Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

[coasterfr3ak]

Honestly whatever Busch Gardens Tampa brings to the table, it's always worth the wait in itself. The park seems to be gearing up for a massive, major, renaissance of sorts. Between Bird Gardens Theater being demolished, Gwazi closing and eventually coming down, Rhino Rally closed for good, New Egypt attraction in 2016, introduction of a Food and Wine Festival with a pretty great Lineup so far for Concert Lovers. The park is making major moves, and I'm sure this is only the beginning.

 

As for what I would love?

 

Egypt Attraction: I actually love the Mack Custom Spinner rumor, since Florida does not have one, they seem to be pretty creative and intense, and all with an Egyptian theme? Hell yea, even a dark ride somewhere

 

Bird Gardens Area: I'd love a Mega Flat Ride similar to a Zamperla Giant Discovery or even a Zamperla Disko' Coaster (Imagine the theming which i feel Busch Gardens does pretty damn well)

 

Gwazi Area: I'd love a Flat Ride or two, just make it HUGE And please a B&M Hyper, squeeze it wherever you need to please.

 

Retention Ponds: Idk if its even possible, but Lord knows, that they have space back there for some major additions. If they could make a new land back here! I'd love A B&M Giga back here honestly, with a splash battle.

 

**All wishful thinking, but I'm sure they have some great additions for the next 5-10 yrs that will make this park really come full cirlce**

[larrygator]

Yep, I said Busch Gardens and Intamin will never work together again...

 

Unexpected delays and mechanical issues cost money, not only because those things are costly in themselves but because delays mean holding off on earning revenue.

 

Does it really cost a park that much revenue if a coaster opening is delayed.

 

A season passholder might delay a trip until the problems are resolved but they still bought the pass. Once a season pass holder buys a pass that passholder tries to hit the park up a certain number of days anyway. They still try to maximize the number of visits to the park.

 

Day trippers may delay a trip, but they still eventually end up at the park.

 

Most out of towners don't decide to skip a park just because a ride is down after they already spent money on traveling.

 

Delays might lose the parks goodwill with the fan base, but if the ride is high quality visitors when still return to the park.

[cfc]

Both Intamin and Mack have good relationships with Sea World IMO. Their products will both fit perfectly to the park. But to be honest, I guess 80% of people will say they are more excited if it's from Intamin.

 

After the problems Busch had with Cheetah Hunt and especially Falcons Fury, I doubt the relationship between SeaWorld/Busch and Intamin is that great..

 

I think you're confusing Intamin with Moser. Let's remember that it took a hell of a long time to debug Mach Tower at BGW, and it wasn't all that "innovative."

[DJeXeL]

^It was the vibrating seats.....

[IntaminLove]

I'm going to BGT for the first time and would appreciate some advice on how to go about my visit. I'm not sure if I will be going on a weekday or the weekend. What are good times to ride the coasters and do the animal attractions? Where would you recommend eating? Are the shows worth watching? Those are my main concerns, but other advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[rcrider4]

If on a weekday while school is in, you should have no problem doing everything multiple times. On a weekend, it depends on if there are any events, like the upcoming Food & Wine festival. For the coasters, unless you are there before opening and run to it, ride Cheetah Hunt in the middle of the day around 2:30-3:00. Everyone goes there first and last, so to avoid the crowd, go in the middle of the day. Everything else is mostly steady throughout the day. Animals are just exhibits with no line, so do them whenever you want. For food, there is a pizza and pasta buffet just west of Gwazi that is a good deal if you are a big eater. Zagora Cafe has a nice array of sandwiches and such. Zambia Smokehouse is where you want to go if you want anything BBQ. It is absolutely amazing, the best place to eat in the park, but it is a little bit pricier. As for shows, Iceploration is definitely worth a watch, as is Opening Night Critters. The MoTown show at Marrakesh Theater is good, but only if you have time to spare. Madagascar is only good if you have small children. Same with Sesame Street.

[IntaminLove]

^ Thanks a lot!

