It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…. Town!
The annual holiday event at Busch Gardens Tampa is back and is celebrating its 10th year of merry magic. This year’s Christmas Town runs every day through January 9th, 2023. And the best part? Christmas Town is included with regular park admission!
We’ve got a lot to show you from this festive event, so let’s go deck the halls!
Christmas Town Food
One of the biggest draws of Christmas Town (besides all the sparkling lights), is the food— and this year offers a wonderful lineup of eats and treats. Besides the food cabins in Christmas Town Village (which opens every day at 4:00pm), there are several Christmas Town food and beverage locations throughout the park!
Sampler lanyards are available for purchase in 5, 10, and passholder-exclusive 12-punch increments.
Let’s take a look at some of the food and beverage offerings this year!
And of course, it’s not the holidays without cookies and hot cocoa! Guests have their choice of chocolate chip, sugar, or gingerbread cookies. We of course had to go with the chocolate chip.
Guests can also customize their hot cocoa with their choice of peppermint or gingerbread (and of course whipped cream too). Or, if you’re of age, you can “Make It Jolly” by adding Baileys Irish Cream, Kahlúa or Peppermint schnapps. We tried it with Kahlúa, and it was absolutely delightful!
You can purchase a refillable hot cocoa mug and get yummy refills at a discount throughout the entirety of Christmas Town (and bring it back the next year too)!
Christmas Town Holiday Lights
Aside from the food, the lights are a major reason to visit Christmas Town. The entire park is decked out in more than a million lights, which is really a sight to behold!
Santa’s North Pole Experience
Of course, the most popular meet and greet experience at Christmas Town is Santa himself. You can find him over at Santa’s North Pole Experience. Guests get to meet some of Santa’s Elves and take a sneak peek at holiday preparations, before having their own personal meet and greet with the Big Man himself!
There is also a Santa’s Sleigh photo opportunity out front.
Santa’s North Pole Experience opens every day at 3:00pm through December 24.
Storytime With Mrs. Claus
Over at the Coke Canopy stage, Mrs. Claus entertains guests several times each night with traditional holiday tales and songs.
Rudolph’s Winter Wonderland
The most famous reindeer of all is back to greet his fans, along with his girlfriend Clarice and the ever-popular Bumble! We love seeing these classic holiday characters every year! The Rudolph and Friends meet and greet opens every day at 5:00pm through December 24.
Other Meet & Greets at Christmas Town
There are more characters to find around Christmas Town aside from the celebrities. Guests can also meet the Sugar Plum Princess, Ice Princess and Poinsettia Princess around the park.
Christmas Town Entertainment
Busch Gardens has a lot of entertainment to make the season merry and bright. Old favorites return, and new shows make their debut later this season. There’s something to keep everyone entertained.
Christmas On Ice
The park’s longest-running holiday show is back again at the Moroccan Palace Theater to dazzle guests with world-class figure skating set to a soundtrack of classic holiday tunes.
Upcoming Christmas Town Entertainment
There are also some shows that are still “coming soon!” Here’s what you can look forward to:
Christmas with the Celts
Celebrating Christmas with fresh holiday musical selections as well as ancient Celtic Christmas carols and Irish dance, Christmas with the Celts at the Stanleyville Theater is the show to see! Clap along with spirited renditions of classic holiday songs like Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas and more.
This show will be performed at the Stanleyville Theatre December 16-18 and December 23-25.
Three Kings Journey
The Three Kings Journey Show unites magical voices in perfect harmony, unfolding the famed journey to the humble town of Bethlehem.
This show will be performed on select nights at the Dragon Fire Grill.
Wizards of Winter
The Wizards of Winter – featuring former members of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Def Leppard, along with Broadway and Theater veterans, perform a Winter Rock Opera titled “The Winter Dream”. Join them on a musical journey as they explore Winter Season Adventures. Their story is based around the music from their latest release “The Christmas Dream” along with music from their self-titled CD and their album “The Magic of Winter. WOW bring their musical intensity, stage theatres and family fun to venues across the nation. This 11-member ensemble boasts soaring vocal harmonies, precision string instrumentation, and powerful percussion layered around a rich storyboard that evokes memories and emotions of Winters past. Celebrate the Season with WOW.
This show will be performed at the Stanleyville Theatre from January 6-8.
Christmas Town Merchandise
And what’s a theme park holiday event without merchandise? We spotted these fun items available for purchase in various shops around the park.
Holiday In The Sky
And what better way to cap off your evening at Christmas Town than with fireworks! Normally, the best viewing area for this show is the Festival Field behind Iron Gwazi. However, the night of our visit, the park did not open the field (possibly due to wind blowing in an suboptimal direction for viewing), but the show can be watched from many locations around the park.
Around The Park
There’s more happening than just all the Christmas Town offerings. Let’s take a look at the rest of the park!
Construction of the Serengeti Flyer is well underway! This new screaming swing ride is being built on part of the former Rhino Rally area and is set to open sometime in 2023. We’re looking forward to giving this a try!
Cheetah Hunt was commanding an 80-minute wait the day of our visit. It’s a fun coaster, but is it worth waiting over an hour for?
It’s such a photogenic coaster though!
Tigris had a 55-minute wait.
Sultan’s Sweets is currently closed for remodeling. We spotted this sign outside, giving a sneak peek of what’s to come.
This little cutie was looking for a handout.
We spotted this Mold-O-Matic machine that seemed to have spontaneously combusted. It almost looked like a crime scene (or something fitting for Howl-O-Scream).
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Let’s Hear From You
You’re all caught up on Busch Gardens Tampa Bay news! Does Christmas Town seem like your kind of jam? Did any of the seasonal food catch your eye? Leave a comment a let me know what you think!
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