Busch Gardens Tampa: 1/31/24 - 2/1/24

Preamble:

Like most kids of the 90s, I’ve always wanted to visit Busch Gardens Tampa. It carried with it the allure of all Florida theme parks where around every corner, there is something exciting to see and experience. More exciting than the small, mobile carnivals we saw around Detroit where I grew up. So now, almost 30-something years later, I finally got the chance to visit. This trip was primarily motivated by a great deal of work stress and needing an escape the gray of Ohio.

Also, a big thank you to everyone who gave me tips and tricks when it came to visiting the park and Tampa. I took your recommendations on many things except where I stayed. I stayed in Tampa just a quick drive from the park. That city is rough, but again, I’m from Detroit, so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

The Park:

Busch Gardens is just as beautiful as it looks in the pictures. Everywhere you look, there is diverse foliage and well kept gardens. I may be a bit bias because Columbus, OH (where I live) had more than average cloudy days, so any amount of color was welcome. But as much as the park is beautiful, it is also massive. Walking around it twice left me a bit sore and I like to think I’m in good shape. Luckily, it was one of the easiest parks to navigate given that it’s just a big loop. Because BGT is a zoological amusement park, the theming throughout works at every corner of the park. No hard transitions from one thing to the other like Islands of Adventure, just a seamless blend of African and Asian theming.

As expected, the crowds were minimal, I’ve never seen a park so empty. But because of that, whole sections of the park felt vacant, especially the food and game stands. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment, especially given what y’all said about the food, but it would be interesting to see what the park looks like with bigger crowds (not that I’m rushing for that experience). But given the lack of people, walking around the park was quite pleasant.

The Staff:

The staff was about what you’d expect at a regional park. Mostly made of local employees, some of which really enjoy their jobs and others who were clearly there for a check. Regardless, it looked like everyone was mostly having a good time. Being the coaster dork that I am, I wore a Millennium Force shirt one day and The Beast the next. Staff would often chat with me about either coaster, saying they loved the rides or wanted to ride them one day. It’s always makes me smile to see other enthusiasts working at parks. Two guys working at Cheetah Hunt asked me to rate their bad pick up lines. Again, it genuinely seemed like folks were having a good time.

Still, operations were all over the place, but mostly okay. As warned, many coasters had one train operations, especially on Thursday. Iron Gwazi was the sole exception. On some rides, like IG, ride ops mostly hustled to get everyone on and off the ride. Other rides, like SheiKra, not so much.

The Food:

I took the advice and ate at Zambia Smoke House. Typically, I complain about the food-to-cost ratio at parks, but I got their Texas Style Brisket platter and my god, that was a lot of food. It was pretty tasty, but I couldn’t finish it. It cost $22.99 (I got a small cup for water) and for park food, I got my money’s worth.

The Rides:

Day 1:

• Cheetah Hunt (4x | Station Wait): I decided to resist the urge to ride Iron Gwazi first because everyone mentioned how long the line for Cheetah Hunt can get, even if the park is empty. I knew not to expect the speed or intensity of VelociCoaster or Maverick, which allowed me to enjoy the ride for what it was. Cheetah Hunt is the absolute perfect step-up coaster. It gives thrilling launches without them being intimidating. It jostles you around instead of throwing you left and right. And it feels like a long ride. For a new, but daring rider, it feels like you conquered something. But for me, a long time enthusiast, it was a nice change of pace. Similar to Copperhead Strike at Carowinds (which is a bit more intense), it was fun to experience a not-record-breaking coaster, but one that executes its goals well. Loved the short bank turns and the slow heartline roll. I also loved how the coaster dips into the terrain in exciting ways. There are just so many elements to it. Unfortunately, Sky Ride wasn’t open during my time at the park, so I never got to ride the coaster while people were in the cars. Overall, Cheetah Hunt was a great ride.

• Iron Gwazi (10x | Walk-On): Believe the hype. Iron Gwazi is a near-perfect coaster. From start to finish, IG is relentless, but never in a way that makes it uncomfortable or beyond extreme. Last year, when I rode Fury 325, I kept calling it a “delicious” coaster because no matter how much I rode, I couldn’t get enough. The same goes with IG. The first drop is breathtaking, as you are not only thrown down to the surface of the Earth, but you pass through the supports at an insane speed. I understand why ElToroRyan giggled every time he passed through the Death Roll because it is one of the most insane feelings in the world and somehow always managed to surprise me. I absolutely loved the wave turn and how it takes you out of your seat at the very end as it levels out. The ride even has a great finale, giving you one last drop before the final break run. And there are so many moments I didn’t name. I understand why there is such a fierce debate between IG and Steel Vengeance. SteVe absolutely gives you more and it is an unrelenting coaster. But I’ve always said it needs editing. You could tell that Cedar Point wanted the record for most airtime moments because, they are thrown in everywhere and by the end, I’m like, “Enough already!” But IG, gives just the right amount that your satisfied. I equally loved riding in the front and back. An enthusiast that I ended up spending the day with said it’s because it doesn’t feel like you’re being held back by the rest of the train when you ride in front and he was absolutely right. It saddens me to say that IG bumps Millennium Force down to 5, but I don’t know if it bumps SteVe as well.

