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Old 22 Jan 22, 12:33 PM  
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Supersofe
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Cookies and Scream- November 2021- Day 7 Busch Gardens

Day 7: Busch Gardens

My Pre trip report is here

Day 6 is here

Step Count: 17 898

We were definitely into the swing of things now and today it was time to take a trip out to Tampa to go to Busch Gardens. We weren’t in a huge hurry as it didn’t open until 10am. We grabbed some breakfast at the hotel, today sausages were on offer so I had a sausages in a bagel! We were slightly concerned when we told one of the staff members we were heading to Busch Gardens today and she told us to enjoy sitting on the I4.

We were packed up and ready to leave at 9.10am and actually the drive was fine (it did look bad in the other direction!). We got to the park at 10.30 and we luckily had free parking with our tickets (we bought them in a combo with Seaworld) which saved us $30. It was a Monday today and the carpark seemed very quiet. What was most exciting for us was that we got to ride a tram to the entrance, we had very much been missing these on the holiday so far!

As we got through the entrance we were very sad to see a sign that Cheetah Hunt was closed. I was very disappointed by this, it is one of my favourite rides (thank goodness we had got to ride Hagrids!). Falcon’s fury (a huge drop tower) was also closed but I wasn’t as upset about that!

We decided to head to the right and towards Montu and Cobra’s Curse (which we hadn’t been on before). But as we got there was a staff member letting us know that Cobra’s Curse was currently down. So instead we joined the (non-existent) queue for Montu. We rented a locker for $8 for the day, this allows you to open a locker at each ride around the park. Just as we were about to get on the coaster, the staff announced that this too was broken. Our day was not getting off to the best start and we were starting to get concerned that we has wasted our time coming here! We waited for 5 minutes but it didn’t show many signs of getting going again so we gave up.

We went to look at some animals instead and saw the lions, giraffes, hyena and hippo. The hippo was so cute and we very close with some hilarious photos resulting!




After a nice wander around the animals we headed back to Montu which was now up and running. There was no queue and we rode it twice in a row. This is a very fun rollercoaster and surprisingly not rattley considering it is quite old.

When we left Montu, Cobra’s Curse still wasn’t running so we went over to ride the train. We got on at the Nairobi station and I really enjoyed the ride through the animals, we saw lots of antelopes, zebras and a few ostriches. For some reason (probably the lack of people in the park) we didn’t stop at the next station but we got off at the one after that which was called Stanleyville.



The huge rollercoaster here is Sheikra, it is so high with 2 vertical drops that hold you at the top before you drop. I hate it. But J was really keen so we gave it a go. The problem with there being no queues at all is that you don’t have any time to psych yourself up, before I knew it we were sat on the ride! Oh my goodness, so terrifying. Also, I was sat next to the most enthusiastic man ever, he did not stop whooping the whole way round, and he was so excited when we were at the top! Unfortunately, none of the on-ride photos were working today (although I’m not sure I wanted to see my face from this one!).

After this I needed a sit down, we went to Sheikra Sweets (I think they sell funnel cakes) hoping to get a coffee but unfortunately they didn’t sell any. Instead we just had some of the drinks and snacks we had brought with us.

Next we went to have ride on Tigris, a ride I haven’t been on before. There was no queue. This is a very strange rollercoaster; it kind of goes in a loop out of the station and over the top. I got this picture to try and show what it is. It goes very fast through the station but then really weirdly slow over the top. To be honest, I’m not sure I liked it but it was an experience!



We were right by the Jungala area now so we went to look at the animals. There was a really cute baby orangutan who was climbing all over the ropes in the enclosure so we watched him for quite a while. Then we went to see the tigers (my favourite animal) who were lovely, we had to walk around the enclosure to try and catch up with them!




We headed over to Kumba (also no queue) which is another rollercoaster, it was fun if a little rattlely. It makes a really cool roaring noise and you ride it which is cool. After this we were planning on getting some lunch from Chick Fil-A (this is new at Busch Gardens) however the queue seemed very long (an unusual sight for today!). Also, there were two guests (they were together I think) having an absolute screaming match, it was so intense, I have never seen anyone argue like it!

So instead of getting near them, we went round and rode the carousel instead! But after this it was 2.15pm and definitely time for lunch. We went to the Dragon Fire Grill which is a quick service with lots of different options. We decided to share a chicken tenders meal which was $15. There was a huge indoor dining area here but we decided to sit outside. I got a bit spooked by the ibis birds that wanted some of our lunch though! This was perfectly fine and plenty for us to share.


After lunch we went on Sheikra again. And this time J wanted to go front row. Oh my God, this was even more terrifying! The scariest ride ever but I did enjoy it I guess.

