aimster

Took it 8 seconds to load on my laptop that runs Firefox.

Yeah I was told a couple weeks ago they're shooting for a Memorial Weekend grand opening, but it'll most likely soft open before then. Can't wait!

Most of the wallabies at Busch Gardens are total sweeties, but man to see those two going at it was something and man did they draw a crowd! Oh and last week I got kind of attacked by a jealous wallaby because I wasn't paying attention to it and feeding a couple kangaroos. It was actually pretty funny how it tried to like smack me, but I know if it was *really* pissed he/she would cut a bitch. I know to pay closer attention to the other animals around me besides the ones I'm feeding. Animals are just so unpredictable. But they're so CUTE! There's one really small wallaby that's my favorite. It's is just the sweetest thing and I've been kind of bonding with him/her since November. It doesn't like it when a lot of people crowd around her, but I was way on the other end of the habitat where there's not a lot of people and my little wally is small enough it can fit through the bars and come out into the walkway. There was a kangaroo that was starting to get pushy/grabby with the food, so the wallaby just hopped between the bars and hopped over to me in the walkway (I just sit on the ground... easier on my feet/legs) and put his/her little paws on my knee. So I think my little buddy remembers me or something (and I know it's the same wallaby because of its ear markings). It was really quite cool. It's experiences like that that make Busch Gardens such an amazing place.

Few more pics... The stilt walkers tried to molest Wonderpup. Dingoes ate my baby. Extreme close up! Ummm... well that wallaby is nice to give that other wallaby a piggy back ride. Yeah, that's it.

I was at the park again yesterday.... Skyride down til April 22nd due to Cheetah Hunt construction. Carousel is down through March 11 for a complete refurb. Montu is down for a few weeks for annual maintenance. Bands, Brew & BBQ started this weekend. This weekend was Montgomery Gentry (was originally supposed to be Blondie, but obviously it got changed). Next weekend is Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. Sample 50 beers for $25? Yes please! Had lunch at Zambia Smokehouse. The outdoor seating area gives a great view of SheikRa's splashdown. Tiger topiary at Jungala is getting new covering. It was totally "naked" when I was there last week. KITTY! Forgot to get your Howl-O-Scream merch back in October? They still got some left (at Desert Traders). The new Serengeti Outpost tour sign-up kiosk looks great! Twisty Intamin goodness! Yup, it's going to leap OVER the Skyride (this has also been confirmed by BG via their Facebook page, Twitter feed & blog). Lots of theming work has gone on in the last week. Coming along nicely! While Montu is down, they got the area blocked off with these benches and an employee stationed in the archway to make sure guests don't go back there. Passed out lion. Whatchoo lookin' at?! Did you know zebras are actually BROWN and white?

The park has already confirmed that it will go OVER the Skyride. They posted about it on their Facebook fan page, but I can't find the post. I was at the park yesterday and you can see how the track is angled it's definitely going to leap over the Skyride. Check out the photo I took yesterday: Only about 400 more feet of track need to go up and everything will be in place. I saw this today: http://www.bgtnation.net/2011/02/cheetah-chase-becomes-sand-serpent.html You beat me to it.

A Busch Gardens blog I follow, BGT Nation, was at the park today and confirmed Cheetah Hunt will go OVER the Skyride. http://www.bgtnation.net/2011/02/cheetah-hunt-goes-over-skyride-cheetah.html

That's funny how on Gwazi only Tiger was running on Saturday and then only Lion was running on Sunday. What gives? I'm hoping it'll be dueling when I'm back there on Sunday.

^^ Yeah they were only running Tiger on Gwazi when I was there on Saturday. I saw them testing Lion a few times and hoped it would eventually open, but no luck. It's still a great ride (even when the rain is blinding you senseless), but must more thrilling when in dueling mode. And I experienced a new sensation on Montu. I was hanging out with these kids and we were working on going from the back of the train to the front and on the 3rd ride, I felt the G forces in my TOES. WTH? Never felt that in the front (where I normally ride) or in the very back. Odd. In all honesty... it felt weird. Oh yeah and I was attacked by a jealous wallaby. I'll be back at Busch Gardens next Sunday (the 13th), so I'll have more construction pics then. I'll be more apt to take the camera out as it's supposed to be nice and sunny instead of overcast and rainy.