• Cobra’s Curse (1x | Walk-On): I vaguely remember seeing video of Cobra’s Curse on YouTube when playing through park POVs. I remembered the interesting elevator lift that bowed laterally before settling in front of a massive Cobra head and always thought it was such a cool piece of art that Cedar Fair would have never added to a coaster. But there is so much more. This is about as close to Universal/Disney theming as BGT gets with its mostly indoor queue and storytelling. I’m sure on hot summer days, this is much welcomed. The ride itself was a lot of fun. It’s rare that I ride spinning coaster or ones that turn backwards because I get motion sick, but CC isn’t terribly intense (and I took Dramamine, as always). There isn’t much airtime on this one, but spinning on the last half of the ride was just great. The coaster is surprisingly long too and the theming was perfect with BGT overall African feel.

• Montu (3x | Station Wait): Montu is one of those coasters I’ve wanted to ride since its debut (I was 11). Yes, we had Raptor at Cedar Point, but I hadn’t ridden that one yet either. I think it was more so the combination of Montu and the slightly older Kumba that made me excited to ride the pair. But given decades of B&Ms, I left the ride having greatly enjoyed it, but also realizing it was revolutionary for the time, not for all time. Today, it comes off as a pretty standard B&M, though it has some bite to it. The Batwing gives SURPRISINGLY strong positive Gs. So does the second loop and corkscrew. Still, if you’ve ridden a B&M, you’ve ridden Montu. But when you put it in context to when it was built, Montu had to have been an epic experience and I understand why it, along with Kumba, were the stars of the park for a very long time. They are both quality coasters to this day.

• The Scorpion (2x | Walk-On): My first Schwarzkopf! This was a really fun little ride. That first loop surprised me and I didn’t properly brace myself for it. I’m glad I’ve got good core strength because I my head would have hit the bar in front of me. Still, it’s always fun to ride a looping coaster with just a lap bar. I wish there was more of this back in the 80s. The coaster was surprisingly smooth for its age.

• Kumba (3x | Walk-On): Much of my thoughts on Kumba are the same as Montu. It’s a standard B&M today, but was likely a beast back when it was new. It has all the hallmarks of early B&M (my favorite of their eras) in terms of being rough around the edges (in the best way) and having lots of great positive Gs. Much like Montu, the hard OTSRs cause a bit of head banging on what I think is a pretty smooth coaster. I love how Kumba moves along its beautiful kept terrain. The lead in and out of the cobra roll, passing under a bridge and around the train track…it’s just so cool. And personally, being able to ride a roller coaster I’ve seen for years was just magical. I mostly rode Kumba in the back, but it’s fun in the front too.

• Tigris (2x | Station Wait): It’s difficult for me to talk about Tigris without mentioning how absolutely horrible the restraints are. While I’ve seen video, I’ve never experienced these restraints and cannot understand how anyone thought this was a good idea. The shoulder harnesses are soft, but heavy and awkward. Add to that the need to also navigate around the awkward lap restraints and my god, I made myself look like an idiot every single time I rode. Even the fastener took a while to get right. The enthusiast I rode with said other versions lack the OTSR and I think this one should absolutely lose them. The ride itself is fun. The first launch isn’t all that intense, but of course the intensity picks up as you swing back and forth. The final launch is surprisingly intense, especially if you’re in the front seat going over the top. This is a surprisingly forceful roller coaster, which took me by surprise the first time I rode it. I was better able to brace myself the second time. I had a lot of fun on this, but those restraints man…

• SheiKra (2x | 20 min): I’ve always been kind of meh on B&M Dive Coasters. Their layouts are pretty basic because much of the focus goes towards that first drop. But over the years, they’ve really grown on me. Are they any special? No, but you cannot deny the feeling of being tilted over the edge of an absolutely huge drop. SheiKra gives you a decent head chopper at the base of that drop for extra fun. The second drop into the tunnel is a great touch and I always love a good splashdown. Valravn is a stronger dive, in my opinion, but Sheikra is not only fun, but an extremely photogenic coaster. This was the only coaster I had to wait for. This was partially because of the one train ops, but also due to the terrible layout of the station. Folks in line didn’t know they could move to get in line for specific row, so instead there was a long line for the first row that was available to them with the other rows not having many people in line at all. Once I realized this, I moved to one of the other rows and a few others followed suit. I imagine this would be solved by simply having an employee direct guests, but they’d have to pay an extra employee.

Day 2: Because my first day was primarily focused on riding coasters, my second day was focused on enjoying the park itself. The BGT was still pretty empty and somehow, the ops were slower. But again, marathoning was not the goal.

