We just had the worst experience ever at Busch Gardens Tampa...after waiting in a long line to pay to park ($25), the attendants were not helpful with directing the cars to find open parking spots. After we finally find one at the back of the parking lot, we walk to the gate (the trams were running but not picking up passengers from the parking lot). We get to the gate area and see a crowd of what seemed like 1000 people waiting to get in! No social distancing, and the lines aren’t moving. We find someone to see what’s going on...the two lines were for temperature checks and we got the impression that it could take much more than an hour just to get in! Here’s the thing, when you purchase your tickets they also “require” you to submit a reservation for you and everyone in your party. We did all of this. However you get to the gate and encounter a mob of people who have been standing in the heat for hours in order to undergo a temperature check! No separate li for those with reservations, tickets, etc.
We were coming from Orlando heading back home to South Florida but wanted to spend the day at Busch Gardens before hitting the road later on in the day. So after realizing that the time spent just to get into the gate plus long lines inside meant we wouldn’t be able to ride much, we decided to leave. (Fast passes for the day were $149.99/each) which were much more expensive than the tickets we paid for!
So fine whatever, we’ll come back to Tampa a different time and use our tickets...at least give us a refund for the parking! So I call their customer service line and chose the option for them to call me back. The estimated wait time was 30 min, I got the call back 3 hours later. He tells me that since we purchased at the park there is nothing they can do to refund parking (even though I paid using a debit card and had the receipt in hand).
All in all, this is the worst and we are disappointed. No wonder why people are willing to pay so much for the Disney experience...we definitely would not have seen what we got today had we gone to Disney. EVEN DURING THE PANDEMIC. Let’s not blame Covid. Some are getting it right Busch Gardens.