Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

[Homer]

^The tall speed slide thing thats an icon of the park.

[SLUSHIE]

Id ont think the movie is replacing lighthouse, just playing along side of it. They do have more that one theater room dont they?

[Homer]

^Nope, only one theater.

 

I am thinking of this;

* Pirates would show at so-and-so time and Lame Lighthouse would show at so-and-so time. But... Lame Lighthouse is being removed! Thank god...

 

(Hell, my 2004 season pass was the "Special Edition Haunted Lighthouse" design... it was either that or Dale Erndhardt Jr. on my season pass.

[Slacking]

^Nope, only one theater.

 

I am thinking of this;

* Pirates would show at so-and-so time and Lame Lighthouse would show at so-and-so time. But... Lame Lighthouse is being removed! Thank god...

 

(Hell, my 2004 season pass was the "Special Edition Haunted Lighthouse" design... it was either that or Dale Erndhardt Jr. on my season pass.

 

Yeah, I had the HL pass too. Better than the normal ticket passes the give you these days.

 

Glad to see Pirates replacing Not-so-Haunted Lighthouse. HL was weak. I saw Pirates once, and enjoyed but don't remember too much of it since i was in an incredibly bad mood that day, but Leslie Nielsen is the man.

[Homer]

Want to see how everybody's favorite dive machine came to life? Well, here are some early and sooner on pictures of SheiKra's construction.

And now to March of 2005, the ride is mostly done and heres a shot of some workers working on the holding brake.

Again, beware the Tunnel Trolls.

The brakes of the mighty SheiKra.

Ahh! Teh track is going to attack me! Run!

 

Seriously, this shot would be where the splash would be now.

Mmm... concept art.

Zambia Smokehouse area, pre-splash.

And an uber-cool sun shot of the turnaround from the butt of the Zambia Smokehouse.

Lovely curve of a turnaround, had to get another.

The tunnel area is under construction. Watch out for the "Tunnel Troll", he pinches your ass and wants 21 dollars.

No, its not complete. But, it could eat me!

The turnaround has been completed!

A slowly rising erection... lol, erection.

Fast forward to December 2004, SheiKra is now slowly rising.

This view would be most of the seating of the Zambia Smokehouse and the turnaround.

This would probably be where most of the queue and the turnaround would be at today.

 

And note to the tree dude, back to work.

More Taganai thingys.

I thought this would be the coasters name. Instead, it was the name of the show Busch had going on in the Stanleyville Theater during "Summer Nights 2004".

And now, JimBob will describe this pic;

"And dat der digger thingy would probably be where the station would be today. Go Erndhardt Jr. and support our troops!"

Another view of that cement block thingy of doom.

 

Heheh... I said thingy.

This was probably taken where the lift stands now.

This area would probably be where a part of the Zambia Steakhouse and the splash/turnaround would be at today.

[Johnny Upsidedown]

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=36085

Tampa, Florida - Investigators are looking into the death of a 52-year-old man who died yesterday after riding a roller coaster at Busch Gardens.

 

Thomas Welch apparently said he didn't feel well after riding Gwazi yesterday.

 

Emergency crews at the park gave him CPR but we awere told he later died at University Community Hospital.

 

We are following this developing story and we will have the latest tonight at 11 PM.

 

Here's some information we found on the RCDB.

 

Roller Coaster: Gwazi

 

Amusement Park: Busch Gardens Africa (Tampa, Florida 33612 USA)

 

Type: Wood

 

Status: Operating since 6/18/1999

 

Builder: Great Coasters International

 

Cost: $10,000,000 USD

 

Capacity: 2880 riders per hour Track: Lion / YellowTiger / Blue

 

Length: 3400'3400'

[disneygurlz2s]

Interestingly enough, there is nothing on the national media (CNN, MSNBC) headlines yet about this.... I guess because it didn't happen at a Disney park!

 

 

Shari "refer to my earlier post about the boy at the fair" Shoufler

[Wes]

I guarantee you it shook some vital organ out of his body. I'm surprised I made it off that ride with all my organs intact.

[Johnny Upsidedown]

Looks like the above news link also added the statement below to the news story. I will have to watch the news tonight and see if they have anything in the news.

 

Busch gardens released a "Media Statement" stateing:

Busch Gardens is saddened that park guest Thomas Welch of Palm Harbor died after suffering an apparent heart attack while visiting the park on Monday, July 24. We extend our deepest sympathy to the Welch family.

 

Mr. Welch asked park attendants for assistance after exiting the Gwazi roller coaster. He was responsive when First Aid arrived two minutes later, but subsequently required CPR, which was initiated immediately. First Aid also applied an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to monitor Mr. Welch's heart activity

[Ed]

Well I think Busch did all they could here.

 

I reckon it's either an unknown condition, or he just had a bad heart and it was coming to him. As sad as that sounds..

[Cerberus]

Quick, call the press! They will seek and publish the truth!

 

"Yesterday a young, healthy man was left battling for his life only to loose it moment later after riding the Gwazi coaster at Busch Gardens water park. There are no details as of yet but if you ask us, we believe the problem was due to park management and the ride. A problem that could easily be solved with a lawsuit and removal of the attraction.

Eye witness Kate Harret had this to say: "I was driving past the park on a nearby road with no intention of visiting when I heard the man die. That could have been me or one of my young children!"

Gwazi is the world's longest wooden rollercoaster which races around a flimsy track at speeds of over 107.93mph through seven hair raising inversions whilst skimming past ancient Egyptian ruins.

