Having visited its sister park Sea World a few days earlier, my expectations were really low, but I ended up having a great day. We took the free shuttle service from ICON Park which was very efficient. I was really impressed with Ed, our driver, and the tips he gave us en route.
We arrived shortly after opening and because our ticket included free dining went to the Zagora Cafe for breakfast. My low expectations nearly came to bear fruit with the terrible service in there. The staff, with one exception, were all so miserable and rude. I thought this was going to be like Sea World all over again.
But from there the day got a lot better. This is definitely a roller coaster and animal park with very little in between. This was great for us, but I can see people who prefer a more mixed lineup leaving disappointed.
In terms of coasters, Busch Gardens' collection is stacked. Iron Gwazi is just unbelievable (despite the glacial loading times), Montu and Kumba are classics which still hold their own. Cobra's Curse was a lot of fun, as was Cheetah Hunt and Tigris probably would be if it wasn't for the horrible trains with the uncomfortable-comfort collars that bruise your neck, and everything else that bruises your legs.
There were a lot of closed rides including two I really wanted to ride; Shikra and Falcon's Fury. It looked like both were down for seasonal maintenance, the latter of which has overrun due to supply chain problems. Lots of other closed rides dotted around too, and a large number of technical problems with those that were open.
There doesn't seem to be much theming, but most rides are nicely presented, particularly Shikra. Latter additions just seem to be plonked there with no effort made theming-wise, particularly Tigris.
The animal part of the park was really nice and exceeded expectations. Most enclosures seemed very nice and from what I could tell the animals were well looked after. Some were very creatively presented with well positioned food chutes to encourage them towards windows. The Serengeti Express railway was a great way to see the animals, although the commentary gets repetitive if you stay on for the whole loop with the same jokes between every station.
Staff were mixed. Some were terrible, some were great. If I were to generalise, the ride staff seemed to be the more engaged and friendly, whereas those on food and beverage just wanted to go home. Particular shout out to the girl at the turnstile into the station on Montu who had the biggest smile I've ever seen - makes a huge difference when you see people like this.
Food and drink was typical theme park fayre, but a lot better than Sea World. Plenty of options for us on the dining plan and left feeling well fed and well watered.
The Christmas decorations around the park were actually incredible. Well done to the events team as they're really punching above their weight here. Love all the different styles in the different parts of the park (animal prints around Cheetah Hunt, green and purple around Iron Gwazi etc). They look great both by day and by night and afford plenty of great photo opportunities.
We had a great day. Busch has a great line up of coasters and animals, but could do with some better supporting rides and maybe a dark ride or two. I feel like it's going in the wrong direction with presentation but at the moment this is a nice looking park with the potential to do better.