July trip planned to BGT. . any suggestions?

[bert425]

so life got in the way of our planned trip this year to Niagara Falls/NYC/Great Adventure. . .and there simply isn't enough time left to plan the trip we WANT to take (Bway tix, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, etc).

 

so instead of paying premiums, and cramming stuff in, instead we're refocusing, and looking at likely going to Busch Gardens Tampa, since we absolutely loved BGW last year. (the fact that BGT seems to have so many more animals is a plus too).

 

we're looking at doing a 7/10 (Sun) - 7/15 (Friday) (so 6 days/5 nights), flying into Tampa, renting a car, and doing the unlimited 14 day tix. . . which includes free parking and also will get us into SeaWorld Orlando (which seems to be only ~1hour drive away).

 

we're from Texas, so not concerned about the July Heat or Humidity. And we're not really water park people, so even tho Aquatica and the BGT nearby waterpark is there, we likely won't go to them)

 

tentative itinerary is:

 

Sun: arrive by noon, get rental car/check into hotel, evening in BGT

Mon: full day at BGT (with maybe evening Serengeti walk)

Tues: ??? (maybe Tampa Aquarium?). . ??

Wed: Drive to Orlando in the morning, full day at Sea World

Thus: 1/2 day at BGT, then evening ???

Friday: flight out in afternoon.

 

so . . suggestions on what do do on Tues? (and evening on Thurs?. . or possibly Morning on Thurs, and we'll go to BGT in evening)?

 

not too familiar with what's there in Tampa, so asking the board

 

any suggestions appreciated!

 

thanks,

bert

[bert425]

heh. .no suggestions?

 

guess my plan is all there really IS to do in Tampa?

 

(and I guess why go to aquarium, if we're going to SeaWorld)

[DirkFunk]

 

any suggestions appreciated!

 

thanks,

bert

 

Legoland is roughly 40 minutes away. Much closer would be Lowry Park Zoo (maybe 10 minutes), which has a log flume, kiddie coaster, and a couple other rides. Clearwater Beach is nice and will probably be packed (but nice). There's also an aquarium there as well. A little north of Tampa are things like Weeki Wachee, home to the famous underwater mermaid show, and Crystal River where there's manatee snorkeling trips.

[coasterbill]

It depends on what you're into of course but if it were me I'd just go to Orlando Monday night and forget about Tampa. Actually I'd just stay in Orlando, the 2 are so close anyway.

 

I do like Whiskey Joe's though if you're looking for a nice place in Tampa to sit and have a few drinks. I don't remember much about the food because honestly who cares?

[bert425]

It depends on what you're into of course but if it were me I'd just go to Orlando Monday night and forget about Tampa. Actually I'd just stay in Orlando, the 2 are so close anyway.

 

I do like Whiskey Joe's though if you're looking for a nice place in Tampa to sit and have a few drinks. I don't remember much about the food because honestly who cares?

 

we've been to Orlando many times, and have done the Disney stuff. . so want to focus just on BGT and Tampa area. . but since our ticket will get us into Seaworld, that's why just the 1 day trip there.

Edited April 29, 2016 by bert425

[bert425]

 

any suggestions appreciated!

 

thanks,

bert

 

Legoland is roughly 40 minutes away. Much closer would be Lowry Park Zoo (maybe 10 minutes), which has a log flume, kiddie coaster, and a couple other rides. Clearwater Beach is nice and will probably be packed (but nice). There's also an aquarium there as well. A little north of Tampa are things like Weeki Wachee, home to the famous underwater mermaid show, and Crystal River where there's manatee snorkeling trips.

 

ooo. .thanks!

 

not sure about Legoland (I'll look into it). As huge as BGT seems to be, and we like the animals and shows, so expecting to spend a lot of time there (at least 3 days), but we still should have at least 1 full day to do something else too.

 

that Mermaid show at Weeki Wachee is right up our alley. . will absolutely look into that!

[Philrad71]

 

any suggestions appreciated!

 

thanks,

bert

 

Legoland is roughly 40 minutes away. Much closer would be Lowry Park Zoo (maybe 10 minutes), which has a log flume, kiddie coaster, and a couple other rides. Clearwater Beach is nice and will probably be packed (but nice). There's also an aquarium there as well. A little north of Tampa are things like Weeki Wachee, home to the famous underwater mermaid show, and Crystal River where there's manatee snorkeling trips.

 

While we haven't been to Legoland, we thought Lowry Zoo was nice and it's very close to BGT. There is also the aforementioned stuff as well as the Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg. Even if you're not a fan of art, you can't help but love this quirky, awesome art museum. It's a must-do whenever we are in the area!

 

There are also tons of mini-golf courses around the beach areas as well as sunset pirate and dolphin watching cruises...all a lot of fun!

[Wily J]

Do you like to gamble Bert?

 

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but St Pete has the oldest dog racing tracks in the world, http://www.derbylane.com/.

 

Even if you're not into betting on the races, it's a very cool place; they have a 'Big Band' (Glen Miller type music) in the infield that plays between races and it's relatively cheap to get into the clubhouse which has decent food and nice bars. They also have a poker room. It's a unique and relatively inexpensive evening out.

 

You might also check out St. Johns Pass north of St. Pete. It's a fishing village with decent bars and restaurants and gambling cruises.

 

Hope this is helpful.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

My wife recommends St. Petersburg. I haven't been myself, but she has, before we met. She says St. Pete Beach is way less crowded than Clearwater. Also, they have a Holocaust Museum and the Salvador Dali museum (which I very much want to visit myself, as Dali is one of my favourite artists).

