I realized today that I am still recovering from Spring Break which was last week. I am mentally exhausted.. trying to catch up with work and life and on top of normal work and life to catch up on, my 10 year old has CRCT’s this week at school and I’m the one having nightmares.. no kidding!
We went to my home town, Orlando, for Spring Break. While in Orlando, we visited a couple of great family destinations, Busch Gardens and Kennedy Space Center and I couldn’t have been more pleased with our visit to both places. The kids were just amazing and they both had fun.. which as you know if you have more than one child, can be difficult to accomplish when they are far apart in age. My kids are 10 and 3.
Our 1st big outing: Busch Gardens Tampa
Our first big outing was a visit to Busch Gardens Tampa where we spent over 10 hours. I wish we could have gone a second day as we weren’t able to go on nearly all the rides we wanted or visit all the exhibits and shows. That’s to be expected though when you have two kids of such different ages, 10 and 3, and 4 adults with varying tastes in rides and shows. The highlight of our Busch Gardens visit was in Busch Gardens’ new Sesame Street Safari of Fun and boy.. do I wish I brought swimsuits for the kids! Both kids enjoyed Sesame Street Safari of Fun. I wasn’t sure if Sebastian, 10 years old, would like it so much as it looks like it’s geared for a younger crowd but he LOVED it and was Madelyn’s big helper when going through the rope maze and over the tree house bridge. We didn’t get to do many of the rides in Sesame Street Safari of Fun and could have easily spent 3 or 4 hours just in the Sesame Street Safari of Fun section of Busch Gardens so I hope we can go back soon so we can go on more Sesame Street rides. I particularly enjoyed Snuffy’s Elephant Romp (pictures below).
Here is a bit I wrote about during our first 1/2 hour at Busch Gardens which was amazingly stress-free and yummy!
Here are a few tips for families visiting Busch Gardens Tampa:
- Bring swimsuits for the kids (and yourself if you want to join in the water fun!)
- Bring plenty of water and baggies of snacks
- Bring a few grocery bags to put wet clothes in
- Bring baby wipes and/or a wet washcloth
- Wear sun hats and sun screen
- Buy the meal plan for each family member – it’s worth it
- Try to visit for two days
What’s exceptional:
- Hand sanitizer is provided throughout the park without having to go into a restroom!
- The landscaping is beautiful
- Walkways are wide enough to not be crowded even with lots of strollers
- Ride wait times were very reasonable
- Food options are great (fajita chicken, fresh fruit, carrots, etc)
- Strollers are accommodated throughout the park
Follow Busch Gardens on Twitter – @MyBuschGardens
Find more photos like this on Atlanta Moms
Even though I grew up in Florida I had not been to Busch Gardens Tampa and am so glad I got to go with my kids for the first time. My kids had a blast and were absolutely wonderful there. Neither of them got fussy or impatient which when coupled with beautiful weather, a wonderful atmosphere, and nice people, made our experience at Busch Gardens a great one that I won’t forget.