Busch Gardens Tampa Bay unveils new Wild Oasis: A family-friendly adventure for 2025
(This story has been updated to correct typos).
A new family-friendly area is coming to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay next spring.
“Prepare to be captivated by the sights and sounds of the rainforest, the rush of a newly reimagined drop tower featuring state-of-the-art digital and sound effects, an interactive water-play wonderland and a multi-level climbing canopy,” the Florida theme and zoological park said in a press release.
Wild Oasis is a reimagining of the closed Treetop Trails area, in the park’s Jungala section.
“This really brings the entire park back into play, literally, play for the for all our guests, so that's really exciting for us,” Erick Elliott, the park’s vice president of Design, Engineering & General Services, told Paste BN.
Fun for the whole family
The new realm, coupled with the park’s new family roller coaster, Phoenix Rising, which opened earlier this year, represents a renewed focus on full-family entertainment at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
“In the past five years, we've concentrated a lot on upgrading our thrill,” Elliott said. “If you go back from Tigris in ‘19, to Iron Gwazi in ‘22 and Serengeti Flyer in ‘23, and even before that if you go back with Falcon’s Fury in ‘14, we’ve kind of done a lot of the super thrill rides.”
He said annual pass members and other park guests have been asking for more offerings for the whole family.
“With Phoenix Rising being a 42-inch height requirement ... you see kids as young as six, seven, being able to ride that attraction all the way up through the grandparents,” Elliott said. “Bringing back Wild Oasis kind of gives that same opportunity.”
He said parents and grandparents will be able to follow kids through the realm’s multi-tiered climbing feature and enjoy new water play areas together in the Florida heat. They’ll also be able to ride a reimagined drop tower that promises to be much tamer than the park’s 300-foot, 60-mile-per-hour Falcon’s Fury, but still thrilling.
“We got some exciting new elements that we're adding to this that makes it exciting for all different ages,” Elliott said of the Wild Oasis ride. “We’re adding different visuals ... monitors and lights and different laser elements, so I think that itself just changes the whole dynamic of what we had in there.”
What else is coming to Wild Oasis
Guests will also be able to encounter some cool creatures in Wild Oasis.
“The biggest thing that people don't realize, I think, when you hear about Busch Gardens Tampa, is just the fact that not only is a great theme park, but you have a great zoo here as well,” Elliott said.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoo.
“We're still working with the zoo on the specific animals that would be in the location, but the location does have two large specific areas and exhibit areas that will be able to house some animals and be able to have some animals on display for guests to see,” Elliott said.
The larger Jungala area is already home to orangutan and tiger exhibits.