We are
more into animals than rides so this will focus on that side of the parks.
Although I will say that Animal Kingdom is much better at blending their rides
into the natural feel of the park. At Busch Gardens I actually felt sorry for
the animals who had large ugly pieces of steel and concrete throughout their
habitat. Not only that but you could hear the roar of the rides and the screams
of the people everywhere you went. There was no escape from it. (Please see the bottom of the post for more pictures)
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| Busch Gardens |
One thing
that I love about these parks is their focus on conservation and education.
There are so many animals that I would never know or care about if I hadn’t
seen them in a zoo at some point in my life. Seeing these beautiful animals
makes me want to protect their habitat and the planet.
We were
able to experience the Serengeti Adventure at Busch Gardens and the Wild Africa
Trek at Animal Kingdom. The Serengeti Adventure is much cheaper in price and it
is a much shorter excursion than the Wild Africa Trek.
For the
Serengeti Adventure we met at a pre-planned time in a small open tent and there
was cold water provided. We had to stow all of our belongings in a shared
locker and then we followed staff to an area with open backed trucks. Our group
was quite large and we all had to hang on to the side as it was standing room
only and quite rough. It was very squishy and we couldn’t really hear our guide
as she talked. We basically circled the field where the giraffes, zebras and
rhinos were displayed during the day. When we came to one of the giraffes the truck
stopped and we were able to touch her neck and the guide gave each person a
piece of lettuce to feed it. Obviously this was the highlight of the tour.
Unfortunately for everyone it was so crowded that nobody actually had much
interaction with the animal and because of where we were our piece of lettuce
was so tiny the giraffe just wanted to skip us and go to the next person. The
guide gave us one leaf of lettuce twice and both times she started in the same
place so we had a tiny piece both times. We did really enjoy being able to
touch and feed the giraffe, something we had never done before. We were told
not to touch the giraffe’s face but one guy kept doing it anyway and he kept
teasing the giraffe with the lettuce, pretending to give it to her and then
pulling away. Nothing was said to him. It was very warm and uncomfortable in
the back of the truck and there was no shade. I also didn’t enjoy the loud
screaming of the people on the rides and the roller coaster was in the
background of most pictures. I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone who likes to
be in the shade, the elderly, anyone unsteady on their feet or anyone who
cannot stand for half an hour at a time.
After the
adventure we went back to retrieve our belongings and to buy pictures. We were
allowed to take a camera on this adventure but it was difficult to get any good
pictures because of how tightly we were squeezed in, so I was very happy to buy
the package. We didn’t look at all the pictures, just picked a couple to have
printed and the rest came on a CD. We were in a hurry to get to the rest of the
park and I just assumed the pictures would be good. We did not get any pictures
of any of the three of us feeding the giraffe. There was a couple of us
standing under the giraffe but neither of them were a good photograph and I was
very disappointed that we did not get a picture of that experience.
Our
experience with the Wild Africa Trek was a little different and much more
expensive. We were weighed, given access to personal lockers and suited up with
safety harnesses. They were very thorough with their attention to safety. We
were able to take our cameras on this trek as well but they were strapped onto
our vest as well as a complementary water bottle. Once everyone was suited up
we posed for a group picture and followed a guide to the starting area. The
first section was a walking trail where we stopped to see the hippo, alligators
etc. Then we were strapped to a line and went across a walking bridge. I loved
every minute of it. Everyone went across individually and posed for pictures.
After this we went in the back of a truck, but this truck had padded seats and
an awning for shade. I should also mention that we had two guides and they were
both very knowledgeable and friendly. We drove around the Africa section of the
park, stopping close to the animals that people were interested in, taking
pictures and learning more about them. The elephants and giraffes were my
personal favorites. During the tour we stopped at a lodge in the middle of the
habitat which was decorated in an African style and we had a lunch from the
African restaurant, Tusker House. It was packaged as a beautiful picnic and
even included an edible orchid. From this location we could look out over the
area and see many of the animals. It was beautiful and peaceful. I enjoyed it
immensely.