What flavor dippin dots was he selling? LOL! No Dippin Dots. He was by the construction area on the bridge that goes to Edge of Africa near the Nairobi train station. He was watching them put up a support beam. Was an older guy but he was excited about the ride too. Gotta love it when employees are as excited as guests about new stuff.

Was at Busch Gardens today. Weather was overcast and it rained lightly on and off part of the afternoon, but it was still a good day. While I was there, I saw them put up a support beam and another piece of track on Cheetah Hunt. Was talking to a park employee in the area and asked if a opening date has been set yet for the new coaster. He told me Memorial Day Weekend will be the grand opening if all goes according to plan. The Skyride reopens April 22nd, and he told me they hope to have Cheetah Hunt in testing then. The cheetahs for the new Cheetah Run habitat are in the park, but they're in the back. You can see them as part of the Endangered Species tour though. Didn't take too many pics today because of the weather, but here are a few... Zebra! Big Kitty Mr. Kangaroo tried to eat Wonderpup! Just because Kumba is made of awesome. Yup. Awesome. Rode this 3 times in a row with NO WAIT today!

Hambone, I agree with you on the kangaroo feeding as a "hit". They are going to make a FORTUNE off me because I do this at least twice every time I've gone now since November. I could easily spend hours in that area just watching the kangaroos and wallabys and petting & playing with them. They're really just freaking awesome. And I think I've bonded a bit with the little wallaby... the smallest one. He's so wee! Seriously he's like not much bigger than my cat! I had some fun with a Brazilian tour group a couple weeks ago. I actually infiltrated into one and followed along for about 20 minutes without getting caught (I guess I fit in pretty well). Then I got the guide of another group to take a photo of me holding the flag! As for the food, you need to know what to eat there. The BBQ at Zambia Smoke House is ok. Mediocre theme park BBQ over all, but... they have BREAD PUDDING! How many restaurants serve that, let alone theme parks? I love me some bread pudding and the stuff at Zambia is pretty tasty. What I really love though is the spaghetti & meatballs at the Desert Grill in Timbuktu. BIG plate of spaghetti and 2 big meatballs (hehehe... balls) for $7.99. That's a bargain for theme park food. I want to try the fried chicken there sometime. I was going to a few weeks ago, but dumb me got in the wrong line, so I settled for the spaghetti instead. I'm going back to the park this Saturday with my parents. My mom is dying to feed the roos & wallies. I'm looking forward to checking out Cheetah Hunt progress... and riding the coasters already there of course!

Great pics! I really miss Cedar Point. Haven't been since 1990 and I REALLY need to fix that sometime. I miss Gemini.

Wild Wadi looks like a beautiful water park! Great theming! I'm not a big fan of water parks (I don't like getting wet), but this one makes me want to go!

Well, I haven't been to as many parks as a lot of you, but I'm game to play. In no particular order: Gemini Montu Gwazi (back on the list with those awesome GCI Millennium Flyer trains) Kumba Wolverine Wildcat ShiekRa Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge Hulk Magnum XL 2000 (or is it 200? I can't remember and I'm too lazy to look it up) Big Thunder Mountain

I can't help it...

Yeah I noticed yesterday that Gwazi is still slow as hell loading. They had 2 trains running all day one was already back at the station before the one ahead of it was even dispatched. But the lines were short. It was odd because actually the Lion side always seemed to have longer lines than the Tiger side (Tiger was practically a walk-on, even for the front row the 3 times I rode - Lion had like a 10-15 minute wait for the front row). But those awesome new trains totally make up for that. And amazingly, I have never done Rhino Rally. Every time I go the wait is posted as at least 30 minutes, so I always skip it. Maybe I'll finally do it when I go again in a couple weeks.

Really? I don't remember seeing it last week. Oh well no biggie.

Was back at Busch Gardens again today for the official reopening of Gwazi! OMG the new trains are a HUGE improvement. So much smoother. I rode Lion once and Tiger twice and didn't feel like I was just beaten with a jackhammer. Checked on the status of the construction on Cheetah Hunt too. I talked briefly with one of the construction workers and he said this thing should be quite impressive when it's finished. And now... photos! Of course I went nuts over the kangaroos & wallabys again. Wonderpup thinks this is the best part of the park besides the coasters! I love the tigers at Jungala. This elephant was swinging around what looked like an old Christmas tree, then it swung it onto its back and was carrying it. Comedy. Cheetah Hunt construction update! Wonderpup says spring can't get here fast enough! This tree was planted since last Saturday. Seriously, spring needs to hurry up and get here! Nice view of Gwazi from the balcony of the Crown Colony. And ShiekRa Gap in the wall! There was a gate open by that little gift shop by the Moroccan Palace Theatre, so I got a good shot of the workers building... this thing. This should be an interesting element. Follow the flag! Actually, I did! I snuck into a Brazilian tour group and followed along for about 20 minutes. No one noticed. Then I commandeered the flag of another group! Kumba was running good. Pretty water feature in Walkabout Way. This used to be part of the bird gardens... the peacocks and some other birds used to hang out here. And one more dose of cuteness to close out the day.

