Wild Oasis opening in 2025; new direction for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay?
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay released information about the Wild Oasis realm, a new area for spring 2025. Does this mean the theme park’s direction will change?
With the Scorpion roller coaster closing earlier this month, speculation grew that Busch Gardens Tampa Bay planned to open something new in 2025. Confirmation came on Sept. 17, when the park announced the Wild Oasis “realm” opening in 2025 within the Jungala area of the theme park.
Busch Gardens stated that when Wild Oasis opens in spring 2025, this new area will be “North America’s most engaging and interactive adventure realm.” Wild Oasis seeks to draw guests into the rainforest experience by building on the theme of the Jungala area.
Wild Oasis at Busch Gardens
The new Wild Oasis area at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will feature a drop tower attraction with digital effects and sound effects to enhance the experience. Since it is in a kid-friendly theme park area, guests should not expect the thrills of Falcon’s Fury.
Wild Oasis will also offer an interactive water play area and a multi-level climbing canopy. To round out this new 2025 land, a new multi-species animal habitat will allow up-close animal encounters.
“It’s been five years since guests last stepped foot in the tucked away realm of Treetop Trails in the Jungala area of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, and we are thrilled to breathe new life into this corner of the park with the development of this realm,” said Stewart Clark, president of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. “The all-new Wild Oasis truly offers something for everyone — whether you love the thrill of the ride or learning about animals, getting wet or climbing high, or just cooling off under the shade of the rainforest canopy.”
Jungala at Busch Gardens
As Clark stated, portions of the Jungala area have been closed to guests for some time. Those who chose to dine in this area would see massive walls blocking off where a former play area for kids existed. We even sat in this dining area in recent months, hearing guests ask what was behind those walls and what used to be there. Many of those guests were pass holders for many years, and they could not remember.
When we visited recently, some of those walls were removed, and we saw some activity involving bulldozers. We suspect you might have a better view of the construction if you have time to ride Kumba. However, most guests will find looking around on that thrilling roller coaster difficult.
Wild Oasis realm: New direction for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay?
More information will be announced about Wild Oasis as its spring 2025 opening season draws nearer.
With Scorpion and SandSerpent closing and Phoenix Rising, a family coaster, added, Busch Gardens fans thought this might be the year that something massive arrived at the theme park. Roller coasters have played a huge role at this park.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay contains several top roller coaster attractions. In fact, Iron Gwazi has consistently ranked as one of the top steel coasters in the world since opening in 2022. However, compared to some theme parks featuring roller coasters, Busch Gardens lacks something: a giga coaster.
Giga coaster?
Unlike theme parks like Cedar Point and Kings Island, Busch Gardens lacks a giga coaster. A giga coaster is a fill-circuit roller coaster between 300 and 399 feet in height (or has a drop within those parameters). (For the record, some roller coasters go over 400 feet high, at which point they’re part of a different naming category.)
Nevertheless, Busch Gardens lacks a coaster this tall. Iron Gwazi only reaches 207 feet in height. In fairness to Busch Gardens, no Florida theme park has a giga coaster. Busch Gardens adding one would have been a clear statement about its direction for the future. With partner theme park SeaWorld Orlando staking claim to be Orlando’s coaster capital, a similar plan for Busch Gardens could have been in the works. However, Busch Gardens went in a different direction. That does not mean a giga coaster will never come to this theme park. Still, plans for a more family-friendly area make sense.
Busch Gardens needs more family-friendly areas
Busch Gardens drew interest from theme park visitors with roller coasters like Cheetah Hunt and Iron Gwazi, and subsequently earned respect in the theme park community for its roller coaster lineup. It does have flat rides that an entire group can ride. The addition of Phoenix Rising provides a family-friendly coaster to the lineup at Busch Gardens.
However, the large percentage of attractions at Busch Gardens being roller coasters causes some guests with younger children to see the theme park as less desirable. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay does have a Sesame Street Safari of Fun area. However, that land focuses on preschool children, as you would expect. Busch Gardens appears to be increasing the attraction options for school-age children with Wild Oasis.
Reviving a kid-friendly area in the Jungala section of the theme park will be a good step in reaching theme park fans of all ages. Roller coaster fans may be disappointed with the announcement of the Wild Oasis realm. Still, Busch Gardens needs to reach a larger audience. Not every attraction needs to be state-of-the-art and high thrills. Theme parks need balance. The Wild Oasis realm should aid Busch Gardens with that. At this point, guests must wait to see what Wild Oasis Realm brings to the theme park experience.
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