After months of being cooped up in our homes, most of us are looking for some way to break the self-isolation blues. If you live in Florida, or pretty much anywhere in the Southeastern U.S., there are no shortage of great weekend trips to take. Recently, we took the drive to Tampa and Clearwater Beach for a long weekend of theme parks, aquariums, and beaches. The perfect blend for family fun.
We started at Tampa for a few days to visit Busch Gardens Tampa theme park. The park was fun. The line to get screened for COVID was pretty quick. Unfortunately, the line to get in was not. After about two hours we were finally through the front gate and on our way to the rides. If you have a real young one, the Sesame Street-themed children’s area of the park will be a hit. Our little one was just a little too big to get a kick out of the Sesame street characters but she enjoyed the rides all the same. The lines for them were practically non-existent so we were actually able to hit every ride that was open (some were shut down due to the impracticality of keeping them disinfected). We learned our lesson in past years at theme parks and made sure to get the kids’ rides out of the way. By the time we were done with them, our daughter was getting tired and put up little fuss when we went for the adult rides.
The lines were considerably longer for the adult rides when we rent, averaging between 45 and 60 minutes. What we really liked, however, was their child swap program. Unlike other parks where you have to wait in line with your child for an hour or more, Busch Gardens gives you a ticket with an appointment time (equal to the current wait time) which allows you to come back and skip the line. When the first parent finishes s/he passes the ticket on to the second and they get to skip the line as well. Doing it this way allows you to grab some food, look at some animals, or take in a show while you wait – which means no antsy or bored little ones. It also means that, if you are strategic about it, you can collect multiple parent swap tickets and then go back to the first ride and start riding all the rides without ever having to wait in line. We managed to squeeze in several rides, dinner, and a stroll through Christmas Town.
If you are going around the holidays, Christmas Town is Busch Gardens take on holiday celebrations. It appears the idea was to mimic the look and feel of the European Christmas Markets. It was pretty (and festive) enough, but really had no desire to purchase hot cocoa or brownies, or watch a figure skating show for that matter – too many rides to experience instead. I certainly wouldn’t visit Busch Gardens because of Christmas Town.
Overall we enjoyed the park, as did our daughter. We definitely have plans to go back. Next time, however, we won’t be staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Busch Gardens. The service there was nonexistent. You ask for something, it never comes. You ask again and someone else is on duty with no knowledge of the previous request. The pool is dirty and I suspect the grounds are never cleaned. I say that because my daughter left several pool toys at pool on our first night and didn’t tell me until two days later. We found the toys scattered about the garden. Clearly, some kids thought it would be fun to play with them and then toss them. Also clearly, the staff didn’t bother to clean up the grounds at any point in the past 48 hours. There was also mold in the bathroom, a broken sofa bed, and no toilet paper in the bathroom. We tried bringing up our concerns with management but she was equally rude and apathetic.
The next stop on our weekend trip went much better, though. We drove about 45 minutes to Clearwater Beach where we stayed at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort. Nothing but praise for this place. Warm, welcoming staff. Beautifully decorated public areas and tasteful rooms. A beachfront lounge begging you to waste more than the day at (live music played weekend nights). We really fell in love with this place and can’t wait to go back.
While in Clearwater we visited the aquarium, which is home to Winter the dolphin from Dolphin Tale. The aquarium is not as big and fancy as the one in downtown Tampa but knowing that all the animals there were rescued and rehabilitated really appealed to us, enough so that we had no qualms about shelling out nearly $30 for a stuffed animal version of Winter and making a donation in the drop box. I don’t think you need the whole day there even though they had plenty of animal talks to keep you busy. Our daughter did spend a good hour or two staring at the dolphins. The river otters also piqued her interest. Everything else was met with passing curiosity by her but she was genuinely engaged in the visit and wanted to see everything, as did we (including my wife who really isn’t an aquarium person).
All said and done, we spent three days in the Tampa and Clearwater area. We’ve been before for a night or two, mostly in passing while visiting my parents in Tarpon Springs. However, this was the first time we really made it a destination. I’d definitely recommend putting this on your list of weekend escapes. I know we plan to make it a regular stop for our family.
