Family Day At Busch Gardens #ad

I was so excited to give my boy their Busch Gardens surprise! Buddy had been saying “all I want to do is go to Busch Gardens!” Imagine me rubbing my hands together as we drove up to the entrance of Busch Gardens, my boys looking down so they couldn’t see where we were headed. As soon as we got to the gates, I told them to look up and…nothing. bahahahaha

Ah…my boys, love them to death, but they don’t have the same enthusiasm I do with surprises. I have a feeling I do too many. None on this fun size, but still, they may be a bit jaded. Now, the one response I did get was, “no way.” I interpreted that as, “Oh my gosh mom, you’re so amazing to do this for us!” =)

We got on the tram from the Ireland parking lot and headed into the park. The gal that took our tickets was really amusing and super friendly. We got Doodle’s ticket and headed off for our first adventure in Busch Gardens!

Doodle and I started the day getting wet on Escape from Pompeii. I’m glad I wore a bathing suit top underneath my shirt. I took my regular shirt off and tucked it behind me, but it still got sopping wet! That was s super fun ride and while we were going through “Pompeii” one gal actually screamed when it began to fall apart! heh heh heh

From there, Buddy wanted to go on Apollo’s Chariot. Fine by me. I can handle a roller coaster, right? Ok, not so much. when Smooch was about 10 yrs old she almost slipped out from under a bar on the Wild Thing at Valleyfair in MN so that makes roller coasters stressful for me as a mom. I didn’t think about our seating arrangements, but I should’ve had Doodle next to me.

Let me just say, as a mom, this roller coaster was terrifying! TERR-I-FY-ING! We had no clue what was coming. You go up super high, then there’s this little dip and everyone’s like, oh no big…OH. MY. GOSH!!! As you plunge down this insane steep hill. Scared the CRAP out of me and I kept telling Doodle to wrap his legs around the bar. lol I was absolutely that insane mom screaming on the ride!

From there we headed to Davinci’s Cradle. That was one I was able to scream on, but it was a fun scream. Again, it was just Doodle and I on the ride. Buddy wasn’t interested.

A classic for me was the Trade Wind. I remember my mom loving this ride. Buddy loves rides where he gets to squish me! lol It wasn’t the last time I’d be squished on a ride at Busch Gardens.

Right after this we went straight to the Roman Rapids. It’s one of our favorite rides because it’s fun and you can get somewhat wet, but not absolutely drenched…or can you?

We got in with another family and this poor woman kept trying to hide her big purse and just where I was sitting, I wasn’t getting very wet so I held her purse up for her. I think at one point she thought I was going to drop it over the edge, but no way! Turns out you can definitely get sopping wet as Doodle and the family’s little girl found out! lol

Next we headed to Germany and the fun looking Verbolten ride. We could see it as we crossed the bridge and it looked like it would be a good one for us. We got in line and the smart thing Busch Gardens did was give us things to look at that went along with historic Germany.

The cute little cars came up and we got in ready for our little roller coaster ride. Then…HOLY MOLY you’re riding along all nice and sweet and BOOM you’re catapulted to inside this huge, dark enclosure! I mean, you take off like a rocket. lol Of course, the boys are sitting behind me and I’m yelling at Buddy, “Is Doodle ok?” “Just hang on Doodle, just hang on!” You come to this part, thinking, whew, slowing down for a second when all of a sudden you DROP…you DROP! In a sweet little roller coaster ride!

We came out of that dang ride with our eyes HUGE like, “what just happened?” hahahaha It’s so funny, because when you have NO idea what a ride is supposed to be like, every single one is an adventure. It was fun and we would’ve all done it again knowing what to expect!

We decided it was time for lunch and grabbed some grub while we were in that country. I think I had a pretzel hotdog and both boys had large pretzels. Had we gone a week later we would’ve had more options with a food festival Busch Gardens was hosting.

There’s so much to see at Busch Gardens we decided to just walk around for a little while instead of riding any more rides. We headed over to France and as we got there, Doodle wanted to play in the Land of the Dragons. Buddy wasn’t interested so we just kept walking.

Another classic we came across is the log ride called the Le Scoot. Not sure why, but Buddy didn’t want to go on this ride either. He’s not a huge fan of being wet while walking around the park and I think it was a bit “boring” to him. lol Doodle and I headed to have fun! The ride didn’t disappoint!

After we did the Le Scoot, we headed to the Le Catapult. Now, this is a ride more my speed these days! lol This is another ride the boys felt mom should be squished in! Of course I sat on the outside and yelled at them for squeezing me against the side of our chair. It’s exactly what they were looking for on this ride!
Then it was so cool, we came upon Wolf Haven. You know sometimes you have to search and search for animals at a park? Well, not this time! One of the wolves was standing right where everyone could see it and it was howling! We were guessing it might be dinner time and it was calling other wolves because it kept looking towards the wall where an employee would come out.

It was fun to be in the animal area because we saw a golden and bald eagle and then maybe my favorite was the Clydesdale! One of the employees had one in a pasture so people could see it close up. Earlier in the day a couple of gals had some sheep they wound through the park! Buddy and I got to get up close to one of the Clydesdales and have our pictures taken. I was in heaven!

That was pretty much the end of our time at Busch Gardens. We did watch some of the other rides that I was absolutely not going to get on and wasn’t going to allow the boys on. Listen, this mom can only handle so much! The boys and I were actually in agreement. The other rides were absolutely insane and neither of the boys were ready to venture onto them yet.

Overall it was a fantastic day. My family was at this Busch Gardens last year during Halloween and loved it. They’re already talking about going back this year! You can count us in to be there, too!
*I received 2 tickets and purchased a 3rd from Busch Gardens. The opinions and experience is my own.