The
photos in this experience were complimentary and they were beautiful. They were
well taken and we had pictures of each of us with all the different animals as
well as with each other. I was very impressed with this tour and would do it
again in a heartbeat.
Between
the two tours I would say the Animal Kingdom one was a much more comfortable of
the two and while it was more money, it was a lot more for your money too.
Another thing I enjoyed about Animal Kingdom was the tranquility. It was like
you had actually transported to this new world and the rest of the park felt
like it was a million miles away. If we had time to do some of the other
adventures at Busch Gardens we may have gotten to see more animals up close but
the comfort, quality and time issues would still remain.
One thing
that I think is better about Busch Gardens is the choices in restaurants and
food. I had the dining plan at both places. We have tried several restaurants
at Animal Kingdom. The Flame Tree Barbecue has ready-made, ribs or chicken
which sounds delicious but is actually quite dried out and not very good. What
I do like about it is that you can sit down back by the water and have a
beautiful view of the mountain which houses the yeti ride. The Pizzafari is
okay in a pinch but it is quite dried out as well. Both of these places are
cafeteria style. I’ve also tried the Rainforest Café. The food is fine, nothing
to rave about but okay. Children love this place as it looks and sounds like a
rainforest and has mechanical gorillas which move every so often. Tusker House
has authentic African style food and would not be great for any picky eaters in
the group.
At Busch
Gardens I have tried two restaurants. The Dragonfire Grill had a lot of options
so everyone had something they really liked. I found the food to be hot and
tasty. Also, we managed to get there when there was a Moroccan type show which
we found delightful. We also ate at the Zagora Café which had several choices
as well. Both of these places were cafeteria style but the Zagora Café was very
cramped for getting your food and the staff were putting plates out with meals
on them and you had to hope what you wanted came up while you were in line or
else wait and hold everyone else up. That part wasn’t very convenient. Also,
the seating area was outside but under a roof so we did see a bird steal
someone’s food right off their plate while we were there. I did enjoy both of
these restaurants though.
I like
how Animal Kingdom has their park laid out and how it makes the rides they have
look like part of the landscape as well as containing the sound to the area it
is in. I like that it is picturesque and the pictures you take of animals look
like they are really in the wild. Busch Gardens has some different animals such
as some Australian animals and you have the opportunity to feed some of them
but their environments aren’t very inviting.
Overall I
enjoyed both parks.
I
preferred Animal Kingdom’s Safari over the Serengeti Adventure
I
preferred the food at Busch Gardens. One thing I really liked was that you
could get water at any time of the day and it was included in the dining plan where
at Disney it was two meals and a snack each day.
I
preferred travelling to Animal Kingdom. Busch Gardens is quite far out of the
way and is fine if you are staying somewhere other than Disney and are
experiencing other parks in Florida but if you are staying on Disney I don’t
know why you would want to choose Busch Gardens over Animal Kingdom. We had
complimentary transportation to Busch
Gardens last time we went to Florida and the bus trip took close to an hour and
a half on the way there. I did not time it on the way back but we watched an
entire movie. It was during rush hour and the highway was nearly at a
standstill.
For
overall aesthetic I prefer Animal Kingdom. Busch Gardens seemed cramped and
their rides interfered with the zoo portion of the park. Also, parts of Busch
Gardens had a very bad smell, which I
know comes with running a zoo but I never noticed it at Animal Kingdom. One
other thing I noticed was the difference in areas the elephants occupied. I
understand that elephants like to put mud on themselves to cool off but the
difference in the areas are quite noticeable. For myself, I’m glad we were able
to experience Busch Gardens and we had a great day there but I’m probably more
likely to return to Animal Kingdom. I hope you have the opportunity to try them
both as well.
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| Busch Gardens |
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| Busch Gardens |
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| Busch Gardens |
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| Busch Gardens |
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| Animal Kingdom |
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| Animal Kingdom |
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| Animal Kingdom - Lodge for the Serengeti Adventure |
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| Animal Kingdom |
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| Animal Kingdom |
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| Animal Kingdom |
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| Animal Kingdom |
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Busch Gardens
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Busch Gardens
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