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Photo TR: Jungala Media Day at Busch Gardens Africa


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I live literally a stone's throw from BGA. (1/2 mile to the park wall but 2 miles to the gate. we can hear the coasters, music and fireworks from the house)

Jungala looks great. We've been twice so far. The only part not complete yet is the zipline ride(they're testing it) and the flying foxes and gharials(a type of crocodile) aren't in their habitat yet. (i hope they can coexist okay, sounds iffy to me!)

The orangutans and tigers all look happy. There are two families of tigers kept separated but they can come up nose to nose at the bridge that goes over the walkway. (yes, they are stalking you!)

There is still some construction going on between Jungala and 30th street. The entrance gate has a sign that says, "Congo Project Construction Entrance". I wonder if it some additional features or just a support area.

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Thanks to everyone for posting the kind comments throughout my report, I appreciate them.

 

I think everything looks beautiful except for the rather unflattering Jungla Flyers loading platform.

 

The whole area is beautiful. I can see why some may think the loading platform looks unflattering. It's not that noticeable because it is set in a corner and the rest of the area is pretty themed. But I agree, it still would have been nice to theme the queue like in a cave, similar to the way they did for The Wild Surge.

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Jungala looks great, Eric--thanks for the sneak peek. I think their set-up for viewing the tigers is better than Disney's at Animal Kingdom (at least from the pics and description). How does the "tiger tug-of-war" thing work?

 

Thanks Chuck! - Animal Kingdom is cool, but only has a few widows to view the tigers, and it's a battle to see them on a crowded day. Busch has lots of different views. I still haven't seen the tug-of-war, but from what the zoo educator explained, is that this only happens if the tiger wants to play and then it is a very closely supervised experience with park guests.

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Wow, very nice TR. This one addition just proves how BGA is so much more than your average theme park. When I ever get to Florida, I've got to check that place out. The fact that it has three of the best B&Ms in the world and all those fantastic zoo-like areas makes it look completely unbelievable.

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I now the animals get good conditions there, but the glass thing looks so sad . The pictures of the tigers sitting so near the glass made me pretty sad.

 

Actually, the tigers are happy with being able to watch the guests up close! They love to stalk the keepers, and now they have hundreds of people(victims) to stalk and pounce on! There are a couple that are still getting used to all the people, but for the most part, they are very happy about it. The orangutans as well. They are just as curious about all the people as the people are about them. Yesterday I saw an orangutan stay with a little girl who had two stuffed tiger toys for like 10 minutes, just following them and being curious about them.

 

If you go, make sure you watch the keeper talks. The orangutans have a window with chain link on it so the keepers can do training and touch the animals right in front of the guests. There is even a button the orangutans can push to squirt people with water!

 

The tiger keepers also have a 'mesh' wall that they can do training at.

 

The Jungle Flyers were up today, and running on all tracks.

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With the total refurb the Columbus Zoo, (Columbus, OH) is doing with the zoo itself, as well as, adding Zoombezi Bay waterpark, I hope they'll take a close look at Jungala. Columbus is already an incredible zoo, and it would be even moreso if they'd add some experiences like Busch has done.

 

The theming for Jungala is superb, but then again, it's Busch, what do I expect. By the way, did you feel like royalty while you were there? The experience itself, breakfast buffet & and the loaded goodie bag! Not too shabby at all.

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I had a chance to get a look at Jungala couple days ago and I was very impressed with the area. A major improvment from what was there before, with the old tiger tanks and the old Python coaster.

I really liked the new tiger areas, and the viewing glass. The tigers seemed to enjoy the new area. I was told that they have 4 sets of tigers that are on display through out the day, so to keep them fresh and active.

It was pretty cool to see them right up in your face and seems the tigers really like looking directly at the little kids, maybe more for a meal. Anyway the area is really awesome and if you love tigers you will love the close up look you get. Overall very impressive area and a great addition to the park.

My favorite photo from my day at the park.

tpr.jpg.68c7723b9ebf1301cfe976d096610fe3.jpg

More can be seen in my new 08 section

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By the way, did you feel like royalty while you were there? The experience itself, breakfast buffet & and the loaded goodie bag! Not too shabby at all.

 

I did feel like royalty. Between receiving all the perks mentioned above, every Busch employee made me feel so welcome. Everyone was very informative and if they didn't know the answer to my question they found someone who did. The media goodies are a great addition to my theme park memories collection.

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Thanks guys, sometimes you get lucky and get one or two great shots like the one above. This one is getting done into a poster for my collection of great shots. I could sit there for hours at the viewing window and watch the tigers. I just hope that the tigers dont get used to the viewing windows and become less interested in them. Its pretty cool to see them with there noses right up to the glass as you are doing the same looking right at them. Just like in the photo above, got lucky that my camera focused as the tiger was about 2 ft from my camera, plus the glass is not scratched up yet.

 

They have a tiger tour that I may try in the future, its $36.00 but from what I was told they take you behind the scenes and you get to see the tiger cages and other stuff. Dont know if it will be worth the money but I may do it once just to see.

 

Anyway Busch really did a nice job with the tiger stuff, allowing the nice views. I have a few more photos here of Jungala and the tigers if you want to take a look http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/new2008bg1.html

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^ Hey

 

I know you don't post too much, but when you do, please adhere to the site's guidelines regarding the use of proper spelling, grammar and such. Some good reads:

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21962

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=137

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31454

 

This would have been more acceptable:

 

That was so cool, the tigers were sooo close, that is so awesome. I wish we had something like that here in St Louis. lol

 

Thanks!

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This park look so nice. I'll be there in 2 weeks time. Coming all the way from South Africa to see if they got the "Africa" part right!

 

Does anyone know if BGT has something like a Fast Pass system? I can't seem to find anything on their website.

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Busch Gardens Africa, doesn't have a fast pass system. They do offer VIP tours that include front of the line access to all the major rides. http://www.buschgardenstampabay.com/bgt/sp_adventure_thrill.aspx To be honest, as long as you get to the park at opening, you shouldn't have any problem experiencing the entire park. Hope this helps and you have a good visit!

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