[Skiebs]

Also see the animals early in the day when they're awake

[Owl_Enthusiast]

Hey guys I have just booked my flight to Orlando in August. I am attending the Zumba instructor convention and I plan on getting to a couple parks while I'm in the area. I like to plan ahead and have all my park tickets paid for well before I leave.

I was really hoping to get to BGT. I'm staying on I-Drive in Orlando and I was wondering if there is any kind of shuttle or bus I can take to Tampa? I don't have a license so I can't rent a car. Will it be a big hassle to get Tampa? Is BGT worth the long trip?

[1pizza14]

Hey guys I have just booked my flight to Orlando in August. I am attending the Zumba instructor convention and I plan on getting to a couple parks while I'm in the area. I like to plan ahead and have all my park tickets paid for well before I leave.

I was really hoping to get to BGT. I'm staying on I-Drive in Orlando and I was wondering if there is any kind of shuttle or bus I can take to Tampa? I don't have a license so I can't rent a car. Will it be a big hassle to get Tampa? Is BGT worth the long trip?

 

Busch Gardens actually offers a FREE bus from a couple places in the Orlando area. https://secure.mearstransportation.com/MearsExpress/BuschGardens.asp

 

Use that link and select your hotel, it should give the spot where you get picked up. I used it in December and it was pretty good, the only disadvantage is that the bus arrives at the park past 11AM, so if you were hoping to get there at opening it probably wont happen. The bus ride is about 1Hr 30 Mins, and if you want to go to BGT I would say it is worth it.

[Owl_Enthusiast]

Hey guys I have just booked my flight to Orlando in August. I am attending the Zumba instructor convention and I plan on getting to a couple parks while I'm in the area. I like to plan ahead and have all my park tickets paid for well before I leave.

I was really hoping to get to BGT. I'm staying on I-Drive in Orlando and I was wondering if there is any kind of shuttle or bus I can take to Tampa? I don't have a license so I can't rent a car. Will it be a big hassle to get Tampa? Is BGT worth the long trip?

 

Busch Gardens actually offers a FREE bus from a couple places in the Orlando area. https://secure.mearstransportation.com/MearsExpress/BuschGardens.asp

 

Use that link and select your hotel, it should give the spot where you get picked up. I used it in December and it was pretty good, the only disadvantage is that the bus arrives at the park past 11AM, so if you were hoping to get there at opening it probably wont happen. The bus ride is about 1Hr 30 Mins, and if you want to go to BGT I would say it is worth it.

Awesome Thanks! I was hoping they had something like this. Even better that it's FREE. Im staying in the Hyatt (Zumba gives us a discount) so I can hop on at the Publix down the road

I would prefer to get there at opening, but I don't mind buying the express pass (or whatever they call it) if the lines are long when I get there. Im going on a Monday, so hopefully it's not to busy. Now I have Seaworld AND BGT planned out. I have a half day free left. Maybe I'll check out Fun Spot again if the Air Race and gators are open. So excited!

[rcrider4]

Sadly, Fun Spot just removed their Air Race to make way for a new attraction last month. I was really looking forward to riding it last month, but when I got there, they were already in the process of disassembling it.

[nswain1110]

...For food, there is a pizza and pasta buffet just west of Gwazi that is a good deal if you are a big eater. Zagora Cafe has a nice array of sandwiches and such. Zambia Smokehouse is where you want to go if you want anything BBQ. It is absolutely amazing, the best place to eat in the park, but it is a little bit pricier

 

+1 for Zambia Smokehouse. Seriously the best BBQ Chicken I've ever had!

[ScreaminNewEngland]

Sadly, Fun Spot just removed their Air Race to make way for a new attraction last month. I was really looking forward to riding it last month, but when I got there, they were already in the process of disassembling it.

 

 

What was the point of even getting it in the first place?

[megametal]

So I was looking at the closing times for the week I'll be going in June. They close at 6 PM in June (18th) on a Thursday? Why the heck does the park close so early? I'm not even sure I could get everything I want to do done at the park in the 8 hours they allow! Even if I switch it to Friday, they only stay open until 7.

[rcrider4]

Because unless there is an event, the default park hours are 10-6 on weekdays and 10-7 on weekends. Summer Nights doesn't start until June 27th, so until then, they just stick to their default hours. Summer Nights used to start at the beginning of June, but starting last year, I'm guessing due to the cutbacks, they pushed the starting date back.

