Busch Gardens Europe Lowers Season Pass Prices

[The Interpreter]

http://www.thrillnetwork.com/stories_view....ass_prices.html

[flightoffear1996]

Thats a good idea a two year pass.

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Now if they would just offer a better deal on Discovery Cove, other than the basic $50 off for booking 45 days early. I mean that is OK but you can pretty much get that all the time. We have penciled it in to do for our upcoming trip but that depends on the deal and since September is the off season, I am hoping for a better deal.

[Delirium_Guy]

Now if they would just offer a better deal on Discovery Cove, other than the basic $50 off for booking 45 days early. I mean that is OK but you can pretty much get that all the time. We have penciled it in to do for our upcoming trip but that depends on the deal and since September is the off season, I am hoping for a better deal.

Ya never know what will happen by then, but I'd say its unlikely. They are offering great deals for Discovery Cove for Florida residents, with the non-swim booking for $99 and the Dolphin Tow for $199. Given that the place *still* books solid almost every day, lower rates may not be on the horizon :-)

Have you done DC before? If you haven't, you won't be disappointed. Even working for the company, I didn't "get" paying the money to go. I finally did, of course with a nice discount, WOW. Even if I weren't an employee, I'd have no problem paying the money to go back. Its absolutely wonderful, hard to imagine that you aren't on a deserted island somewhere.....but rather right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Orlando Attractions corridor. The park is top notch and the experience is great. I've been back two more times since my first visit in December!

- Todd

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Thanks Todd, I appreciate your opinion in the manner from your unique perspective and proximity to the Orlando area. No this trip will be our first time to Discovery Cove, but we have always wanted to go and have heard nothing but praises about the park. You gave me some touring advice last year and it was very appreciative and I found it useful. I frequent other Orlando park sites and read a lot of reviews but I always but much more value in what you have to say because I have read many of your post and have a better understanding and trust with you. Such as your review about the American Idol, in it you are quit frank about your thoughts before and after the show.

I hope all that does not sound like a suck-up because it is the truth and I would like to ask your opinion about a few things I am contemplating on our annual Orlando fall trip (your opinions do help me). We always do the Disney free dinning and will do so again this year but will be renting a car for the first week of the trip to visit several off Disney property parks. We plan to do 13 different parks over 17 days, including water parks which are put in between the hard parks. So like SW then Aquatica then BGT. We won free tickets to US and IOA so I would like to use those especially to ride the new coaster at US,. That make things a bit tight but we did not intend for it to be so but hey free tickets. We always arrive at rope drop and enjoy a whole park experience rides, shows, dinner and special daily events (parades, fireworks ect.)

My question is and since it is the off season, is there a non Disney park that you feel that we should plan for more than one day?

Two, Do you know anything about the BGT free bus service from SW? Does it get to BGT before rope drop or do you recommend that we should drive our self?

Three, because of trying to fit everything in we will need to do one of the non Disney parks on a Saturday (hard Park) do you have an opinion which would be a better choice to do on Saturday over the others?

Four, anything else you may want to add or not.

Like I said I really value your opinion and that is why I am asking you and not the other Orlando boards. I am very thankful for your time and advice on my questions, take your time in responding if you can.

Jesse

[Delirium_Guy]

My question is and since it is the off season, is there a non Disney park that you feel that we should plan for more than one day?

Two, Do you know anything about the BGT free bus service from SW? Does it get to BGT before rope drop or do you recommend that we should drive our self?

Three, because of trying to fit everything in we will need to do one of the non Disney parks on a Saturday (hard Park) do you have an opinion which would be a better choice to do on Saturday over the others?

Four, anything else you may want to add or not.

Thanks for the compliments :-) I remember you planning your trip down for Halloween Horror Nights!

