Busch Gardens Tampa president talks about $200 million in improvements

Let's see if he stays longer than six months. If he's for real, he has a *lot* of work to do to get that park back where it needs to be, and a parent company that has no interest in doing it.

This bit is not too encouraging:

I think when you look at our positioning, we are a value alternative to some of those other players that are in Central Florida

Like, "Our combination of up-close animal attractions and world-class thrill rides, a short ride from the beach, is unique in the world" would be the way I'd try to sell myself. But sure, be the K-Mart of theme parks instead.

I don't totally disagree with the statement. Busch Gardens (and SeaWorld) should be a less expensive alternative to Disney and Universal. The issue is that right now they really aren't. Food and parking are actually more expensive than BGT, and a one day ticket at gate price is in the triple digits.

Right now they are offering the worst mid-2000s legacy Six Flags experience at 2026 Orlando prices. They should be offering a Dollywood/Hershey/Cedar Point experience at those price points.

I have noticed a slight improvement in operations over the last 2 months. More rides running multiple trains and I saw Cheetah Hunt running 4 trains and using both stations more in the May and July (closed most of June) then in past years. Sheikra is also running 2 trains almost all the time. It's bad that having 2 trains running on one of the park's most popular coasters is considered an improvement but it's better than before when sometimes even with an 1+ hour line it would be running 1 train.

Iron Gwazi is now offering a credit in the gift shop or a sky ride trip for the locker fee with a receipt. The problem with that is, pass holders get the sky ride for free and the sky ride closes at 5 pm even on days the park is open another 4 or 5 hours after that. The gift shop credit sounds great but from those who have tried to use it, it's not so easy as half the employees don't know what to do with it and you may not be able to stack it with other discounts like AP discounts. Not to mention that for the price they charge for admission, the sky ride shouldn't be an upcharge in the first place. Same with mandatory $4 lockers for Iron Gwazi unless you have a non rider with you to give your phone and/or keys to.

On the other hand, there are still the setbacks. Another restaurant was closed recently for health violations. There has been no operating water ride in the park since early April. No one could have anticipated the cave on the rapids collapsing like that but having only 1 planned operating water ride to begin with wasn't great. Falcon's Fury "reopened" last month after being closed all of 2026 and has not been reliable at all. I visited 4 times in July and have yet to see it running once.

I've never been on Skyride, ever. I've probably been there a half-dozen times since moving here, especially when I worked at corporate.

YoshiFan:

Another restaurant was closed recently for health violations

Or as I prefer to think of it, the "elbow deep in cole slaw experience"

I’ve never understood treating sky towers and sky rides as extra-charge attractions at SeaWorld/Busch Gardens parks. That in itself is an immediate negative for guest experience when no other park does that.

The sky ride at BGT is probably an upcharge because of low capacity and high demand.

I have no idea why the tower ride at Sea World is an upcharge.

I rode sky ride the last time I was in Florida, way back in 2001. It was not an upcharge back then.

It's no different from any other sky ride.

It was free for decades, this is just nickel and dime BS. The only thing different about it is that it's a great, non-intrusive view for a lot of the animal habitats.

Jeff:

It's no different from any other sky ride.

Well, it goes over African animals, which is somewhat different from seeing the roof of Cedar Downs. YMMV as to whether that merits an upcharge.

You mean the animals you can see from the ground with admission?

Yes, but from above and probably farther away.

When since maybe the 1980s have skyrides been in high demand?

Well, every time I visit a park that has a skyride, the line is sometimes somewhat long. But only like fifteen or twenty minutes. Maybe it depends on the day.

The place I have seen really bad lines for a sky ride in the last 10 years was during Holiday in the Park at Great Adventure since it was a round trip ride and people wanted to see all the lights from above. During the day it was a walk on and by night it was a 45-60 minute wait.

I have never waited more than 5 minutes for it at BGT although I usually visit on low crowd days. I see some people turn away when they see the sign about the charge, others when they walk up to the register at the entrance are surprised. About half pay the $5 each and others walk away.

I went back to BGT for the first time in three years on Thursday for some last rides on Kumba. Unfortunately it was one of those Florida summer days where all-storms derailed the day enough where I don't even have enough for a proper trip report, but figured I'd share my brief experience.

The park opened at 10am and the first lightning came around 11:30/11:40 that closed the rides. No rides would reopen for the rest of the day and when I got home I saw they had closed the park early, at 4pm, due to the all-day storms in Tampa.

My brief experience was positive enough where I'll make a point to go back and use my return ticket, but not positive enough to declare the park is in good shape or worth the expense of visiting.

