As a Florida local I can say this is the absolute best park we have. It is enormous and you really need two days to take it all in. The ticket prices cost alot because Busch Gardens is part of an extensive zoological program and they have to feed a ton of large animals. If you are one of those tourists who would rather be visually stimulated during the wait and recieve a mediocre ride experience, this is not the park for you! I recommend you don't even come because my experience will only be that much more enjoyable with one less cranky cheapskate ranting during my ride wait. If you can handle a wait for what are the best rides in the state, than by all means you will not be dissappointed. Alot of people come expecting Disney and bring their little squirts. I can't say I recommend this. They do have a wonderful little squirt area but if your kids don't like animals it may not be worth it to bring them as the rides outside of the kiddie area are scary to say the least. If your here to do all the parks do this one first, than go to Orlando.

I think many tourist get very confused when the go to Orlando first. Florida is NOT Orlando. Tampa is not an extension of Orlando! The sooner you understand they are two totally different experiences, the happier you will be.

As a rollercoaster nut, I love this park. How can you honestly be dissappointed with giant coasters, exotic animals, and free booze? Some people are just never happy. :)

My family and I went to Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay on Dec. 27. Our group included to very small children. Needless to say, it'll probably be my last time. To begin with, it took forever to park and where we did park seemed like miles away from the tram pick-up area. $55.95 seemed like way too much to pay for this place. At least we got a discount with my AAA card, so I felt a little better.
My impression of Busch Gardens is that if you combine all of the roller coasters of say Six Flags and a small zoo like the Santa Barbra Zoo in Califonia and add some beer, and you get Busch Gardens. I am not a roller coaster person at all and those are the only rides I encountered there. We spent a lot of time in Kiddie Land (or whatever it is called). I was impressed with their play area and even the kids had more rides choices than adults do.
We waited in line at one of the train stations of more than 45 minutes. We took the train thinking it was going to take us on an awesome tour of the African Savannah, but it was more like a 5 minute guided tour of the concession stands with a few cattle eating grass along the way, which could only be seen with eagle eyes or binocculars. Not to mention the "tour guide" had the most monotone voice and showed no enthusiasm what so ever. I guess I was expecting something like the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where you can drive thru and see lots of variety of animals. We got off the train at the next stop and didn't even finish the whole tour. The guided Jeep tour looked like fun, but who wants to pay even more after shelling out nearly $60 to get in.
Other than the Colonial House restaurant, the only other food type place we came across was a concession stand that served either hot dogs or turkey legs, fries, soda and water, that's it. If you like beer, you could've gotten a complimentary beer and attended Beer School and tasted samples for free.
I did enjoy the Bird Show. At least those performers showed some enthusiasm. We also enjoyed walking around and seeing the chimps, lions, hippos, crocodiles, alligators, giraffes and hyenas. I wish there could've been more animal variety, though.
I don't get their park set up. They seem to have only two "lands", Egypt and Morocco and they have American Alligators in Morocco...expalin that one. I guess I am spoiled with going to Disneyland. At least they have several lands and their attractions fit in with the themes. It would also be nice if they had some characters to associate the park with. Six Flags has Warner Brothers characters and Disney has, well Mickey Mouse, etc., but this place has nothing other than an eagle sitting on the letter A and the Clydesdale horses.
The worst part of the whole trip came at the end when we were trying to board the tram to go back to the parking lot. We waited in line and had finally made it to the front row when the next tram pulled up. Although they have park personnel to orchestrate boarding in the morning there is no one there in the evening. As a result, it becomes one for all when attempting to board the tram. We got pushed and shoved into the tram as everyone "bum-rushed" it and with 2 small children it is quite scary. We even got into a verbal altercation with a young woman who jumped on the tram ahead of us. I have written to Busch Gardens about this and am waiting for a reply.
We didn't even stay the whole time and left after a few hours becuase there was nothing much to do. If you like roller coasters and beer, this my be your heaven. If not, don't waste your time, energy and money.

THE GOOD:

Excellent food at prices that are not completely excessive.

Sheikra. OK, I admit, I don't do roller coasters myself, but the coaster afficianados in our group said it was the best they have ever been on.

The "Wild Wings of Africa" show. The presentation is a little cheesy, but those birds are impressive.

African animal area. An immense space for animals to roam freely, providing a better environment than even some of the best zoos.

THE BAD:

African animal area. It looks great, but to get anywhere near the animals you have to shell out an extra $35 for a 30 minute jeep tour. I'm sure it's a good tour, but that's way too much after paying up to $60 just to get in.

The Moraccan show. Left half way through. It's still 15 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Lineups. 80 minute lineup for Sheikra on a day where the temperature barely made it to 65F. I'd hate to see it when the weather is good.

Price. I'm not a theme park expert, but overall it did seem expensive for what you get. I won't say 'don't go' but consider carefully and compare with other attractions first.

I am foremost a Disney fan, however, we live next to Busch Gardens and bought a passport (yearly pass). I have since fallen in love with Busch Gardens. I only go during the down times - when it isn't full. We have gotten our money's worth already and only had the pass for three months. If I went for only a day and spent $50 a person, I might be disappointed. Rides are often closed for a few hours or even a few weeks. I would never go on a really busy day. When we go, we can go for a few hours, or stay the day. We are still finding new things each time we visit and always, always have fun. My kids are 2 and 5 and there is plenty for them to do. We love the animal exhibits and how close we get to be to the animals. The park employees are always nice and helpful. We've even needed the first aid office (I skinned a finger on our stroller and needed to stop the bleeding) and they were super nice. It's not a big deal if a ride is closed, we can come back another day. We avoid the park close to holidays and summer, but when we went the week before Christmas, we had just as much fun. Access to and from the parking lot to the park is so easy - even with two little kids. The food is not all that bad for park food. I like the barbeque at the Smokehouse especially. Every time we go, I feel like we are on vacation while we are there. I love having passes and will go as many times as we can while we have them (I am sure we'll buy them again next year).