[megametal]

So is 8 hours enough time to do everything (including perusing the animals) and maybe re-rides on some coasters? The only familiarity I have with Florida parks is doing the Disney parks during the summer. I suppose I should get quick queue?

[nswain1110]

So is 8 hours enough time to do everything (including perusing the animals) and maybe re-rides on some coasters? The only familiarity I have with Florida parks is doing the Disney parks during the summer. I suppose I should get quick queue?

 

It certainly can be if the parks not especially busy. I've been on days where I was able to ride all major rides in around 3 & 1/2 hours, with some re-rides and beer breaks so it's certainly doable. I'd say since you're going on Thursday, you'll be fine

[aCoasterStory]

So I finally figured out why Montu has that little sluggish bit in the 2nd half (between the 2nd vertical loop and the flatspin):

 

The train.

 

 

The reason the turn after that loop has to go so high (causing the speed of the train to drop and thus affecting the pacing of the ride) is because it has to have enough clearance above the train tracks.

 

 

I don't know why I never noticed this before, but I'm not sure what else they really could have done given the needed clearance.

 

I only really see two things that maybe could have been done:

 

1) A slow inline twist after the upwards curve, taking the place of the little dip before the turn into the flatspin. I don't know how much this would have really helped the pacing, and the only such twist I can think of is the one on Banshee, so I don't know that that would have been an option back when Montu was built.

 

2) Replace that whole upwards curve with another inversion, either an Immelmann plus a turn or a Sidewinder. Advantages would be that since the riders would be above the track, the track itself could be lower, leading to less of a loss of speed; plus inversions are awesome. Downsides would be that this would basically be a repeat of the first two inversions (loop, Immelmann) back to back; if they did a Sidewinder, then it's basically just the 2nd half of the Batwing again.

 

 

I'm not trying to advocate that they change anything now (or that they should have changed anything to begin with). Heck, Montu is my favorite invert. I had just always wondered why the pace lagged right there, and it took me until recently to figure out why they designed it that way.

[IntaminLove]

I went to BGT for the first time yesterday and I had a good time. I can't post pictures since I don't have computer access. I might post some when I'm back from my vacation.

 

First of all this park is beautiful and well maintained. I enjoyed the aesthetics almost as much as the rides. The individual animal exhibits were some of the most beautiful areas in the park and they put the Chicagoland zoos to shame. The Serengeti Safari was cool, but overpriced. I was a bit mad when I rode the Serengeti Railway later on and saw all of the same animals. The best part was feeding and petting a giraffe.

 

All of the employees were very nice and helpful. The park guests were pleasant and I met some cool people. This made me less excited about going to SFGAm this season.

 

Besides the Serengeti Railway, I only rode a few flat rides. Skyride is great and it provides some awesome views of the park. It's the longest sky ride I have been on and the only one that changed direction. Falcon's Fury is awesome and now it's my favorite drop tower. This is a must ride.

 

Now for the coasters.

 

Sand Serpent - I don't like wild mouse coasters and I just rode this for the credit.

 

Sheikra - This was my first dive machine and it was slightly better than I expected. The vertical drops had nice airtime and the rest was forceless.

 

Cheetah Hunt - I knew going in that this was more of a family coaster and that's an accurate description. I was surprised that the last row was forceless and that was disappointing. The front row had pops of airtime and some decent forces. Cheetah Hunt is a fun and solid coaster.

 

Scorpion - This is a deceiving little coaster and I was surprised by the strong forces. I wish I had time for a second ride and I hope to get multiple rides during my next visit.

 

Montu - I was really looking forward to Montu because it tops a lot of people's inverted coaster list. I rode in the back row for my first ride and it was rather tame. I expected forces similar to Batman The Ride and Raptor. I couldn't believe Montu had so much hype and I hoped my ride was a fluke. The front row gave me what I was looking for and Montu is one of my favorite inverts. This is a must ride.

