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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

p. 375: Phoenix Rising family inverted coaster announced for 2024!

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I was there yesterday for a little bit and it tested at least 5 times while I was there, with water dummies at that. The hydraulic piece doesn't disconnect anymore, so if that was the only issue, it's looking like it may open soon.

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I was thinking of driving down to Tampa next weekend since I have Monday off. I don't know how far I'll be able to drive Friday night, so I'm not sure if I'll have a full day Sat or just the afternoon/evening, but I'll be there all day Sunday and at least till 1 or 2 on Monday before I have to head back to Atlanta.

 

I imagine it'll be pretty busy at both BGT and AI. I was just at the park a couple months ago & it wasn't crowded then at all, but I have a feeling I'll want to spring for the Quick Queue Unlimited this time around. I'm also open any other suggestions/tips anyone may have.

 

And I doubt it'll happen, but I'm also going to cross my fingers for FF to be open by then.

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Falcon's Fury is starting to get a bit of mainstream news attention.

 

Gizmodo

 

Unfortunately, of course, that means the usual idiotic comments

 

I'd wait for this to have been going for a while to make sure they have it all worked out. Here's a little insider why this ride took a lot longer to open then it should have.

 

So when it came time for testing, they load it up with dummies and run it. It would run 10 times perfect. Then on the 11th run 3 or 4 dummies would fall out. They go and check everything looks fine. They run it again perfect another 10 times. On the 11th drop, 3 dummies would fall out. So they had to keep taking apart and replacing parts for months delaying the opening because they have no idea why it just suddenly fails and drops dummies out of it.

 

So they got it working and after lots of testing they decided to open it. Thing is, they never figured out why it was failing randomly. So I am going to wait before I ride it myself.

 

That bit sound likely to anyone? *sigh* Well, at least he didn't bring up OMG FINAL DESTINATION!!!11

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I'd wait for this to have been going for a while to make sure they have it all worked out. Here's a little insider why this ride took a lot longer to open then it should have.

 

So when it came time for testing, they load it up with dummies and run it. It would run 10 times perfect. Then on the 11th run 3 or 4 dummies would fall out. They go and check everything looks fine. They run it again perfect another 10 times. On the 11th drop, 3 dummies would fall out. So they had to keep taking apart and replacing parts for months delaying the opening because they have no idea why it just suddenly fails and drops dummies out of it.

 

So they got it working and after lots of testing they decided to open it. Thing is, they never figured out why it was failing randomly. So I am going to wait before I ride it myself.

 

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I don't live anywhere near Tampa but I was doing a search on Google and some of the UK news sources claim Falcon's Fury is now open. Is this true?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2633786/Nowhere-look-Terrifying-ride-drops-335-FEET-head-60mph-opens-public.html

 

http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/20/dont-look-down-ride-that-drops-you-335-feet-headfirst-opens-to-public-4734290/

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My favorite line from this article : metro.co.uk/2014/05/20/dont-look-down-ride-that-drops-you-335-feet-headfirst-opens-to-public-4734290/ "A new amusement park that sends riders plummeting 335ft headfirst towards the ground at 60mph has opened in Florida." I didn't know a park could send riders 335 feet into the ground! Sounds like an awesome park!

 

What's wrong with an article saying how tall the attraction is? The article said towards the ground, which means that Falcon's Fury drops in the direction of the ground, not into the ground.

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I can understand why there's been a delay in opening Falcon's Fury, being as it is a "prototype." As for BGW's Mach Tower, well . . .

 

It's because of the vibrating seats.......

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Cheetah Hunt went down yesterday afternoon and was down all day today. Not a single test run all day. No one is saying what's wrong with it. Hopefully it's back up soon.

 

I took some pictures of Falcons Fury that I'll post later. Looks like it should be about ready to open, but they weren't doing any test drops today that I saw.

