My family and I just came back from a visit to the West Coast of Florida, about 2 hours and 20 minutes from our home in Melbourne. Busch Gardens opened more than 42 years ago and is the home of Anheuser Busch and the World Famous Clydesdale Horses.  I hadn't been to Busch Gardens in 25 years.

It rained the entire drive over to Tampa, and the prediction was that there would be 80% chance of rain for the day. But, we had already prepaid for the hotel and the park. So, we figured we would just get a little bit wet.

There are 4 steel roller coasters; Sheikra, Scopion, Montu and Kumba and one wooden one, Gwazi. There are 3 water rides, a couple of children's sections in the park. There is a full day of things to do there.

There are some great shows that you shouldn't miss: Katonga, Dance to the Music, Creative Critters, Pirates 4D.

  There were so many gorgeous sights to see and the grounds are impeccably maintained.

Busch Gardens sits on 335 acres and is Florida's largest zoo.

It is home to hundreds of species of animals, and birds,

Many are on the endangered species list.

We visited the re creation of King Tut's tomb.

We saw the World Famous Clydesdale horses that pull the Budweiser beer wagon.

This underwater sleeping hippo reached up every 3 to 5 minutes for a breath of air.

Sheikra was the first vertical drop roller coaster in the United States.

It is tied for being the tallest coaster.

This is at the top of floorless Sheikra.

Passengers are held at the top for 3-5 seconds, hanging over the edge.

  Then they take a 90 degree, 200 foot drop.

No thanks, I don't like huge drops, so I just watched and took pictures.

All of the animals were out, because it was such a cool day.

The girls always love the Carousel.

Feeding time for the African Elephants.

This lion was trying to stay out of the rain.

The park is also home to Montu, the largest and fastest inverted steel roller coaster in the world.  This was the only roller coaaster that I went on. But, I had to be a trooper and go on at least one of them. 

I'm not much of a coaster fan, but my husband, oldest daughter, and the 2 friends we brought with us, can't get enough of them. 

On our first day in the park we got pretty soaked. It rained alot. The rides had to be shut down frequently throughout the day due to inclement weather.  The park had to be closed early so we asked for rainchecks.  The park extended our tickets until the end of the year, for unlimited admission. We were tickled!

We headed back the following day, for a much better day, with the sun peeking from behind the clouds. It stayed nice and cool all day, with just a few sprinkles of rain.

We will get back over to Busch Gardens a couple more times before the end of the year.

If you plan a trip to Busch Gardens, and have never been there before, there's a lot to see. So spend a couple of days there. 

Busch Gardens was one of the most beautiful theme parks I have ever visited.

And the animals were magnificent.

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.