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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

P. 377: Wild Oasis realm in Jungala announced for 2025!

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Well, there are a few more obstacles in the way of RMC Gwazi that the other ones didn't have that keep me skeptical. For example ownership's recent financial position, largely compromised structure, ROI questions in a more crowded local market especially if they do both sides- won't be cheap or fast, Florida's climate which can really screw with wood even more than the average hot place (+year round ride maintenance schedule), and perhaps not an immediate need for a big intense coaster although maybe the locals will disagree on that one lol. When you add all these together it starts to become really prohibitive.

 

Don't get me wrong, I've always thought Gwazi could make a killer hybrid with both sides interacting and it would be awesome to see happen. But I won't be sold until there are more obvious signs than a few markers on footers (that type of color is also very often used for removal) which happen to be on a coaster that's been rotting away for years and been slated for total removal per reliable inside sources. Sure things can and do change but there's a lot of hurdles that would have to be jumped to make that a reality in this specific situation.

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Gwazi has been SBNO for 3 years already (Tiger longer), parts of it were taken and used for other rides/attractions in the chain, and I believe I saw a photo of part of it underwater at some point recently. Granted it's not impossible to come back from any of this (Twisted Twins was SBNO for 7 years before Storm Chaser....

 

Gwazi to my knowledge has never been underwater.

The trains obviously went to BGW. They sent some of the good wood to SWO to use in refurbishment of some shops there.

 

Twisted Twins had a steel support structure, so it standing there for 7 years didn't matter than much vs. an enormous wood structure that has had no maintenance in over 3-4 years in a subtropical climate with excessive heat and humidity the majority of the year. Not saying RMC couldn't work miracles, but I don't see it happening personally.

 

 

A recent tiger related trademark filed plus mysterious support dots show up, which follow previous RMC patterns, and folks still wanna say "I'll believe it when I see it?!"

 

Come on, it's obviously happening.

 

Remember...there are THREE trademarks, not just Twisted Tiger. The others are "Uproar" and "Tigris". They may use one, none or throw us a big surprise and give us 3 new rides (a coaster and 2 flats-I'd love this). Of course, they could rename a couple attractions as well with them with a new coaster also. The possibilities are endless.

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Gwazi has been SBNO for 3 years already (Tiger longer), parts of it were taken and used for other rides/attractions in the chain, and I believe I saw a photo of part of it underwater at some point recently. Granted it's not impossible to come back from any of this (Twisted Twins was SBNO for 7 years before Storm Chaser....

 

Gwazi to my knowledge has never been underwater.

 

This is the photo in question I believe, from October of last year.

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^That's the one I was referring to.

 

Twisted Twins being a steel structure I'm sure helped its case a lot, but 7 years is still a long time. I'm skeptical about Gwazi coming back, but I'm no coaster engineer and RMC has done some pretty amazing transformations in the past.

 

Also, even if the markings are for demo, that suggests to me that BGT has big plans for the area. Since someone mentioned SOB, it came down and Banshee went up within two years. Why spend the money to demo unless they plan to use the area for something else, or leaving it up is some kind of hazard/liability?

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^ & ^^I forgot all about that. My memory has been refreshed...lol

 

As far as them tearing it down now (or RMC or whatever), There is something going to be built. While trademarks aren't always used, often they are. Since three were filed, is is safe to assume at least one attraction will be built. There could be 3; a coaster and 2 flats. There could be a new coaster, and 2 renamed attractions. Something could fall through and there be nothing. Either way it goes, it's an interesting ride along the way until something more shows up than a few spray paint markings on some footers that could have been there for months for all we know. I don't think anyone was paying attention until the Trademarks were discovered. I wish I had looked better a couple weeks ago when I was there at the footers at least. The track portions looked horrible, especially the Tiger side.

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I mean I'm skeptical until we see something more concrete...

Agreed. Like, you know... a guy in an RMC hard hat and truck pouring concrete. Seriously though, considering the source, I wouldn't put too much stock in the click-bait garbage I've seen come out of it. I mean, the RMC rumor has been going around for a long, long, long time and I know there is some shred of truth to it, but things change all the time in this industry.

 

Look at Gold Striker. How many times was that project on and off? And what about the Morey's Piers woodie? Or the Predator re-make?

 

Again, agreed with boldikus. This doesn't change the legitimacy of the rumor any more than what we've been hearing since the ride closed.

Edited by robbalvey
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^The ride structure looks far better than the station and queue does... I still wonder how much it would really take to retain the existing structure for future use. Kentucky Kingdom had Twisted Twins closed for six years before it began working on the RMC conversion. Gwazi has only been closed for just over three years and these structures are designed to last decades, so I have to believe there's some level of value to what is still standing.

 

I don't know that I believe that Busch Gardens is in a position to invest the kind of time, money and resources into upgrading Gwazi (let alone tearing it down, which comes at a cost that has seemingly been deemed low priority if they truly intended to bring it down). I'm hopeful that they do, but I'm totally prepared for a Premier Skyrocket-level investment and not an RMC-level investment.

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I'd be thrilled with either of them to be honest. Obviously we'd all prefer the RMC but a Skyrocket is a great fit for that park... especially if they replace one of their closed eyesores with it.
I'm hopeful that they do, but I'm totally prepared for a Premier Skyrocket-level investment and not an RMC-level investment.

 

I see both in BGT's future. Future can be more than 1-3 years though.

 

 

I can see a sky rocket here and San Antonio, popular and relatively cheap. This is SEAS's version Six Flags' S&S 4d clones. And in the case of liquidation, easy to move when sold off.

 

I'd love to see a Mack Power Splash at BGT

Edited by ElvisLuv
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BGT is my favorite park I've ever been to. I've been wanting to go since I was 8 and finally got to go in 2016. I've heard about all the rumors, but I'm still trying to keep my hype down because I don't want to be disappointed, but if BGT is really getting an RMC, I'll definitely be down in 2019 to revisit my favorite park.

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