aimster Posted November 12, 2010 Posted November 12, 2010 This past Monday, my faithful companion, Wonderpup, and I visited Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (since we only live 30 minutes away). The weather was perfect (in the low 70s), crowds were VERY light and the animals were active due to the cooler weather. We also had reservations for the Coaster Insider tour, where you get up close & personal with Montu. Ok let's get on with it! Wonderpup is excited to be back at Busch Gardens! First stop, the new Australian exhibit, Walkabout Way! Big, hoppy things ahead! Kangaroo! For , you can buy a cup of food and feed the kangaroos and wallabies in the exhibit... and pet them too! Wallabies are Wonderpup approved! I haz a sexy! G'Day! Lazy Roo! Pretty albino wallaby! I seriously wanted to take this little guy below home. He wanted the big carrot piece in the food cup I had. While I was fishing it out, he put his little paws on my knee and got all in my face. I about DIED from cute overload. I haz a carrot! OM NOM NOM NOM! Next up, we checked out the new Sesame Street kiddie area (formerly Land of the Dragons). It was very nicely themed and if I were a little rugrat again, I would love playing in this area. Sign for Larry Only took me 30+ years, but I FINALLY got my photo with Cookie Monster! I'm a dirty credit whore, so I had to get my Air Grover credit. Wonderpup thinks Flamingos should be called Flaming O's. Lorikeets! Very pretty birds & total hams, but they crap EVERYWHERE! At noon was the Coaster Insider tour. I was the only one signed up that day, so I got my own private tour! Sweet! Wheels! More Wheels! Nerd shot! OMG! NAKED TRAIN! The highlight of the tour was when they took me up on the break platform tower. They used to take tours right up onto the platform, but they started having problems with idiots on the tours and on the coaster reaching out trying to reach out & grab hands as the trains go by, so now they take you to the landing just below the brake run, which is still pretty high up. They let me watch a couple trains go by snap some photos. Love that barrel roll! Coming up into the brake run. Wonderpup & I with our awesome tour guides, Norman & Kelly. And some random shots..... ShiekRa! Future home of Intamin goodness! This big pile of dirt will transform into a juicy, new Intamin by Spring 2011! Skyway is currently closed while the sexy new Cheetah Hunt coaster is under construction. New show taking KaTonga's place starting in December. Wonderpup normally doesn't like cats, but thinks tigers are pretty awesome. Tigers are my favorite animal. Schweepy baby! Elephant! This hyena failed to see the humor in any jokes. Unamused Lion is unamused. Meerkats are weird. I'm way cuter than that Timon hack! ♪♫ Walk like an Egyptian... ♪♫ Hope you enjoyed! Busch Gardens is really one of the more underrated parks here in Florida. I remember visiting as a little kid in the early 80's. The place has grown by leaps and bounds since then. The park even celebrated it's 50th Anniversary last year! Looking forward to another visit soon!
krazekiddd Posted November 12, 2010 Posted November 12, 2010 Thanks for the update. I need to see the new exhibits one day. I think I just had adorable overload!
tiger01 Posted November 12, 2010 Posted November 12, 2010 Nice TR. That guide thing looks pretty sweet. But wheres Kumba?
aimster Posted November 12, 2010 Author Posted November 12, 2010 I rode Kumba, but I forgot to take pics. Actually I rode every single coaster on Monday as like I said, it wasn't crowded at ALL. The longest I had to wait for anything was maybe 5 minutes (or less) for Cheetah Chase (which re-aligned my spine, thankyaverramuch). I hadn't ridden Scorpion in years though and forgot it doesn't have OTS restraints even though it has a loop. Holy crap that freaked me out!
BarryH Posted November 13, 2010 Posted November 13, 2010 Great photos! I got to do the behind the scenes coaster tour. So I wonder: who took the photos of you? Wonderpup? If so, he's a talented dog, much like Ren Hoek.
aimster Posted November 13, 2010 Author Posted November 13, 2010 I highly recommend the Coaster Insider tour. It's 45 minutes and costs only $19.95! Oh and after the tour I got to ride Montu with no wait and they gave me a couple front of the line passes, which I didn't even need to use since crowds were so light the longest I had to wait for anything was maybe 5 minutes.
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