Road Trip North 2025, Day 3: Busch Gardens Travel Advisory

 

Today was cold for Florida: in the 50's but felt like the 30's. Our big plan was to go to Busch Gardens, even if it was $112 per person, and they claimed that was a discount. The traffic was awful getting into the parking lot, which set us back another $40 ($43 with tax), then we elected to walk instead of taking the shuttle, which was a mistake because it was a lot further than we'd realized. The first thing we wanted to do when we got there was ride the train, but it was hard to find a restroom using the map, and then there was a long line for the train and they let everyone on and then stopped at us. One guy told us the next train would come in ten minutes, but another guy said twenty. Also, they don't have people get on the train in an orderly fashion; it's a free-for-all like the Tokyo subway, so we were afraid that even though we were first in line at that point, a lot of younger, faster people would beat us onto the train and we'd have to wait for yet another one. We did get on the train, and it goes through an African safari that is pretty cool. However, there are also amusement park rides right above you, which is very distracting since they are loud enough without the kids screaming on them. Our guide said one was named after the word for something (didn't catch it) in the African dialect. Say what now? There are hundreds of languages in Africa. There is no "African dialect." Anyway, here are some cool photos Travalon took. First, an ibis.

This looks like a silverback gorilla.

There was a waterfall in the gorilla enclosure.

Something seems not quite real about this penguin...

We saw a number of these gazelles.

And two of these crowned herons.

The giraffes crossed the train tracks, so we had to wait for them to pass.

Check out the Spanish moss on this tree!

We saw plenty of rhinos.

And a wildebeest.

More gazelles.

There was a colorful complex called Pantopia that we saw from the train.

Look, another silver palm!

There were two trains - we were on the Yellow Train, and here you can see the Green Train's engine as it passed us.

Zebras are very photogenic.

More rhinos.

We saw a pied-billed grebe, just like back home, and a couple of gallinules, but Travalon didn't get photos of those. Also, a little blue heron he also didn't get a photo of.

I forget what these lovely antelope are called.

After the train ride, we wandered around looking at Christmas decorations and watching ibises beg for food from people. Seems funny that we thought we couldn't photograph one, since the wild ones are so skittish. Who knew they could be so comfortable around people?

We went to Pantopia in search of food.

We went to the Dragon Fire Grill and waited in line for an hour.

Finally after three we both got the chicken Alfredo; I thought that would save my clothes more than the marinara with meatballs, but ironically the blackening sauce on the chicken makes at least as bad a stain as marinara. There was a show consisting of a guy playing violin with a karaoke background, but at least he played ancient carols like "Pat-a-Pan," "Greensleeves," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and "The Holly and the Ivy." I thought the light show inside the Dragon Fire Grill was pretty cool.

We went to find the Bird Garden and wandered all over, finding intriguing things.

This is a model train in the Christmas Village. You know how I always have to make videos of small trains.

Then we found some birds.

OK, this is a Komodo dragon, not a bird.

We saw scarlet macaws. (And a hyacinth macaw, but those photos are out of focus.)

We saw a toucan.

And a white-necked raven.

And some flamingos and ibises.

"Wait, why is there a number on my leg??"

We also saw a porcupine.

And a very speedy armadillo - this is the best picture of it.

As the afternoon grew later, the Christmas lights came on.

This penguin seemed to want to sing about it!

Keep this Moroccan-looking building in mind - you'll see it again.

We walked under this colorful arbor.

Here is one of the lights making it so colorful.

Here is Travalon's version of the decorations I took with my cellphone.

Finally, we found the bird garden! This fowl seems happy to see we made it.

These black-necked swans are so beautiful.

There were lots of gulls around too.

And a black swan.

And many snow-white ibises with their pink beaks and legs and bright blue eyes.

Right by there was the kangaroo area.

This one looked very old.

Check out the cute little wallaby.

Here is the black swan again.

We have no idea why the flamingos appear such different colors in these two photos Travalon took moments apart.

Some topiaries, including Sesame Street characters.

We found an enclosure with lories (a type of parrot) and the handsomest duck I've ever seen.

So handsome!

Even with his head under the water!

Here are more photos of Christmas decorations:

And here are the same shots from my cell phone:

Here are some sunset shots.

And the same view from my cell phone:

Maybe I'm having cruise withdrawal, but when I spend that kind of money, I expect to be treated like royalty, not a refugee. There weren't nearly enough employees, which is why everything was slow, and then they were all grumpy because they were overworked. This is how capitalism works: the rich who own things, like Busch Gardens, have convinced us that the problem is the hourly employees or the fellow guests, so you begin to hate all mankind (especially children), but they are just as miserable, and the problem is actually the rich people overcharging and cutting corners. We had been planning to stay until dark to really see the Christmas lights (but not for the drone show at ten), but we were exhausted and just wanted to ride the Sky Tram and leave. However, I decided I was too tired even for that, and good thing! They got stuck and were just hanging up there instead of moving along and seeing the park from above. We didn't care about the wilder roller coaster rides, but other people were angry that half of them were out of order, so the other half had two or three hour lines to wait in. Everyone had a miserable time.

There was a long line for the tram back to the parking lot, so we took some photos of the decorations in the front of the Gardens.

And from my cell phone:

And here's that Moroccan-style building, all lit up.

The line was so long, but trams kept coming, and it was moving quickly. Finally we got to the front... and just like with the train, they stopped us, although there appeared to be two last seats on that tram. And then there wasn't another one right after it, but finally another one came... and then it wouldn't go because an employee needed to use the bathroom, so we had to wait another ten minutes for another tram to return. That was the cherry on the poop sundae of our Busch Gardens visit. When they finally let us on one, we were half afraid they'd make us get off at the last minute to give someone else our space, but we did get to the car, probably later than if we'd just walked. The one thing that worked well was that there was a long line to exit the parking lot, but we were in the Back Forty and watched another guy take a secret way out, so no waiting for us!

Once we were on the road, I began to pray a rosary and realized it was the same time (because of the time difference) that I would have been doing so had I been back home at Adoration. We interrupted the Rosary after the third decade to go to a rest stop, and Travalon said he was going to get some "gourmet coffee," which is in fact how the vending machine was labeled, but I am skeptical that anything coming from a vending machine could be truly "gourmet." While he did that, I impulsively bought an ice cream sandwich from a nearby vending machine. Now I may have bought an ice cream sandwich from a vending machine a time or two before this, and it was always a practical affair, but this time the machine sat there for a moment, so I thought I'd wasted my $3, until the top of a cooler flew open and I could see the various types of ice cream bars. Then a mechanical arm, somewhat like the claw game, moved over my selection, and a vacuum hose came down and sucked up my sandwich, moved it over to the slot, and dropped it. I laughed so hard at this unexpected and inefficient vending machine that Travalon had to try it himself. He didn't start the video quite in time, but here's the second half of the transaction.

Good thing we had those ice cream sandwiches, because our hotel was in the middle of nowhere and we drove forever to get there. We hadn't eaten dinner and it was almost nine, but fortunately the guy at the front desk knew there were an Olive Garden and a Ruby Tuesday five miles down the road that were open until ten. Since we had never eaten at a Ruby Tuesday, we went there, and they have a Deconstructed Kabob, so I got that, since it seemed very healthy, especially with the shrimp option. And very tasty too. So that was a fine ending to a very inconvenient day. Unless you are a person who loves walking for six miles, standing for hours, and waiting in very long lines, I cannot recommend Busch Gardens.

Famous Hat