FL Busch Parks or Bust

Sorry, going to throw a wrench into everything you have hoped and dreamed. Unfortunately without seeing the exact show schedule as it's not posted yet, though, it's hard to say how it would pan out 100% at Seaworld but hear me out...I can give you your full plan once that gets released.

It's $120 for a SeaWorld/Busch ticket (plus parking which you said you don't have to worry about)

+ $30 dine with Shamu = 150pp minimum

Alternatively, you can get into Discovery Cove (without dolphin swim) for $169 which includes admission to SeaWorld and then add on Busch Gardens + parking to all parks for only $25 more + 2-3 meals and snacks and UNLIMITED DRINKS = $195

But Alan, why would I pay a $45 premium and go to Discovery Cove?

1) Breakfast included. A hot meal. Ham. Bacon. Sausage. Eggs. French Toast. As much as you want.

2) Lunch included. As much as you want.

3) Feed birds and shit in the aviary

4) up close animal encounters. Find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop from Mr Owl (ps: the answer is always 3 licks)

5) swim with stingrays larger than your whole fucking body

6) unlimited alcoholic beverages. Did I mention there is a super warm pool with seating you can drink these in?

7) hammocks!

8) monkeys!! Otters! And more!

9) did I mention unlimited food snacks and alcoholic beverages? Included in the price quoted above!

10) relax in the warm lazy River

Then... since it's the Christmas season, go to SeaWorld AFTER spending some time at Discovery Cove. In the evening SeaWorld has awesome Christmas lights and festivities and atmosphere... and the lines for rides DO NOT EXIST during the Christmas shows in the evening. I'd say to be safe and to fit everything in at SeaWorld leave DC by 2-3pm

Skip:

O wondrous night -- too Jesus'ey

Clyde/Seamore Xmas -- more for the kiddos

While those two shows are going on, you ride the crap out of turtle trek, kraken, Manta, Antarctica, and journey to Atlantis. I can't say how Mako lines will be since that's over near the Christmas half of the park and I haven't been since the ride opened but I'd imagine you'd be fine.

Watch:

Last dolphin show of the day

Shamu Christmas

Ice show

But what about Dine with Shamu? Skip it because you're going to Discovery Fucking Cove instead. Just trust me.

But don't just take MY word for it:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34515-d110173-Reviews-Discovery_Cove-Orlando_Florida.html

You're welcome

If you have any questions, fire away.

Save your money on the Serengeti tour, feeding the giraffes is fun, but as others said, you can do the same at Great Adventure. Boom. You just paid for Discovery Cove (lol)

I know I sound like an advertisement but it really is my favorite place to visit in Orlando.

Granted, I haven't lived in Orlando for 3 years now, and maybe DC and Seaworld have gone downhill since, but those were always my two go-to places. You won't be disappointed.

Edit: wow I definitely was swearing in excitement a lot... lol. Toned down my post a bit.

All of that sounds cool except for #3. Feeding the birds is A-OK, but, oh no, really. ugh.

^^Discovery Cove is amazing. You are not wrong with your suggestion.

Yeah Discovery Cove is great and if you have the time to squeeze it in it's totally worth it. With SeaWorld open later for the Christmas stuff there's probably time to thoroughly enjoy both parks in the same day even if it means missing a few things here or there at Seaworld.

May wanna keep an eye on the weather if you're are considering Discovery Cove, some of the water is heated and they do provide wet suits but December in Orlando can be kind of hit or miss. If its 78 and sunny it could be a great day but if it's 67 and over cast might not be as enjoyable.

@anonymouscactus - Thats a pretty convincing sell. I will show that to the missus tonight. Maybe we can cut out one of the Funspots to make time for that.

Maybe we can cut out one of the Funspots to make time for that.

I can see the appeal of doing this if you decide to stay at SeaWorld until close on Friday. You could take an Uber to Fun Spot and then an Uber back to the hotel with plenty of time to spare but you'd probably have a more enjoyable time just chilling at the bars / restaurants / tourist traps near the hotel, especially if you've been walking around all day.

