NEW! Summer Nights Concerts

Gwazi Park heats up with Saturday-night concerts during Summer Nights. In addition to pop, R&B, alternative and Latino music artists, guests can indulge in summer-favorite grilled food items and a selection of craft beers. Concerts are included with daily admission or any annual pass. The full concert area is open to guests and located just behind the Gwazi rollercoaster. Concerts will take place at 8:30 p.m., immediately followed by a grand fireworks finale. Note: concerts will take the place of Kinetix on Saturday nights only.

NEW! Opening Night Critters

Starting this summer, this theatrical “tail” haphazardly finds a couple of stage hands in the spotlight as the human stars in an all-animal production that features both domestic and exotic animals in the newly-renovated Pantopia Theater.

Fireworks Light Up the Sky Every Night

Celebrate the perfect end to the evening with an amazing fireworks finale. Busch Gardens lights up the sky every night of the event with an incredible aerial display set to popular music. The best views are in Gwazi Park, right after the nightly Kinetix show, but the fireworks are visible from all over the park.

Pantopia After Dark!

Set in the heart of Busch Gardens, Pantopia gets even hotter at night with exciting entertainment, and fan-favorite rides, including Scorpion, Phoenix and the Grand Caravan Carousel. Sensational new dining options satisfy sweet-and-salty cravings with a variety of fresh-rolled pretzels and craft beer selections at Twisted Tails Pretzels, and delicious snow cones and smoothies at Lynx Frozen Treats. For mouth-watering, savory selections stop by the all-new Dragon Fire, Pantopia’s open-fire grill showcasing ribs, sausages and kabobs.

We haven’t visited Busch Gardens Tampa Bay since Christmas time and I am ready to spend a day checking out Pantopia and a night in Gwazi Park enjoying all of the entertainment.

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“Play & Dine All Day” is an online exclusive available now through September 6, 2010.

It’s a great way to play all day at the new Sesame Street Safari of Fun or spend the day riding the world’s best roller coasters, including SheiKra and Montu. And when the hunger hits, it’s all you care to eat and drink, all day long.

“Play & Dine All Day” eTickets are on sale now at www.BuschGardensTampaBay.com. eTickets also lets guests print their tickets at home and go straight to the turnstiles.

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At Busch Gardens, fireworks light up the sky over the Tampa theme park on July 3 and 4. That’s in addition to the nightly rock spectacular, Kinetix, each night at 9 p.m. in Busch Gardens’ Gwazi Park. Kinetix brings together live musicians, singers, dancers and artists from around the world for an original, non-stop 30-minute contemporary rock experience that delivers awesome lighting effects, modern music and high-energy performances.

Park hours are extended until 10 p.m. July 3 and until 9 p.m. July 4. Stay to ride coasters in the dark and enjoy spectacular shows, including Jeff Civillico, with his masterful juggling performances.

Fireworks are part of the finale every night during SeaWorld AfterDark, the summer nighttime event that showcases the park in a whole new light. On Independence Day, guests can also enjoy the 13th Army Band, Florida National Guard when it performs at Bayside Stadium prior to the fireworks finale. This 40-piece band, known as the Governor’s Own Band, will entertain the audience with classic and current tunes, gearing them up for the special Fourth of July Reflections show featuring additional fireworks timed to patriotic music.

AfterDark is a nighttime rock n’ roll extravaganza with live DJs, special evening shows – including a high-energy “Shamu Rocks” and a hilarious “Sea Lions Tonite” – plus the fabulous fireworks finale. Experience all that’s awesome day and night at SeaWorld this summer, including Manta, up-close animal encounters and spectacular shows.

Busch Gardens Summer Nights and SeaWorld AfterDark are included with a day’s paid admission or any annual pass. For more information, visit BuschGardens.com, SeaWorldOrlando.com or call 1-888-800-5447.

I have been to Busch Gardens Summer Nights and I really enjoyed it! I hope to be able to take my family to experience SeaWorld AfterDark sometime this summer. Have you been to either Busch Gardens Summer Nights or SeaWorld AfterDark? Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought about the event.

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Last week my husband and I attended a VIP party at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay to experience Summer Nights. The event was attended by television, radio, newspaper people and some bloggers. Before the event we had to choose which track we wanted to attend, our choices were Adventure, Thrills or Chills; we chose Adventure.

We arrived at Busch Gardens and had trouble finding the preferred parking (where we had been instructed to park). I knew it was near the park entrance-not across the street with the regular parking, but there were no signs for preferred parking. We drove up to the visitor drop-off area and I jumped out of the car while hubby went off looking for the preferred parking area. As he looped back around the parking lot he noticed a lone parking attendant by the entrance where we had come in. My husband asked him where preferred parking was and the young man said, “Right here” and stepped aside and let him in!

While Ron was parking I went to the event check-in table where I received our credentials, two tickets to visit Adventure Island and then was told to proceed to Gwazi Pavillion. Ron met me at the check-in table and we entered the park and strolled to Gwazi Pavillion.

In the pavillion courtyard we were greeted by some interesting creatures, a bar and some lovely Hawaiian music.

Blue Tongued Skink

We entered Gwazi Pavillion, which was beautifully decorated in reds, yellows, and oranges. There was a DJ playing dance music and 2 dancers entertaining the growing crowd. There were several tables around the room and a series of buffet tables and a bar lined three of the walls. There were lots of fun food choices including sliders, chicken fingers, loaded tater tots, corn salad, watermelon, pulled pork, churros and strawberry shortcake!After dinner the DJ started announcing which groups were leaving on their tours. Our tour wasn’t scheduled to leave for about 40 minutes so Ron asked if we could go explore the park a bit and he was told that we could just be back 10 minutes before our scheduled tour time. As we were leaving the building…they announced our tour was leaving…35 minutes early! Good thing we didn’t leave or we would have missed the tour (later we ran into people who had missed their tour due to the confusion).

We headed out with our tour guide Steve, who first lead us to Walkabout Way…which was scheduled to open to the public in 3 days. I got to feed a kangaroo and pet a wallaby!

Next, we headed across the park to the Serengeti. Years ago we did the Serengeti Safari Tour for Aaron’s birthday. It is an amazing, educational adventure for anyone ages 5 and up. The tour costs $33.95 per person in addition to your theme park ticket.

We boarded our truck with tour guide Cindy and we were off to feed giraffes! Cindy was a fun and informative guide and she has an amazing rapport with the giraffes, especially Bernie.

After our time with the giraffes we walked back to Gwazi Pavilion for some more strawberry shortcake

At 8:25pm we moved the party to Gwazi Field to find our seats for Kinetix. We were escorted to a VIP seating area which had cute little candlelit tables and chairs, a bar, and a snack table with popcorn, nachos and rice krispie treats…just in case you were hungry. At 8:30pm the DJ took the stage and the party starters game out in their day-glo outfits to get the crowd dancing. They invited all of the kids…and kids at heart out into the aisles while they danced to the Cha-Cha Slide, Cupid Shuffle, Hoe-Down Throwdown and Cotten-Eyed Joe. Once the crowd was energized and the sun had set it was time to start the show.

Kinetix is the perfect name for this non-stop show that includes singing, dancing, acrobatics, balancing acts, hula hoops, juggling and jump ropes! Words don’t do this show justice to here is some video we shot.

Kinetix is a great way to end your visit to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay this summer. You can see the show every night through August 15th as long as the weather cooperates.

Have you been to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay? What is your favorite attraction? Are you going to see Kinetix this summer? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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