We are planning a trip the second week of September to Tampa for a week with our special needs daughter. Looking for places to visit in Tampa with my daughter. I have heard of Busch Gardens. This will be our first visit to Tampa. Any suggestions?

I have never been to Busch Gardens in Tampa, but it is part of the same outfit as the one in Virginia, which are nice, well run parks with a lot to recommend them. Whether it would be fun for your daughter would partly depend on her age, interests, and abilities.

BTW, you are only a couple of hours from Orlando, and it would be practical to do a day trip to one of the parks there. My DS, 15 with high-functioning ASD, absolutely LOVES both Sea World and the Disney parks (with the exception of Hollywood Studios, which he thinks is just OK).

Busch Gardens is nice, but I also really like Lowry Park Zoo, at one time voted the best family zoo in the states. The aquarium is also excellent, with the added adventure of a dolphin watching excursion. Are you interested in the beaches?

I would second the aquarium, especially if you get a rainy day. It turned out to be one of the highlights of a family trip about 10 years ago. We also have a daughter with special needs.

Both suggestions, the aquarium and Busch Gardens would be great places. Busch Gardens can take up your whole day with activities for everyone in the family. There are great accessible exhibits for your daughter. I grew up visiting Busch Gardens and think very highly of it as an amusement park that caters much better to families over Six Flags, for example.

The aquarium would be a good activity for a few hours. They do have great exhibits.

Also, depending on your daughter's age, there is a Glazer Children's museum that recently opened. I have not been, but it is a short drive from the aquarium.

The beaches might be entertainment for the whole family as well.