Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

[prozach626]

On 6/17/2022 at 12:31 PM, rachelmadcow said:

it stomps SV and i do not see this ride being bested for at least 10 years. it's truly spectacular. BGT has one of the best lineups in the world. Montu, Kumba, IG and CH are all Iconic. 

Some people seem to think Velocicoaster already does that in their book, so... Subjectivity is a hell of thing.

[disneymoc]

I am going to be at Busch Gardens either July 27 or 28 (mostly depending on weather). I've been reading through the comments and see Falcons Fury is closed (not a huge deal for us).  I'm trying to decide if Quick Que is needed. I am totally prepared to buy it but since this is a park I haven't visited in almost 20 years, I wanted to get a regular's thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

[YoshiFan]

If you want to ride most of the coasters and the water rides multiple times it might be worth it. Otherwise you can probably get away without it.

For the most part, the only coasters with consistently more than a 20-30 minute wait on summer weekdays have been Iron Gwazi, Cheetah Hunt, Cobra’s Curse and Montu (later in the day the wait drops for Montu). The log flume and rapids also get long waits. Even if you buy Quick Queue with the Iron Gwazi add on, that only gives you 1 ride for that coaster.

Something else to keep in mind is a storm could close the rides for a while and that would give you less time to use Quick Queue but it clears out the crowds. Last week the rides were closed for at least 90 minutes in the late afternoon because of lightning nearby even though it never rained. When the rides reopened, I waited 5-10 minutes for everything except the flume that looked like around a 20-30 minute wait (I used my Platinum single use Quick Queue there).

 

[YoshiFan]

Just a warning for anyone going to the park and getting there in the morning. Apparently there is only 1 security screening area opening, no trams running and it's causing 2+ hour waits to get in. This has been happening multiple times in the past week.

Thread from reddit:

https://reddit.com/r/BuschGardensTampa/comments/vv4zt4/line_to_get_inside_of_the_park/

Seeing those pictures makes me glad I almost always visit later in the afternoon or early evening when there is no line to enter.

Also Cobra's Curse has been closed since at least Thursday.

 

 

[Zand]

It's a shame that park has great coasters. I'd love to just not bother going back whenever I'm in Florida but the pull of the coasters is too strong.

Halloween will be fun there.

[thrillseeker4552]

I am convinced that the Busch Gardens I see people report on the internet is completely different than the Busch Gardens I visit. I showed up this morning, a summer Saturday, at 9:45am (10am opening) and breezed right through security (multiple lanes open). Longest line today was Cheetah Hunt which was posted at 70 minutes but was actually only about 50 minutes. 4 trains and both stations running with semi-decent dispatches. Iron Gwazi was also barely outside the station queue once the morning rush died down. Multi train ops on everything and we had a blast.

Even if today was a fluke, I guess I get lucky? I visit this park every 3-4 weeks and exclusively on weekends-only due to my job schedule (mostly Saturdays too) and I've always had an awesome experience. I don't think I've ever seen one train ops on anything during the weekend. I don't really know. I must live in an alternate reality? I absolutely love this park.

[PKI Jizzman]

12 hours ago, thrillseeker4552 said:

I am convinced that the Busch Gardens I see people report on the internet is completely different than the Busch Gardens I visit. I showed up this morning, a summer Saturday, at 9:45am (10am opening) and breezed right through security (multiple lanes open). Longest line today was Cheetah Hunt which was posted at 70 minutes but was actually only about 50 minutes. 4 trains and both stations running with semi-decent dispatches. Iron Gwazi was also barely outside the station queue once the morning rush died down. Multi train ops on everything and we had a blast.

Even if today was a fluke, I guess I get lucky? I visit this park every 3-4 weeks and exclusively on weekends-only due to my job schedule (mostly Saturdays too) and I've always had an awesome experience. I don't think I've ever seen one train ops on anything during the weekend. I don't really know. I must live in an alternate reality? I absolutely love this park.