• SheiKra (1x | 10 min)
• Tigris (1x | Walk On)
• Kumba (2x | Station Wait)
• Cobra’s Curse: (1x | 15 min)
• Iron Gwazi (3x | Station Wait)
• Cheetah Hunt (1x | Station Wait)
• Serengeti Express (1x | 40 min): This was one of the last rides I got to experience at the park. Although it was winter, I knew there had to be some animals out and I was right. I missed the train out of the Nairobi Station, so I waited another 30 minutes for the next one. I sat on the left side, as recommended and got a very nice view of the habitat. I would absolutely recommend this for getting to the back of the park.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed my time at BGT. It’s a beautiful park with a more than capable staff. The layout was easy to navigate and the animals were a great diversion from the rides. It would have been nice to see the park at a more lively time, but part of my reasoning for coming in January was to avoid crowds. I’d love to return to the park again this year, even just for Iron Gwazi. I’d likely add some of the animal encounters to the trip. But I also agree that one day is likely enough if the crowds are low or you use their skip-the-line pass. Even though the park is absolutely massive, it lacks flat rides. Unless you’re into the animals (which you should totally check out), you can get a lot done in a single day.

Thanks for sharing. Since it's my closest not Orlando style park, I really wish I enjoyed BGT as much as you did.

I’m glad you had fun. Reviews from here aren’t always favorable but I’ve always had a positive experience. And this is a good time of year to go.
But is it? I’m in 100% agreement about the weirdness of an empty park. “I’m an enthusiast and of course I love a walk-on.” is what we say around here, and we should. But there’s something weird and forlorn about an empty park no matter how beautiful the scenery or how thrilling the rides. And being a single rider adds to the awkwardness. I always imagine the ride ops have nothing better to do than sit in judgement as I take my Nth lap on their Wild Mouse or dark ride.
I’ve had the experience at Denver’s Lakeside, Knoebel’s, Iowa’s Adventureland, and even Cedar Point. And I’m fortunate enough to have visited Florida’s Circus World waaaay back in the day, (Wiener Looping is probably my most obscure credit), but I was one of maybe 25 guests in the park. I took advantage of the situation but I was also sad, with an overwhelming sense the place was going to close for good. (I wasn’t wrong) There’s nothing more cringy than a live show with 1 person for an audience, especially if it’s a circus. But if we’re counting upsides, another is the chance to snap pics of a park without a lot of strange humanoids in them.
Thanks for a great report.

RCMAC, you definitely hit on the feeling I was trying to describe. I'm realizing that my desires when it comes to visiting a park has changed since I was growing up. Back then, it was about riding as many coasters as possible because we realistically could only visit the park once a year and it was during the busy season. My first time going in early May/June 1997 was mind-blowing because I had never experienced a 10-15 minute wait on any coaster in my life. I marathoned so many coasters that year. But that experience also changed when I visit parks. I prioritize going when the park isn't busy and if I do go in July/August, it's doing the week and I have FL+ with Cedar Fair parks. Marathoning or being at the park when it's dead is convenient, but I don't think it's the atmosphere I love anymore.

I think Jeff talked about this a while ago (I think), but the general public has shifted away from focusing on coasters and thrills and are more so in it for the experience. I think I've made that shift too. It could be the experience of going to Universal Studios and the amazing theming. But even with regional parks, I enjoy the experience of Dollywood, which is way smaller and has far less coasters, but there is so much attention to detail in the look, feel, and vibes of the park that I could just hang out there and enjoy my time.

Busch Gardens feels like it is a vibrant park when it's packed. I think if I were a resident of Tampa, I'd visit the park in the evenings after work just to see the crowds and grab some food. I do that at Kings Island (it's like 80 minutes from my house) for a few hours, ride some rides, grab food, and go home. There is typically some live entertainment as well. Parks have to be more than just rides at this point.

RCMAC:

But there’s something weird and forlorn about an empty park no matter how beautiful the scenery or how thrilling the rides.

I used to feel this way about Universal Orlando. Before the Wizarding World it could be dead during the winter season and that made it a little depressing at times. So when it was a little busier it felt good. Now of course it's always busy and it's annoying.

Glad you enjoyed the park Jephry. Sounds like a nice way to spend a couple days in February!

That's why it was always weird to go to Geauga Lake those last few years. The rides were all still the same and you could walk on all of them, but the eerie lack of guests, odd post-Six Flags de-theming, abandoned old waterpark and half empty coaster trains made it an undesirable experience.

Yeah, those last years at Geauga were weird. It was great for riding, but almost depressing seeing the lack of guests and state of the park.

Glad you enjoyed BGT, I've never had a bad time there. And damn, 10 rides on IG in a day? Might have to head down next January.

Scorpion is still so great, and the low height requirement means that my kids got their first looping credit at 4 years old. Those old Schwarzkopfs don't get the roughness that other manufacturers' rides do. Says something about their engineering that they still ride so well.

And the fact that they use lapbars doesn’t hurt either (literally).