We had a nice time here the Wednesday of Easter week. This is a big holiday week for the Northeast so I was expecting big crowds (like are in Disney this week). Luckily we didnāt experience that at all. The wait times were minimal - around 20 minutes for each ride. The animal part of the park was wonderful too, we went to the alligator talk and it was fantastic. The animal habitats were pretty nice and I liked how they were spread throughout the park. Broke up the day.
The negative is the number of rides and shows that were closed. They were a lot of the āmidrangeā rides between the coasters and the little kid rides. These included the flume ride, water rapids ride, sky ride, wild surge, pirate ship and treetop playground. The treetop playground being closed is the most annoying thing as this requires very minimal staff to oversee, allows kids of all ages a chance to stretch their legs and provides a place for kids to socially distance while keeping them out of lines where theyāre not socially distanced. (I know covid is waning down, especially in Florida but the sign by the treetop playground said it was closed as part of their āphased reopeningā. There is no reason this shouldnāt have been one of the first things reopened if that is the case).
I understand there are staffing issues everywhere and that is probably what Busch gardens will say in response to why some of their rides werenāt openā¦.but they had no problem having the carnival rides open, or the photographers at the front of the park, or every souvenirs stand openā¦.so theyāre more concerned with having the things open that make them extra moneyā¦.not the rides since you already paid the money to get in. Just reduce the admission price by the number of rides and shows (there were no shows when we went) that arenāt open- that would be fair.
Also be warned the food prices in the park are the highest Iāve ever seen. I would recommend the food pass or sneaking some snacks in. The park souvenirs were reasonably priced.
Overall we had a nice day but the rides closed was a major bummer for our family.