Photo TR: ATL-BGT-ATL in 35 hours!

I had planned on visiting Busch Gardens Tampa sometime this year to ride SheiKra and of course the other fine rides in the park. So, on Thursday afternoon I packed up and headed towards the park, but since y'all like random crap (bear with me I'll try to cater to the TPR style) here how about some photos of Goliath's construction that I saw on the way!

 

 

So yea anyone who's been down I-75 between Atlanta and Central Florida knows of the multitude of billboards. There were a lot of these ones:

 

 

haha me go to Wild Adventures? I'll pass on vekomaland. I love the ambiguity of "The most rides"

 

OK, nother random photo. Seeing that I did this trip alone, here is my travel partner:

 

 

More sweet billboards:

 

 

.. and we might have some printed after 1950!!

 

Anyways whenever I go to Florida I have to stop in Gainesville for something I can't get in Atlanta.. Whataburger!!!

 

 

Aah, the promised land I do get a kick out of their slogan "there's one near you". No there's not, that's the problem!!

 

I arrived in Tampa somewhere around 9:30-10 pm, which was better than expected. Off to bed went young Joseph for he had a big day coming!

 

At 9 I was in the parking lot and headed towards the gate. I was meeting up with Larry(gator) who was coming down for a softball torunament. He wasnt going to arrive for a while longer so I went and rode Montu first. I haven't ridden Montu in quite a while and I remembered it being much stronger than it was this time. Still a fun ride but I prefer Top Gun myself Coaster pics time! (what, did you expect to elude them here?)

 

 

Waiting for Larry I explored the market area a bit. Is it just me, or does a park "dedicated to preservation" really need a leather shop?

 

 

Well, that was fine I guess. I just couldn't wait to ride Sheikra, now sponsored by stereotypical radio figures from the 1960s!

 

 

One thing from last trip to this trip.. I forgot about the band!!

 

 

Larry arrived, managed to pick the slowest moving line coming in, and by 10:30 or so he was in the park and we were off to SheiKra. We first rode in the front row thinking it would provide the best view for a coaster that seemed to play off of visuals only. Wow.. kinda disapointing up front. Then we sat in the second row and got some pretty good air (especially for a B&M!) so we then decided we had to try the third row, which we did. It was pretty good, but I think our best air came in the 2nd row. OK now for the pics!

 

 

That's one big f'in splash!

 

From there we headed back and rode Kumba in the back and it was solid as old. I hear people complain because it is rough quite often but I found it to be pretty good.

 

Bet you haven't seen a photo like that before!

 

Only one ride for Kumba though.. we had to get to Scorpion!! says Joe, the self-proclaimed Schwarzkopf disciple. It was typical Schwarzkopf: tight radii, a pretty smooth ride and G's. I need to have some digital love for Anton:

 

 

Larry already had the Cheetah Chase credit but I wanted to try to get it. The line was way too long for a mouse credit for me, so we rode the inverting ship. Meh, ok, I dont care for those damn things too much.

 

I'm pretty sure at that point we headed towards Montu and rode it two more times, both near the back. On my first ride the trip before the batwing was off so we still managed to get some nice snapping forces through the inversions but this time they were on pretty hard (and that damn midcourse was still there )

 

... at least their puppets are anatomically correct

 

We were both hungry and Larry has this thing going with compiling info about park food, so we had to try some of BGT's finest, and we went over to the Zambia Smokehouse. When up in Williamsburg I loved the Trapper's Smokehouse and I hoped that this lived up to that standard. Well, it was about the same and my brisket kicked ass! This, from a brisket kind of guy

 

What better way to kill the thoughts of yummy b-b-q than THAT?!?

 

After lunch (this was now about 2:30-3PM and the park closed at 5) we went and rode Gwazi a few times, two on the one side and one on the other (Lary will remember since I dont). The side we rode once was agreed to be better. (I want to say Tiger but Larry will confirm)

 

Ive found guest service to be hit or miss at Busch parks, so here's my post-the-photo-of-the-rude-employee of the day:

 

Her name was She.. something and she worked the stand near the Kumba bridge. I really should have used the "I'd love to stay and chat but you're a totaly bitch" line, it fit this well!!

 

At that time Larry took off and I went and took some photos and caught one more ride on SheiKra right before closing because I saw there was no line whatsoever.

 

Drop 1:

200 ft doesnt look that bad from that perspective!

 

Drop 2:

 

Overall, it was a productive day. I made it back to Atlanta by 1 AM, roghly 35 hours from start to finish for the trip that spanned 980 miles. We got to ride a good assortment of coasters that were all pretty good (I couldn't say that if we rode Python!). SheiKra was actually my 75th new coaster for the year which is awesome because that's the goal I set at the beginning of the year, and I still have a couple more trips to come so I may end up around 80. What another great year 8)

 

You were not worth my time or well-being you POS That is the best way to end a TR!

Great TR. I really like the shot of Sheikra with the vertical track. I am looking forward to your next trip reports.

Dang it, you ate at my Whataburger and you did not tell me about it until after you get home. Anyways looks like you had a good time, thanks for posting.

Whataburger is king. I've been to the flagship location in Corpus Christi on the bay. Yumm! I love Whataburger!

 

-Cal

Sweet photos! I need to take a Florida trip so bad. We'll see what the winter holds.

Nice photos. I have one of those "SheiKra, Let me hear you scream!" T-Shirts, except mine's powder blue (and the week after I bought it they came out with it in grey which was a bummer!). Im heading up to BGT tonight for HOS, then next weekend for the TPR meet so Ill have to make some PTR's.

 

Colin C

Nice way to put the verbal smackdown on Python. Last time I was at BGT (actually, my first and only time there so far) I didn't even wan't to ride it. Your sentiments are shared, I guess.

If you ask me, Python is less brutal than Gwazi.

 

::expects a bunch of replies with the :shock: smiley::

I can't even think of the last time I rode Python!

 

Nice TR! But you missed the best billboards of them all!!!

 

Cafe Risque!!!

Oh no I didnt miss Cafe Risque but I drove past both at night and nighttime + 80 mph does not translate to a clear photo

 

Me, miss something to do with sex? Never!!

 

Oh yea I don't find Gwazi to be bad at all. The right side gives a good jolt but nothing really unbearable, though we both agreed that its not a ride we could marathong.

 

(I noticed that typo but determined it was too funny to edit out )

 

Thanks for all the comments and compliements guys

Nice TR. I haven't had Whattaburger since like 1999 in Texas. Gainesville built one right down the road from me, but I left the area by the time it actually opened. When I returned last year to visit, it was during a hurricane and every one and their brother was trying to get food there. Looks like you had a nice day at BGT and the drive home wasn't too bad (unlike the trip Elissa and I took years ago with death thunderstorm including hail, lighting, flooding, and a fire).

I love Crapper's Smokehouse! 8)

Don't Python hate. it's a good starter coaster for those fledgling ACErs.

I can't even think of the last time I rode Python!

 

Nice TR! But you missed the best billboards of them all!!!

 

Cafe Risque!!!

 

Yeah I guess there is at least one good thing about Micanopy. The old Cafe as well as being the place where they filmed Doc Hollywood.

 

Erik "Dad took him to the Cafe for his 18th Birthday" Johnson.