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This post is sponsored by Busch Gardens, however, all opinions are my own.

Are you looking for a Busch Gardens Guide | Florida USA? Read on. Our family was so excited to go to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida! We have visited several amusement parks over the years with our family but never Busch Gardens, so this was going to be a real treat!!

Our two youngest children are 19 and 17 years old. Usually, I don’t see a lot of older teens visiting amusement parks with there family but we have made amusement parks sort of a tradition.

The O’Leary family has a need for speed and thrills. We even managed to have a great time with teenagers, imagine that! Definitely don’t discount Busch Gardens as a park for just younger families. This is a park for all ages, from the very young child, to the teenage years up to older members of the family.

As you enter the park you arrive in Morocco. We then headed left and worked our way around the park clockwise. We had to make some compromises because the kids and I wanted rollercoasters immediately. However, Jim wanted to photograph all the beautiful exotic animals.

Gorgeous Bird Gardens

The first place we stopped was Walkabout Way & Kookaburra’s Aviary. At this animal habitat, you will immerse yourself in this walk through aviary. You will see Australian animals and be able to hand-feed kangaroos and wallabies. There are several feeding sessions daily. The Kangaroos were so cute and amazingly friendly they even let you pat them.

Some of the Birds that we experienced were the Caribbean Flamingo, Kookaburras, Tuscans and more. The birds were beautiful, playful and seemed to be very happy and content with their living environment.

A Family-Friendly Train Station

As we made our way toward the SheiKra roller coaster, we observed that it was not running and out of service. Since we were in the area, we decided to take the train ride around the park.

This made Jim super excited! He couldn’t wait to see all the animals and photograph them. It was a fun train ride for all. Jim and our son were having a competition on who could take the best pictures. Micaiah with his cell phone camera and Jim with his regular Canon Powershot camera. They both have a great eye for photos.

The train takes you through most of the park for a great view of most of the animals. Taking the train is one of the two ways to see the Serengeti Plains, where you will be able to see zebra, giraffe, rhino and more.

The other way is the sky ride. We’ll get to that in a bit. As we were on the train we were able to observe guests in open air safari jeeps feeding the giraffes. You can also personalize your day at Busch Gardens by adding an immersive animal experience or tour. For more information on these offerings see Busch Gardens website @ https://buschgardens.com/tampa/

An Awesome Jungala Experience

Our next stop was Jungala, this is were we viewed the orangutans and tigers up close and personal. The orangutans were sitting high above on posts and the tigers that we saw was lounging around. This was lunch time and with full sun so I think it was their siesta time.

The Delicious Bengal Bistro

After our visit with these beautiful animals it was now lunch time for us. We picked up lunch at the Bengal Bistro. The food quality was better than the normal park food.

Jim and I split an Italian Grinder and they had my favorite sweet potato fries. The kids had a hamburger with fries and mozzarella sticks. The food was very tasty. Oh, lets not forget the peanut butter cookie with Reese’s peanut butter cup pieces for dessert. Simply Amazing!!

Thrilling Congo

Finally we made it to the Congo area, where the popular Kumba rollercoaster is located. Our anticipation was now building. We were going to get on our first rollercoaster of the day. Yay!!!

The Kumba has a 100 foot drop and a 360 degree spiral at 60 mph. I think I was definitely as excited, if not more, than the kids. Kumba is a great smooth riding roller coaster The lines were moving along quickly, so much so, that we had to do this rollercoaster again.

Fun Pantopia

In the Pantopia area there are attractions for all ages. The kids rode the Sand Serpent and they thoroughly enjoyed it! As they zoomed by us, all that we heard were some hoots and laughter.

This rollercoaster had a lot of sharp turns and dips. Roller coasters like this bang me around to much, it is not my favorite. I decided to take a break and join the spectating Sand Serpent crowd instead.

As we traveled on we came to Falcon’s Fury and that is right up my alley. Who doesn’t like a free fall? This free fall has a little twist to it though. First it lifts you up almost 300 feet, then your seat leans forwards so you are facing down at the ground.

When you are looking directly at the ground the car starts to scream downward making you feel like you will crash into the pavement below. Just as you get closer to the bottom of the tower the seat goes back to an upright position. WOW, what a rush this ride is!!

Entertaining Elephant Feeding

We started to wait for the Scorpion roller coaster but noticed that the elephants were having a feeding time. Elephants are my daughters favorite animal so we bypassed the Scorpion roller coaster.

We were able to get a great close up view of the beautiful elephants. If you pay close attention after most of the animal attractions there is a machine that will make a mold of the animal that you just viewed. Of course, Meredith needed an elephant. The elephant will be a great keepsake!!

Wildest Edge of Africa

Then we walked passed the Edge of Africa. Here, we had another opportunity to view some of the animals that you will be able to view while riding on the train and sky ride. We were able to see the beautiful giraffes, porcupine, ostrich, flamingos and more.

Entertaining Penguins

Penguin Point is were you can visit the entertaining warm weather African penguins. These were Micaiah’s favorite animal when he was a young child so we had to visit them.

The penguins loved to play!! They would swim by on there side and wave at you. The penguins also played follow the leader with each other. I took the time to look around and I observed the penguins put on a wonderful show that was enjoyed by all!!

Thrilling Cheetah Hunt

I had been looking forward to Cheetah Hunt all day. This ride did not disappoint!! Cheetah Hunt opened in 2011. The ride launches you forward at three different points.

After reaching a speed of 60 mph, Cheetah Hunt drops you 130 feet into a trench and then again 102 feet. Then completing an inversion before the ride comes to a stop. What a rush and a great roller coaster!!!

Picturesque Sky Ride

As you ride the sky ride, you will see spectacular views high above the Serengeti Plains. You can view all the animals from a birds-eye view. We enjoyed it so much we got right back on and made the return trip!

Amazing Egypt Area

When we arrived at the Egypt area, we where beginning to get tired. Our last two rides of the day were Montu and Cobra’s Curse.

Montu is one of the world’s longest inverted roller coasters. This great roller coaster offers a long ride, speed, flips, turns and thrills. Montu is amazing!! If you are a rollercoaster fan like us, make sure to put it on your list! You won’t be disappointed.

The Cobra’s Curse lifts you on a vertical lift where you come face-to-fang with an 80-foot snake statue. From the top of the ride you spin backwards and forwards on an adventure, traveling through a mysterious Egyptian archeological excavation. I was happy this ride was open! The ride was great fun for the whole family, not to scary but not to tame.

As we exited the park, we recalled our favorite parts of the day. My favorite was the rollercoasters and Falcon’s Fury. For Jim, it was photographing all the amazing exotic animals. Meredith’s favorite was viewing the Elephants up close and Micaiah loved the rollercoasters.

But most importantly, I think it was the great family time spent together and sharing our amazing experiences at Busch Gardens!! Everyone was truly amazed with the combination of thrilling rides and exotic animals. Honestly, everyone absolutely loved our Busch Gardens experience!!

We certainly recommend a trip to Busch Gardens! This amazing destination has something for all families and all ages. Make sure to add Busch Gardens to your bucket list!! We are sure you will be making wonderful lifetime memories.

Happy Travels!!

For more information, check out our beautiful and informative Busch Gardens and Sea World YouTube Videos:

Bush Gardens @ https://youtu.be/i9MeDht3W_0

Sea World @ https://youtu.be/vKGMk-UyCF8