BUSCH GARDENS & HOWL O SCREAM ITINERARY

Itinerary and detailed recap of our recent weekend road trip to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay theme park in Florida.

Weekend Itinerary: (3 Days, 2 Nights)

Friday:

10:30 AM - Drive to Tampa

3:00 PM - Home2 Suites: Hotel Check In

3:00 PM - 6:30 PM - Rest, Feed & Walk Dogs, Get Ready

7:00 PM - Busch Gardens, Howl O Scream Event Begins

1:00 AM - Event Ends, Drive Back to Hotel

Saturday:

8:15 AM - Wake Up, Get Ready

9:00 AM - Breakfast at Hotel

9:30 AM - Walk The Dogs

10:00 AM - Busch Gardens, Park Opens

6:00 PM - Leave, Park Closes / Howl O Scream Early Admission Begins

7:00 PM - Feed & Walk The Dogs

8:00 PM - Dinner

Sunday:

8:30 AM - Wake Up, Get Ready, Pack Up

9:30 AM - Breakfast at Hotel

10:30 AM - Walk Dogs, Pack Car

11:00 AM - Check Out, Drive Home

We (my husband, the dogs and I) packed our bags and took a last minute road trip to Tampa, Florida to visit Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for the very first time. We are Floridians born and raised, and have never visited this popular theme park located in northern Florida. Being a self proclaimed coaster enthusiast myself, I was very excited. It's just over a 4 hour drive from us, but I like to factor in extra time for at least one quick rest stop for the pups or emergencies, so we left Miami around 10:30 AM. Maximus and Mia are seasoned road trip dogs, this is a short trip for them, so the drive up was smooth sailings in that sense. We did get a bit unlucky with unusually heavy traffic at various points throughout the drive, that delayed us a bit.

We arrived to our hotel, Home2 Suites Hilton, just shy of 4 PM on Friday. I will be doing a review of our hotel stay in an upcoming post. I'll be providing further details there. But check in was a breeze, we got a few little freebies. Once we unpacked the car and settled into the hotel room, we fed the dogs and walked them. After that we rested briefly, then got ready to go to the park for their annual Howl O Scream Halloween event. We met up with friends of ours, who were staying at a nearby hotel, and left on our way!

Howl O Scream Event

“Beginning the month of September, and running for 29 select spooky nights, Busch Gardens Howl O Scream event takes place.”

Beginning the month of September, and running for 29 spooky nights, Busch Gardens Howl O Scream event takes place. The event officially begins at 7 PM and runs until 1 AM in the morning. They start allowing early admission up to two hours before. If you arrive early, you will receive a wrist band that allows the workers to know that you will be participating in the evening events, as the park closes for daytime guests at 6 PM. Unfortunately, our friends were running late due to traffic on the roads, so we arrived at the regular admission time. Considering it was a Friday night and the weekend of Halloween, the park crowds weren't awful! I expected Disney Not So Scary Halloween type crowds. That was definitely not the case. We managed to complete al 5 haunted houses, and ride Sheikra, just in time before the park closed for the evening. All of this was accomplished on a regular park ticket, no fast passes purchased.

During the Howl O Scream event you're able to experience most of the popular thrill rides in the dark, five haunted houses and seven different scare zones. There is also popular shows and themed entertainment, that we unfortunately did not have time for this trip.

In order of personal preference, the 2022 Haunted Houses were: Stranglewood Estate (new!), With of the Woods, The Forgotten, Death Water Bayou, Residence Home For The Holidays.

Amongst all the screams and scaries, we stopped to grab a quick bite for dinner at Zagora Cafe. A simple place serving burgers and chicken strips. In my opinion, the chicken strips were far superior to the burgers. The seasoned waffle fries served with either choice were surprisingly delicious!

Once the park closes, everyone shuffles out to the trams to return to the parking lot at once. Crowds were a bit heavy to jump on at this time, so if this is something you want to avoid I suggest heading out at least 20 minutes or so before closing times. We waiting about 25 minutes until we were able to hop on and get the ride back to our car. Our dogs are crate trained, but we only utilize their crates while we are away on trips. So from the park we went straight back to the hotel to let them out and walk them. We finally went to sleep around 3 am in the morning, with an alarm to wake us up promptly at 8:30 AM.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

We woke up on Saturday morning, tired from the night before, but excited to tackle the park during the day. Once awake, and after some quick coffee in the room, we got ready and took the dogs out on a nice long walk. After they exerted a decent amount of energy, we returned and crated them. After we went downstairs to take advantage of the hotels free continental breakfast. (So convenient!)

