looking coasters and natural areas with a variety of animals. We found the swimming penguins fun to watch. I would go back as I would like to try a few of the more tame rides. A fun place and...

Short too many rides, and more.

The main detractor was how many attractions were closed on a late February visit, something not communicated with guests until they walk up to the attraction. Rolling maintenance and improvements are reasonable occurrences but so is communication from the park. At no point before the visit or on the visit were guests informed of the many closures. No notice on socials or website, no sign at the entrance and their own app with interactive park map didn’t designate the many closed attractions as closed. Many have been closed for weeks, you need to scour twitter and reddit to see what is likely to be closed. Price is the same, but the offer is much lower. On our visit Kumba, Shriekra, Stanley Falls Flume, Congo River Rapids, Sky Ride, two out of three stops on the railroad, an Aviary and Tiger Trail were closed with Cobra’s Curse and Montu closing for periods throughout the day.

Lines were ok, generally self regulated. Don’t worry about the signs saying absolutely no loose articles or bags past this point on certain rides, it is absolutely not enforced at all. DO NOT pay the $4.00 USD for a ride locker for 2 hours ($12.00 for multi location 2 hour locker), you just put your items on the other side of the track. Other Florida theme parks are strict on this, Busch Gardens is not and the lockers are a cash grab that we unfortunately fell victim to for one ride. Can’t tell you if Quick Queue is worth the price, I never saw it being checked in line, mostly because we never saw staff until we were at the ride vehicle.

The food is disappointing exercise. The options are limited (pretzels, Dip and Dots ice cream, roast chicken, ribs, etc), the park has not gone the route of creating signature food experiences like other parks, which is fine, it’s standard theme park fare but you do expect it to be made with integrity. We ate at the Smokehouse restaurant, the sides were very small in relation to the price. A small half portion cup of liquidy coleslaw which was frozen to the cold plate was over $7.00 USD, carrots dry in a cup, a scoop of dry Mac and cheese for $8.00 USD, a pickle for over $7.00 USD. Only one cashier working at lunch time, so the kitchen staff had to explain to guests why they were purposely serving them slowly to regulate the line so your food wouldn’t cool by standing in line with your tray at the cash. So while it’s reasonable to have managed expectations on food variety, the quality and value should still deliver considering United Parks/Busch Gardens employs professional Executive Chefs as evidenced by the fare on offer for events like Mardi Gras or at parks like Sea World. Go for the kids meal to get a reasonable portion if the size and price of the standard meals isn’t your midday norm.

Generally the park isn’t as clean as others, it’s up to you how much you want to bothered by dirt and grime. The areas that were off putting to us were interior spots that didn’t look like they were mopped daily.

The rides are good, Iron Gwazi and Cheetah Hunt are top shelf. Montu has stood the test of time from the 90’s and still delivers. With so much being closed, it was just a relief to see something running without a sign in front when we got to it. We had some great ride experiences, saw some animals, but the whole package was off and felt like management was purposefully delivering an incomplete product to guests as a full experience, enough that it was clear this was not an “off day” but what the integrity of their product is.

We knew going into the day, it wasn’t going to be a Disney caliber experience but we did expect a Sea World caliber experience. Go in with the expectation of a regional amusement park, not a destination...

I am very disappointed with the experience that we had at Busch Gardens on Saturday July 26th 2025. When we first arrived we went to ride Montu but it was closed. We then decided to go to the back of the park and work our way forward so we went to the skyline but it wasn't working either. It was really hot so we decided to wait instead of walking. We waited about 20+ minutes and then it started running so we headed to the other end of the park. We noticed that Falcon's fury, Cheetah hunt, Stanley fall flume, kumba, and Serengeti flyer were all also not working. So the lines for all of the other rides were over a 90+ minute wait. We stopped by a stand to fill up our 32 oz cup that we paid unlimited refills for and the Coke was flat. So we waited and we went on the Congo River rapids and by the time we got off Falcon's fury was open. As my kids went on Falcon's fury. We tried to fill up our cup again at a different place and the lady rinsed out the cup with water but got Sprite in it so we had a Coke/Sprite mixture. Which was nasty. So my kids were only able to ride Congo River rapids, Falcon's fury skyride (twice), the train, and Montu that had finally opened at 2pm. The weight said it was 5 minutes on the app but it ended up being almost 2 hours. Montu is one of my favorite rides and I haven't been to this park in about 12 years and recently have lost 50 lbs. So I got up the nerve to try the seat in front of montu to see if I would fit on the ride. It was very embarrassing but I did it and I fit! I was so excited! So my daughters and I waited for the 2 hours so I could ride the ride for the first time in a long time. However, when it finally came our turn after the 2-hour wait I got in the seat and it would not buckle. The employees came over and told me that the seat is modified out front so people don't always fit. I'm sorry, but that's not okay. Then, they had to have everyone unbuckle themselves so they could raise the bars to let me off. So now everyone saw and was aware of what was happening. I had to then do the Walk of shame. I teared up (trying not to break down and cry) walking away as I left my two daughters disappointed, to ride it by themselves. That was the worst feeling I felt in a while. I felt Fat shamed by the Park, by Busch Gardens. I've worked really hard to lose the weight and I'm still trying to lose more and I get it; If I didn't fit I didn't fit but I was misled by the seat out front of the ride only to be embarrassed. I waited 2 hours to be disappointed, laughed at, and fat-shamed. No one, absolutely no one should have to go through that. After that I was ready to leave. I didn't want to see anyone else or anyone else see me to be able to remember. Oh she was too fat to ride the ride and it got delayed because of her. On our way out we stoppedby guest services so we could get our hard passes printed but they were also out of those. I decided to ask for a manager to express my feelings about what had just happened to me. I spoke with Cassandra whom is very nice and empathetic of what happened. She agreed that the seat needed to be changed out and fixed.. We bought annual Gold passes and I'm not impressed. If I hadn't purchased them I would never return. Most the rides didn't work and I got fat shamed. I have been so proud of myself for losing the weight and overcoming a lot but after this experience it made me feel like all of the hard work and efforts I put in meant nothing.. This experience won't define me and I will continue on this journey. I want to share this experience so others won't have to feel this way and they know what to expect when they attend any of the Parks in...