Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

[Meteornotes]

Will be really curious to see what they eventually do with this space. Whatever it ends up being, I'm sure it will be far superior to this attraction. Though to be fair, a churro cart would be better than Gwazi.

 

dt

[cfc]

^Stands selling Churros, Dippin' Dots, clam juice . . . all three would be an improvement over Gwazi.

[cwgator]

I just woke up from having a dream about getting my last ride on Gwazi about an hour ago. It was actually not that bad in the dream. Still, I'm so glad I woke up AFTER the ride was over. It would really be messing with my mind if I woke up mid jolt.

[DJeXeL]

This is better than Gwazi....

 

[viking86]

This is better than Gwazi....

 

Ah the world famous "Bench - The Ride"...

[BintamiM]

I got on Gwazi twice today to say farewell...Boy I am so happy it is leaving. I hope it does not stay up for long. Would like to see it destroyed like son of beast was lol

[OrlandoGuy]

Made a last minute decision to go ride Gwazi for the last time since I don't have class on Thursday and there was literally nothing else to do. Overall I had a good time but I dont know how some of you guys go to the parks regularly alone. This was my first solo trip to a park and I hated not having someone with me. Luckily I rode everything in about 2 1/2 hours so it wasn't a huge issue. A couple things...

 

-Im sorry for ever defending Gwazi. I used to think it was criticized way too harshly. I used to like it. Then I rode today and oh my God was it terrible. The last time I rode was roughly a year ago with a full train, today the train was almost empty so I dont know if that had something to do with it or if they just let it rot over the last 12 months. Either way, wow, Im glad I got to ride one last time so I won't miss it.

 

-Rode Falcon's Fury for the first time and wow, what a great sensation that gives you! I was terrified at first to be honest but that free fall is great. Can't wait to go on this again, I recommend anyone who's intimidated by this to give it a whirl because it's unlike any other ride out there.

 

-Sheikra is surprisingly bumpy. That was disappointing, but those drops from the back row more than make up for it. Kumba and Montu are still smooth as ever thankfully (and I got a particularly forceful ride on Montu today, the batwing nearly ripped my legs off).

 

-It's awesome being able to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to ride some of the best B&M's AND Intamin's latest big thing in January of all months. It was less than two hours from campus and well worth the trip.

[tanthonyam]

On our way back we watched ShaKeira, but didn't ride. I don't really like the hang you over the top and drop you element, and since this was a one trick pony that does this twice along with an immelman and helix, i didn't feel i needed to ride (despite it being a walk on B&M drop coaster, which would probably make somebody somewhere crazy). This reinforced the concept of If you don't feel comfortable with a ride then don't do it. It is supposed to be fun!

 

 

Boy did u miss out! One of the best rides there and you did Gwazi instead?? I don't get it.

[jarmor]

Went to the park yesterday as well for a final farewell to gwazi. Actually ran into/met robb for the first time in the 10 years I've been on this site! Gwazi isn't the worst coaster ever but its definetly worst than most. The layout is king and I would love to see them try to do something with it...

[Hilltopper39]

I really liked Gwazi a lot in it's first couple of years of oepration, it was such a fun unique ride at the time and was really good! But yeah it gre to be pretty unbearable over the years. Hopefully whatever they do with that large chunk of land will be amazing, all of BGT's ercent projects have been fantastic so I'm sure whatever it is will be on par.

[BlahBlahson]

Does anyone have a link to some good historical pictures of the Gwazi area? Wasn't the brewery there? How did the park evolve to have such a huge area smack in the middle of the park for Gwazi and now future expansion?

[NickC]

Florida Memory (http://www.floridamemory.com) has a decent archive of images if you do a search for Busch Gardens. Tons of pictures from around the park ranging from the 60s to the 90s. Here are a few of the brewery:

 

(1960 - Source)

 

(1960 - Source)

 

(1977 - Source)

 

(1977 - Source)

 

I also had some free time this morning, so I used the aerial imagery available from the FDOT and threw together this little time lapse of the changes BGT went through between 1965 and 2014. Some of the older aerial imagery was a bit harder to line up, as it was taken via plane flyover, so the transitions aren't exactly perfect. But it gives you a nice overview of how the park changed at least:

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

 

The images were roughly 2900x2700px, so I rendered the video out in 4k (3840x2160). If you can, watch it in full screen on a desktop monitor with a resolution of at least 1080p. Alternatively, you can view the individual images from the video here:

http://imgur.com/a/Bd4IG

[BlahBlahson]

Holy Crap. Best answer ever. You made a video! Thank you!

