kc1296426 Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 I just got my new Nikon D60 less than a month ago, and why not bring it to a park and try it out? And BGA is a perfect place to do it! The park is as beautiful as always, and I'm very, very displeased and sad over the whole Inbev buying out Busch thing, it's just horrible. Because I know that the park won't be in the state it is right now once Busch eventually loses rights to the park and it's just saddening. But anyway, I don't want to start a whole discussion on that because everyone knows how that is. Annnywhhhooo, Howl-o-Scream decorations and theming are going up really, really fast and some are already placed on walkways and areas, and some rides like the bumper cars are already walled off and closed. It's SO exciting, because I know that Busch always puts on an amazing HOS event every year and this year might be a lot better because of the whole Inbev takeover, and this might be the last HOS for a long time. Enough tawk, here's the pics! Take it easy on me too, this is my first Photo TR ever. (oh, and I'm still putting pictures up, this is not complete yet! ) The entrance plaza is perrrttty HOWL O SREAM AD!! OH MY GOD!! The military ticket booth, where if you served the country in some way you get a free ticket. Unfortunately one of the things that are going to disappear once Busch leaves the park. (if that ever happens) Yes, Busch has added their own Virtual Queve system, and not only does it suck, but it's not free. Boo But those are the best rides in the park!! Finally in the park! The entrance area is themed to 'morocco'. Reminds me of the world showcase pavilion at Epcot, and when I'm at Epcot it reminds me of Busch Gardens. Go figure Time for the first coasters of the day, and what a way to start off the morning but with a little neckbreaker ride! (; There was no line for either side at all, and they were both operating two trains It's gotten so rough over the years, it definitely needs to be re-tracked or something... and when the two coasters actually duel, Gwazi Tiger is always behind by 5 seconds. The delay is just amazing, the coaster can't even 'race' anymore But atleast they have 3-point shootout!! YES!! I know a GCI station when I smell one The final "flyby" with both coasters coming within inches of each other. Not anymore. For some reason, they were no decals or paintings on the side of one of Gwazi Tiger's trains... but Gwazi Lion's trains had them, so Tiger's train pretty much looked 'naked'. Yummy Sexy GCI Another amazing Busch operated place in the park which will have to cease operations... such a shame Two trains in one pic shot!! YES!!!! Oh, and it's Gwazi Lion up on the lift, and Gwazi Tiger (naked train) in the foreground Some signage for the HOS house at Gwazi Park is up, I can't wait 'till the end of this month to check it out I wonder if they'll keep this horse statue out here once Inbev takes over Guessing by the AB logos, it's not Secksay O HAI (yes, that's a real gator) The Busch band was great! The ol' defunct monorail station now has some signage and a few props up for it's conversion into a HOS house By far my favorite place to eat at BGA, it's air conditioned number one, and it has great food... I would say great beer too, but I'm not over 21 yet The ol' Akbar Adventure Tours entrance. Sad, and depressing to see it's exterior and theming to fade away. Some of it has been torn down/replaced over the years But at least some construction was going on for it's conversion into an HOS house too! Time for some Montu lovin'! Hooray for fast shutter speedz! BGA has an amazing collection of B&M coasters Like this one! For all you lift-hill fanatics After Montu, I walked through Tut's Tomb to take some photos and soak in some A/C And then after that I ate some grub at the Crown Colony resturant! Indoors! wooo! Just incase if you didn't know what planet you're on The train choo-choo's right next to the restaurant After eating, I decided to digest my food and see animals at the Edge of Africa! Busch does animal viewing best I see this waaay to often at Busch parks Want a cracker? WHATCHU LOOKIN' @ HOMEBOI Edge of Africa opened up in 98' They also had a cool little aquarium there A visit to Busch isn't complete without the Clydesdales (sp?) It makes me wonder what's going to happen to this place in a couple of years And this will be gone too. "This floral partier of the famous Anheuser-Busch trademark of 1872 first appeared at the original Busch Gardens in Pasadena around 1904. A second version was featured at the St. Louis brewery during the 1940s. The Tampa A&Eagle features hundreds of hand manicured annuals and colorful seeds which are updated regularly to reflect the changing seasons." They already have a lot of HOS stuff up in the walkways and stuff, here is some of that near the Nairobi train station I noticed a lot of people messing with the props and stuff, like taking pictures inside/in front of them, and playing with it, and trying to scare other people... future scare-actors in the making! Now for some relaxation on the train The train (called the Serengeti Safari, hehehe) goes pretty close to Montu, so I got some shots of it I wasn't trying to be to artsy with my shots that day because I was just to lazy, I just put it on Auto for most of the time, and sometimes on shutter-priority I can't believe that Montu is 12 years old already, it still feels like it is brand new, it's incredibly smooth and intense One of the best parts of the coaster, the batwing! It's intense, especially in the back row... the trim right before it doesn't spoil it at all IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc1296426 Posted September 8, 2008 Author Share Posted September 8, 2008 The train was actually really relaxing, and took us through the "Serengeti Plain", which is a big chunk of land/animal habitat... even with the 98 degree weather, it also still cooled me off "wtf are the humans looking at?" The bumper cars were getting transformed into another HOS house, with