LOL! Ummm.... yeah. Wonderpup is my traveling companion. My boyfriend (yes I actually have a real, live one!) was in Anaheim this past weekend working the NAMM trade show (he works for a guitar manufacturer).

Well, as promised, here are some pics I took when I was at Busch Gardens this past Saturday... Stilt walker dude. He was pretty cool. New trains coming! Uhhhh... NOT these! ROO! G'Day! Feed me! Pet me! LOVE ME! We named this roo "Captain". Get it? Captain Kangaroo? Wonderpup thinks flamingos are psycho birds. Wonderpup met Big Bird... ...While I was molested by Cookie Monster (well, not really but...) Because we're dirty credit whores... front row on Air Grover! Cool waterfall over at Jungala Didn't ride ShiekRa that day. There were some Brazilian tour groups & they were taking up half the queue, so decided to stay a few steps ahead and went to... ...Kumba, which was a modest 10 minute wait for the front row at the time (thought he Brazilians were getting in line when I was coming back from my spin). Elephant head-butt! That's a white rhino. Don't piss him off or he'll eat your children... and kidnap the cat. And now... Cheetah Hunt construction photos! *fanfare* The water element is here. Should be pretty awesome. Giant tortoise break! So purty! Went up on the balcony of the Crown Colony restaurant to get these shots over the walls... Montu! This is my favorite inverted coaster EVER! Wheeeee!! I love the meerkats. They're so funny! Here kitty, kitty, kitty... Unamused hyena is.... unamused. Tiger side on Gwazi testing! Love the look of the new trains! We'll be back this coming Saturday to ride! ZOMG! WIDDLE HANDS! This wallaby was so little! He was maybe slightly bigger than my cats. I called him Wee Wally Wallaby. I SO wanted to take him home with me. Lasers set from stun... to KILL Just saying "U-Banga Banga" is fun! Still a fun ride. Wheee!! ZOOOOM!! Just the way this croc was laying made me laugh REALLY hard.

Nice! Very nice indeed. I should post the pics I took when I was there on Saturday. Will do that tonight from home. I'm VERY excited about Cheetah Hunt. It looks like it's going to be all kinds of awesome. And I'll be at the park this coming Saturday as well to check out the new trains on Gwazi. They looked really cool when I saw them testing on Saturday. I got some weird looks when I got all excited and started jumping up & down.

I got some strange looks form people when I got all excited when I saw them testing the new trains and snapping pics. One couple asked me what was going on, so I told them and they said, "You must work here, right?" HA! Nope. I'm just an AP holding coaster nerd.

I got my bag of crap yesterday! Inside: -Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk button -TPR mints -a TPR pen -a Six Flags 45th Anniversary rubber bracelet -an EPCOT map -a Robbie Knievel temporary tattoo -a Six Flags temporary tattoo -a ticket stub thingy from Morey's Piers -a West Coast Trip photo DVD -a mystery DVD (not marked... haven't had a chance to look a it yet) -a Germany theme park guide (VERY cool... though it's all in German) -Camelot Theme Park guide map -Legoland Germany brochure (which is getting me excited for Legoland Florida) -a Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party sticker -a Kennywood postcard -a map of some German park, but no clue which (can't find the park's name on the map) -Busch Gardens Tampa Howl-O-Scream 2009 map (which I found REALLY funny because I already had one... now I have 2!) -A TPR Deep South 2009 Group photo at Dollywood Sorry it's sideways... uploaded from my iPhone.

I was at Busch Gardens today and they were testing BOTH sides of Gwazi this afternoon. Tiger's train is blue/teal. Lion's train is yellow. I was able to snap the following photos... Tiger on the lift hill Lion (it came by before I was ready with the camera) Tiger