Busch Garden, Tampa recommendations?

[quispquake]

Hi all!

I'm taking a business trip to Tampa in a couple of weeks with two co-workers (all adults). I got us tickets to Busch Gardens for a day, & would like to know if anyone that has been there has any 'must see' recommendations. I know it's a big roller coaster park, but I'm not a big roller coaster person...looking around their site, there looks like lots of other stuff to do, but any suggestions would be great (i.e. older great rides that may not be as crowded, etc.). Also, I heard there's FREE BEER??? Any truth to this??? (I can drink my admission price in free beer!).

Thanks!!!
pp23

[Misunderestimator]

1. Not much of an amusement park person, but YES, there is free beer

if you like the swill that Anheuser Busch produces. :)

[cthrumatrix]

2. i think there is a "two drink" limit

[Misunderestimator]

I think you're right, but they are lax... and if you go with others who

are not drinking... you can get theirs.

[RebelOne]

5. There was. But if you wait until they change servers you

can go back for more. I remember they changed out quite frequently.

[RebelOne]

3. They had a good dolphin show.

I guess they still have it. It's been quite a few years since I have been there.

[MissMillie]

4. I don't remember free beer

but then again, I probably wasn't looking for it--hot days and alcohol are a bad mix for me, so I stick w/ water.

There's a ride called Rhino Rally that can be pretty cool (it's like a safari), and walking around seeing all the animals is fun. Of course, there's one of those rides that takes you around the park in a ski-lift like bucket. There's also one of those ships that rocks back and forth and even goes all the way around.

Personally, I like the roller coasters. The only one I didn't ride when I was there was Kumba (I was too fat to fit in the seat--I'm betting I'll fit on my next trip, now that I've lost 75 lbs.) Montu was a scream! The wooden coaster really bumps you around.

[Aiptasia]

6. The beer tour

I wish you could hear David Cross's comedy bit about the funniest thing he ever saw in his life, because it involves Busch Gardens in Tampa. Let's just say it involves an Elephant and mass urination. I won't give it away. You'll have to hear it for yourself.

The theme park is going to be mainly a lame shopping mall for you if you're not into the rides. The beer Anheiser-Busch tour will take you on a long borning walking tour of their steel vats, where they make pisswater that passes for beer in America. They used to give you a free tasting at the end of the tour but it's been over a decade since I was forced to suffer it.

If you like that kind of beer, head over to the beer gardens (always Ocktoberfest, woopah!) and drink heavily until your family is ready to go home. The only thing good at Busche Gardens theme parks are the roller coasters, and if you don't "do" coasters, plant yourself and drink yourself sober.

[quispquake]

7. Yeah, I've heard the David Cross Bit...

And it was pretty damned funny...I forgot that took place at Busch Gardens...

I figure we'll be hanging out at the beer gardens quite a bit actually (and I'm not a fan of Bud or Busch, but it can taste decent on a hot day...).

Thanks!