The Good:

• Cheetah Hunt opened right on time and was running four trains and two stations. They were cranking trains out and had the two in the station loaded and dispatched just as the first of the previous two hit the brake run. For a ride that looks to have had a *lot* of long term closures and frequently has a 70+ minute wait due to two (or even one) train operations, it was a great kickoff to the day. I always say this is Maverick Jr. or Lite Maverick, and as long as you go into it knowing that, it's a lot of fun. And I can't even remember the last time I saw the water by the cheetah trick track functioning.
• Kumba was on two trains and not stacking, ready for what should have been a fun day of last rides for quite a few enthusiasts in the station sporting coaster shirts from around the country. I talked to a few nice folks in the station and I feel bad for those that flew in for the day to get their rides. Fortunately because of the two trains and quick dispatches, I was able to get two final Kumba rides before the lightning hit.
• BGT still has some of the nicest, cleanest restrooms I've seen in any park, including the Orlando parks.
• The park has a darn good weather guarantee for guests on single day tickets, which I was. The rides closed at 11:30 and by 1pm I had already obtained my return ticket, which is good any day through July 30, 2027. Had I been an out of towner that knew I wouldn't be back in the area they were offering actual refunds.
• For a park that's known for closing rides for storms that are 20+ miles away, they kept the rides open until the last possible moment. Maybe they knew there wasn't a chance of the weather clearing? But they did not have to open up for that 90 minute stretch where the storm clouds were close and threatening the entire time and they did.
• The animal exhibits still appear to be as great as always. The new Lion Hyena Ridge area looks sharp and really opens up the viewing area of the savannah.
• Not park related, but the modifications/new lanes on I4 from Disney to Champions Gate have made the drive from East Orlando to Tampa tolerable again. I left my house at 7:15am and the traffic was tolerable the entire way.

The Needs Improvement:

• Even in its prime, my issue with BGT has always been that it is a giant park without a whole lot to actually do. The removal of Scorpion, the log flume, and after tomorrow, Kumba, only brings that to light even more. Not to mention the large vacant areas that never had much to begin with.
• If there is lightning that closes the rides, there is really nothing to do at the park relative to its size and cost of admission. There are a few short animal walk-through areas that are covered and remain open as well as two shows that only have two showtimes each through the day. Most of the Cedar Flags parks have more to do to ride out a thunderstorm delay than BGT.
• Park staff as a whole were quite apathetic. Again, it was a stormy day and I'm sure nobody was having a good time. My first stop at park opening was the coffee shop and I absolutely felt like an inconvenience walking in and ordering a coffee.

The Bad:

• Iron Gwazi was on one train with a 60 minute wait. The sign said 30, but the greeter let me know there was a 30 minute wait for the mandatory lockers I would have to wait in before getting in the line. I don't even care about the $4.00 locker cost, but between Velocicoaster, Steel Vengeance, Tron, etc., there are infinitely better ways to do it
• Montu wasn't open yet when I walked by, but had the storms never hit and it opened, it would have been with one train
• Sheikra was on one train
• The food. Originally I hadn't planned to eat in the park, but once the storms were imminent I took shelter in the Desert Grill (the old Festhaus) for the heaviest rain and ordered a burger and fries. There wasn't anything wrong with the food, it just wasn't good. It reminded me of the cheeseburgers we used to get in our high school cafeteria. The forgettable burger and fries (and bottled water) came to $26, as well as an option to leave a tip for the team member working the register. The food wouldn't have been so offensive if I hadn't spent years eating the food I used to get at both BGT and BGW.
• I suppose if you are coming for the animal exhibits you can have a good time and find enough to do to round out the day, but there is not enough to do here for a family with diverse ages and interests. Again, I'd say that a small kid and grandma would have a better time with far more to do at your average Cedar Flags park than with the current lineup here.
• The full gate price for a one day ticket is $100+ for an experience and attraction lineup that absolutely does not warrant it

At the end of the day I still consider the day a success. I hadn't been to the park in three years and probably hadn't been able to get on Cheetah Hunt in four or five. And even though my initial plan was to try and get at least 10-15 Kumba rides in, I got two. Ironically it was running smoother and better than it has in years. It was still my favorite ride in the park and I'm genuinely sad to see it go. I still remember seeing a POV style photo of the ride from the top of the lift hill in a magazine in my middle school library, and I thought the first drop was impossibly steep. Even though the park isn't in a good place and I haven't visited in a long time, I'll miss this ride.

For years now I have always said the only thing that would get me back to BGT would be if they announced Kumba was closing. And they delivered an experience just good enough (along with a great weather guarantee policy) to get me to try again when the weather cools off in a few months. I would love nothing more than this new GM to be for real and start to bring this place back to where it was. It has potential to be one of the top amusement parks in the country. They just need to operate it well, stop removing rides and leaving big empty spaces, and round things out to make it a destination for the entire family.