Then we walked around with the plan of going to feed to lorro birds but unfortunately this was closed. Instead we looked at the toucans and flamingos and then walked around the kangaroo enclosure. Here you can buy some food for them ($6) but I was fine just looking at the cuties.


We basically had walked around to the park entrance now. We walked past the entrance to their Christmas village, I think this is similar to what they had at Seaworld and it is only open in the evenings. We grabbed a coffee and a cookie from Sultan’s Sweets. They had some really delicious looking treats here but as you might be able to tell from the name of my trip report, I love a cookie! They had Starbucks coffee here too and it came to $10.

We walked around to look at the Cheetahs and we spotted that Cobra’s curse was now running! We joined the queue that said 15 minutes. We probably ended up waiting 20, there weren’t many people in the queue but they let in a lot of people who had bought the “quick queue” pass to skip the lines (I have no idea why you buy this on a day like today!). This was a really fun little rollercoaster, there is a section at the start where your car gets lifted vertically on a platform thing which is exciting!

After this we rent for another ride on Montu. We waited for the front row this time which was about 10 minutes. It was very fun again though a little bit shakier at the front! Then we thought we might as well have another go on Cobra Curse, this time we only waited 5 mins. This time our car spun a lot more! This was a really fun ride and not what we were expecting!

We collected our bag from the locker and went round to see the chimps and gorillas but unfortunately they weren’t out (it was quite cold I suppose!) but we did go and see the elephants.

It was about 5.15pm now and we decided we had done everything we wanted and so headed for the exit. They had some lovely Christmas decorations in the shop. I loved these nutcrackers but they were absolutely huge and cost $85.


Frosty the snowman was doing a little meet and greet at the exit which was very sweet. When we got back to the car we put our journey into Google and it suggested a more scenic route to avoid traffic on the I4. This was actually really nice, we drove past a lovely huge lake and it was interesting to see all the different houses in this area.

We got back to our hotel at about 6.45pm. We decided to order a Giordano deep dish pizza for take away tonight. We got the smallest “special” deep dish pizza which had sausage, mushrooms, green peppers and onions. We ordered online and had to wait about 45 minutes before our pick up slot. This came to $23.



J went and got the pizza. Wow this was insaaaaane. So cheesy and greasy but so delicious! We loved it but didn’t manage the whole thing! We popped some in the fridge for another time. We relaxed for the rest of the evening and had an early night.

Writing this report has made me think that lots of the things at Busch Gardens were closed or not working properly. However, we didn’t feel that hard done by at the time, we had a great day and enjoyed riding lots of scary rollercoasters. It felt like a lovely relaxed day, we could just wander round, look at the animals and go on the rides we wanted without queuing at all! It probably is worth checking what rides are going to be closed before you visit though to check you aren’t going to be disappointed.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions! Please come back for day 8 when we return to Universal studios and Islands of Adventure before heading to Blizzard Beach and then Disney Springs. Because we stayed at the Disney hotels at the end of our trip, our Disney park days come a bit later!
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Old 22 Jan 22, 05:43 PM  
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Another good day your pizza looked tasty


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Old 23 Jan 22, 11:03 AM  
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That Giordanos pizza looks delicious. Another fun day despite things being closed at Busch it didn't seem to affect your enjoyment.
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Old 23 Jan 22, 08:34 PM  
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Have just batch read your reports we travelled the day after you and it's been interesting reading your reports .. thankyou for sharing.

Montu is my absolute favourite ride the dangly leg coasters seem to stay a smooth ride.

I go on Tigress every time but that slow upside down bit freaks me out LOL I wish they didn't have comfort collars too I bust my lip getting it on

I am going again on the 1st Feb (long story Covid cancellation from way back lol) and this is getting me excited again.

We usually go to a similar drive around nature reserve over in Titusville but think I will give the Apopka one a go.. thanks for that
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Old 24 Jan 22, 07:13 PM  
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Originally Posted by Villainlover View Post
Have just batch read your reports we travelled the day after you and it's been interesting reading your reports .. thankyou for sharing.

Montu is my absolute favourite ride the dangly leg coasters seem to stay a smooth ride.

I go on Tigress every time but that slow upside down bit freaks me out LOL I wish they didn't have comfort collars too I bust my lip getting it on

I am going again on the 1st Feb (long story Covid cancellation from way back lol) and this is getting me excited again.

We usually go to a similar drive around nature reserve over in Titusville but think I will give the Apopka one a go.. thanks for that
Thanks for reading! I hope you had a great time too, you're so lucky to get to go again!
And I agree about the "comfort collars"- they were so weird, just a very strange ride overall.

Have a great trip in Feb (I would recommend Apopka, it was great)
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