Review - Florida - Tampa - Busch Gardens

One of my favorite activities is to eat and nothing is more fun than participating in a Food Festival. We had the good fortune to enjoy two such festivals during our Spring Break - one at SeaWorld and one at Busch Gardens.

Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival is open until April 25th and offers a variety of food and drink options as well as entertainment. To participate, you can either purchase items from a booth a la carte or you can purchase a sampler card which gets punched at the booth every time you order something. The punches are good for food or alcohol/drinks. Lanyards come in 5 item samples ($34.99 or $6.99 each item), 8 item samples ($49.99 or $6.25 each item), or 12 item samples ($64.99 or $5.14 each item). Passholders get 3 items free with the 12 item sampler lanyard purchase ($64.99 or $4.33 each item). Click here for more details on lanyards

You can purchase a lanyard at the Welcome Center. You'll find some of the booths are location-themed (such as New Orleans and West Coast). Got picky eaters? Many items can be customized (for example, we ordered the buffalo burger slider plain). I personally felt there were much more alcohol/drink options at Busch Gardens than were at SeaWorld - which can be good if you enjoy adult beverages.

West Coast Catch - Druken Shrimp Tostada:


NOLA Sweets - Beignets:


Yuengling Butchery - Hand-Carved Espresso-Rubbed Tenderloin:



Busch Gardens is a fun amusement park and zoo. When you arrive, you will pay for parking ($25) or preferred ($30). If you are a passholder, you will automatically get the closer parking if it's available. They also have a limited number of family parking spots near the handicapped parking by the entrance. They do have a shuttle that goes around the parking lots to the entrance.


The park is laid out in themed areas - Sesame Street land with kid-oriented activities, Africa the Serengeti, Egpyt, Morocco, the Congo, and more. The theming is outstanding.


There are lots of photo-ops and props throughout the park.


You can buy a refillable soda cup at this Freestyle shop which can be re-activated (for a small fee) any time you visit one of the SeaWorld-owned parks. Right now, you must use a disposable paper cup to fill with soda then you pour into your cup. They will scan your cup after every refill to be sure your cup is active (a bit of a hassle, IMO). You can also purchase a "refillable" popcorn bucket (you actually just pay a small price for the refills which you then pour into your bucket). Depending on how much you drink/eat will decide whether these are good deals for you/your family. You are allowed to bring water into the park but no other food or drinks except baby food/milk.

Overall Family Ratings:

• 16 year old - Enjoyed the rides and the Food Festival
• 11 year old - Enjoyed the rides and some of the Food Festival treats
• 6 year old - Enjoyed the Sesame Street land, the zoo animals, but did not like the Festival options (except a plain buffalo slider)