Busch Gardens' Christmas Town Continues Through Jan. 3

TAMPA, FL — Wrap up the year with holiday cheer at Busch Gardens' Christmas Town, the park’s award-winning holiday event. Christmas Town runs daily with park-wide festivities through Jan. 3.

Busch Gardens’ creative team has consulted with medical experts to offer a modified event with required reservations and limited capacity that celebrates the spirit of the season safely. This seasonal event features open-air entertainment as well as enhanced health, safety and sanitation measures, including temperature checks, face covering requirements and physical distancing.

Included in park admission, park guests can enjoy holiday traditions with a twist, from millions of twinkling lights throughout the park’s 335 acres to physically distant holiday shows, animal encounters and contact-free visits with Santa and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Heartwarming Holiday Entertainment

A warm-weather winter wonderland awaits park guests with a variety of holiday programs offered throughout the event. Guests are encouraged to check the park’s website before visiting to learn which programs are available each date.

This year, guests will have several opportunities to enjoy festive bursts of Christmas colors in a dazzling display. Fireworks are offered select nights throughout the event at the festival field, offering plenty of space for guests to spread out and enjoy the sights.

For the first time ever, park guests can enjoy Busch Gardens’ longest-running holiday show, "Christmas on Ice," at a new outdoor location on the Festival Stage. This fan-favorite skating production will perform on real ice for physically distant audiences every Friday through Sunday and additional holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

Families can sing and dance with their favorite furry friends during "Elmo's Christmas Wish" holiday show. Celebrate the Christmas spirit with Sesame Street in the outdoor Sunny Day Theater with physically distant seating.

The musical tale of the famed journey to Bethlehem, "Three Kings Journey" will be offered alongside festive eats at the Dragon Fire Grill.

With limited capacity, the Holly Jolly Express locomotive is on track to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with favorite songs of the season as guests venture through the park in festive fashion.

Courtesy of Busch Gardens

Card-Worthy And Contact-Free Photo Opportunities

• Santa’s Merry Meet & Greet: Jolly elves guide guests to see Santa for a physically distant photo at a spacious new outdoor location this holiday season.
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Jingle all the way to Pantopia to Rudolph’s Winter Wonderland to find the most famous reindeer of all and snap some contact-free pictures with Rudolph and Clarice.
• Original Christmas Town Characters: For moments that sparkle, guests will encounter the Poinsettia Princess, Sugar Plum Princess, Ice Princess and jolly snowmen throughout their Christmas Town journey.
• Sesame Street Friends: Enjoy physically distant photo opportunities with everyone’s favorite furry friends in their festive holiday attire.

Holiday Eats And Unique Gifts

As guests dash through the night between iconic rollercoasters, they can explore the Christmas Town Village: a destination filled with drinks and dishes from an all-new chef- and mixologist-created holiday menu. Beyond a selection of fan-favorite seasonal beers and mulled wine, guests can also choose from a variety of new holiday-inspired beverages rooted in classic Christmas traditions. These unique, limited-time options include specialty cocktails like the “Winter Wonderland Hot Toddy” made with winter cider, honey whiskey and a chai infusion, and the festive “Spiked Hot Cocoa” with gingerbread crumbles, caramel and whipped cream.

The spirit of the season is in every bite of holiday dishes throughout the park such as sliced pork tenderloin, smoked turkey legs with pumpkin cider glaze, harvest turkey and prosciutto sliders and a variety of peppermint desserts. The best way for guests to savor and save during the holidays is with a Christmas Town Sampler Lanyard, starting at $34.99 for a five-punch lanyard. Pass members can enjoy an extra special offer with an exclusive 12-punch lanyard for the price of a 10-punch lanyard.

After fueling up for festive fun, guests can check everyone off their holiday shopping list with dazzling ornaments, nutcrackers and other Busch Gardens exclusive 2020 holiday merchandise, which is only available during this special event.

Courtesy Busch Gardens

Give The Gift That Gives All Year

For a limited time, buy a 2021 Fun Card and get the rest of 2020 free or upgrade to an Annual Pass starting as low as $11.50 per month with no down-payment. Annual Pass members receive 12 months of visits, with benefits such as free parking, up to six free guest tickets, Pass Member VIP Ride Nights, an exclusive 2020 Pass Member Ornament and up to 50 percent savings on merchandise, photo prints, Quick Queue and more.

The Fun Card gives park-goers unlimited access to the park for the remainder of the 2020 calendar year and all of 2021 for one low price, but does not include the additional pass benefits.

To purchase Annual Passes or Fun Cards, click here.

To get a sneak peek, view this video.