We last visited Busch Gardens 10 years ago to ride Falcon's Fury when it first opened in Sept 2014. We visited again on Wednesday 18th September after staying close by in Clearwater and getting discounted last minute tickets for $53 per person. Once getting over the initial shock of paying $32 + tax for parking and having to walk 15 minutes to the entrance in the very hot Tampa sunshine as the tram was not running we were further disappointed to find that a few of the rides were closed including Falcon's Fury and the fairly new Serangeti Flyer. That said I must say we had a great day! We practically walked onto every ride that was open including Cheetah Hunt, Iron Gwazi, Sheikra and the new Phoenix Rising. Iron Gwazi is quite spectacular, certainly not for the feint hearted! We even managed to get a free ride on the SkyRide as the internet was playing up as we attempted to pay the $5 dollar per person one-way fee so were just waved in.
As previous reviews mention almost none of the food and drinks stalls/concessions dotted around the park were open so had to rely on the larger food outlets for water ($4.95 per bottle). The park is totally cash-less, so card only. We did not buy food. As the crowds were very minimal the park seemed eerily quiet, we were able to walk around a lot of the animal enclosures without meeting other people. Leo the Tiger is gorgeous, even if he was sleeping.
With it approaching Halloween the park is heavily geared up for their Howl-O-Scream night events. We did not participate in this so cannot comment but there does appear to be lots of attractions and things to do when it gets dark.
We found the park to be clean, previous reviews mention the poor cleanliness of the bathrooms, we did not find this at all, in-fact they were spotless.
I think I might have been more disappointed if I had travelled from Orlando in peak season. As it was we had a great day. It might be another 10 years before I go again but I have not been put off.