Just the other day a nearby park in England had a very similar accident where a mine train rollercoaster killed eight riders. We remind readers that roller coasters eat children"

[jmccalip]

Dang, not another accident.

[MSLSM]

Quick, call the press! They will seek and publish the truth!

 

"Yesterday a young, healthy man was left battling for his life only to loose it moment later after riding the Gwazi coaster at Busch Gardens water park. There are no details as of yet but if you ask us, we believe the problem was due to park management and the ride. A problem that could easily be solved with a lawsuit and removal of the attraction.

Eye witness Kate Harret had this to say: "I was driving past the park on a nearby road with no intention of visiting when I heard the man die. That could have been me or one of my young children!"

Gwazi is the world's longest wooden rollercoaster which races around a flimsy track at speeds of over 107.93mph through seven hair raising inversions whilst skimming past ancient Egyptian ruins.

Just the other day a nearby park in England had a very similar accident where a mine train rollercoaster killed eight riders. We remind readers that roller coasters eat children"

 

hmmm...let's see the flaws:

 

Gwazi is the worlds longest wooden coaster-no

Gwazi is the fastest wooden coaster-no

Gwazi is egyptian themed-no

Wooden coaster track is flimsy-no

Gwazi has 7 inversions-no

 

...but you got to love the media and the lawyers that will back them up.

 

 

Once again, the man probably had a medical condition(which the family will dispute), and the family will blame the park.

[Corkscrewed]

I think you totally missed the fact that he was satirizing the typical news media articles about these things.

 

 

 

Anyway, sucks for this man, but if he had a heart attack, then it's possible he knew about a pre-existing condition. If not, even more tragic. But it happens.

 

Either that or Wes is right, and the coaster rattled his heart out of its arteries...

[DerekRx]

Usually people die from boredom while waiting for that coaster to dispatch after its 17 safety checks...

 

Since it was a heart attack, it was probably an unknown condition (or the weak beer at the hospitality house sent him into arrest). Sucks that he died, but he could have had the attack anywhere, just as my dad did while driving 21 years ago.

[JT3000]

What a crappy way to go... riding Gwazi. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

[pianojohn]

I was working at the park yesterday and heard about it. I think it happened right when the park opened.

 

This is sad, but you really cannot fault the park since they did all they could once he got off the ride. I know it was running the rest of the day.

[okinawaboy11]

Quick! Get some millennium flyers on that coaster!

[pete4winds]

Quick, call the press! They will seek and publish the truth!

 

"...after riding the Gwazi coaster at Busch Gardens water park....flimsy track at speeds of over 107.93mph...remind readers that roller coasters eat children"

 

hmmm...let's see the flaws:

 

Gwazi is the worlds longest wooden coaster-no

Gwazi is the fastest wooden coaster-no

Gwazi is egyptian themed-no

Wooden coaster track is flimsy-no

Gwazi has 7 inversions-no

 

...but you got to love the media and the lawyers that will back them up.

 

 

Once again, the man probably had a medical condition(which the family will dispute), and the family will blame the park.

 

Captain Literal here also failed to inform us that:

 

A - Busch Gardens water park IS NOT, in fact, a water park...

 

B - Roller coasters DO NOT, in fact, eat children...

 

and

 

C - Gwazi DOES NOT, in fact, travel 107.93 MPH.

 

But, hey...I suppose we're all entitled to be totally oblivious to the really obvious satirical point on occasion.

[Dailey Enterprizes]

I've actualy held myself back from responding to any accident related thread because I simply just don't like to talk about them. This also applies to auto crashes, airplane accidents, bombings, etc., but I wanted to say that this is a terrible thing and my prayers go to the family.

 

Unfortunately this happens....

[Jon Sabo]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family first and foremost. I wonder if the heat in FL. could have played a factor as well. While this year has had more than its fair share of deaths and injuries, I hope this is the end of bad luck for the industry as a whole.

[Homer]

Yes, now I can call that rough coaster a death machine! Well, its my second to last hated coaster.

 

The number one spot was taken over by Flying Coaster at SFEG a few weeks back.

[MSLSM]

Quick, call the press! They will seek and publish the truth!

 

"...after riding the Gwazi coaster at Busch Gardens water park....flimsy track at speeds of over 107.93mph...remind readers that roller coasters eat children"

 

hmmm...let's see the flaws:

 

Gwazi is the worlds longest wooden coaster-no

Gwazi is the fastest wooden coaster-no

Gwazi is egyptian themed-no

Wooden coaster track is flimsy-no

Gwazi has 7 inversions-no

 

...but you got to love the media and the lawyers that will back them up.

 

 

Once again, the man probably had a medical condition(which the family will dispute), and the family will blame the park.

 

Captain Literal here also failed to inform us that:

 

A - Busch Gardens water park IS NOT, in fact, a water park...

 

B - Roller coasters DO NOT, in fact, eat children...

 

and

 

C - Gwazi DOES NOT, in fact, travel 107.93 MPH.

 

But, hey...I suppose we're all entitled to be totally oblivious to the really obvious satirical point on occasion.

 

Hey, I realized my mistake too late, and I couldn't delete it. Once again it sucks that he died when he was just going to the park for a day of fun, and hopefully his family recovers from this accident.

[Jon Sabo]

I am curious how they derived at the .93 mph

Also, if the speed of both coasters came about the 107 (.93?) mph statement. I did not know the actual speed of each train, but I would be curious if the print (or misprint) was combining both sides.

[Gregory DG]

Just heard about this on the radio... I'm guessing this person didn't know he had a heart condition. This would be totally his responsibility.

 

BTW, Gwazi is my most hated coaster...