 

Rhino Rally is still boarded off, but it looked like they were in the process of getting ready for a test run this morning. No idea if they did or not.

 

The new Busch Gardens app isn't quite ready for prime-time yet. The ride wait times never updated all day. Not that the park had an accurate handle on wait times anyways... At one point this morning the big marquee said Montu was a 25-min wait. The app said 45, and the little dial sign right in front of the ride said 40. I was able to ride it 3x in less than 30min.

 

The thing that really shocked me was that the crowd wasn't insane. My longest wait was 30min for SheiKra. Even with it being a Saturday, on a holiday weekend, with their flagship coaster down (which I would have expected to have 90-120+min wait times), it really wasn't bad at all. Go figure, eh?

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I was told Cheetah Hunt was going through routine maintenance. Rhino Rally will be opening soon for the summer season. I was happy to see the pizza buffet open today as my son and I like to hit that place for lunch at the park. The pizza buffet is a seasonal operation as well. I saw brief testing of Falcon's Fury and I am getting excited for this one. It sure makes a noise on the drop though.

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^^ Yeah the wait times in the app are very hit or miss. Sometimes it is accurate, sometimes it is wrong, and sometimes it just doesn't get updated all day. On the days where it works, it is great, but it's amazing to me that they can't keep it running every day. I do love that they added Passbook support for tickets though. Not having to pull out my wallet to get in the park is awesome, although it's annoying that it only works for entering the park, not for discounts and such. Hopefully they are working on that.

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I was told Cheetah Hunt was going through routine maintenance. Rhino Rally will be opening soon for the summer season. I was happy to see the pizza buffet open today as my son and I like to hit that place for lunch at the park. The pizza buffet is a seasonal operation as well. I saw brief testing of Falcon's Fury and I am getting excited for this one. It sure makes a noise on the drop though.

 

One of the Cheetah Hunt ride ops told me they were waiting on a part from Intamin to ship from Switzerland and weren't expecting it to re-open until sometime next week (not sure if she meant the end of this coming week or the following week).

 

I was also told (don't remember by who, so take this with a grain of salt) that Rhino Rally was just coming back for Summer Nights and then it was going to close permanently. That didn't sound like it made the most sense in the world, but who knows?

 

Nobody seemed to know anything about when Falcon's Fury was going to open, but it looks like they've got the whole queue area ready to go, so I don't know what else they still need to do before they can open it. Didn't see it testing yesterday or today while I was in the park.

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Just got an update from Busch Gardens about Falcon's Fury:

 

Busch Gardens’ new thrill ride Falcon’s Fury includes first-of-its kind design elements, systems and parts. Due to a delay in the fabrication of key component parts, neither the manufacturer nor Busch Gardens are able to complete the lengthy testing processes needed to open the ride to the public. The safety of our guests and team members remains Busch Gardens’ top priority and none of these delays involve safety systems. The ride has been safely operated in the initial stages of the testing process, and all other elements of the park’s newest re-imagined land Pantopia are now open to guests. Busch Gardens will provide updates on the ride opening as events warrant. We are committed to delivering world-class thrills and the best possible ride experience, and we look forward to the launch of Falcon’s Fury, North America’s tallest freestanding drop tower, later this summer.

 

I realize this is disappointing for some because they really want the ride to be open, and trust me, no one wants the ride open more than Busch Gardens! But when you're building a ride that's never been done before, things can just take a bit more time. Personally, I'd rather them take the extra time to get everything working correctly and have it 100% ready for guests than rush to get it open and fall short of the initial expectations.

 

I'm sure the end result will be worth the wait!

 

--Robb

Edited by robbalvey
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Intamin sucks!

 

In all seriousness, I'm glad parks are being more open now with the details they are giving their guests.

I remember a few years back that Samurai @ Lagoon had a gearbox failure to which they made a sign to put at its entrance that said "Manufacturer is fabricating a part which will take an extended amount of time" which I thought was a nice touch.

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