jten11 Posted November 17, 2007 Posted November 17, 2007 Ah finally. My trip I've been planning for a while has finally came (and went). This past weekend I went to Busch Gardens Africa and Islands of Adventure. I met up with my buddy from Tampa that Friday night and left for BGA that following morning. We get there pretty early...well earlier than I'm used to going to a Theme Park. The first ride of the day was Gwazi. I remember having a great ride on Gwazi last year and this year wasn't different. The ride ops were still slow as hell, etc., but at least the wait was real short and It's still a very fun ride. The Lion side was cool, but to me Tiger was the better of the two.And get this, they actually were dueling! Even though they left at the same time, one dropped sooner than the other and timing for the near collisions were kinda off, but its still nice to see both coaster running. We rode back row on both sides. Tiger has a nice first drop and I love the dips and turns. Afterwards, we just decided to walk around and take in the niceness that is Busch Gardens. You sometimes forget you're surrounded by Tampa's 'residental' areas. Past the land of the dragons, we headed towards Sheikra. I haven't rode the floorless version, but I wasn't trying to find out how it was so soon. So we decided to hit up good ol' Kumba Our first ride was a back seat ride. I hate to say it, but Kumba has gotten rough over the years. Riding through those corksrcrews almost felt like riding Ninja in SFoG. I can't believe my head was banging on a B&M! However the rest of the ride is just fine, but Kumba has lost some points on getting a little rough Next, we were going to hit sky trams, but they didnt open in 10 mintues,so I bit the bullet and decided to brave Sheikra's new floorless version (in case you didn't know, I have a lil' fear of heights). It almost felt like riding this again for the first time. Not only this is my first floorless dive machine, this was my first floorless PERIOD. I do have to say how much I loved how they were dispacthing like clockwork. The ride-ops were on point with the loading and unloading. Plus it was bascially a walk-on. Anyways, we get on, of course I'm on the end. I will say the floorless does make a huge differece in scaring the crap out of you (at least in the first row). After that, we hit the trams to the other side of the park and Montu. Montu,as always delivers a great ride and today was no expection. Love it, love it. I had about a good 5- 10 min wait, but nothing more to say there. I decided to try something different other than coasters so we did Rhino Rally. Man, I was so dissapointed in that ride. Not only did they say the water part was broken down (not really sure what it actually is) but most of the animals I saw on RR I already saw on the sky rail! But at least it was about a 15-20 min wait. We decided to keep in the same area, so we rode Scoprion while we was there. They should never, ever get rid of this ride. For a coaster that's not that high compared to the others, the first drop and loop had some serious forces. The helixs were also a nice touch as well. New credit time! After Scorpion,we went straight to Cheetah Chase. This ride is all about sharp turns and sudden drops. Although I think Bug Out has the better drops, this one was still fun and had slightly bigger cars. We decided to leave the park since we did all the coasters and decided to eat and rest outside the park. We came back about an 1 hour and a half till closing and did a couple more runs on Gwazi and a back row run on Sheikra.The back row is where you really notice the stadium seating arrangement they got going. You also get a lot more of the first and second drops. Instead of just dropping your getting flung over then you drop. Overall I had a great time at Busch Gardens and I can't wait to make a return trip next year or so. And now on to the pics: *NOTE* after I got off Sheikra I realized the ride's forces "broke" my camera! So there aren't as many pictures that I would like to have, but I managed to take a couple before and after my camera broke. Enjoy! IOA report coming real soon! And I end with a pretty bird pic. Sorry there wasn't that much variety in the pics but on my IOA trip I have a brand new camera and a lot more pics...till next time! Attempt #3. This pic would be PERFECT if I moved the camera up just a couple more inches My second attempt in taking a pic with a broken sceen....it came out pretty good. And the ride itself was great A random water ride... My attempt at taking a pic after my viewing screen broke...it didnt come out too bad Poor Kumba..you've gotten rough over the years. But you still give a great ride....until the second half Coming soon to a BGA near you.. They seem to be enjoying themselves... So so pretty.... It's like riding a brand new ride over again Hmm...what's that I see? Some more nice greenage Nice flamingos. Sometimes I do forget BGA is part zoo part theme park
Théo the little french Posted November 17, 2007 Posted November 17, 2007 Nice Trip Report! This park must be so great! It's really sad that your camera's been broken, I love photos (and I was quite happy to think I would see some new pictures of Montu or Gwazi or Kumba...).
lil jimmy norton Posted November 17, 2007 Posted November 17, 2007 Nice PTR so far, I'm looking forward to the next part with IOA.