If you cut one, cut Kissimmee. Not only is Orlando much closer to the hotel but it's probably better even factoring in Mine Blower. The only thing the other one has going for it over the one in Orlando is that Sky Coaster. I'd suggest hitting this place on Sunday before you leave. It's less than 2 miles from the hotel, I'd imagine there's a bus. Hell you could even walk if you're feeling up to it since it's about the same distance as walking from the house in Wildwood to Surfside so I know you're not opposed to that (though you'll have just spent 2 full days walking around parks).

Don't forget Fun Spot is open til midnight so there's time to get in some rides late at night. Despite what others on this board might think personally I can't imagine spending more than like an hour or 2 at Fun Spot. I love the place but I'm good with dropping in for a few coaster rides and a beer, no need to spend all night there.

Despite what others on this board might think personally I can't imagine spending more than like an hour or 2 at Fun Spot.

I love the place, but that's the right amount of time to spend there. In 2 hours you can generally get a sh*t ton of re-rides on White Lightning as well as a drink or two and all the other rides you'd want to ride.

Not much I can add here that hasn't been said, but if you're planning to stay in Tampa for the night, do yourself a favor and check out Cappy's in Seminole Heights. Best pizza I've ever had by a mile.

Alright kids. Trip is mostly booked. Whoo-hoo!

Contrary to what most of you want us to do, we are taking the Mears bus from Orlando to Busch. Cry about it.

Anyways can anyone local confirm if we can use our shiny new Busch season passes to board that bus? I called the number for info and she repeated exactly what's on the website - that bus service is free with any PAID Busch Gardens ticket. We have Busch Williamsburg (Platinum) Passes. Is this gonna work? I laughed with the woman who answered that what she was saying sounded like I am good to go and she would only say "yes, that's what it sounds like". Hmmmmm. From a few other random websites I've seen that the SP should be ok. But I don't want to get stuck either.

Sorry for the doublepost but just thought I'd let anyone who cares know that yes, according to Marie @ BGT (lol) you can in fact use your Annual passes to board the free Mears buses.

Trip is officially all booked. Mears bus will pick us up right down the street from our hotel (at the Eye, actually). Hotel offers a free shuttle to SWO. So we are in fact going ahead without a car but with the shuttles we are taking to BGT and SWO, we probably won't need many Ubers at all. Just from the airport to hotel and to Funspot, and maybe around iDrive. I actually booked the Mears bus for both days we are there, so we can swap the days around if weather dictates we should.

Massive shoutout to Bill and whoever had suggested we just get BGW Platinum passes, as we did and they processed them for us and the actual cards are in the mail as I type, so we'll have them for the trip. This way no stopping at Guest Services, none of that nonsense. Thanks again for the help everyone. I freaking love this forum as you all are such a crucial resource for helping with planning this sh*t. Any last minute advice or suggestions are more than welcome and appreciated.

Now to save up some beer and Quick Queue money.

Oh and... WUT.

^ Awesome! Have a good time! That's good information on Fun Spot as well. Things to consider for future trips....

Anyways can anyone local confirm if we can use our shiny new Busch season passes to board that bus? I called the number for info and she repeated exactly what's on the website - that bus service is free with any PAID Busch Gardens ticket. We have Busch Williamsburg (Platinum) Passes. Is this gonna work? I laughed with the woman who answered that what she was saying sounded like I am good to go and she would only say "yes, that's what it sounds like". Hmmmmm. From a few other random websites I've seen that the SP should be ok. But I don't want to get stuck either.

When I've used it in the past, you just got on the bus. I believe they take your name/check ID, but that's it from what I remember to get to the park. Once arriving at the park, the driver instructed us to go to guest services for a return ticket (for the Busch Gardens Shuttle/Express) that you present to the driver when boarding for return to Orlando. Mind you it's been 8 years since I used it, so things may have changed a bit. It used to cost $10 round trip back then (paid at guest services) or free if you had the Orlando Flex Ticket (no longer available).

