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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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^^ Gosh, I hope the little guy is OK ? On the bright side, another local story reports that the park did good for anyone with tickets for today, refunds and/or use of the ticket for any time up to a year. http://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2018/05/12/half-of-busch-gardens-without-power--officials-reporting

The day ended up being pretty great, we didn’t quite get to see all the animal stuff, but regardless we got rides on everything. They also extended the hours to 10 so we got a lot of night rides which honestly made it kinda worth it.

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I fly in to Tampa tomorrow for a week in Clearwater and my family has our two park passes for a day at BGT and Seaworld Orlando. Since tomorrow is a travel day for us, we have Tuesday - Friday to pick two days to do one park each. Given that the weather forecast in Florida right now potentially calls for storms each day, I have a couple questions.

 

How does the park treat rain i.e. do most rides open up fairly quickly after it clears out or are there certain attractions that sort of get put down for the count for awhile? Also, would anyone happy to know if Kumba's scheduled downtime was completed? I know it's been really rainy down there and was curious.

 

Thanks! Can't wait to visit. Looking forward to doing trip reports on both parks.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I can't say I'm not excited about this as these things are completely awesome and will only make an amazing lineup that much better but I just wish it wasn't going to have those stupid comfort collars but we all know it will. :/

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For those of you that hate the project, look on the bright side. A Skyrocket is a low-budget clone, and could be a buffer attraction to give the park an attendance boost. We still could end up seeing an RMC or Hyper in the next three years. Just look at what BGT's sister park did. They opened Tempesto, and then built Invadr.

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https://parkrumors.com/bgt-project-teel-2019-coaster/

 

Busch Gardens has submitted their plans for the Tidal Wave plot, looks to be a Premier Rides Skyrocket II.

 

Interesting, if this happens there will essentially be a Skyrocket II in every corner of the United States. Pacific Southwest (San Diego), almost Northwest (Vallejo), Southeast (Tampa), and North Atlantic (Bristol).

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I can't say I'm not excited about this as these things are completely awesome and will only make an amazing lineup that much better but I just wish it wasn't going to have those stupid comfort collars but we all know it will. :/

 

The comfort collars are tricky to get in and out of since those vehicles are already super awkward, but I didn't find them an issue during Tempesto.

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I still haven't ridden a Sky Rocket II (I will ride both Electric Eel and Superman for the first time next month), but these look like great rides that give parks a lot of bang for their buck.

 

And like another poster said, these Sky Rockets will be very spread out. NorCal, SoCal, New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Florida. Now we just need to get a park like Worlds of Fun get one!

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I can't believe these things have become the next Boomerangs (or SLC's) in their redundancy (but reportedly, a lot better than either of those clones), yet I haven't been on one yet! I've definitely wanted to try one ever since seeing Superman at SFDK, so hopefully I can visit a park that has one before too long!

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Yesterday Busch Gardens Tampa Bay invited TPR to attend a preview of the new Serengeti Overlook Summer Dining Series experience offered during the Summer Nights event at the park! This new offering takes place on the top floor of the Serengeti Overlook (formerly home to the Crown Colony Restaurant) and offers a prix fixe menu that allows guests to choose one appetizer, one entree and one dessert that best suits their fancy.

 

The restaurant has always featured incredible views of the park's Serengeti and it also is a great place from which to watch Montu and Cobra's Curse fairly up close. Diners will also have the option to enjoy a private porch view of the Summer Nights fireworks after their dinner, which makes the Summer Dining Series even more worthwhile!

 

During our preview we were able to try every item on the menu, so be sure to read our review below to get info on what might appeal to you the most!

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In front of the Serengeti Overlook Restaurant there is a Summer party going on with dancers, drinks and more!

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A good cocktail is never a bad way to start off a meal!

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They really are fun to watch!

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Check out this cool DJ booth!

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Guests can buy glowing merchandise to enjoy when the sun goes down.

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The event includes a margarita bar for those looking to enjoy a drink.

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There's a booth for guests interested in tequila tastings too.

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This seems like a really big with for Busch Gardens to offer these kind of experiences for young families.

