Busch Gardens New Weather Policy for 2023

There's nothing worse than planning a day at one of the Florida theme parks and weather forces you to change your plans. When the downpours move through Tampa, it shuts down rollercoasters. And when the heat gets extreme, the last place you want to be this time of year is outside. Busch Gardens realizes this and has updated its policy when it comes to extreme heat and wild weather.

Busch Gardens calls it the "Weather-or-Not Assurance program." If bad weather causes them to close the park early or messes up your day during operating hours, you can ask for another visit on another day. The policy even includes heat now too. If the heat index gets to 110 or higher, come back some other time within a year and you won't pay a thing.

Today might end up being one of those days. The heat index forecast for Tampa today is about 106, according to weather.gov. The difference between temperature and heat index can vary. The National Weather Service says the heat index is "what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature."

To get the "re-do," you need to do a couple things. First, you actually must be present in the park on the day stamped on your ticket. They'll have you fill out an online form. You'll need to use your return visit within a year of the date that was on your ticket.

The same weather policy applies for SeaWorld in Orlando too. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Marisa Thalberg called the Weather-or-Not Assurance program "the most generous inclement weather policy in the industry."

While there were a lot of enticing beer and alcoholic beverage choices, it was 95 degrees today. Water seemed like a better choice so we stuck with that. Instead we used our Bier Fest 5 punch card to try out some of the food options Busch Gardens is offering this month.

There are loads of German classics to try, but there were 2 standouts for me you should keep an eye out if you visit during Bier Fest, going on Fridays through Sundays until Labor Day Weekend.

You can catch live local bands while you sip on beer from local brewers. There's a Frost Proof Belgian-style White Ale from Cigar City in Tampa, Coppertail's Sun Runner, Orange Wheat from Leaven Brewing out of Riverview and "You're My Boy, Blue!" from Florida Avenue Brewing Co. out of Wesley Chapel.

But let's eat. Here were the 5 things we tried. One item was just "OK". There were 2 we thought were GOOD. And there were two "Wow, you've gotta try this" menu items you really should keep an eye out for.