Busch Gardens Round Two

 

Prior to this pandemic year of 2020, none of the six of us had ever been to either of the two Busch Gardens (there are two locations: one in Williamsburg, VA and one in Tampa, FL) and now during this crazy year of sporadic lock downs, we've been to both!  Go figure!

This wasn't in our original plan, but Sea World and Busch Gardens are owned by the same company and they had a Black Friday deal to go to both parks, so we decided to take advantage of the deal.

Grandpa and Nana decided to stay "home" yesterday when we went to BG, but the rest of us headed to Tampa!

Lexi and Riley walking hand in hand to the first ride (Montu).  We rode Montu twice because we got there right when it opened and there was no line.  but by the time we got off the second time, there was already a 75 minute wait for the next ride and the wait times were 1-2 hours for everything the rest of the day.

But luckily this little girl saved the day!!  At the second ride we went on, I asked the employee if they had any "rider swap" options so that Dave could wait with her while I went and then I could go without having to re-wait in the line.  They said yes and handed us a fast pass good for four people.  I went around to every single ride in the entire park and every single one of them handed me a fast pass (fast passes were on sale for $150/person for yesterday) that was enough for our whole party.  It was amazing!  I couldn't believe it!!!  So, the nine of us (the six of us plus Heidi, Becky and Jacque - Mike, Anne and their family went off in a separate direction) had fast passes to every single ride for the entire day!  It was so great!!!!  So instead of waiting 1-2 hours for every ride (and therefore probably only going on a few in the whole day), we never had to wait more than about 20 minutes or so and we got to ride every single big ride in the park: In addition to Montu, we went on Falcon's Fury, Tigris, Cobra's Curse, Cheetah Hunt, Kumba, Stanley Falls Flume, Serengeti Express (this was a safari ride that took us to see Giraffes, Zebra, Rhinoceros and more), Scorpion, Sandserpent, Air Grover (shown here - which we actually had to wait for since it was a kid ride - but she earned it!!) and Sheikra.  Falcon's Fury, Cheetah Hunt and Sheikra were my favorite!

Ella and I rode the carousel with J and Lacey.  We tried to find rides for Ella every hour or so.

Safari time!

I spy a giraffe!

This was supposed to be a rhinoceros selfie, but my head is blocking the rhino!

There's the rhino! 🦏

One of the cool things about BG are all the cool animals to see in addition to all the rides!

All I want for Christmas is for a huge Santa to bring me a huge Diet Coke.

Wish granted!

Ella with her Becky Boo.

Dave and Riley J.

Ella was scaredy pants all day, but we finally got her to ride Scorpion and Sandserpent at the end of the day and she liked both, so it was a great way to end the day!

And our (me, Heidi, Tanner and Riley here) last ride of the day was Falcon's Fury which lifted you 335 feet in the air then, once there, tipped your seat so that you were horizontal facing the ground and dropped you.  It was crazy!!!  

Good night and Happy Holidays from Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida!

Shamu

 

Tuesday morning, the six of us along with Grandpa headed to Sea World!  I've been to Sea World in California (15 years ago), but never to the one here and Dave and the kids have never been to any Sea World, so we decided to go check it out!  And we were excited that Grandpa wanted (or was at least willing) to come with us!

Happy Holidays from Sea World!

Once inside the park, Grandpa got an electronic scooter that was so nice to have all day!

Our first stop was the flamingo exhibit for Lacey.

Then we went to the aquarium. 

These sea horses were so cool!

Then it was time to ride some rides!  We rode on the Journey to Atlantis (which we all loved!) followed by riding the Kraken twice since there was no line 🎢. 

And then we all went to see the dolphin show.

Next stop: Pacific Point Preserve to see the seals and sea lions.

We even go to feed them!

Waving hello 👋

After the seals/sea lions, we went on Mako (which was AWESOME!!)....

And then took Ella to Sesame Street land (which she was begging to go to all day since she is scaredy pants and refuses to go on any of the "scary" rides).  

She got to ride the Sea Carousel (pictured here), Elmo's Choo Choo Train and Super Grover's Box Car Derby. 

And she was a very happy girl! (Notice Grandpa and Dave behind her 😊).

Ella's a little rascal on her little rascal.

Next, we went to see (and feed!) the sharks and stingrays. 

And then we went to see the Orca Whales!!  So cool!!

Then we visited Antarctica before heading "home" ~3:30 for a little break.  We had this luxury because our hotel was only 1 mile from Sea World.  We could literally walk there if we wanted to.  So once it got busy and hot, we headed home for a little break and because the kids wanted to swim.  Three hours later, we headed back.  Grandpa, Riley and Ella decided to stay home....

But Tanner, Lacey, Dave and I headed back!

So, we saw Antarctica by day and by night!

I really, really hope I make it here some day.  But in the mean time, this will have to do!

We kept checking the Manta ride (where it straps you into a seat horizontally like you are a Manta Ray and flies you through the sky on the coaster in that position - it was SO cool!! I've never been on a ride like that and it was SO much fun!!!) throughout the day and the line was always too long.  Luckily, when we went back at night, we were able to get on with only a 25 minutes wait.  So, so cool!!

This is a water ride that gets you SOAKING wet and was closed when we were there earlier in the day.  When we went back at night, Lacey really wanted to go.  Dave and I thought she was crazy, because after the sun went down, it was getting chilly and this ride drenches you.  Luckily for Lacey, she had a brother willing to go with him!

In addition to going on several rides, we saw lots of cool shows.  We saw Winter Wonderland on Ice (a show with about 15-20 professional ice skaters doing a show set to Christmas songs that was fantastic!) and Holiday Reflections Fireworks.

So grateful to spend the waning days of 2020 with my kiddos at this magical place!