walls surrounding the buidling, even the queve Didn't get to ride, but it looked fun as it was hot as butt outside and everyone looked like they got soaked Kumba time! Kumba is showing its age, but is still a really fun coaster! I didn't really time this good, but ah, oh well. Shooting through a fence ain't that easy as it looks (; One of my favorite inversions, the zero G! I love it, love it, loooove it! The cheap way to get on-ride photos of your family Next up was Jungala, and I'm impressed by it! It's a superior kids land that is also appealing to adults, and has a bunch of animals to look at as well. The new tiger den, you can get pretty close to these tigers WHUDDUP neat! Who's that guy with the camera? The skyride is waaay old, I'm glad Busch decided to keep in the park, as it is a great transportation ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumboshrmp Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Your first photo trip report? It was a great one! I loved your pictures of montu, especially the awesome angle of that Zero G roll, and the shot of the batwing. Batwings are rare elements on B&Ms, and I saved your picture to my coaster folder to get a good look at it since there aren't many pics of it on the web (since its in the back). I agree that Gwazi runs like crap, but I wouldn't know that it doesn't duel properly anymore, because when I went, they didn't duel at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Love. The. Pictures. And my D40 -JZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 BGA is a very nice park, and I'd like to get back there. My only visit was July 2002 and I know there's a bunch of new stuff. Great Photo TR, by the way... Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilolee Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Great TR and amazing photos! Hope to see more from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luka Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 No Sheikra pictures? Or are you just not done with the pictures yet? No way, they have Meerkats!!!?! I want Meerkats!@! Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumboshrmp Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 No Sheikra pictures? Or are you just not done with the pictures yet? Wow, I didn't even notice that there were no pictures! kc1296426, if you have any Sheikra pictures, post them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 great pics! i love the Montu pics. I can't believe how awful Kumba looks already. They recently painted it! no? looks awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam06pr Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Nice pictures. Sad that Kumba is showing off its age really badly. It has gotten very rough and the new paint got really dirty pretty quick. I wonder why that has not happen to Montu Yet? anyways hope you post more pics of the other attrations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 ^Kumba, rough? That's an oxymoron, ride Iron Wolf... now that's a ROUGH B&M. As for the paint, sad but that's why coasters in Florida should be painted darker colors since there's so much rain. Regardless, still my personal favorite coaster at the park. Meanwhile I have a question about the whole InBev thing. I highly doubt the park is going to be de-Busched and that Howl-O-Scream is going to be canned, I think everything is going to go as normal until BEC is spun off or *gulp* sold off to another company. Aside from that, great TR KC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrakenKing Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "Rust" marks on Kumba are from the grease they use on the coasters lift, wheels, and anti-rollbacks. As the train goes along the track, especially after it has just been greased, the grease is deposited along the spine and ties of the track. When it rains, the grease then gets wet and drips from the track leaving those marks. Montu doesn't have this problem because it's inverted and the grease, instead of falling on to the track, can fall onto the riders. Happened to me on Batman: The Ride at SFGAdv after riding it when it had just rained, ruined a new white shirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam06pr Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "Rust" marks on Kumba are from the grease they use on the coasters lift, wheels, and anti-rollbacks. As the train goes along the track, especially after it has just been greased, the grease is deposited along the spine and ties of the track. When it rains, the grease then gets wet and drips from the track leaving those marks. Montu doesn't have this problem because it's inverted and the grease, instead of falling on to the track, can fall onto the riders. Happened to me on Batman: The Ride at SFGAdv after riding it when it had just rained, ruined a new white shirt. I have no clue lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazydaveh Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 Man, I can't believe you didn't like Gwazi! Sure, it beats the crap out of you, but it's a lot of fun! Montu is probably the second best interved coaster going, next to sister BGE's Alpengeist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thelegendarymatthew Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 I like the shots of Montu, I'm digging that image of the drop, I can't believe I thought it was a Dive Loop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam06pr Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 Man, I can't believe you didn't like Gwazi! Sure, it beats the crap out of you, but it's a lot of fun! Montu is probably the second best interved coaster going, next to sister BGE's Alpengeist! Nah! Montu is Better. Alpi felt...Lame to me at least. But I Loved its location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 Cool TR. The great pics even make up for the fact that there are no shots of Sheikra . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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