Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

[DoinItForTheFame 23]

... I like the head, I like the shape and dimensions for it...

 

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that....

 

[boldikus 182]

From the parks FB page...

[coasterbill 640]

That’s just amazing.

[anonymouscactus 55]

If there are no airtime jolts like the ending of Steel Vengeance this is looking to be the best RMC out there for my tastes. I'm cool with ejector air but the bunny jolts are just too annoying to enjoy for me. The elements and sheer height of this thing; I can't wait to see more of it.

[DoinItForTheFame 23]

^ ^ ^ Holy crap. That photo is stunning.

[coasternut79 0]

This thing is going to be a monster. Being shorter than SV is going to be a plus in my opinion and here's why. Think of how intense Lightning Rod is from start to finish and what an amazing coaster that is. Now imagine that coaster being 206 feet tall with inversions. Good Lord!

[sixFLAGSman! 0]

Iron Gwazi is topped off!

Photo from @midwaymayhem on Instagram

[Nrthwnd 128]

Oooo I just got a little chills seeing that photo.

[boldikus 182]

Being shorter than SV is going to be a plus in my opinion and here's why. Think of how intense Lightning Rod is from start to finish and what an amazing coaster that is.

[boldikus 182]

Sorry for the doublepost but uhhhhhhhh

 

Found on the parks FB page...

[Nrthwnd 128]

^ I Just shivered at seeing this. Great double post, there!

[bert425 215]

^^ holy. . . . that's gorgeous!

[DoinItForTheFame 23]

Wow!!! Love those two most recent photos. This coaster is going to be insane!!!

[ytterbiumanalyst 31]

Wow, even knowing that's fisheye, still looks ridiculous. Can't wait.

[xVicesAndVirtues 0]

The bf and I visited the park the other day for Christmas Town and crowds were non-existant, per usual for a weekday just about any time of the year. I love having this park just an hour down i4 and almost always being guaranteed unlimited walk-on rides on Kumba and Montu.

 

The Christmas Town Village area, which opens at 4, was very cute and their waffle sandwiches were bomb. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a pic of the one we got, but it was the one with turkey, cheese, and cranberry on it.

 

Iron Gwazi looks very imposing entering the park and really dominates the skyline. I can't wait for the aforementioned weekdays with no lines to ride this over and over again.

Iron Gwazi's lift, sans-chain right now, has been completed. Track has made it's way about 3/4 of the way down the first drop as well.

I'm happy to report that Gwazi: Tiger was spared demolition and will live on in Jungala.

Going down

The Skyride was open again, making for some good views of Iron Gwazi's progress

Same Skyride, different angle

The sun beginning to set behind the new RMC tower

As the sun set, we were starting to freeze our a$$es off (it was like 55 degrees, for you non-Floridians), so we ran to the car to grab jackets for the rest of our night rides.

The new view of the park's skyline when walking into the park

Now that the Christmas Town Village area was open, we were able to get some unique looks from right under Iron Gwazi

The bf and I awkwardly posing for a photo in front of some Christmas trees at the far end of Christmas Town Village

The entire park really looked beautiful with all the Christmas lights illuminated with the sun going down

The quieter side of the park near the kangaroos and flamingos was lined with these cute little trees

They had the SheiKra-Kumba shortcut path open, which was covered with this tunnel decorated with lights, which were coordinated to change color to music

The Crown Colony House was also decked out with music-coordinated lights. When we were nearby, it was jamming to Christmas Eve in Sarajevo

You can get your nuts cracked, if that's what you're into

Even the alligators had this cute little Christmas tree to look at

And lastly, the park's entrance area was also fully illuminated with lights, holly, and wreaths.

 

Busch Gardens Tampa is a beautiful park and Christmas Town really makes it come alive at night. We really enjoyed our visit and hopefully we'll make it back again before the event ends. I highly recommend the food/drinks in Christmas Town Village!

[thrillseeker4552 75]

Nice report! It's crazy how imposing Iron Gwazi is on the skyline. It almost looks like a Giga coaster!

[ytterbiumanalyst 31]

^ This. I'm loving the Goliath-style lift hill too. Just breathtaking.

[boldikus 182]

I just can't even with this ride.

 

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[Condor 15]

I can't wait to see how high the second hill ends up going. By the looks of it from this angle, even assuming it gets taller you are still going to absolutely FLY over it...

[Hilltopper39 35]

I love not knowing what's really coming next in the layout and that they never released a full POV. I don't really avoid "spoilers" for coasters but I'll probably have a chance to ride this not long after opening so I might try as hard as I canto not look at any mroe new pics of this thing. Absolutely can't wait to get back over to BGT this summer.

[anonymouscactus 55]

So... this just came up on my news feed (from July, sorry if this has already been torn apart)...

 

https://www.thetravel.com/busch-gardens-best-worst-rides/

 

This might be the stupidest reading I have **ever** seen (and not just because of the spelling of Scorpion). -- Also: I think Coasterbill may have 3 actual, full-fledged heart attacks. (*Cough* #5, #3, #1) -- Warning you now.

 

"You are then instantly brought back up into an upside-down loop before speeding off through the seven inverted tacks." -- huh? Tracks doesn't even make sense either. WHAT DOES IT EVEN MEAN.

 

I mean, besides the list itself.

[ytterbiumanalyst 31]

WHAT DOES IT EVEN MEAN.

That we still have some time before the algorithms are capable of writing good listicles.

[djcoastermark 0]

That article had to be the worst I have ever seen on the rides at BGT. Who or what ever wrote that needs to never write another review again.

[CaptainUnknown 43]

The reason the article says to not ride Kumba is because it's all the way in the back of the park. So, you're telling me not to ride the coaster on account of laziness? That's what the skyride's for, biotch. Oh wait, you don't want us riding that either.

[southpuddle 35]

But they recommend riding Congo Rapids, which is right next door, so... Looks like I’ve been doing BGT wrong all these years!