Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

Kumba definitely has its shudders here and there.. thats something expected at its age. I think its running relatively very smooth besides those few jarring spots..

It's still a very good coaster nonetheless.

Some of the gp in my family despise Kumba compared to Montu, however it's a fantastic ride to me.

Sadly Mantu was closed when I went last year. It looks like it would of been a really awesome ride though! Their newer coaster wasnt't opened yet either. I did go on Kumba of course. It had a lot of intense inversions it was pretty awesome. The first drop was very "meh" kind of boring but the inversions were nice and intense and fun. Sheikra has the great drops but not as intense inversion. So both coasters are fun in their own way but if i had to pick I'd go with Sheikra as my all time favorite coaster element is the intense stomach dropping drops. I also went on Cheetah Hunt. I really enjoyed the launches and Falcon Fury is my all time favorite drop ride! Maybe not be the most intense drop in the world but looking straight down is so epic! Love it!

I need to get back here again ASAP. I want to make it like 2 or 3 days so I can do everything in depth (and use it as an excuse to spend tons of time in the BGT atmosphere)

I'll post a few pictures at some point (maybe in a day or two, maybe not until my vacation is over). Got on all the big rides multiple times, and still had time for several hours of photography.

As promised!

Just got back from a day at the park. I plan to post a full trip report in a couple days/as soon as I finish all my schoolwork . But here's a couple thoughts from the day:

-I'm glad I refrained from putting Kumba in the most disappointing coasters thread. My previous ride was just the coaster on a bad day.

-Montu is still my favorite B&M invert.

-Falcon's Fury/Bacon Pretzel Fury=

-Captured the elusive Cobra's Curse credit!

-Sky Ride is undergoing scheduled maintenance

-The only credit from the park I still need, the Mack wild mouse was closed.

-I saw an empty train on Kumba's MCBR while on Falcon's Fury. But when I went over there immediately after FF, it was up to a 40 min. wait. What the

The skyride is always undergoing "Scheduled Maintenance", lets just say I have never actually seen a single person working on it. I think it is just a lot of money for them to staff, especially with that transfer station in the middle. Heck in the last 8 months it has probably been open max 2 months in total at most. It was not even open during about 90% of Christmas Town, which would have been perfect to see all the Christmas lights, especially since it is the only family above-ground ride sightseeing ride in the park.

You're not alone in seriously calling the Busch Gardens Tampa maintenance schedule into question.

On one hand, I do give them credit for making it so readily available. Whenever we plan a Florida trip, the first thing we do is open up their ride rehab schedule.

I firmly believe that their coaster rehab schedule is legitimate (I'm intrigued by Kumba going down for such a long time starting August 7th... new paint maybe?) but they take Congo Rapids, Stanley Falls and Sky Ride down for excessively long periods of time for budget in the name of maintenance. A Von Roll Sky Ride doesn't need to go down twice in a 6 month period for a month each time for maintenance. Give me a break...

Good! The only thing scheduled down when I'll tentatively be there, is Congo River Rapids! Now, here's hoping for no unscheduled breakdowns, especially of Cheetah Hunt, Cobra's Curse, Montu, or Kumba!

I'm intrigued by Kumba going down for such a long time starting August 7th... new paint maybe) but they take Congo Rapids, Stanley Falls and Sky Ride down for excessively long periods of time for budget in the name of maintenance. A Von Roll Sky Ride doesn't need to go down twice in a 6 month period for a month each time for maintenance. Give me a break...

It's most likely budget reasons. If I remember correctly, the reason Gwazi's still SBNO is due to budgetary reasons. I blame Blackfish. As for Skyride/Flume, both are older rides and parts are unfortunately harder to come by.

Now, here's hoping for no unscheduled breakdowns, especially of Cheetah Hunt, Cobra's Curse, Montu, or Kumba!

Expect some downtime on Cobra's Curse, even if just a few hours/minutes. There were a couple times yesterday when I saw loaded trains sitting on the second lift for a few seconds waiting for something to happen. On a scale of reliability (from what I heard talking to ride ops), it's about halfway between Cedar Point and Lightning Rod.

I'm intrigued by Kumba going down for such a long time starting August 7th... new paint maybe) but they take Congo Rapids, Stanley Falls and Sky Ride down for excessively long periods of time for budget in the name of maintenance. A Von Roll Sky Ride doesn't need to go down twice in a 6 month period for a month each time for maintenance. Give me a break...

