This isn’t a theme park food blog and I wouldn’t normally write in tribute of a sausage, but on a recent trip to visit Dollywood and its Great Pumpkin LumiNights I had one of the best theme park meals I have ever had. The “Smoked Brat Sandwhich” blew my mind and my taste buds. It is a great quality bratwurst perfectly prepared on a soft pretzel bun topped with braised red cabbage with a side of fried potatoes, peppers and onions.
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Busch Gardens Tampa is somewhat unique in that rather than being off of an interstate in an industrial or isolated area it’s basically in a neighborhood. There are hotels and businesses nearby, but you don’t have to go but a block from the park and there are whole neighborhoods and some houses are adjacent to the back of the tram parking lot. These houses are relatively affordable too (in today’s market) and a scan of Zillow near the park will show you a number of houses and commercial lots for sale nearby.
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The code name for the Busch Gardens Sand Serpent replacement is Project Halycon. This project is not just taking the old Sand Serpent plot of land, but a huge part of Pantopia. Although there have been no official announcement about a replacement, clues can be drawn from permit filings about what the park is up to. You can see from the permit revisions below that there is a locker area proposed and there is also a test seat involved. It also mentions a station! Thanks to Penguin_Master23 on Parkfans.net for finding this on the Accela Database which is a wealth of information for building permits searching under the park’s name or address.
So just because it has lockers and a test seat doesn’t mean it’s a coaster. After all, Stanley Falls has lockers and there’s a test seat for Serengeti Flyer. However, these taken together combined with the size of the space are tantalizing clues about what is coming to Pantopia and replacing Sand Serpent.
Howl-O-Scream is going on now and runs from September 8th to October 31st this year. Halloween is big business at theme parks with a chance to earn lots of extra revenue from haunted houses and other events. This year’s events features several new haunted houses, scare zones, shows, food options and even behind the scenes tours. The super cool Christmas themed haunted house is back along with the Cirque X-Scream show. New this year are Las Vegas and demolition derby themed scare zones, a circus themed haunted house, a new musical show and the “Raveyard” with cocktails and music.
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Busch Gardens has a bunch of neat little areas that people may miss the first or second time around. I know this personally as we were still discovering new places on our 3rd and 4th trip. Your first time you can be understandingly distracted by the roller coasters and trying to cross marque attractions off your list. Most of these are animal attractions as the big fast rides are hard to miss for the most part. The park is essentially a circle, but it has some “nooks” that you might miss if you make the tightest circle and take the path of least resistance. Here are 4 places that you might otherwise just walk by your first time or two that you should check out:
Continue readingThere have been a lot of rumors and thus far no official announcement as to what is replacing Sand Serpent and taking over a large section of Pantopia at Busch Gardens Tampa, known by the code name Project Halcyon. Last year Serengeti Flyer was announced on October 11th and in 2018 Tigris and Iron Gwazi were announced on September 12th, so hopefully we’re getting close. Here are some of the things that are rumored and the order is my guess of most to least likely.
Continue readingApril 2025 Update: As of late 2024 the refill price is now $1.99. Given inflation this is still a great deal. Cups are priced at $19.99 each (with unlimited refills the day you buy it) and get as cheap as $15.99 if you buy multiple cups. You can use the same cup for years across the whole chain of parks. All day unlimited refills on an old cup are $6.99 to $8.99 depending on if you are at at SeaWorld, Aquatica or Busch Gardens. You’ll usually get a sticker showing you have free refills for the day. If you get a meal plan you can upgrade to a souvenir cup with unlimited refills for $5.99. Any of these on a hot summer day or sharing with a significant others can be still be a great deal.
Continue readingBusch Gardens has launched a couple of podcast/web series recently starting with “The First Drop” which is mostly about event happenings at the park and pass member perks. They’ve now followed up on that with “Wild Encounters” which gives an inside look at animal care from the professionals who work with the animals every day.
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June 9th was the last day for the Sand Serpent, but this week 3 other rides disappeared from the website and are behind construction walls as well. They were the 3 kid rides located in Pantopia including the Busch Flyers, Desert Runners and the Kiddie Train. Also, the signs have been removed from the Sky Ride (per Busch Gardens Junkies) and it’s gone from the website Add this to the demolition of the SBNO Phoenix, the fire/demolition of Wild Surge and the official closing of SBNO (Standing But Not Operating) Tree Top Trails in Jungala and that’s 8 attractions in the past year by my count with the only addition being the Serengeti Flyer. That brings the park down to 24 rides with 9 of those being children’s rides.
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There have been so many rumors as to what will replace Sand Serpent. These include everything from a Giga coaster to an indoor ride using the Pantopia Theater to a wing coaster to family coaster. Busch Gardens isn’t exactly known for its theming, however the Egpyt area of the park is highly themed including the men’s bathroom! Whatever replaces Sand Serpent, however, I’m just hoping a little time, money and effort are spent theming the new ride, at least as much as this restroom.
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