 

Kumba - I heard good things over the years, but I wasn't sure what to expect. Kumba is a great ride and it's the best coaster at BGT. I liked the back row a bit more than the front, but both rows are great. Kumba's zero g roll is amazing and it's my favorite inversion on any coaster. The cobra roll is also amazing and it's my favorite cobra roll. These inversions made me fall in love with Kumba and I couldn't get enough. This is a must ride and it might be my favorite B&M. Now if only SFGAm could get a clone or something similar.

 

BGT is a great park and I can't wait to see what the future holds. I probably won't go back until they get another coaster because this is an expensive park. I hope that happens sooner than later. If you are ever near BGT then I recommend a visit.

[robbalvey]

I probably won't go back until they get another coaster because this is an expensive park.

Welcome to Central Florida!!!

 

Seriously though, if you are ever back in Florida again, look into the "Flex Pass" - It usually last 14 days and gives you unlimited visits to BGT, SeaWorld, Universal, and sometimes some other add-ons. It's makes your visit to these parks MUCH more reasonable!

[chickenbowl]

I probably won't go back until they get another coaster because this is an expensive park.

Welcome to Central Florida!!!

 

Seriously though, if you are ever back in Florida again, look into the "Flex Pass" - It usually last 14 days and gives you unlimited visits to BGT, SeaWorld, Universal, and sometimes some other add-ons. It's makes your visit to these parks MUCH more reasonable!

 

Quoted for truth! Orlando Flex Pass is the way to go. My first visit to Florida was a breeze and having a hotel within walking distance to Universal was excellent. We were able to go to any park whenever we felt, no stress!

[aCoasterStory]

So is 8 hours enough time to do everything (including perusing the animals) and maybe re-rides on some coasters? The only familiarity I have with Florida parks is doing the Disney parks during the summer. I suppose I should get quick queue?

 

Even on a busy Saturday, you should be able to get in multiple rides in on everything (Cheetah Hunt will be the biggest challenge). Things should be a bit better on a Thursday, but most of this will still hold true.

 

Everybody runs straight to Cheetah Hunt first thing in the morning. You want to be on the front end of that group. This means getting to the parking lot 30min before the park opens so you're there and through the entrance before the rope drop. If you hustle to Cheetah Hunt, you can ride once on one of the first 2 trains, get off and back in line, and ride again within 10-15min. After that 2nd ride, the line could be anywhere from 25-50min as the rest of the crowd gets there. This is the perfect time to head over to Montu. It will basically be a walk-on for the first hour or so, and you can get multiple rides in quickly. If there's nobody waiting in your row when you get back to the station, you can ask and they will oftentimes let you ride a 2nd time (after that, they make you walk back around, though).

 

The back half of the park doesn't open till 30 mins after the front, and depending on how long it took with CH/Montu, you have a couple of options. If you're right at that 30min mark, you can take the skyride back to the back of the park and hit SheiKra several times quickly with minimal wait (it'll take you longer to get from the exit back around to the station platform than you'll wait in line). Then you should be able to pop up to Kumba for a ride or two or three before the wait gets long. After that, you'll have to deal with decent lines for Scorpion, Sand Serpent, and Falcon's Fury, but I wouldn't stress too much because you will have already ridden the headliner coasters. The good news is that the line for Falcon's Fury hasn't been too bad, and if you're a single rider, you can often skip huge chunks of it (depending on how efficient the grouper wants to be). Scorpion, however, is one of the most painfully frustrating lines to wait in because it looks so deceptively short but the single-train keeps the pace moving slowly. Sand Serpent, IMHO, isn't the best wild mouse coaster out there, and I usually don't re-ride if I ride at all, so don't feel bad if you need to skip it. After this, enjoy a late lunch, catch a show or two, and go around to see all the animals plus any re-rides you may want to do. Near closing, the lines generally get pretty short on everything except Cheetah Hunt, so there's an opportunity to get multiple re-rides in during that last hour. I'd recommend picking one ride to really hit hard at the end of the night and sticking with it so you don't eat up a ton of that time walking between them. If you don't mind leaving late, though, you could always hustle over to Cheetah Hunt and get in line right before closing. A lot of people do this, so it could be a decent wait, but it's a way to end the night on a fun ride (and be near the front of the park).

