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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

p. 375: Phoenix Rising family inverted coaster announced for 2024!

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14 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

I like the first plan better. You're going to Cheetah Hunt first and unless it Intamins itself it will be open with the park.

Does Ice Breaker open with the park? It's new, so I assume the answer is yes but it's also SeaWorld, it's in the back of the park and last year their idea of "Park opens at 9" meant "Manta opens at 9 or you can look at dolphins or flamingos for an hour I guess".

I think that's what I'm leaning towards, Cheetah Hunt is my daughter's favorite in either park (for now) so at least that gives us a chance to get on that first thing with a minimal wait. And for me that makes the longest leg of the drive early in the morning, 3 hours to BGT, then 1.5 hours from BGT to SW, then only 2 hours to get home at the end of the night. She's out of school Monday so if we stay til close and marathon Mako and don't get home til midnight who cares.

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So the question on everyone's mind:

Iron Gwazi or Steel Vengeance?

I know you've ridden both, and while they're both extreme RMC creations, they look vastly different in the ways they were built. Aesthetically, I am leaning toward MF since it's a tangle of wood AND it sits on the lake. 

But what are your thoughts?

Thanks! 

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I don't want to make my final verdict just yet as I've only ever ridden Steel Vengeance on hot summer days/nights and I've only ridden Iron Gwazi on a cold Florida morning, but as of today SV is the better ride. Neither ride is in my top three RMC's. That being said, they're both incredible and better than 98% of the coasters on the planet!

 

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15 hours ago, SharkTums said:

I don't want to make my final verdict just yet as I've only ever ridden Steel Vengeance on hot summer days/nights and I've only ridden Iron Gwazi on a cold Florida morning, but as of today SV is the better ride. Neither ride is in my top three RMC's. That being said, they're both incredible and better than 98% of the coasters on the planet!

 

Thanks! It looks awesome and we are lucky to have a world class RMC so close to Orlando FINALLY!  Add VelociCoaster to the mix and Central Florida now has 2 amazing rides!  AND they're open year round! Almost makes it worth living here!!

 

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7 hours ago, pianojohn said:

Thanks! It looks awesome and we are lucky to have a world class RMC so close to Orlando FINALLY!  Add VelociCoaster to the mix and Central Florida now has 2 amazing rides!  AND they're open year round! Almost makes it worth living here!!

 

Makes it worth coming back down in early May for us even though we were JUST there in December. Can't wait to get on IG May 6th!

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Went back and saved my past review of SV in a word document, so I can copy/paste it here when I finally get around to riding Iron Gwazi. Fast/Airtime/Snappy Transitions/My legs hurt/Good for a couple rides, then done.

Meanwhile:

Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Iron Gwazi... Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer.Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer. Cheetah Hunt. Beer. Montu. Beer. Kumba. Beer. Shiekra. Log Flume. Beer.  Uber.

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On 2/10/2022 at 2:44 PM, pianojohn said:

So the question on everyone's mind:

Iron Gwazi or Steel Vengeance?

I know you've ridden both, and while they're both extreme RMC creations, they look vastly different in the ways they were built. Aesthetically, I am leaning toward MF since it's a tangle of wood AND it sits on the lake. 

But what are your thoughts?

Thanks! 

So I've been avoiding POVs, reports, etc to kind of keep the element of surprise up and opinions my own, as my bf and I were attending the Passport to Thrills event today.

Also the past year or so I've been kind of negative about operations/issues we've had going to this park. We've actively avoided it in favor of the other parks in Central Florida due to our experiences. I'm happy to say that the park totally nailed it for this event and went a long way getting some of that old charm back. The employees working the event were hyping it up with everyone, operations were great, even the coaster cooperated well and we didn't see any downtime while we were there (though I heard there was some brief downtime earlier in the morning). They also extended the event so that registered guests could ride all day instead of just during the original reserved time slots. This was a great decision and we had an awesome day!

