Busch Gardens Tampa announced it will be opening a new area of the park called “Wild Oasis” in Spring of 2025. This appears to be a retheme of the old Tree Top Trail area in Jungala which by no means is a bad thing! We reported months ago about construction walls being up at Tree Top Trails with speculation of what was to come and now we know the reason. The area is set to be called a “realm” which is interesting and will contain climbing areas, water features, new animal habitats and a reimagined drop tower.

If you look at the picture above of Tree Top Trails from last year and overlay it with the concept art there doesn’t appear to be much of a difference, so there’s a good chance this is just a low cost refurbishment of the area. There are lots of rumors about the park looking to cut costs, so after a new coaster this year, perhaps this is a bit of a pause in major capital expenditures with potentially something bigger coming in 2026? The park does a great job of describing everything and it sounds about as good as a refurbishment can be. Here’s the description from the park:

“Located within the Jungala area of the park, this family-friendly adventure is designed to ignite the imagination and engage all the senses, promising non-stop excitement for every member. Prepare to be captivated by the sights and sounds of the rainforest, the rush of a newly reimagined drop tower featuring state-of-the-art digital and sound effects, an interactive water-play wonderland and a multi-level climbing canopy. Plus, discover an all-new, multi-species animal habitat for up-close encounters with some of the world’s most fascinating animals.”

-Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

The area also had a small drop tower called Wild Surge that was even more secluded inside some rock work. This made for a really interesting ride experience, but also made the ride nearly invisible to those just walking by. Wild Surge closed a couple years ago when refurbishment resulted in an apparent fire. It’s not clear if the original Moser Rides drop tower known as Wild Surge is being replaced or repaired, but the press release does mention a “newly reimagined drop tower featuring state-of-the-art digital and sound effects.” Maybe we call it “Wild Surge Rising” to fir the theme with Phoenix Rising?

The old Tree Top Trails area was one of our favorites years ago. I did duplicate some of the offerings of Sesame Street Safari of Fun with the climbing areas and splash pad, but its seclusion and animal interactivity made it unique. It’s unclear at this time how much of the climbing structure will be replaced, if any. I don’t remember it being in poor shape, so I’d imagine most everything could be reused. The splash area was also small, but somewhat secluded which made it nice.

The only loose end I see here is what might happen to the area of the old Jungle Flyers ride. This is probably best described as a seated zip line. I never rode it, but it appears to have been very low capacity. Maybe this area will become the new animal habitats?

It will be wonderful to see this corner of the park come back to life. It was rumored for a bit that it would be the perfect area for a station for a Giga Coaster that would run the back area of the park like Mako does at Sea World Orlando, so that’s the only potential negative here. However, there is still a little bit of unused space north of Jungala as well as the area now occupied by Scorpion for that potentially in 2026? Families are big business for theme parks and this definitely scratches that itch. I can’t wait to see Wild Oasis in 2025!