This post  + the fact that the pretzels were really good last visit gives me hope but I haven't seen that BGT yet.. Was Falcon's open? Sky ride? Was the train running 1 or 2? 

 

[thrillseeker4552]

Falcon's Fury and Cobra's Curse were closed. Sky Ride still hasn't reopened yet. I have no idea about the train.

I will fully admit that my perspective is skewed because if a couple rides are closed, I just think "oh I can do those next time." People traveling afar to visit the park and are hoping to hit all the rides would be more upset that FF and CC were closed, so I get that. But even from a crowd management/general operations perspective, I've never really had a poor experience. Some days are better than others, and of course I'm not trying to discount anyone else's experiences. Let's just say I spent two days at the Disney parks a few weeks ago and that was way more of a frustrating, stressful experience than any of my days at BGT, SWO, or even Universal.

[DILinator]

21 hours ago, thrillseeker4552 said:

I am convinced that the Busch Gardens I see people report on the internet is completely different than the Busch Gardens I visit. I showed up this morning, a summer Saturday, at 9:45am (10am opening) and breezed right through security (multiple lanes open). Longest line today was Cheetah Hunt which was posted at 70 minutes but was actually only about 50 minutes. 4 trains and both stations running with semi-decent dispatches. Iron Gwazi was also barely outside the station queue once the morning rush died down. Multi train ops on everything and we had a blast.

Even if today was a fluke, I guess I get lucky? I visit this park every 3-4 weeks and exclusively on weekends-only due to my job schedule (mostly Saturdays too) and I've always had an awesome experience. I don't think I've ever seen one train ops on anything during the weekend. I don't really know. I must live in an alternate reality? I absolutely love this park.

Your post pretty much encapsulates how I feel about BGT. I don't live remotely close to the park, or go anywhere near as often as you, or many others commenting have, but every single time has been an awesome experience, and I've never had issues with excessive waits, or poor operations. BGT is my favorite park in Florida, hands down (yes, including Disney and Universal), and my kids' as well.

[PKI Jizzman]

11 hours ago, thrillseeker4552 said:

Falcon's Fury and Cobra's Curse were closed. Sky Ride still hasn't reopened yet. I have no idea about the train.

I will fully admit that my perspective is skewed because if a couple rides are closed, I just think "oh I can do those next time." People traveling afar to visit the park and are hoping to hit all the rides would be more upset that FF and CC were closed, so I get that. But even from a crowd management/general operations perspective, I've never really had a poor experience. Some days are better than others, and of course I'm not trying to discount anyone else's experiences. Let's just say I spent two days at the Disney parks a few weeks ago and that was way more of a frustrating, stressful experience than any of my days at BGT, SWO, or even Universal.

As a new local I get, I visit the parks on the weekends and more so BGT exclusively weekends. Wish I had some more of your luck at BGT haha. But it's annoying that peak summer they still don't have the park fully operational and that the Giraffe Rooftop restaurant is dead and gone.

[coasterbill]

People should go into Busch Gardens Tampa acting as if Falcon's Fury is simply a very large telephone pole. It's a mirage. It's a figment of your imagination. That way, when it's closed they won't be upset about it. I feel like it's down on at-least half of our visits.

[KBrylczyk]

^ Sounds like Mach Tower.

[SharkTums]

^Yeah but Mach tower is a dumb ride and no one really cares if it's down. FF is actually a really awesome ride that's sad to see closed!!!

[tndank]

Falcons Fury is up and running again. 

[prozach626]

Today.

[Midgetman82]

On 7/4/2022 at 10:35 AM, prozach626 said:

Some people seem to think Velocicoaster already does that in their book, so... Subjectivity is a hell of thing.

It certainly is.

Iron Gwazi really is freaking phenomenal! My jaw was dropped after each of my 4 laps on it, easily one of the best coasters ever built, period! But I might be weird for having VelociCoaster ranked right above IG. I enjoyed riding and re-riding VC a lil more than IG for other overall factors. I don't think anyone's wrong for thinking any of those coasters (including Vengeance) are better than the other. They're all superb for various reasons!