jten11 Posted November 17, 2007 Author Posted November 17, 2007 The next day me and my buddy drove to Orlando for Islands of Adventure. I was so excited to go here, since the last time I came here was in 1999. I couldn't wait to see what's changed (and what haven't changed) Now if I remember correctly, the last time I was here, they were working on upgrading the parking and walking area to the parks. The whole downtown universal looks amazing! Nothing look like I remember it, especially the entrance to Universal Studios. It just cool to soak up everything I've been missing over the years. The park, however,looks exactly the way I remember it, so it shouldn't be that hard to traverse through it. The first ride of the day: Hulk. The wait was about a 15-20 wait, even for the front row. The ride ops were awesome with loading/dispatching. They were running a three-train operation, and boy did it showed. I think they dispatched a new train every 2 minutes. I mean they were going fast! Anywho, the ride was great like I remembered it and the launch caught me off guard, I mean you know its coming, but you don't expect it to be that forceful. A very fun (and smoother than Kumba) ride. The next ride of the day would be Spider Man. It was posted as a 30min wait, but I don't think we waited that long at all. There was a line, but it was moving so fast. Another great ride. I like the whole 4-d effects with the water and the fire. This is a ride I can defiantly take my whole family on. Passing Dr. Doom we went to the toon town area. Very nicely themed and the characters roaming around the area really gave it a nice touch. Then we heading towards Jurassic Park where you saw a different change in theming and scenery. Next up to ride was the river adventure, or whatever you call it. At first I really did not want to ride this, cause I knew I was gonna get soaked. My friend didn't really care and just went in line without asking if I wanted to go. I wasn't gonna wait for him, so I sucked it up and rode with him. This is one of the rides I do remember from last time and I knew what was coming up at the end. I liked the drop, and even though I did get wet, I didn't get as wet as I thought I was gonna be. So it was all good. New Credit Alert! Flying Unicorns. I don't think this was here the last time I was here. For a junior coaster it rides pretty well. This is one of the coasters that help you graduate onto the bigger coaster as it does have some speed. A fun ride. Dueling Dragons was next on the list. This was probably the longest wait I've had so far on this trip. We opted for the fire side front row. That was a long wait, and plus the ride ops were a little on the slow side. Eventually we got on and it was cool. The main thing about the fire side is that the inversions are more spread out and the immalmans. After that we went back in line, this time on the ice side. Ice is my favorite because of the zero-g roll and the tight cobra roll. The only bad thing about Ice is that it's technically slower (but you cant really notice) and the inversions are more back-to-back than fire, but ice is my favorite. The rest of the time we were just observing the scenery and re-riding Hulk. We even went back to the super hero area and got on Dr. Doom. It was alright, at least the view was nice. After that we rode Hulk one more time and decided to leave. It felt good coming back here since 8 years. Nothing has drastically changed, but at least they kept the theming top notch. Can't wait to come back after they do the Harry Potter area. Until then I have other parks to claim. Until next time... Enjoy the pics! And I end with a signature hulk shot. Overall I had a blast and I hope you enjoy my TR...till next time.. Hulk in the evening Nice scenary Ah..double loopy goodness My favorite part of the ride besides the loops This pic just screams out fun... This is probably my favorite queue pic of them all... Queue pic #2 Taken inside the queue...I defnately remember this long ass queue, but at least its very detailed Hmm..I wonder what's up next? For a junior coaster that thing was flying! It was real fun, although a little short but its cool... new credit, new credit! This wasn't there the last time I was here... cool bones... This is the reason why I didnt want to get on the river ride. But my buddy insisted. I did get wet, but not as much as I thought I figure one pic of me is enough..so here I am world...just chillin. Into the next area... Dr. Doom..an 'alright' lauch...and thats bout it, but still fun. At least the view from up was nice A random broken boat pic... I almost forgot how beautifully themed each area was...the toon town area looked very nice. Spider man while waiting in the queue. Almost looks like my office Ok, here you go! This would look nice with a coaster, wouldn't it? The Hulk..still fun as hell to ride over and over again And what do I see before I get into the ticket gate? Ahh....after 8 longs years I'm finally back. Hard Rock cafe...can't wait to go to their new park next year Some pics I took before I went into the park.... Universal is way different from what I remembered...
yankees15 Posted November 17, 2007 Posted November 17, 2007 Great trip report, I really enjoyed it! I really hope I can get down to Florida soon so I can ride all those great coasters. Also, I'm sorry to hear about your camera.
coasterdude5 Posted November 18, 2007 Posted November 18, 2007 Awesome trip report, it's great walking towards Sheikra, and it appears all-of-a-sudden like that, it's a cool feeling.
Erik Johnson Posted November 18, 2007 Posted November 18, 2007 Its great to hear that they are still dueling Gwazi. It sounds like they have been putting a lot more effort into it. Nice trip report.
cfc Posted November 18, 2007 Posted November 18, 2007 Nice report. I've always thought the best thing about Dr. Doom's Fearfall was the queue, not the ride--I love the safety video that masquerades as a "propaganda" film for Latveria.
jten11 Posted November 19, 2007 Author Posted November 19, 2007 Its great to hear that they are still dueling Gwazi. It sounds like they have been putting a lot more effort into it. Nice trip report. Yeah, I was surprised around the third time they both dispatched..The timings were off though, but I guess its because of the warpness of the wood? But still satisfied that they are dueling them more.
freestylenut Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 Great TPR! Looks like U had a blast! I was at IOA & USF Wednesday Nov 14th & the place was EMPTY! Man, I love going on days like this. There was NO wait for anything. Including Spider-man, which always has a minimum of 15 minutes whenever I go there. Me & my daughter had a blast...riding & re-riding rides all across both parks.
jten11 Posted November 20, 2007 Author Posted November 20, 2007 ^ ah lucky you. I thought by going on a Sunday, it wouldn't be that many people, but I was wrong. It wasn't packed, but it was still a good crowd for us to have 15-30 min waits. Dueling Dragons wait was horrible..felt like I was there in the summer cause I was waiting so damn long.
bobafett Posted November 21, 2007 Posted November 21, 2007 Great report and pics. I love US and IOA, I was just there a little less than a month ago and I miss it terribly. Oh well I'll be there next summer in July for vacation.
coastercrazed49 Posted November 21, 2007 Posted November 21, 2007 Its great to hear that they are still dueling Gwazi. It sounds like they have been putting a lot more effort into it. Nice trip report. Maybe they will start to think about getting Millennium Flyers now, that would help that ride so much.
alpengeist04 Posted November 21, 2007 Posted November 21, 2007 Great job on the trip report. I know a lot of people are down on Gwazi, I myself actually enjoy the ride, but I think it's time for them to really consider the Millennium Flyer trains.
jten11 Posted November 21, 2007 Author Posted November 21, 2007 ^, ^^ Would it make that much of a difference? I ask because I haven't been on a GCI with millennium flyers. The ride to me isn't really too bad as is. You think it would improve the ride by a drastic amount?
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