[edit to add]

If the shuttle times to SW are not to your liking, you can take the I Drive Trolley to get there, or anywhere along I Drive (including Fun Spot Orlando). The Trolley drops off in the same place as cabs/uber/shuttles use at SW.

www.iridetrolley.com/

^ I forgot about the I Drive service. I can vouch that I have seen it picking up and dropping off people in the parking lot of Fun Spot.

^^ That's awesome, thanks! We'll totally use that at least once or twice, too convenient not to.

You guys. Mako is the real deal!

Off to Fun Spot!

Edit: also

^ I guess that I am going to have to break down and try one of those pretzel bacon dogs at BGT as that one looks pretty damned tasty! I will take a close look to ensure that I don't get one that looks like it has been sitting under a heat lamp for an hour though.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts and seeing your report on BGT in particular, since we will also be there soon. Too bad that the planets didn't align where we could meet up so I could buy you and your girlfriend a beer or two at BGT, but maybe another time!

Glad you enjoyed SeaWorld. Happy birthday!

^^ LOL that must just be the lighting, that bacon pretzel was fresh, buttery deliciousness. A little slice of heaven, for real.

^ We loved all three parks to death. Busch lived up the hype, Seaworld absolutely exceeded our expectations, both were so nice and all around awesome experiences. Fun Spot is so awesome/shady. I will say that out of everything we did Mako, White Lightning and Falcons Fury were three of my favorites. White Lightning is incredible!!! (Now I understand why Bill always says he's jealous of people who live near Fun Spot, I totally am too).

And we did a ton more! Quality all around at these parks. Thanks so much to everyone (especially Robb and Elissa) that contributed to this thread, it absolutely assisted in ensuring a fantastic weekend that we're pretty sad had to end. We really lucked out with quick/uneventful flights, plentiful Ubers to get around Orlando, an above average hotel experience, great weather both days (high of 80 with zero humidity) completely nonexistent lines @ SWO and FunSpot, and Quick Queue took care of us quite well yesterday @ BGT. The Mears shuttle was pretty great, no complaints. Can't wait to share more, but I've got photos and thoughts to sort through. The past two days are an unending blur of beer, rides, food and laughing our asses off at weird Florida (I say that as a compliment).

Full report coming, eventually. Hopefully this thread will exist to serve anyone else hoping to do a similar trip. If you haven't been to these parks you need to start planning.

Happy birthday!

Thanks buddy!

Glad you had a fantastic time! Yeah those pretzel bacon dogs are one of the best things of the Busch parks.

LOL that must just be the lighting, that bacon pretzel was fresh, buttery deliciousness. A little slice of heaven, for real

I should have worded my post differently on that - the sitting under the heat lamp comment was in reference to Robb's post saying that he had had some good pretzels and others that really weren't that fresh.

Your photo looked fine - and quite tasty!

LOL gotcha, forgot he said that. We got lucky with those pretzels as we walked in there and right up to the counter, ordered, got our stuff and headed outside to sit and chill with our drinks and food when the Shamu Stadium let out and that entire area was suddenly completely mobbed, including a significant line out of the entrance to the pretzel spot. Perfect timing - we had a lot of that all weekend.

Went through these pics last night - the classic "I didn't really take anything", and then realizing I took 600+ photos over three days lol, not to even mention everything the missus took as well. Hope its not too busy at work this week so I can get this report started. Still buzzing off an amazing weekend.

Really looking forward to your TR, Boldy! I've never been to BGT and it's been over a decade since my last SWO trip. What did you think of Cheetah Hunt? That's the coaster I'm most interested in for some reason.

glad y'all had a great trip! (and Happy Birthday from me too).

can't wait to see the trip report.

did you try the Meatball Pretzel too? we loved those.

Really looking forward to your TR, Boldy! I've never been to BGT and it's been over a decade since my last SWO trip. What did you think of Cheetah Hunt? That's the coaster I'm most interested in for some reason.

not Boldy, but my 2cents is that Cheetah Hunt gets all the buzz, because that tower really stands out in the park, and it is pretty dang speedy and fun.

but in the same park with Montu, Kumba, and Shiekra ?. . . it wouldnt' make my top 3. (but we liked it. . Cobra's Curse too)