On 7/17/2022 at 10:02 AM, thrillseeker4552 said:

Falcon's Fury and Cobra's Curse were closed. Sky Ride still hasn't reopened yet. I have no idea about the train.

I will fully admit that my perspective is skewed because if a couple rides are closed, I just think "oh I can do those next time." People traveling afar to visit the park and are hoping to hit all the rides would be more upset that FF and CC were closed, so I get that.

It can admittedly be a small downer when someone like me, visiting once every few years, see's either of those two rides or other favorites on the sign of closed rides at the park's entrance. But also, I also feel like the overall experience of BGT makes up for rides like those two being down because there's so many other things to do there even for one full day. If someone visits only for the thrill rides, you might be closing yourself off to just how great of an overall theme park and zoo BGT is.

Granted on my recent visit in May, both rides were listed as closed, yet I was lucky to catch CC operating in the afternoon and hopped on when I passed by it going to Montu. I suppose it just has its bad days now and then?

On 7/17/2022 at 10:02 AM, thrillseeker4552 said:

Let's just say I spent two days at the Disney parks a few weeks ago and that was way more of a frustrating, stressful experience than any of my days at BGT, SWO, or even Universal.

Wholly agreed. In May I did a little bit of Universal, the coasters at Fun Spot Orlando, all of BGT and all of SWO in my 2.5 days in town, and felt like I could jump on everything I wanted without much planning once in the parks. Compared to having to do significant planning before and during a visit to Disney.

[dlasflyer]

Looks like everything is open now except the Skyride. "Summer 2022" is more than half over.

[boldikus]

1 hour ago, dlasflyer said:

Looks like everything is open now except the Skyride. "Summer 2022" is more than half over.

This is actually not true. Technically, summer started on June 21 and ends on September 22, which makes the halfway point August 6th. Today is only July 30th.

[pianojohn]

On 7/30/2022 at 4:49 PM, boldikus said:

This is actually not true. Technically, summer started on June 21 and ends on September 22, which makes the halfway point August 6th. Today is only July 30th.

I am pretty sure no one considers mid to late September summer. Summer usually ends when schools begin. Yes, technically it goes until Sept 22, but for all intents and purposes, summer is over by Labor Day. At least according to every single amusement park in the country.

Edited August 1, 2022 by pianojohn
misspelled word

[Satans Hockey]

Saw a video on Reddit of someone getting hit in the face with a phone on Iron Gwazi and looked like she had her nose broken...

 

[Skysthelimit]

I think hell has frozen over. 
 

We’re at BGT and Cheetah Hunt has 4 trains running without quadruple stacking, 90-100 second dispatches and employees telling people to essentially hurry up. It’s a 40 minute wait on an August Saturday. Well I’ll be. Looks like adding a bag checker at greeter has helped. 

[prozach626]

Would be nice to see someone prosecuted for this shit, when it results in injury.

[AmyUD06]

22 minutes ago, prozach626 said:

Would be nice to see someone prosecuted for this shit, when it results in injury.

I'm guessing you meant for the phone flying out, not BGT actually having decent operations for once haha.

[jimmiemac02]

7 hours ago, Skysthelimit said:

I think hell has frozen over. 
 

We’re at BGT and Cheetah Hunt has 4 trains running without quadruple stacking, 90-100 second dispatches and employees telling people to essentially hurry up. It’s a 40 minute wait on an August Saturday. Well I’ll be. Looks like adding a bag checker at greeter has helped. 

I saw that today too. I just stood there with my mouth open, it was so cool to watch.

[Skysthelimit]

17 hours ago, jimmiemac02 said:

I saw that today too. I just stood there with my mouth open, it was so cool to watch.

The gal in probably her mid 50s working at the entrance must have had previous experience working at TSA. She sat in a chair where the quick queue and stand by lines started and nothing was getting past her she didn’t like