 

It's most likely budget reasons. If I remember correctly, the reason Gwazi's still SBNO is due to budgetary reasons. I blame Blackfish. As for Skyride/Flume, both are older rides and parts are unfortunately harder to come by.

They generally don't take their major coasters down for an extended period of time. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on Kumba.

As for the Von Roll, Doppelmayr makes Von Roll parts and services the old rides so parts really aren't the issue since a) no other chain seems to have a problem and b) the downtime is scheduled in advance. It's not like they would wait to order parts until they take the ride down. The year-round Von Roll at the San Diego Zoo doesn't go down nearly as often despite running at a faster interval and doing way more riders per day.

Let's call it what it is. They're budget cuts. As for blaming Blackfish, that's pretty much 100% correct.

Also, anyone know more about Sand Serpent? I really hope it does not become yet another standing but not operating ride for the rest of eternity. On the list it says it is closed January 2nd to "to be determined". Well, I hate to say it but it is already almost April. They probably do not want to either fix it or run it now that they have another family coaster in Cobras Curse.

^ I honestly have no problem with it closing down. Whereas I enjoy the ride it's age is definitely starting to show.

Not too long ago I went down to Florida and created a thread asking for some advice, and i received great answers. I took my camera down there and was able to take a few shots, so I thought I would share my pictures from BGT here!

I had a lot of fun there and I really do love this park. Thanks for the advice! Enjoy!

Cheetah Hunt is a great mix of everything, one of my favorites there!

Old B&M curves. Beautiful.

Towering high above!

Dive Dive Dive!!!

This was a surprisingly tricky shot to get, I laid on the ground and shot between the fence and the curb on the ground. Interesting.

TWISTY!

More twistiness! Zero G Rolls are my favorite.

A lone Cheetah

^Those are lovely. Thank you for sharing them. I love that odd little hump, jog to the right before Kumba's cobra roll. I don't know why, but I giggle as hard on that as I do on the amazing zero gee roll.

^^ Love the photos!! Thanks for sharing!

Fantastic photos, thanks for sharing!

Every single one of those shots are wallpaper-worthy.

I know it's just one photo, but based on that one above of Kumba, I think Bill's dead-on with his assessment of the extended downtime for the ride in August being for a new paint job.

Great photos!

Also, anyone know more about Sand Serpent? I really hope it does not become yet another standing but not operating ride for the rest of eternity. On the list it says it is closed January 2nd to "to be determined". Well, I hate to say it but it is already almost April. They probably do not want to either fix it or run it now that they have another family coaster in Cobras Curse.

I heard a rumor a bit ago that they might enclose either Sand Serpent or Scorpion. There may have been something on the table for removing Sand Serpent but I definitely remember the enclosure bit as something the park was talking about. Quick and dirty indoor coaster for when the weather is bad.

Also, anyone know more about Sand Serpent? I really hope it does not become yet another standing but not operating ride for the rest of eternity. On the list it says it is closed January 2nd to "to be determined". Well, I hate to say it but it is already almost April. They probably do not want to either fix it or run it now that they have another family coaster in Cobras Curse.

I heard a rumor a bit ago that they might enclose either Sand Serpent or Scorpion. There may have been something on the table for removing Sand Serpent but I definitely remember the enclosure bit as something the park was talking about. Quick and dirty indoor coaster for when the weather is bad.

I vote enclose Scorpion--Keep the Schwarzkopf Alive!. As for Sand Serpent, I heard there was a mechanical part that blew out. If that's true, it'd be a little ironic that both the park's Mack coasters suffer from mechanical issues.

Just got back from a pretty good, albeit quick, trip to the park. Pretty good day overall, here are some thoughts:

-Kumba was running in sheer perfection today. Seriously. Omigod.

-They dried out the flume at one pointy in the day, and I thought that it would be closed for a while; it looked like they were pressure-washing the track. It opened up fully an hour later. Weird.

-The operators at Cheetah Hunt are the biggest jerks in Tampa. I'll elaborate later.

Based on the abrupt closure of Sand Serpant I assume something mildly expensive (like a lift motor or something along those lines) went down and they see no real reason to rush to fix it in the slower winter / early spring season since it's probably saving them money by being closed.

If this is long term though maybe they'll finally open Scorpion for Howl O Scream in it's place.

Yeah... I know. A man can dream though...

If this is long term though maybe they'll finally open Scorpion for Howl O Scream in it's place.

 

 

Yeah... I know. A man can dream though...

I still don't understand why it IS closed during Howl-O-Scream. You have not lived until you've ridden a Schwarzkopf in the dark.