Busch Gardens is an incredible place.  It has a mixture of thrilling rides and amazing animal encounters.  It is such a vast park I think you need to dedicate a few days to really do it justice.  We had a pretty full day and attempted to squeeze in as much as possible.  Yet with so many different rides, shows and wonderful animals to meet we didn’t manage to cover everything.  So, what I have learnt is that you get a whole lot of entertainment for the cost of your entrance ticket!

Hand Feeding The Animals

It feels like you make a real connection with the animals at Busch Gardens when you hand feed them.  There are plenty of opportunities to feed the animals, such as the flamingos, the lorikeets and the kangaroos.  It was quite an interesting sensation having a flamingo peck food from your hand… it tickles!

Serengeti Safari

I thought the Serengeti Safari was worth the additional £27 each.  Booking is advisable as this is a very popular attraction!  This experience lets you hand-feed giraffe lettuce from an open-air touring vehicle.  It’s such a memorable experience and you learn so much during the tour.  I was surprised by the length of a giraffe’s black tongue and their gentle nature. I have since realized that giraffes have black tongues to protect themselves from sunburn when eating, how clever is that!

It’s not often you get so close to such magnificent animals.  These guys really love their lettuce and it’s a real honour interacting with them.  It’s the perfect photo opportunity so make sure you take plenty of pictures to remember the experience.

Mark the engaging animal keeper with us on the safari said we could stroke the giraffe’s necks but not their faces to be respectful of their personal space.  The happiness of the animal is always paramount at Busch Gardens.

Mark was funny cracking jokes and giving the boys a quick quiz about the animals.  I was really impressed with the staff at Busch Gardens they seem to go that extra mile to both educate and entertain guests.

Fantastic Rides

I love the design of the rides at Busch Gardens many of them have been developed to mimic the action of different animals.  Riding them can help you better understand each one.

You have Tigris which mimics a tiger’s agility, SheiKra where you can experience the dive a hawk makes for its prey and Cheetah Hunt (my boys favourite ride!) which gives you a taste of the speed of the cheetah!  It has three launches, so you really feel like you are sprinting round the track.

The rides and the animal experiences combined all help give visitors to Busch Gardens a deeper understanding and appreciation of these animals.

Plus, most rides at Busch Gardens pack a punch.  I don’t think I have ever ridden anything as intense as Tigris with zero gravity, looping twists and an inverted heartline roll!  My eldest rode it three times in a row!  Even my youngest who was initially quite nervous decided he needed a second go after his brother told him the second times a charm.

If you are an adrenaline junkie Busch Gardens will cater for your every need!

If you want something a little bit tamer you might get on quite well with the Cobra’s Curse.  Although I found this harder than the coasters, I think its all the spinning!  But the kids begged to ride it again, so we did!  We had so many lovely family memories together that day I couldn’t refuse them another go on it.

I decided not to ride Kumba when I was 16 and left my mum to go on it with my younger brother.  But I regret that decision after riding it at 40.  I absolutely loved the roar of this ride and ALL of the seven loops!  If you can zoom in on the picture you can see me with a big grin on my face in the front row!  I am a coaster convert after my day at Busch Gardens.

2020 promises to be even more exciting with a new coaster opening.  Busch Gardens doesn’t do things by halves, the hybrid coaster will be the tallest of its kind in North America and the fastest hybrid in the world!

The Experienced Keepers

What really stood out for me was how much each keeper really cared for the animals at Busch Gardens.  They were all very knowledgeable and everything they do focuses on putting the animals first.  Keepers maintain very positive interactions with the animals.

They can also answer pretty much any question you throw at them!  I know this as a fact as I had a lovely chat with various keepers during our visit.  Amber especially was very informative about the gorillas.  We learnt about their favourite foods, how they raise their young and that they are not as stern as their pronounced brow ridge make them look!

Animal Exhibits

Each of the exhibits gives you an extraordinary view of the animals.

Later we were fortunate enough to see this impressive hippo chomp down on a watermelon!

The Jungala exhibit allows you to be right next to the tigers.  It’s quite awe-inspiring being so close to such a powerful animal.  Just look at the size of those paws.

Each of the exhibits have lots of features to enrich the lives of the animals in them.  The gorillas have a lovely grassy space, with rocks and a waterfall.  They looked very content in their environment.  Just chilling with their lettuce leaves, seriously don’t I wish lettuce gave me that satisfied look!

You can even go inside the animal care center and see first-hand the level of care they receive.

I am already working on my husband to let me book next year’s family holiday so we can come back!  We genuinely had the time of our lives!

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment provided us The Discovery Cove Ultimate Package which provides an all-inclusive day at Discovery Cove and a 30-minute dolphin interaction and swim. As well as 14 days unlimited access to SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens. This package includes free unlimited parking at all parks. It’s currently available at www.seaworldparks.co.uk from £197pp*. For more information, head to www.seaworldparks.co.uk.

*Price correct as of 14.08.19.

Why not read about our visits to SeaWorld and Discovery Cove too!