Shy & Opinionated: Busch Gardens vs Animal Kingdom

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)

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.