Advice on Seaworld or Busch Garden Tampa.

We are currently in the process of planning a summer vacation for 2011 and seeking input on one of our choices. We are debating on either spending a day at Seaworld or one day at Busch Gardens Tampa. We will be traveling it a 16 year old and a 8 year old. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated; also advice on if there are shuttles from the Disney Property to either as well or if renting a car for that day is better option.

My personal preference is BGT over Sea World. BGT has more rides, of course, and while they both feature awesome animal exhibits, BGT has more to do.

They both are super amazing, don't get me wrong, but BGT is one of my favorite theme parks of all time.

For me, definitely BGT. The 'montumba' combo is hard to beat. Manta is fun, and the shows are cute, but after that you'll be twiddling your thumbs.

If you want rides, BGT. If you want the animals and shows, SeaWorld. I had a Fun Pass and spent more time at the dolphin pool than I did riding Manta and Kraken. They are both pretty great coasters, though, and if you can, don't miss them. There is no BGT/Seaworld shuttle available from Disney. However if you go to SeaWorld you could take a Lynx bus from the TTC. If you purchase the BGT/SeaWorld combo ticket, I believe they still offer the shuttle that runs between the two at certain times.

Went to both in August and loved both. We had a 1 year old and he loved Sea World a lot more because of the shows. BGT definitely had the better rides, but not by much. Manta is fantastic, but Sheikra is just as good.

We were just at both back in October. BGT edges Sea World by a little bit, but if you can do both. Both are great Parks, your kids would love them. As said above there is a shuttle from Sea World to BGT, but a rental car is the way to go. It's better to go at your own pace. Have a good time! :)

You can't go wrong with either! However if you're staying at Disney I would suggest just staying in the Orlando area and going to Sea World.

I would rent a car for the whole trip, even Disney. It's way easier to get around The World then waiting for a bus.

I'm heading to BGT this weekend. Went to Sea World about this time last year. They're both awesome parks, but as has been said, BGT is a better rides park. I really enjoyed the animal shows/exhibits at Sea World last year. Didn't really check out BGT's animal stuff on my only previous trip to the park.

I greatly appericate all this input. My wife and step-daughter are disney virgins, so we will be spending a chunk of our time there. I really want to included both on our trip but may have to end up choosing between the two :(

If you can only do one, I'd do Sea World at this point. Save BGT for when Cheetah Hunt opens - and did they ever get the Millennium Flyers on Gwazi?

^Yes, they did.

I declare the offical abbreviation for Cheetah Hunt is "Chunt."
That is all.

I still prefer "Backlot Chunt Coaster." :)

Did both this last October with my 13 year old son and my partner. Both parks were fantastic. I was really surprised at BGT on how much wildlife there was. The train with zebras and rhinosourus in reaching distance was way cool. Especially with a mother rhinosourus and her baby just feet away. Both parks were beautiful, either you go to will be a wonderful experience for your family.

Thanks to everyone that gave me some advice. I really appericate it.

Today we booked everything and we decided to use the Orlando Flex Ticket plus and will spend a few days in the Orlando area before hitting disney allowing us to go not only Busch Gardens but Sea world, Aqutica, Universal, Islands of Adventure, and wet-n-wild. Now we can only hope for great weather and no hurricanes or tropical depressions lol.