Our first official day of our latest family holiday to Orlando found us back at Busch Gardens. I thought it was a good idea to pick out an attraction that required a relatively early start. You see we woke up at 4am (the time difference takes some adjusting too!) so catching the free shuttle at 8:45am wasn’t a problem! We had bags of time, enough to enjoy a leisurely Denny’s breakfast! I love that they are open 24/7.  This was my pancake stack.

We also enjoyed a lengthy stroll along International Drive watching the sun rise.  It was nice and peaceful in ICON Park at that time of day.

We last visited Busch Gardens in August 2019 on our press trip with SeaWorld. I was keen to come back and tick off some of the attractions we missed. The shuttle bus arrived about 10:15am and didn’t leave again till 7pm, so it was a decent amount of time to spend at the park. You need to book your place on the free shuttle bus in advance. We did this when we arrived in Orlando the day before. I wasn’t sure with it being that last minute we would get a place but fortunately we did.

We were exhausted after such a packed day. But felt like we had a fantastic time! The weather was great, in the 30’s. My eldest and I splashed out and bought Quick Queue passes ($65.08 including tax for the both of us). Much later in the day they weren’t really needed. Cheetah Hunt went from 45 minutes to 5 minutes and Cobra’s Curse was about 10 minutes. However, they saved about two hours early on. Time, I put to good use!

They would have saved more queue time. But we weren’t just about the rides. We wanted to ride the train and cable car and make sure we fed the lorikeets and kangaroos and watch the Critters Inn animal show.  You get a great view of the animals from the train, so don’t worry if the Serengeti Safari is fully booked.  You can still appreciate these graceful animals without spending extra.  Although getting the chance to feed the giraffe does mean you should at least try it once!

Despite not focusing on rides we still did the log flume, Congo river rapids twice, Cheetah Hunt (four times) and Cobra’s Curse twice. But the highlight for the boys were the two feeding experiences. They were unforgettable moments.  Oh and the fact they got to have Dippin’ Dots again, seriously they are hooked on those icy treats.

We already fed the flamingos during our last visit to Busch Gardens, which is still one of our most favourite parts of our press trip. So, this time we made a beeline for the kangaroos and lorikeets. The kangaroos have set feeding times whereas the lorikeets you can pop in anytime. Talking to the staff first thing in the morning is a good idea when everyone is hungry! The kangaroos can get quite lazy in the afternoon. A member of staff said aim for the ones right at the back as they might not have eaten as much. Fortunately, it worked out and we found two hungry kangaroos. You can stroke the kangaroos, but not on their head and the two we fed were very friendly. The kangaroo food works out at 2 tubs for $10 (plus tax).

The lorikeets at Busch Gardens were incredible my son had them on his arm, shoulder and even his head! It had been a quieter feeding day apparently, so they were very receptive to the nectar. The boys had so much more attention from the birds. It was a wonderful experience. It cost $6 dollars (plus tax) per tub of nectar. I get the prices can add up. But it would be a shame to miss out on the animal feeding experiences as they really make your visit more memorable.

We didn’t buy all day dining and on reflection that might have been a mistake as our one meal in Dragon Fire Grill cost $92 for the four of us. All day dining would have been about $60 dollars more and we would have easily made that with plenty of drinks and another meal before leaving the park for our evening shuttle. With all day dining you can have a meal every rolling hour if you want! Although I dread to think how much I would weigh at the end of our holiday if I had all day dining in every park.