At peak times during the main tourist season, the streets around Busch Gardens can become very crowded.
Hudson resident Steve Overhuel and his wife learned that lesson recently on the way to the Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival and Pentatonix concert.
Overhuel spent 40 minutes in traffic from the light at Busch Boulevard and McKinley Avenue to the main parking lots at Busch Gardens.
"This was caused by traffic backed up, (which) totally stopped on northbound McKinley," he said. "We waited patiently at this intersection for about 20 minutes before we could turn onto North McKinley. There was not a police officer there to direct traffic, and motorists trying to get through were doing idiotic and immature maneuvers to force their way through the intersection."
Both Busch Gardens and the Tampa Police Department say there were off-duty officers assigned to the intersection and a plan had been filed in advance by the theme park for traffic control. However, the flood of late arrivals caused the gridlock on the city streets around the park.
Police Spokesperson Andrea Davis says the traffic issues around Busch Gardens have two primary origins.
"It's a unique situation because there's residential area around there and the roads are not necessarily built for a large amount of traffic," she said.
Davis said park attendees should plan to arrive at least two hours early for any major events in Tampa Bay to avoid this type of traffic.