As for the coaster, it's truly amazing and I can't believe we have this to ride here in Florida. We got to the park in the early afternoon and with our first 2 or so rides on it, I would have probably told you that I prefer Steel Vengeance. We've also had a good amount of rides on Steel Vengeance as we usually visit once a year for 3-4 days at a time, usually in August.

As the afternoon warmed up into the mid-70s and the coaster warmed up with it, it became a whole new beast altogether, and this increased more with our night rides. The only RMCs that can leave my shins as bruised as they are right now are Twisted Timbers and Lightning Rod. I got grey bubbles in my vision pulling out of the first drop and the "death roll" is one of my favorite elements on an any coaster. Twisting out of it at the bottom of that element is seriously nuts, especially if you sit on the right side of the train. If you watch a POV it looks like there's no airtime. The wave turn and every one of the little bumps in the second half of the ride gave ejector air by the end of the day. The sensation of speed and "out of control" feeling (I feel like I'm quoting the old Mitch Hawker poll here) are so much better than on Steel Vengeance, of which I find can be a slightly repetitive coaster that feels a bit less "out of control" and more deliberate in it's motions. Just like...wow. I knew it was going to be good, I didn't think it was going to be this good.

If the 2022 TPR Poll was being held tomorrow, I'd say I prefer Lightning Rod and Untamed, tie Iron Gwazi with Zadra next, and put Steel Vengeance right after. We got about a dozen rides on Iron Gwazi in total and I seriously can't wait to go back and ride it again.

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Got 3 rides on Iron Gwazi today. This thing is amazing. Yeah, it has the great airtime we expect from RMC, but I was actually very surprised by the ride's positive Gs too. I greyed out at the bottom of the first drop every time, and there are some other sweeping turns on the ride that really press you into your seat (something that a lot of RMCs don't have). The layout flows perfectly and there are no dead spots and I honestly have no complaints about the ride at all. It is my new favorite RMC, a top 5 coaster, and a WONDERFUL addition to the park.

Also, for reference, I waited through the entire queue (started where the lockers are) and it took me 90 minutes, no breakdowns either and fairly regular operations with two trains. Fairly slow dispatches but they were regular. I'm sure this ride will pull quite the line, since it was a complete clusterf*ck this morning when it opened, so I'm storing that info in my head for what's a 90 minute wait haha.

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^ I was at the park today too for the I.G. platinum preview. They shut the ride down just as I boarded the train around 4 and we were ready for dispatch. I left after an hour of waiting, and being told it was down for high winds. 🤣 No other ride went down at the park during that time including Falcon's Fury their drop tower. If that was true, I guess it will be closed all hurricane season...

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Yeah this past summer there was a day when stuff was open and closed randomly for high winds. I totally understand the policy but it seemed fairly inconsistent that day which was frustrating. We were in line for Kumba when it closed for winds, waited 10 or 15 minutes and could see that Tigris was still operating so we walked over there only to have Tigris close by the time we got there, all while looking up and Falcon's Fury was open the whole time. It is what it is, just can be frustrating.

 

How were the lines for the passholder previews this past weekend? I feel like I saw some pictures on twitter of long lines prior to opening stretching all the way back to the entrance plaza but couldn't tell how long the actual wait was. Anyone stay the whole time to know if the lines were lighter at the end of the preview window?

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3 hours ago, coasternut said:

^ I hear what you're saying, but for a new ride that's just poor design... Today's forecast is for breezy conditions. Let's see what happens.

Don't worry I was joking, it goes like an absolute rocket through the death roll and the whole layout. 

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Today was a great day for Iron Gwazi. What a difference a day make! The previews opened with the park at 10. Dispatches were great - more often less than every 100 seconds as displayed by their countdown clock on the screen showing lap bar status. I went from 1 ride on Sunday to 20 today. I love it!!! 🤪

The wait times were no longer than 5 minutes all day today, plus no wind issues or other maintenance problems while I was there. I certainly spent a lot of time riding there today.

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