rcrider4

Yeah it was definitely busy that day. I heard it hit capacity.

I'm surprised Fury 324 is on that list Robb. I can understand the others, but pretty much everyone I have seen that has ridden Fury 325, myself included, has it at least in their top 5.

I agree that it is really good, but I actually like the Pizza Pretzel even better.

Can't agree more. In fact, I'd love for them to build 2 or 3, as the line would be monstrous during rain if there was only one, and indoor rides would be very welcome in general due to the heat of Florida.

Honestly, with Florida weather, you can't really predict the time rain will start or stop this far out. It will almost certainly be different by Thursday or Friday. I would wait until at least Thursday and look again. If it has pretty much no chance of rain after 2, go for Friday. School will be in and the rain will keep people away, so it will be pretty dead and you'll have no problem riding everything a couple times. If the rain chance gets worse, go for Saturday, as weather shuts down pretty much every ride in the park as everything is outdoors. It will be busier Saturday, but with the long Christmas Town hours, you'll have plenty of time to do all the rides as long as you get there near opening.

So the places area month travels in is pitch black? Hooray! Do they untrim montu at night? Montu isn't in pitch black as it has lights along the ride path, but it's still pretty dark. The only coaster that really gets absolutely pitch black is the back half of Cheetah Hunt. Going through the canyon has literally no light. They don't untrim Montu at night, but since it is colder, it tends to run a little slower, and thus the trim isn't as bad. Yep they do. It's done to Carol of the Bells and runs every 15 minutes. It's not technically in the Egypt area, but the Crown Colony Plaza though, so that's why I didn't include it. The actual Egypt area is the least lot area of the park besides Congo, which has almost nothing at all IIRC.

It is, but not that much. Mainly just some smaller Christmas trees lit up along the pathway

2011 Cheetah Hunt - day after opening due to technical difficulties almost all day on opening day 2014 Falcon's Fury on the second day of soft opening 2015 Fury 325

Jeff Hornick said in an interview with Screamscape that you go up the second lift backwards and start spinning at the top. I wouldn't be surprised if that long brake run before the lift is the part where it switches direction, as it seems awfully long to be just a brake run. If that's the case, then that little twisty part between the brake and lift will also be ridden backwards. You should have no problem getting multiple rides in with Quick Queue Unlimited, even with the crowds. The lines are almost always under 10-20 minutes, except for sometimes Cheetah Hunt before lunchtime on the busiest of days. With the extended hours, you'll have plenty of time to ride everything you want many times. Make sure you also plan to leave time after sunset to just walk around the park and enjoy all of the Christmas Town decor, lights, and experiences.

IIRC, every park they own is making money except for SeaWorld San Antonio (they say due to the bad weather this year) and SeaWorld San Diego (because of the crazy Blackfish backlash there). The Busch parks in particular are doing very well, as are Discovery Cove and Aquatica.

They did confirm it actually, just not super publicly

Yeah, the area on the right side of the park marked in yellow would be a great place for an AK Lodge-esque resort, and it's right along the train tracks. I really wouldn't be surprised if that's what goes there, as they specifically marked it as developable land, but it's too far out there to be anything that is an actual part of the park.

A quick update on the Cobra's Curse construction from my visit today. They have added more the the front and back half of the portion that is up, with the front half getting a large overbanked turn, and the back half getting a very bouncy turn

On a day like those, where it is an off season weekday, you will have absolutely no problem with lines at all unless for some reason a bunch of end-of-the-year school trips decide to come on that day. Even then, it won't be bad. You will easily be able to do everything, even the smaller things. Just don't ride between 10:30 and 1:00 to avoid the line, and everything else will be a breeze. I would say you could do all of the major rides in 3 hours, and add in some shows and smaller rides and you could fill out the rest of the day. Also, know that all rides open 30 minutes after the park does, with the exception of the ones in the front area of the park (Cheetah Hunt and Montu), which opens at opening, and Congo River Rapids, which opens an hour after the park does. If you are there right at opening, ride Cheetah Hunt first, then Montu. Otherwise, go to Montu, the Animal Care Center, or go to the rides further back to catch them at opening. I'd say definitely do Scorpion, as it's a classic coaster that you don't see much of here in the southeast. Also, Congo River Rapids is an excellent rapids ride that you should do if you are OK with getting wet. If you get to the park early, head the the Animal Care Center ASAP to see if they will be doing any treatments there, as, if they have one that day, they usually happen before 12, often at 10:30 or 11. There's also an area in Nairobi called Jambo Junction located just behind the Hippo statues, and behind that is Curiosity Cavern. The latter especially is something that most people don't notice, and both offer some neat animal encounters. And if you want a great view of the large animals, make sure to get on the train at the Nairobi Station. That's the one that will take you out back into the Serengeti Plain. For shows, I highly recommend Iceploration and Opening Night Critters, and Treasures of the Mirage is good if you have time to kill and you want some AC and/or some food, but it isn't a must see. The others shows you should skip unless you have small children. Yes, you can. The pedestrian entrance is located at the corner of Busch and McKinley, on the McKinley side. Here's a Street View of it. So it's a little walk from the hotel, but considering the amount of walking you will be doing all day at the park, it really isn't that much. Best food IMO is at Zambia Smokehouse in Stanleyville next to SheiKra. Their BBQ is amazing, but it is also the most expensive place to eat. Second place goes to Dragon Fire Grill in Pantopia. A bit more affordable, a ton of options of food from around the world, and you can watch Treasures of the MIrage while eating if you time it right. I also have to say that you should definitely download the Busch Gardens app before you go. It is absolutely invaluable. It will tell you wait times, show times, directions, and pretty much everything else you could need.

Construction update and logo reveal for Cobra's Curse! [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

Haha that's what I figured. I've had an annual pass since I was like 8 or 9, and I've done a lot of research online, but I was never able to find any evidence of it running more than one train, no matter how hard I tried, so I figured it just never did. I wonder why they stopped then. I can understand it in the off season, but the 1 train op in the summer makes the wait time for it absolutely brutal.

I don't think Scorpion has ever had a two-train operation. There are two trains, but that's so that a train can be in maintenance while the ride is running. The second train will sometimes be sitting on the storage track in the middle though. But to answer your question, Scorpion ranges between 5-30 minutes on the off season usually, but can sometimes even get to 45 if the crowds are right and the already slow operation slows down even further.

It's busy relative to the crowd for the rest of the week, as Saturday is definitely the busiest day, but late September and early November is a very slow time, so it shouldn't be too bad. You should easily be able to do every major ride in the park, plus a show or two and some animals.

Well apparently that article is based on a misquote and RMC Gwazi is not happening

RMC Gwazi just got a little more credible! Also, like I said before, ignore the last paragraph. They went over the weekend, but as of Tuesday, the scoops are back on. Also, they joined the rest of the FL parks in raising parking pricing, but only as much as at SeaWorld, not the others, so it is now $17 instead of $18 ($23 instead of $22 for preferred)

Busch Gardens posted a time lapse of the first pieces of track being installed [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Edit: just visited the park and the scoops are back on SheiKra :/

Update on the progress from today

Yeah, I love the colors. They especially look nice with Fakcon's Fury in the background.

Here's the picture if you don't want to look it up. So excited for this!

Tuesday and Wednesday are usually the slowest, but really, since school is in, lines aren't really going to be a problem Monday through Friday. Edit: Screamscape just posted a video of SheiKra without the water scoops. [youtu_be]http://youtu.be/K1GQuu4Nv-g[/youtu_be]