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Busch Gardens: No snow at Christmas Town this year

 
Entertainment Technician Matthew Chimato shapes mounds of freshly made snow at the Snow World attraction inside of Christmas Town in 2012.
Entertainment Technician Matthew Chimato shapes mounds of freshly made snow at the Snow World attraction inside of Christmas Town in 2012.
Published Oct. 30, 2014

Florida kids are used to a Christmas without snow, but since 2012 they've been able to fake it at Busch Gardens' Christmas Town. Not this year.

The Tampa theme park says the nighttime holiday wonderland won't include the popular blanket of manufactured snow that was turned into ice slides and a place for a kid in a T-shirt to build a snowman or hurl a few snow balls.

Another change this year is the 23 nights of Christmas Town will no longer be a separate ticket event. The good news is it's included with daily park admission ($95, $90 for kids over 3) or an annual pass. However, you can't go to just Christmas Town, which last year cost $60.

Busch Gardens spokesman Travis Claytor denied the changes were part of cost-cutting measures that parent company SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. announced in August after a disappointing second-quarter earnings statement sent the stock price tumbling.

"We're constantly looking at our events and guest feedback so we can evolve," he said, "and we will continue to change things to try to provide the best possible experience for our guests."

Including Christmas Town with park admission adds value, he said.

"We did make the change this year to include this with admission so you can come out for the day and then later this will be included as part of your daily experience."

Christmas Town will run Nov. 28 through Dec. 31, mostly on weekends after the park closes at either 8 or 9 p.m.

The park then turns dazzling, with more than 1 million lights and special shows and food options ranging from peppermint hot chocolate to pumpkin funnel cakes and cranberry-glazed turkey legs. Santa's House has warm cookies and elves as well as Santa doing meet and greets in his private study.

African penguins are set up as a photo opportunity in the Nairobi area. The park's steam locomotive is transformed into the Christmas Town Express that chugs around the Serengeti while passengers join in a Christmas carol sing-along.

New this year, the Egypt area will be transformed into the little town of Bethlehem where the story of the Three Kings unfolds. The park's newly renamed Pantopia is getting dressed up in jewel-toned lantern stars and a gigantic LED star. And some of the park's most popular rides will be open, including Cheetah Hunt, SheiKra and new drop tower Falcon's Fury.

But Snow World had been especially popular in the past, and it was expanded last year to a backstage area near Gwazi Plaza with 15,000 square feet of shaved ice that drew Florida kids, who were advised to bring mittens because that stuff was really cold. The snow slide area was expanded last year to eight slides, and park workers did their best to keep big brothers from pelting their sisters with snowballs.

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Claytor said there is another "really cool" experience that will be announced soon for Christmas Town but the park isn't ready to release the details yet. It will be aimed at younger kids, he said.

For information and tickets, go to ChristmasTown.com.

Contact Sharon Kennedy Wynne at wynne@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8595. Follow @sharonkwn.