Christmas Town Tampa Bay - Tampa, Florida

Phyllis M. I. B.

Es muy bello como celebran la navidad,es un buen lugar para, nuestros niños disfrutaron de todo el lugar en la noche y sé emocionaron de compartir en este lugar, que dió comienzo a las fiestas navideñas

Belinda R.

The lights are beautiful ❤️. Ice skating show was wonderful 😊❤️. So short on employees at so many places. The ice cream only one worker. Star Bucks one worker. I wanted to get some fudge no body would help me. I guess they don't need to make any money because they have you in . The Asian food was terrible the rice was burnt n the beef and broccoli was terrible I spoke to a black manager but she could have cared less. I'm not going back.

S. L.

The first thing i noticed is christmas town doesnt even open until 4pm.We went on a weekday and it wasn't crowded. Wait times for rides was under 15 min. The santa experience was cute and interactive and they spent some time with the kids. The rudolph experience was terrible, there was nothing personal about it. They rushed us through and forgot to give us our photo card. The photos we purchased at the park were overly bright and not great quality. We also had the christmas priority passes which weren't necessary since there was no line. Parts of the park are still closed and damaged from hurricanes. The food was pretty good in christmas town but the portions were tiny. We were disappointed that the skyline costs money if you dont have a pass. It was also annoying that almost every transaction had computer issues. Also, most of the restaurants were closed besides chick fil a. It was all snacks and drinks. The lights were nice. Overall a cute idea, but needs more pizzaz.

Nikki B.

Christmas Town at Bush Gardens 2023 is a big disappointment. Every year since Covid they have had less and less lighting. This year felt sad knowing what once was. The food is expensive and not really great. I had a rock hard cinnamon bun that we had to throw away. The train shut down early so we didn't get to ride it. I give 2 stars only because the Ice Show is 👍 awesome.

Ryan M.

You know what screams Christmas, telling little kids that Santa will see the VIP kids first. Would you like to see Rudolph and friends? Spoiler alert, it's just Rudolph, his girlfriend, and the abominable snowman (2 photo ops). The good news, if you aren't VIP, you get to wait in line for over 30 minutes (IF you are lucky) for the wonderful 5 minute opportunity to take a photo with them. Then of course, you can buy a photo for $25+. When did Christmas become just about photo ops with Santa and a couple other characters?! Thankfully Santa asked the kids what the wanted for Christmas. He didn't ask me, because it would have been that "he" "Busch Gardens" not turn the whole thing into making as much money as possible off of everyone.

I do remember when Christmas Town at BG first began. Would you believe you received a warm chocolate chip cookie after seeing Santa? Now you get a small peppermint candy cane. But don't worry, in the photo lobby after seeing Santa, you can buy an alcoholic beverage full of Christmas joy.

Rudolph and friends used to be a whole walk-through experience with many of the characters from those old-timey Christmas specials.

And one year, they had sledding. That was cool.

It's not cool anymore. It is a rip-off. Not coming back. For regular park hours or for Christmas Town. They can fleece someone else. (btw, this post could have been twice as long. we were that disappointed)

S I.

A huge disappointment as there is hardly any signage on what is generally where you intend to go. You walk aimlessly through the park trying to find what show is where only to find out it is either not happening when you get there or there is a very long line and it is useless to wait. However, when you go to use a bathroom it is VERY DISGUSTING! You immediately want to change your clothes, or burn them, due to the complete lack of cleanliness you dealt with. Urine, etc., all over the floor and toilet along with several clogged and unusable! The lighted necklaces you purchase either do not work or the batteries do not last through out your stay at the park. $20 wasted for each family member you purchased one for! Lights are disappointing and it is hard to tell what theme you are in and where to go next. Absolutely no direction to where the fireworks show is and you eventually find it right before the park closes and you are forced to leave through an unorganized gauntlet of people trying to crowd onto the trams to find our car surrounded by cars that are in places they should not park making it very difficult to get out in a comfortable fashion. And, parking fee of and outrageous $30 is NOT INCLUDED into your expensive ticket price to get into this debacle. A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT ALL AROUND!

Timothy G.

The event needs improvement based on experiences with the food and beverage team and the operations team.

The food and beverage management team needs to step up. Their longer than usual transactions caused a chain reaction of congested lines. In my first example, there are two registers to take the order. The worker at the register that I’m at walked to the next register to help the other worker with their transaction. I’m not upset with that. I commend teamwork. However, they could’ve done without the comment “this is why we need a manager here, but they keep walking away.” My second example is when I wanted to get a white chocolate peppermint pretzel (the alternative was a dark chocolate peppermint pretzel) and they didn’t have any, but this was only 45 minutes after the 4:00pm opening time for food. The point I’m trying to make with that example is that, whether they indeed ran out 45 minutes later or just didn’t have it to begin with, it just seems like a poor execution. My third example is that one particular food booth the registers were not set up to scan the UPC code on the Sampling Lanyard that allows you to get so many sample sizes based upon what amount of samples you purchase (i.e. 5 or 10). Let me be clear, none of this is an attack on the workers. The intent is to make it clear that the actual management and event planners have issues that they are responsible for that need to be addressed.

Finally, the operations management team has issues as well. This will address the lines for the photos with Rudolph experience and photos with Santa experience. There are two lines; one for regular and one for VIP. My issue is that there are no displays designating which side is which. If you get in the VIP side and you are regular admission, the workers will politely let you know. However, both the workers and the guests can have a better experience if it was clear from the beginning which line to wait in.

In conclusion, I’m not attacking any workers. They do the best they can do with what they have to work with, and, unfortunately, often take unnecessary comments from guests that become irritated. The point I’m trying to make is that the management team needs to improve on their event. This event advertises with tv commercials, radio commercials, and I’ve been receiving multiple emails. There is obviously planning that goes into this event, but the execution is lacking.

Torrie H.

I have attended Christmas town many times in the past and this year was a major disappointment. Christmas town itself had nothing special a few kiosk for merchandise probably just another way to make money. Took us less than 5 mins to walk through the “event”. They used to have fake snow and so many cute activities/photo opportunities. But nothing. The food lines were crazy, the food was mediocre and actually made me sick throughout the whole day. Don’t even consider grabbing a drink if you don’t want to pay $15+ for a very small drink. The employees all seemed miserable. I am so sad over this. Barley any lights, music or attractions. Also no fireworks as advertised. We found ourselves bored majority of our time. The only plus was the ice skating show. Most rides were closed and I felt like I was walking aimlessly with no signage to any Christmas themed area. Waste of money in my opinion.