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Looking out at the party area in front of Cheetah Hunt.

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From inside of the Serengeti Overlook Restaurant you can get a great view of Egypt section of the park.

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Jim Messing was in charge of bringing this new dining experience to life and he has done a fantastic job!

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Our first taste of the event was the Baby Spinach Salad with strawberries, goat cheese, sunflower seeds and a while balsamic vinaigrette. It was delicious!

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The restaurant's Caesar Salad was probably the least adventurous item on then menu.

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Here's a look at the full menu for the event.

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The Watermelon & Heirloom Tomato Salad was a light and refreshing appetizer, chosen specifically for the season.

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The Signature Fried Chicken is a recipe that stems back to the Seregenti Overlook Restaurant's days at the Crown Colony House Restaurant.

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The absolute winning dish of the night was the Grilled Kohlrabi Steak. I've not had Kohlrabi, but it was surprising thanks to its grilled, meaty flavor and its potato-esque consistency.

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The Flat-Iron Steak was pretty good!

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The Shrimp Scampi is a definitely a non-traditional take on the classic dish but I really liked it!

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Cobra's Curse with a beautiful sunset off in the distance.

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It isn't hard to see the different kinds of animals live on the Serengeti when looking from inside of the restaurant.

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Quite the view indeed!

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The Grilled Summer Peaches were an absolute winning dish, between the grilled pound cake and the bourbon cream...

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The chocolate cake was pretty good too!

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After the meal, Jim Messing brought the entire kitchen staff out to show just how much laabor went into the evening's preview.

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Looking down from the Serengeti Overlook Restaurant, the party still continues!

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There's something really cool about seeing Cheetah Hunt and big fireworks in the same frame of view.

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The DJ booth looks even better at night!

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It was great to get back into the Serengeti Overlook Restaurant and this menu is a great value for the price. Definitely something I'll consider revisiting in the future at cost!

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Montu has new multi-colored lighting for Summer Nights, which is a nice change from its normal all-white lighting.

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^^ so does that mean the afternoon (and I suppose, evening) Buffet are no more?

 

that's a shame, as we thought it was, by far, the best meal & value in the park - and yeah those views are fantastic.

 

great to see the food options continued the two favorite things we had on the buffet (that spectacular fried chicken, and the chocolate cake)

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  • 2 weeks later...

A disheartening story at BGT last night. A man was struck by a bullet from some idiot with a gun, outside the park, shooting the gun into the air during "celebratory" gun shooting on the 4th. The person struck was kept overnight in the hospital for observation. It's doubtful police will catch the irresponsible gun freak. Story link, http://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2018/07/05/police--man-struck-by-celebratory-gunfire-at-busch-gardens

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It's doubtful police will catch the irresponsible gun freak.

No, I've seen CSI AND Bones, and they totally have those ballistics simulators. They just get a really smart person who taps on a computer, and they know exactly where the shots were fired from. It's so easy.

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It's doubtful police will catch the irresponsible gun freak.

No, I've seen CSI AND Bones, and they totally have those ballistics simulators. They just get a really smart person who taps on a computer, and they know exactly where the shots were fired from. It's so easy.

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OK locals and frequent visitors......We will be there in a couple of weeks. Have one day before a cruise out of Tampa, so I just went ahead and bought the quick queues on line to save time, was almost a for sure we were going to get them anyway. A few quick questions:

 

1) When I printed out all the tickets and such is just said to present the paper quick queue tickets to ride attendants to get in the line. Is that correct or do I need to turn them in for a wristband or something similar? Never heard of just carrying a paper around all day to use, and I've been to a lot of parks and gotten a lot of fastpasses and such.

 

2) I also did a serengeti tour and it would not let me print out a ticket for that. Have a receipt, stop by guest services I presume?

 

3) Any recommendations on food? We will probably be there open to close so will need a few nice breaks. I saw the restaurant with the three course price fixe menu; worth it?

 

I was there 35 years ago so obviously some changes have occured, lol. Hopefully, all the neighborhood gun owners are having a quiet day

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