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Tampa Bay, FL; Trip Adivce


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Hello everybody. My friend and I has decided to go to Tampa Bay, Florida sometime in September. We mainly are going to Busch Gardens Tampa and other places. We need some advice's for our trip. Thank you in advance.

 

EDIT: Which one is the better option, flying on the plane or driving?

Edited by Crosshairs007
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That's a loaded question. What are you looking to do ? Beaches, dining, nightlife ? We live in St Pete and can answer a lot of those questions.

 

Were planing on mainly going to Busch Gardens and the beach. Do you have any other places you could recommend?

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Well let's start with some qualifying questions...

 

Where are you traveling from? What are the dates you are targeting or how long do you plan to be in the area? Have you been to or are you interested in experiencing any of the Orlando parks while you're in Central Florida?

 

Tampa has Busch Gardens and Adventure Island going for it along with Hard Rock Casino if that's your kind of thing. St. Petersburg has lots of artsier options like the Dali Museum and the Chihuly Collection. If you're willing to venture outside of Tampa area, you have access to the rest of the Central Florida attractions including Disney (four parks, two water parks, Disney Springs), Universal (two parks, a water park and CityWalk), SeaWorld (one park, one water park and an all-inclusive style experience park that is unique), Fun Spot (not my top recommendation but the coasters at each location are solid enough that it may be worth a try), International Drive and a ton more... Your horizons will definitely be broadened if you go beyond Tampa.

 

Even further, you could visit Kennedy Space Center in only a 2.5 hour drive, which seeing the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit is worth the drive alone.

 

If you were to stick to Tampa, then I recommend considering one of Busch Gardens' animal tours... The Serengeti Safari is something I highly recommend!

 

Depending on the time you're planning to be in town, Howl-O-Scream could be taking place at Busch Gardens, but again if you're willing to step out of Tampa, there's Halloween Horror Nights, the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party just a short drive away!

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Where would you be driving from?

 

We would be driving from Hague, Virginia.

 

Well let's start with some qualifying questions...

 

Where are you traveling from? What are the dates you are targeting or how long do you plan to be in the area? Have you been to or are you interested in experiencing any of the Orlando parks while you're in Central Florida?

 

Tampa has Busch Gardens and Adventure Island going for it along with Hard Rock Casino if that's your kind of thing. St. Petersburg has lots of artsier options like the Dali Museum and the Chihuly Collection. If you're willing to venture outside of Tampa area, you have access to the rest of the Central Florida attractions including Disney (four parks, two water parks, Disney Springs), Universal (two parks, a water park and CityWalk), SeaWorld (one park, one water park and an all-inclusive style experience park that is unique), Fun Spot (not my top recommendation but the coasters at each location are solid enough that it may be worth a try), International Drive and a ton more... Your horizons will definitely be broadened if you go beyond Tampa.

 

Even further, you could visit Kennedy Space Center in only a 2.5 hour drive, which seeing the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit is worth the drive alone.

 

If you were to stick to Tampa, then I recommend considering one of Busch Gardens' animal tours... The Serengeti Safari is something I highly recommend!

 

Depending on the time you're planning to be in town, Howl-O-Scream could be taking place at Busch Gardens, but again if you're willing to step out of Tampa, there's Halloween Horror Nights, the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party just a short drive away!

 

Traveling from Hague, Virginia. We will be planning on staying from Thursday - Sunday. I have been to Orlando before.

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If you are going to stay on the beaches, I would opt for the southern end of Pinellas county, either Treasure Island or St Pete Beach. Both are less crowded than Clearwater. There is less traffic and parking is cheaper and less of a hassle.Trust me, traffic and parking can be a nightmare at times into Clearwater.

Some places to stay on TI are the Bilmar and the Thunderbird. On St Pete beach, the Sirata, Tradewinds or the fancy Don Ceasar. There are also lots of cheaper mom and pop places which in September, you should be able to find some good off season room rates. From Treasure Island it is a straight shot to downtown St Pete, a great foodie town and good museums. The Dali, The James museum of Western Art, The Imagination Museum, and many more.

If you want a more deserted beach, Fort Desoto is a great one. Miles of uncrowded beaches, biking trails, and even a campground. LInk. https://www.pinellascounty.org/park/05_ft_desoto.htm '

If you want even more uncrowded, take the ferry from Ft Desoto to Egmont Key.

For cheap eats check out Eat cheap. A site broken down by b'fast lunch, happy hour, dinner, late night and by day of the week. It features mostly local places, no fast food or big chain places and mostly in the Downtown St Pete corridor of Central Ave and Beach Blvd. We use it all the time to find great food and drink options. link, https://eatcheap.app/stpetersburg_fl_us_city/tues/hh .

Hours are shorter in Sept for Busch so get there early. Allow extra time for morning rush hour traffic in Tampa, it can be a royal pain. Tampa has some of the worst traffic in the US. The bridges (there's only 3) into Tampa can have up to a half hour jam on them.

Have fun while you're here. Any more questions, just ask.

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  • 2 months later...

UPDATE

 

My friend and I has decided on what day were doing the trip. It's gonna be from Friday, October 18th - Sunday, October 20th. We are thinking about staying at the Hampton Inn near the park. Also, we have decided to get on the plane for this trip. This is gonna be my first time riding on the plane. I'm going to need your airport advice's. For this trip, we have decided to just focus on the park. I'm going to need park advice as well. Thank you.

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Airport advices? Sure I’ve got airport advices...

 

1) Don’t be the douche that rushes the gate agent when they start pre-boarding but you’re in zone 4,678. Why the f*ck would you want to be on the plane longer than you have to unless you’re in first class? I hate those people.

 

2) Have your ID out and your boarding pass before you get to security. Don’t be that guy either. If you get to the gate agent fumbling for your boarding pass when you just saw the 200 people in front of you show it so help me god...

 

3) Don’t be the person that takes seven hours at the rental car counter. “I’ll bring it back full”, “I have insurance”, the answer to every other question is “no”. You’re not getting the car you saw in the picture on the website so get over it. Buy a SunPass at Walgreens if you want but the answer to the toll pass question is also “no”.

 

... I think I got everything. Enjoy riding on the plane.

Edited by coasterbill
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