We spent one day at the park, Saturday, and I will start off by saying - One day is not enough to complete everything this place has to offer. We will definitely be returning at some point to finish the rest of the items we didn't have a chance to get to on this trip.

As you arrive and park, you'll take a tram (or opt for a short 10 minute walk) to the front entrance. As you get closer, you'll see one of the parks popular coasters "Montu". This is one of the rides we actually did not get a chance to ride. Its on the top of the list for next visit! The tram drops you off right in front of the admission booths. We purchased our tickets online in advanced so we proceeded right on in through the main gates. I recommend purchasing tickets, and downloading the Busch gardens app, in advanced so you're able to have the park map readily available.

The park is divided into several unique sections, each one featuring its own set of thrill rides, animal encounters and entertainment. Of all the rides we were able to enjoy Iron Gwazi, Sand Serpent, Scorpion, Tigris, Cheetah Hunt and SheiKra (which we rode the night before). Clearly, we missed out on the many other attractions and shows that the park has to offer. Just like the night before, we purchased regular admission tickets. No fast pass, so we accomplished what we could during the time we had.

It's probably no shocker that Iron Gwazi was my favorite ride, by far! The hybrid coaster is currently the parks newest addition, opening in early 2022. Boasting itself as Florida's tallest and fastest coaster, reaching heights of 207 feet and speeds of 76 mph. It's actually a revamp of the original Gwazi dueling wooden coaster that previously opened back in1999. The coaster has three inversions, a death roll, there is also a 200 ft. drop at a 91-degree angle. If you're ready to scream, or have a permanent smile plastered on your face (like me!), this is your coaster. This is the one ride I say you absolutely MUST do before leaving the park.

We had a very late lunch at Zambia Steakhouse located right near SheiKra. Even arriving around 2PM, this place was absolutely slammed. Remember the app I mentioned earlier that you should download? Another perk is you're able to place an order through it, and pick up your food at a separate mobile pick up window! Discovering that was a huge time saver, as we ordered and got our food in 15 minutes. We ordered the barbecue chicken and an order of ribs, each coming with a side of fries/chips or coleslaw. We shared, as we usually do, so we're able to take advantage and try more things. But realistically we probably could have shared just one of the two plates, and been satisfied. Their portions are huge!

Out of all the animal encounters, we decided to spend a little extra and purchase tickets for the Australia Insider Tour. Its definitely a popular encounter and can sell out, so I recommend buying tickets in advance, as we did. Tickets for a Saturday afternoon were $49.99, each. During the week they are slightly cheaper at $39.99. Worth every single penny! This was my favorite part of the entirety of the trip. The tour held in the Kangaroo exhibit. It's actually home to a few different types of kangaroos, wallaby's, and various birds. During the tour, you will be grouped with an intimate number of people. In our tour there were six other people with us. A zoo keeper will take you inside and behind the gates of the exhibit. After learning a few quick fun facts, you're able to feed and mingle with all of the kangaroos. I was absolutely shocked at how soft they are! Of course, these roos (hah, by coincidence thats a nickname I have always called my dog Maximus) are very accustomed to human interaction. Most actually appeared as if they could not be bothered less that we were all roaming around their enclosure. We fed them a mix of some kind of kibble feed, and sweet potato chunks. They were very gentle. A few of them even held your hand within both of theirs as you fed them. I honestly could have spent all day with them. The keepers practically had to pry me out of there. Note - if you are traveling with young children, they must be at least 5 years of age in order to participate in this activity.

My husband loves birds. So, of course, we also spent time inside Bird Gardens and the other small aviary located next to the kangaroo exhibit. Inside Bird Gardens you're given the option to buy a small cup of "nectar" (sugar water, really) and walk into the aviary to coax hungry birds to come have a little snack with you. Each small cup was $8 at the time of writing this post. We purchased one and I let my husband do all the bird feedings. It was a really nice experience.

We ended our time at the park having a couple drinks at Serengeti Overlook Pub. This is a beautiful spot to unwind and cool off a bit. You can refresh all while being surrounded by African animals on the Serengeti Plain. My favorite were giraffes! From there we made sure to stop by some of the shops one our way out. I bought an adorable coffee mug, that is now sitting happily on my desk. Around 6 PM, park staff will begin to start pointing you to the exit if you do not have a band on your wrist that indicates you are participating in that evenings How O Scream Event.

After we left the park we were all pretty hungry. Being that the hotel was a ten minute drive away from our hotel, we decided to stop by and feed the dogs. After they ate we took them on a quick walk before jumping back in the car to go eat a good dinner.

Anything I missed or would like to know more about? Let me know! We plan on going back up soon to finish the other parts of the park that we did not have time for this time around.