[djcoastermark]

Bert, We live in St Pete and have lots of suggestions, however right now I am out of town for a week and have very limited internet access. I will give some suggestions once I get back to the real world.

[boldikus]

Following this thread. Not to hijack Bert, but BGT is most likely my next long-distance-travel park (hoping for later this year, already planning) and I am wondering about the hotels right there outside the park. Anyone have any experience? If they all suck, any others close by the park that are not terrible? Bert - where are you guys staying? Also interested in non-BGT stuff nearby that could be fun to get into. Looking to stay in the immediate area (and maybe take the shuttle over to SWO one day).

[bert425]

Following this thread. Not to hijack Bert, but BGT is most likely my next long-distance-travel park (hoping for later this year, already planning) and I am wondering about the hotels right there outside the park. Anyone have any experience? If they all suck, any others close by the park that are not terrible? Bert - where are you guys staying? Also interested in non-BGT stuff nearby that could be fun to get into. Looking to stay in the immediate area (and maybe take the shuttle over to SWO one day).

 

from my research, the hotels "close" to the park are crap.

 

we looked into HardRock (because we love to gamble. . gonna look into that dog track!) but it was too expensive for the 5 nights (being that one is a "weekend" day).

 

So we are going with our standby: Courtyard Marriott.

They are pretty standard in quality, room design, and amenities, and we really like what they offer (I'd say it's about the level of a Hilton: it's not a "nice" as a Marriott or a Hyatt, but it's a step up over Holiday inn Express, and a huge improvment over a Motel 6, Super 8, or Days Inn).

 

we're gonna rent a car, because we're doing that day in Orlando at SeaWorld, and definitely will be making use of it. . but do note that parking at BGT seems to be ~$18.. so that's why we're going for the Tickets that include parking, and the admission to Seaworld).

 

without a car, it still seems to be a short Uber or cab to the park tho.

[bert425]

Bert, We live in St Pete and have lots of suggestions, however right now I am out of town for a week and have very limited internet access. I will give some suggestions once I get back to the real world.

 

 

sounds great! Thanks.

 

thus far, really appreciate the suggestions: Wikee Wachee, Dali Museum, and either the Dog-Track or Hard Rock Casino have all made the "short list" - and are pretty much a lock for at least a visit. Also at least a brief stop at a beach. (probably combining a couple of them together on the "open" days we have).

 

the Zoo is an absolute "maybe". . it depends how "animal-ed" out we will be after BGT & SeaWorld . . .but has potential, tho to be honest, the Aquarium is more likely than the Zoo (even with that flume ride). But that's a potential, as I said.

 

Legoland is a NO, not enough to keep Nick interested (he won't ride any of the coasters there), and honestly? likely too many kids for us. . .yeah, we're old farts who don't wanna be surrounded by kids, unless we can feel that awe they do too (something that happens at Disney, Aquariums, and hopefully BGT too).

 

thanks for the suggestions. . keep em coming. and if any more food suggestions? bring em on! we got's to eat too!

[Nrthwnd]

Dali Museum was awesome - back in...1987 when we were there.

 

I even got the t-shirt!

What I got in 1987. But in a white t-shirt. The "Classic." (o:

Hard to see the white lettering, though. ..... ROFL ... (Could not resist.)

[bert425]

Dali Museum was awesome - back in...1987 when we were there.

 

I even got the t-shirt!

 

oooo. .reminds me of my Liberace museum shirt I got in Vegas 25 years ago!

 

[bert425]

hard part now done!

 

Flight booked, car rental booked, and hotel booked.

 

now for the fun stuff! (Park tickets, "extras". .that evening Safari is calling our names!, and trips to surrounding stuff to plan).

 

wOOt!

[Wily J]

Hope to see some pics in a couple months Bert.

 

Whatever you guys decide to do, hope it's great fun!

 

[bhartley]

The Columbia restaurant in Ybor City has great food.

[thrillrider]

We are going in July as well.

 

Besides spending 2 days at Busch gardens, we are also doing clearwater beach. We typically fit clearwater into our plans when in the Tampa area because it's such a great beach. I would highly recommend it. There are also a nice selection of restaurants and bars at clearwater as well. One of the bars was just on the tv show "bar rescue".

 

We were thinking of doing 1 day at Busch and getting a fast lane, but found that it worked out better(and cheaper) to just spend 2 full days there.They have a great deal on tickets going right now, and also have a combo ticket with seaworld if your interested. Hopefully, we can get all the coasters in during this trip because we are traveling with a 1.5 yo and a 2 yo.

[Philrad71]

Dali Museum was awesome - back in...1987 when we were there.

 

I even got the t-shirt!

 

You have to go see the new Dali museum, Bill....WAY bigger, better & cooler than the old one!

 

And Bert...of course I have to throw foodie suggestions at you too!

 

If you guys are looking for good food and like German, there is Mr. Dunderbak's restaurant only a few miles from BGT. And if you do the Dali museum and like burgers, try out Engine No. 9 in downtown St. Pete...probably the best burger that I have ever eaten!

I want to go back!

 

Hell, I should be living here right now....stupid employer!

Engine No.9...the real deal for burgers.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Philrad71

[bert425]

We were thinking of doing 1 day at Busch and getting a fast lane, but found that it worked out better(and cheaper) to just spend 2 full days there.They have a great deal on tickets going right now, and also have a combo ticket with seaworld if your interested. Hopefully, we can get all the coasters in during this trip because we are traveling with a 1.5 yo and a 2 yo.

 

yep. . gonna get the 14 day pass with free parking (that includes admission to Seaworld too).

 

great deal thru Club TPR