 

I've detested this park's walking layout since I first went there, it looks like Busch Blvd and the supply road into the brewery really limited where they could put everything. Still doesn't explain some non-connections like Scorpion>Sheikra or Gwazi>Nairobi.

[Skiebs]

Took a trip out to Busch Gardens to say my goodbyes to Gwazi the day before it closed. Pretty crowded for Busch Gardens which is good to see and I made a small routine photo update. Sorry for Nexus 5 quality.

First ride of the day was scorpion which I hadn't been on in years and it was fun, its weird going upside down without a shoulder harness over you!

Still my favorite thing to eat here.

Visited the Animal Care Center and saw these cute little guys which the trainer actually let waddle around!

Great View!

Some construction updates for food and wine festival later this year, looks like they could be getting rid of this sidewalk.

Huge topiary structure.

Got stuck on Shiekra for an hour which sucked, but got a free quick queue pass that didn't even expire that day and a water bottle, and it was interesting to see how they unload passengers from floorless coaters by bringing it steel walkways.

Finally had to say goodbye to the old monster who's been rotting here for years, Gwazi.

Never seen the queue ever get this long.

And will never see this queue again.

People chanted "Gwazi!" as ever car left, not sure why...

Overall, this was probably the smoothest ride I've ever had on Gwazi. I'd grown a horrible migrane through the day from only eating that Bacon Pretzel Fury, and threw up on the car ride home, but the ride itself didn't give me the brain rattling it usually did. And it was nice to see they'd re-opened the new looking photo buying kiosk a few weeks before the ride closed for only $7, but I had no money unfortunately. But the ride broke for probably 15 minutes and I rode after the park had closed and the ride was enjoyable but of course had the trademark rattling its known for. Riding Gwazi won't be missed but me, but the surrounding area and seeing the ride gone will be upsetting to me.

[K1ngdaKa88]

I have a question:

We are going to visit Busch Gardens on a Monday in July. How long are the queues at this time/day? And does it worth to purchase a Quick Queue pass?

[SharkTums]

^Get a Quick Queue. It will be hot, humid, and crowded.

[cfc]

Overall, this was probably the smoothest ride I've ever had on Gwazi. I'd grown a horrible migrane through the day from only eating that Bacon Pretzel Fury, and threw up on the car ride home, but the ride itself didn't give me the brain rattling it usually did.

 

I don't know. This could've been a delayed Gwazi reaction.

[Philrad71]

^After just watching Robb's POV from the back seat of Gwazi, I would say that's exactly what happened...my GOD that looked awful.

 

Thanks for taking one for the team in order to get a final front and back seat POV, Robb...you are a much bolder man than I!

[cfc]

When I first rode Gwazi in 2006, I thought it was OK--at least it didn't best me senseless and had a bit of airtime. But it hasn't aged well since that time, and it only got worse with the new trains.

 

RIP Gwazi! Here's to the future.

[Philrad71]

^ I think that I rode Gwazi about four years ago and I agree that it wasn't horrible...reminded me a lot of Mean Streak but without the big first drop. It just kind of meandered throughout the course, had one or two little pops of air and one or two "WTF was that?" moments that rattled your bones & brain a bit.

[K1ngdaKa88]

^Get a Quick Queue. It will be hot, humid, and crowded.

Okay, thanks

[coasterchitchat]

I definitely won't miss Gwazi. God awful ride. Rot in hell Gwazi!

[mike541x]

Well at least I got the credit.

 

^After just watching Robb's POV from the back seat of Gwazi, I would say that's exactly what happened...my GOD that looked awful.

 

Yeah the back seat was pretty bad when I rode it two year ago, I even remember the pre-lift section wasn't very pleasant at all. Also in the back seat POV, you can see the train lose quite a bit of momentum as it goes over some of the hills, and that too me was one of the biggest let downs of the ride.

[cfc]

Yes, the backseat ride looked like something the Spanish Inquisition dreamed up to force confessions from heretics.

[coasterchitchat]

Yes, the backseat ride looked like something the Spanish Inquisition dreamed up to force confessions from heretics.