TR: Busch Gardens Tampa (9/29/2013)

In the land of never ending summer, our “coaster season” was coming to a close. We didn’t have plans or interest in doing anything else this fall, which meant that this day in September would be when we packed it in and got ready for the long winter. And if you’re gonna pick a theme park to celebrate love of the roller coaster, man, there’s few better options than Busch Gardens Tampa. Just a little over an hour away from Orlando’s tourist district and a really easy ride from our hotel (Westin Universal Blvd), given the close proximity we had to I-4. It was kinda a bummer to take such quick leave of our nice room, but we had to jet.

TR: Aquatica Orlando…and some Sea World (9/28/2013)

A scant 5 days after being in Orlando last, we were once again on our way in that general direction. We had passes to get into parks thanks to our Discovery Cove admission, my wife was closing in on elite status with Delta, so why not use this as an opportunity for a super cheap trip, right? Instead of flying into Orlando, we’d travel into Tampa to visit Busch Gardens, and we’d exchange points and use Priceline to make out arrangements. And it worked pretty splendidly.