First things first, Discovery Cove. Seriously, there is no reason why anyone should be disappointed with the experience. Are you guys doing the non-swim or dolphin swim? I was truly amazed by the entire park. Its small, but much larger than what I anticipated. The River is outstanding, we floated in it for a good two hours and just kept going around and around, nice touch was that you floated through the aviary. The snorkeling was great too, some of the rays that they have in there are HUGE....especially the spotted eagle rays. Not gonna lie, they freaked me out a little :-) What I enjoyed most was the guest service. Its every bit the guest service that Disney provides, if not better. Mix all that in with the great food (which is all inclusive) and beer (which is also all inclusive) and you have an experience that you can't get anywhere else in Orlando.

Now, regarding your massive trip....which sounds like something I'd do....hey Terpy remember those trips?

1) Since you are going in the off-season, obviously the crowds are going to be very light. If you are wanting to do *everything* the Parks offer, you may want to plan for an extra day to go back and hit one of them again. I'll kinda break it down for you.

Busch Tampa - You should definitely only need a day here. Most likely they will close at 6PM. Hitting the coasters will be no issue for you, lines are always minimal...most of the time they only run one train on Kumba, Montu and Gwazi....Sheikra typically has at least 2-3. With that said, when crowds demand, they are excellent at quickly getting an additional train on. As for shows, the *only* show I recommend in the entire Park is Katonga. Now, I just did the Pirates in 4D on Monday for the first time, its kinda cool too. If you have visited the Park before, then you definitely do not need more than a day.....most of the time I'm done in a few hours :-)

SeaWorld - Again, 6PM close most likely. You're only gonna need a day. Kraken never had more than a 10 minute wait most days, Journey to Atlantis gets a bit of a line sometimes due to being the only water ride and its still pretty warm through September and October. No doubt that Manta will be your longest wait. Like BGT, if you've visited the Park before, then you don't have to worry about all the shows. The key ones to hit would be Blue Horizons, Believe, and Clyde & Seamore.

Universal & IOA - Given the budget cuts that Universal is making currently with the big productions like Sinbad, Poseidon, Twister and Disaster!, you may be able to do both parks in a day ;-) No, seriously, Islands of Adventure will take you absolutely no time to hit everything in the Park in just a few hours.

2) Regarding the shuttle from SW to Busch Gardens, do yourself a favor and drive yourself. Its a nice convenience to have, I've taken it once, however if you want to maximize your park time drive yourself....that way you aren't at the mercy of the bus schedule.

3) As for your Saturday park, SeaWorld or Busch Gardens are probably your better choices. Speaking from personal experience by working for SeaWorld, I can say that Saturdays typically aren't that much busier than weekdays. Now, if you are coming in October, Saturdays will be busier regardless.....SeaWorld has Spooktacular which brings in BIG crowds through the day since its a family event, of course you also have Howl-O-Scream and Halloween Horrow Nights going on in BGT and Universal as well.

4) I always have lots to add :-) But hit me up with a private message with any other questions, I will shoot you my email address if ya want. Manta officially opens Memorial Day Weekend, banners went up in the Park today. However, soft opening is quite likely in late April. HRRR is growing by leaps and bounds and is nearing completion as well. So you'll have lots to look forward to this fall!

- Todd

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Thank-You Todd

For taking the time to answer my questions, your feed back was exactly what I was looking for. I had an agenda planned and it had a couple hard parks placed together, with your advice I have reworked the front half of the daily agenda. Per your advice on IOA I decided we should go there on our arrival day and then go to DeLand to stay with my brother for a few days. Below is a basic Picture Itinerary I have put together to give me a better feel to the flow of the vacation. If you have any suggestions just let me know, at this point with the advice I gotten from you I am very comfortable with everything but a bit concerned about SW, DC then BGT. Dolphin Swim is a must for us and just a bit worried those three days may be to tiring, unless you think DC is somewhat relaxing.

Todd there is no way to express to you how much you helped and how appreciative I am for you taking the time to answer my questions. I may have a few more detailed questions as most of the non-Disney parks we have not visited in 15+ years. If you don't mind I will ask those through e-mail and will provide the questions and my personal info to help make your answers a bit easier and possibly quicker for you.

With much gratitude - Jesse