 

Your other option is to wait till the end of the night for multiple re-rides on SheiKra, when the lines are really short. If you decide to do that and skip SheiKra in the morning, you should easily be able to get several rides in on Falcon's Fury, Scorpion, and Sand Serpent before the crowds really get up there, and then head up to Kumba. Kumba's line doesn't start stacking up till around midday, but it can be 60 min or it could be 5, depending on how the crowd's flowing that day. After that, check out some animals, eat some food, and get some re-rides in before circling back to SheiKra an hour or so before closing. The walk back from SheiKra to the front isn't the most fun thing after closing, but they will hold the train in the Stanleyville station for a few minutes to take people around to the station in the middle of the park. It definitely takes a lot longer than just walking (and you still have to walk a bit once you get off), but sitting down feels good after a long day of running around, so I don't generally mind.

 

If you can do it, I highly recommend the Serengeti Safari (I think feeding giraffes is pretty cool, personally). They've also got a bird area where you can feed lorikeets for like $5 (they'll come land on your hand and eat the nectar out of the cup). The last time I was there, I was walking through Jambo Junction, and got to help feed flamingos (for free). I always love the tiger exhibt, and if you're into kangaroos, you can pay a few bucks to feed those too. Don't miss the gorillas (the trail is easy to miss if you aren't looking for it), and make sure to walk along the Edge of Africa too (they have meerkats now). The elephant interaction wall can be pretty cool as well. If you can, it's really awesome to see the cheetah lure run, but they do it at different times every day, so it's hard to know when it'll be unless you go to the first cheetah presentation. And for that matter, all the trainer presentations are really well done and informative. They may also have procedures going on in the Animal Care Center, but visit with caution (the last time I went in, they had to put an animal down because it was too far gone to save).

 

 

Now as for Quick Queue, I find them to be useful in certain circumstances only as most of the time you can get plenty of rides in without it (see above). It does let you skip a bunch of the line, but you still have basically a station wait for everything. Cheetah Hunt can still be 20+mins (more for the front row), but that's much better than the 60-90 that the standby line will be. For everything else, you may wait a train or two (3 on a super busy day) unless you're going for the front row.

 

The basic Quick Queue, I'll only really get if I want to get more than a couple of rides in on Cheetah Hunt (if you don't want to do one of the rides like the log flume, they'll let you use that ride's slot for another; I'll often use it for a number of Cheetah Hunt rides and a couple of SheiKras), since that's generally the only ride with a substantial wait when I loop around the park the way I do. I've only ever gotten the Unlimited once; that was the weekend after Christmas, and it was packed. I got my money's worth that day (40 rides, including a crap-ton of Falcon's Fury), but I think it's only really worth it when you're skipping substantial lines on more than just Cheetah Hunt; they will also sell out, so be forewarned. You can buy the basic QQ at kiosks all throughout the park (I haven't seen the basic one sell out), but you can only get QQU at the entrance.

[Hilltopper39]

I probably won't go back until they get another coaster because this is an expensive park.

Welcome to Central Florida!!!

 

Seriously though, if you are ever back in Florida again, look into the "Flex Pass" - It usually last 14 days and gives you unlimited visits to BGT, SeaWorld, Universal, and sometimes some other add-ons. It's makes your visit to these parks MUCH more reasonable!

 

Discovery Cove is also a great value if you opt for the $25 upgrade which gives you access to Seaworld. Busch Gardens and Aquatica for 14 days (I think). That makes the price of Discovery Cove a little easier to manage and is a great option for Orlando if you're looking for something other than Disney and Universal.

[IntaminLove]

Seriously though, if you are ever back in Florida again, look into the "Flex Pass" - It usually last 14 days and gives you unlimited visits to BGT, SeaWorld, Universal, and sometimes some other add-ons. It's makes your visit to these parks MUCH more reasonable!

 

Unfortunately I'm on vacation with my parents and they only wanted to go to one park. BGT was the closest and I really wanted to ride Falcon's Fury. Some friends are jealous that I'm in Florida and they want to take a road trip sometime. When that happens we will definitely get Flex Passes and go to all the major parks.