Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

[Kraken & Manta]

Dang, BGT might pass BGW as my favorite park this year...

Those have got to be the sexiest Millenium Flyers ever made. Can't wait until I go again next month to ride them

[KCForce]

Those are some abnormally long millennium flyers!

 

I thought so too when I first saw them. They are actually 12 cars long (24 riders per train) which is the same capacity as the PTC's they replaced and is the most common train length for MF's. (I don't actually know of any MF trains that aren't 12 cars/24 passengers....does anyone else?) I think the bright colors of the trains (aren't they great?) add to the illusion that they are longer. Peace!

[stuff2break]

i reallllllllly need to get back here! i actually enjoyed gwazi when i went on it in 2008 - hoping itll be even better in 2011! cheetah looks awesome as well, love the last section of the ride with the below ground twisties!

[CoasterGuy06]

Those are some abnormally long millennium flyers!

 

I thought so too when I first saw them. They are actually 12 cars long (24 riders per train) which is the same capacity as the PTC's they replaced and is the most common train length for MF's. (I don't actually know of any MF trains that aren't 12 cars/24 passengers....does anyone else?) I think the bright colors of the trains (aren't they great?) add to the illusion that they are longer. Peace!

The only ones are at SFMM which seats 22 due to the old audio effects.

[Sue]

How were they doing with dispatches? Are they still checking belts before lowering the bars?

[The SETGO Guys]

Cheetah CHASE is the name of the Mack Wilde Maus (Yes its registered as that) Coaster in the Timbuktu area at BGT. BGT has announced that they will be changing the name of this coaster....

 

What do YOU think it should be named/Rethemed as?

Edited January 21, 2011 by The SETGO Guys

[SoCalCoasters]

Safari Sidewinder, fits in with the parks overall theme, as well as the ride's.

 

Kinda Catchy Too

[Skycoastin Steve]

I think it's a great topic for the BGT thread, but that's just me.

[The SETGO Guys]

Doing a little research on Timbuktu I found out about an old metaphor that is used.

 

"from here to Timbuktu"- That sounds like a decent ride name to me.....

 

In the West, Timbuktu, has long been a metaphor for exotic, distant lands: "from here to Timbuktu."

Edited January 22, 2011 by The SETGO Guys

[Rydel]

Cheetaka. Somebody had to.

[eltoro96]

gecko crawl? just putting it out there. it could be sponsored by geico or something...

[BarryH]

I call it "Brake: The Ride." The ride comes to a near halt at the brake before the last dips.

[DJeXeL]

Cheeta Roundup

[downunder]

Given they're hunting Cheetahs on the other side of the park, how about "Baby Seal Clubbers", or for a more African flavor "Ivory Poachers", or "Impala Impalers". Maybe they could highlight lesser known animals like "Meerkat Mayhem" or "Ostrich Overload". Or just plain horny animals: "Randy Rhinos", "Humping Hippos".

 

Cedar Fair naming dept on the line: "Deck Mouse", oh thanks guys, moving along.

 

"Zebra Tracks", "Jungle Swinger", "Leaping Leopard", "Credit"....

[Midgetman82]

^^^My ride kept going until the last brakes !

 

^

 

If I were to rename the coaster, I'd have it named to something that had to do with a Hyena.

 

"Hyena Whirl"

"Hyena chase"

"Laughing Hyenas"

 

.. random name examples.

[traincrossin]

Hungry Hungry Hippos: The Ride?

 

On a serious note, glad to hear that Gwazi is running a lot smoother now thanks to those beautiful Millennium Flyer trains and rehab!

[megamatt]

Reminds me of the old Fred Church trains. (Like Dragon at Playland before the Morgan's)

[EastCoastn07]

Any word yet how the operation of Gwazi is going to be with the new trains? I haven't been to the park in awhile, but they didn't even make an attempt to dispatch both sides at the same time so that they actually dueled when I was there last. Has this improved since then?

[The SETGO Guys]

Given they're hunting Cheetahs on the other side of the park, how about "Baby Seal Clubbers", or for a more African flavor "Ivory Poachers", or "Impala Impalers". Maybe they could highlight lesser known animals like "Meerkat Mayhem" or "Ostrich Overload". Or just plain horny animals: "Randy Rhinos", "Humping Hippos".

Hungry Hungry Hippos: The Ride?

 

Edited January 6, 2012 by The SETGO Guys

[vekoma_fan]

Oooooh! Pretty. I love the new look of Gwazi, so wish it happened like 2 years ago!!

[Hilltopper39]

Those flyers really are some smooth looking trains, I think these on Gwazi might be the best looking flyers around! I wonder if adding the millennium flyers will improve the ride operations any from the loading and unloading standpoint. One thing I always hated about Gwazi was how freaking long it used to take the operators to dispatch a train, they would check everyones seatbelt then drop the lap bars then check everyones lap bars. Hopefully the flyers will speed up the process somewhat.

[pianojohn]

Well, when I rode it yesterday, they still did the seatbelt check row by row, and then checked the lap bars on their second pass. Why they can't do both at the same time like every other park on the planet is beyond me. I went back later to ride it, and the dispatch times were really slow.

 

Here's hoping it was just opening day jitters!

[Maximo37]

^^

I hate to say, that I doubt that it was opening day jitters... dispatch times on Gwazi have always been painfully slow beyond belief... I was in Six Flags Great America last September... and the ride ops on Viper had dispatched the loading train as the other one was just pulling back in... of course it helps that the Viper trains have retractable seatbelts... and the ops check the belts and the lapbars in one swoop... it was wonderful...

 

...Anyways, I'm heading to BGT right now... dodging raindrops (should have went yesterday, as it was suggested to me... but at least I'm sober now...) and hoping Gwazi is in operation... fingers crossed...

[stuff2break]

has anyone been on the small kiddies drop ride and really enjoyed it??? i thought it was better than most drop rides i've been on (plenty) and it only drops about 10 ft..but you get the sensation every time and it goes up and down about 15 times!

[dragonskeep]

^ I think the drop ride is fun too. I was pretty surprised.

 

I now have to wait until next week to go ride Gwazi. I have never ridden while they duel so hopefully they will be next week.