Busch Gardens

Even though we were in Orlando we decided to visit Busch Gardens which is the other side of Florida in Tampa Bay, about an hour away. Busch gardens is separated into six different areas, these areas are Bird Gardens, Stanley Ville, Jungala, Timbuktu, Egypt, Morocco, Nairobi, Congo.

Bird Gardens


The main attraction in this area is the Land of the Dragons which is a children's area consisting of a playground and theatre, it's quite a small playground is probably only suitable for eight and under. As you would imagine also in this area there are plenty of birds a lake with flamingos and herons there's also a walk-through aviary which has carrots and although small but very colourful birds

Stanley Ville


The Stanley Ville area has a couple of rides. Firstly it's one of the stopping points for the Sky Ride, the Sky Ride is as the name suggests a ride which takes you around the Park so that you can see the entire park from bird's eye view. The Sky Ride has several points where you can get on and off. There's also the Stanley Falls flume ride this as you would imagine is a log flume ride. We found the queue for this ride extremely long and for the amount of time we waited the ride was quite disappointing it was just your basic log flume and with nothing particularly special it. Because it was so basic it's only a 6/10 from me.

Tanganyika Tidal Wave on the other hand was a water ride with a difference initially you set off in a boat around a meandering River taking in some of the culture of a young America, for example there were examples of Indian culture and the Wild West culture. As you turn the final corner you're suddenly greeted by an incline and of course what goes up must come down and you splash land near the entrance in the process getting absolutely soaking wet. Once you come off the ride you have to pass over the bridge near the splashdown, if you're unlucky you'll find that you cross just as the next boat is coming down and you'll get soaked all over again. This was a much better ride than the other one, and one we had to go on several times because the kids loved it so much, so from me this gets a 9/10.

Stanley Ville is also one of the stopping point for the railway as with this Sky Ride the railway goes around the entire park, not only does it save your legs walking from one area to the other and it also allows you to view the Park from a different perspective. Some of the animals can only be seen by using the railway particularly those around the Serengeti Plain.

Also in Stanley Ville is the Sheikra ride, this ride looks absolutely amazing but unfortunately my daughter was not big enough to go on it, It's a looping rollercoaster ride that also hits the water at one point soaking not only the people on board but anybody who happens to be walking close by.

Jungala


In this area there is the Jungle Flyers and wild surge Treetop trails, around this area you'll also find orang-utans but to be honest we didn't really give this area much notice so I can't comment further than that.

Congo


The Congo area also has a water ride, this time the Congo River Rapids. Rather than a log flume the River Rapids use a boat which takes eight people at a time, the boat winds its way along the Rapids making sure everybody gets soaking wet in the process, there are all so a couple of waterfalls to go through to ensure that nobody misses out. Not the most exciting ride even if it might be the wettest so only 7/10 from me.

Again in the Congo there is the Kumba ride, this is another one that looks great, but another one that we weren't able to do one because my daughter was too small for it but for anyone large enough it is a twisting rollercoaster that sends you up down and round and round several times.

Timbuktu


The Timbuktu area is smack bang in the middle of the pack. There are a couple of good rides in this area first of which is cheetah Chase, this ride similar to the Mouse in Blackpool where you ride in the car on the very top of the rollercoaster so it looks as if you are about to fly off the end of the railings. 7/10.

Next to the Cheetah Chase is the Phoenix, the Phoenix is a swinging boat ride which eventually turns completely upside down. To be honest I found the swinging that worse than going upside down that bit was easy whereas hanging in midair looking down was scarier. 9/10 for this one.

Scorpion ride is also in Timbuktu but as with the others my daughter was far too smart for this one and we weren't able to go on it.

In the centre it Timbuktu for those people who like sedate rides there is a carousel caravan. Like most carousels this ride just goes round nice and slowly with some of the animals going up and down in Mary Poppins style.

Nairobi


The first attraction in Nairobi is the Rhino Rally although this almost seems to be in Timbuktu as it's closer to Timbuktu then is to the rest of Nairobi. With the Rhino Rally you are taken around in jeep and if you're lucky you get a decent driver who will entertain you as you drive round. The Rhino Rally takes you past the rhinos obviously and also past some wildebeest type creatures. There are two parts to the rally, normally you will be able to take the dry road as well as the wet area, however the wet area is prone to breaking down as it did when we went on the rally, according to our driver this is a regular occurrence. However we still drove close enough to the water to see the crocodiles.

Nairobi is the main station for seeing the Serengeti Plain, in the Serengeti Plain you will find flamingos, giraffes, zebra, antelope, rhino, wildebeest, ostrich, lions, hyenas and hippopotamus. Just so you're not worried the Lions and the hyenas are kept well away from the other animals so there is no chance of witnessing a blood bath. Whilst we were on the train we noticed some people riding on the backs of trucks, we never did find out how to get on these trucks, I can only assume they went to the area known as Edge of Africa. The only problem with the train is that most of the animals seem to take great pleasure in hiding from it so your views of the animals are rather limited.

Slightly away from the rest of the animals in Nairobi you'll find some giant tortoise which I was find quite fascinating even though they don't do very much.

Egypt


The main ride in Egypt it is Montu, this is another ride that looks absolutely amazing but unfortunately as with many of the amazing looking rides my daughter was far too small to go on it.

Most of Egypt is taken up by this ride and the flagship restaurant the Crown Colony house. However you'll also find Clydesdale Hamlet which has a selection of Clydesdale horses, one of which is normally outside of the children to pet and for them to have their photograph taken with the horse.

Morocco


The main feature of Morocco is the Gwazi ride. This ride looks like it came out of the dark ages because it's completely wooden and I'm sure I saw a bit of woodworm on the way up. There are normally two coasters running but on the day we went they only had the lion side running and the Tiger side of it was closed. I can't say that I really enjoyed this ride at all, the dips and twists were nothing compared to the new style ride is with their 360° turns, however the clanking and the clumping as the coaster went along the track gave me terrible pains in my neck and back and by the time I got off the ride, the pains in my neck had gone up to my head and I came off with an incredible headache, my son wasn't keen on the either for the same reasons.

Also in the Morocco area you'll find chimpanzees and gorillas, on the day we went the chimpanzees were virtually impossible to see, they were all hidden away either in the hut or so far away it was too hard to see them. The gorillas on the other hand were right up by the front glass and so they could be seen clearly and easily. Next to the gorillas there is an alligator pond with several large alligators and quite a few turtles, I was quite surprised to see the turtles riding on the backs of the alligators yet the alligators didn't seem to mind.

Shops and cafes


There are plenty of shops all around the Park each selling items relevant to their particular areas for example in Egypt's area you would find souvenirs which suit an Egyptian theme.

There are also plenty of places to eat, there are lots of little snack bars around the Park where you can buy pretzels, crisps, etc and drinks. As previously mentioned in Egypt there is the flagship restaurant the Crown Colony this is a restaurant over two floors, downstairs you'll find family dining (in other words pizza, fried chicken or anything else that goes with fries), upstairs there is dining for the more sophisticated palate (in other words for posh people). As well as the Crown Colony there are plenty of other restaurants dotted around the Park.

Everything Else


Although I enjoyed the pack as with SeaWorld I found it little annoying that most of the rides were too large for my daughter to use and feel that they should cater for younger children a little more. Although we were there in the early morning which we've been told was the best time to go, we still saw very few of the animals as most of them were far too far away from the viewing areas to be able to see them properly, which was extremely disappointing as both of my children love animals and zoos sought to drive all the way from Orlando to Tampa and see next to no animals seemed like a big waste of time.