Christmas Town is back for another year of merrymaking at Busch Gardens Tampa. But, like everything else, this year’s event has some modifications.
Christmas Town is included with regular admission to the park. Advance theme park reservations are still required, as well as wearing a face-covering during your visit (except when eating/drinking or utilizing one of the many mask relaxation zones throughout the park, of course). Christmas Town runs daily, now though January 3, 2021.
This year, the Santa meet and greet has moved to the new Coke pavilion. The meet and greet opens daily at 3:00pm. There was only a 15 minute wait, so we hopped in line. While waiting for our turn, we had fun chatting (at a safe distance) with one of Santa’s elves. Then we were brought to meet the Big Guy himself. There’s a PhotoKey (Busch Gardens’ version of PhotoPass) photographer to take a photo (photos are available for purchase at the exit) and/or you can do a selfie.
Over at Sesame Street Safari of Fun, the Sesame Street gang are out in their holiday finest. We happened upon Zoe and Grover doing physically distant greetings & selfies with those who wanted one. I might not have kids, but my inner 3 year old still loves Grover, so couldn’t pass up an opportunity to say hello to one of my favorite monsters.
Though Busch Gardens is still operating at a reduced capacity, it felt a little busier than it has been since the park re-opened in June. And wait times for the rides definitely reflected an increase. 65 minutes for Tigris, 90 minutes for Cheetah Hunt and 85 minutes for Cobra’s Curse were just a few of the high wait times we encountered. That’s almost pre-COVID summer weekend wait times.
Of course, the main attraction of Christmas Town is… the lights! Millions of lights decorate the park again this year. And The light tunnel is back again too! This is one of my favorite light displays in the park.
Speaking of lights… Iron Gwazi was lit up in red and green lights (which actually made it look kind of spooky instead of festive… they should do this for Howl-O-Scream) and a little surprise, the Iron Gwazi sign at the ride entrance was lit up! It looks awesome and we can NOT wait to ride this bad boy when it opens Spring 2021.
Rudolph and Clarice are back to greet guests again during Christmas Town! Their meet and greet opens at 3:00pm. This was also a 15 minute wait when we happened by, so we hopped in line. Sadly no Bumble this year, but they did have a cardboard cutout photo op of him at his cave as you exited the meet and greet.
Besides Santa, the Sesame Street gang and Rudolph, Busch Gardens has some original characters you can meet and get a physically distant photo with, such as the Sugar Plum Princess, Ice Princess, and some adorable snowmen.
The Serengeti Express has had its holiday makeover into the Holly Jolly Express. A fun way to take a ride around the park while also enjoying some of your favorite holiday tunes.
And of course, no visit to Christmas Town is complete without trying some of the awesome treats available at the food cabins at Christmas Town Village. The Village opens at 4:00 pm and yummy fare ranging from deep-dish cookies and mini donuts, gourmet hot cocoa, and holiday spirits. And don’t miss the holiday turkey sliders, Impossible chili, chicken and waffle sandwiches and whatever else catches your eye!
We first tried the chicken and waffle sandwich (with apple butter spread and maple syrup)… messy but delicious! The waffles were light and fluffy and the chicken was juicy. Later on, we tried the beer cheese soup with pretzel croutons. I’m going to say this now… the cheese soup at Le Ceiler at EPCOT has some serious competition. And we finished with some decadent gingerbread hot cocoa (they also have peppermint and caramel options, or just plain is you’re not into the fancy flavors).
Once again, the park is selling sampler lanyards for the Christmas Town food cabins. You can purchase 5 or 10 item sampler lanyards (discounts apply for passholders). We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we HIGHLY recommend getting a sampler lanyard as you’ll get the most bang for your buck, especially if you’re a foodie. And the lanyards are valid throughout Christmas Town’s run, so if you haven’t used all your punches and you plan on visiting Christmas Town again, you can bring it back to finish it up!
And of course there’s lots of Christmas Town merchandise! Lots of cute and funny shirts, plush toys of Rudolph, Clarice, and Bumble as well as some of the animals you’ll see in the park in cute holiday costumes, Rudolph plush blankets, light necklaces, snow globes, figurines, Santa hats… you name it!
We ended our day with a viewing of the Christmas On Ice show, which is being performed in the open-air Festival Field this year. The benches are safely spaced out and also marked off to keep your party separate from others. Before the show began, announcements were played every so often to remind guests to wear their face coverings over their nose and mouth, and they even had employees wandering through the aisles to remind guests not wearing their face covering correctly. I was glad to see the park being so proactive to be sure guests are following the safety rules.
On Saturday nights, the park is also offering a fireworks show called “Spark The Night” at 9:00pm. We recommend catching the 8:30pm performance of Christmas On Ice, then just stay in your seat after as the fireworks begin about 10 minutes after the ice show finishes. There is an additional fireworks viewing area by the train station at Jambo Junction if you don’t want to watch from the Festival Field. It’s a short fireworks show and nowhere near Disney-quality, but still a nice way to wrap up the evening.
2020 Run For The Fund 5K Goes Virtual
Just a bit of extra Busch Gardens news for you. The annual Busch Gardens Run For the Fund 5K (which raises money for the non-profit SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund), is going virtual for the 2020 race.
An enhanced event package has been put together for racers, which will include a custom medal, branded face mask and a complimentary single-day admission ticket to Busch Gardens, which can be used any time through January 31, 2021.
Event packages can be picked up at the park (at the Guest Drop off loop at the front gate of the park) the following dates/times:
- December 3 from 12:00pm – 7:00pm
- December 4 from 12:00pm – 7:00pm
- December 6 from 10:00am – 5:00pm
- December 7 from 12:00pm – 7:00pm
- December 8 from 12:00pm – 7:00pm
Participants that don’t respond to any of the above pickup options will have their event package mailed to them by December11, 2020. You can learn more about the 2020 Run For the Fund 5K at the Run for the Fund Webpage HERE.
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