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Busch Gardens adds extra free months to annual pass

 
Busch Gardens’ 12-month pass is good for 15 months if you buy by Jan. 3.
JAMES BORCHUCK   |   Times
Busch Gardens’ 12-month pass is good for 15 months if you buy by Jan. 3. JAMES BORCHUCK | Times
Published Oct. 7, 2016

Busch Gardens is temporarily extending the reach of its $168 Annual Pass by three months, which means you can get 15 months at the Tampa theme park for the price of 12 months.

The annual pass is normally good for a 12-month period from the date it's purchased. But if you buy one now, you'll be able to access the park until December 2017, the park announced Tuesday. The deal is good through Jan. 3 for both Busch Gardens and SeaWorld Orlando.

Unlike Busch Gardens' Fun Card, valid for a calendar year, the pass gets you free parking, discounts on shopping and dining and other perks.

The park also announced some new events coming this year and the return of Christmas Town and the park's Food and Wine Festival.

Sesame Street Safari of Fun will host a new event, a Halloween party on the last two weekends of October.

Oct. 22-23 and 29-30 feature festive arts and crafts in the toddler play zone as well as trick-or-treat candy stations and a hay bale maze. During the "The Count Weekend" and "Monsters & Fairies Weekend" guests will encounter character parades, dance parties and Sesame Street friends like the Count, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby.

Christmas Town, when the park adds holiday shows and 2 million lights, returns on select dates Nov. 25-Dec. 31. This year will bring an all-new Rudolph's Winter Wonderland where guests can meet Rudolph, Bumble, Yukon Cornelius and other characters from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Next spring, Busch Gardens' Food and Wine Festival returns weekends March 4-April 30 with an extended week of culinary offerings and "bigger concerts than ever," though the lineup wasn't announced.

Annual passes, Fun Cards and single-day tickets are available online at buschgardens.com, at the park's front gate or by calling toll-free 1-888-800-5447.

Contact Sharon Kennedy Wynne at swynne@tampabay.com. Follow @SharonKWn.