Busch Gardens Tampa - 3/14
Associated parks:
None
We arrived at BGT right at opening, and to our dismay we were greeted by a sign announcing that Kumba would be closed for the day. We still made the best of the day though, and headed straight for Montu as the gates opened. After walking onto Montu, we opted for the front seat for our first ride. What an awesome B&M creation! The front seat offered a great view of the underground tunnels and other Egyptian themeing, but our next ride in the back seat was simply breathtaking. The speed and intense G’s amazed us, and it was hard to pull ourselves away from the ride even as the line got longer. Once again, we were plagued by the problem of long lines due to the ride being so near the park entrance.
We then decided to ride Scorpion, checked out some wildlife along the way, and managed to get lost about ten times before finally locating the entrance to the ride. My main complaint about the park is that there are way too many opportunities to get lost, and way too many paths that lead nowhere or in a circle. Scorpion was a fun little ride, with an intense loop and some fun turns.
After Scorpion, we spotted the Stanley Falls log flume and gave that a try. It was fun and the water was refreshing after standing in the sun so long. It definitely reminded me more of a mill race than a log flume, with its multiple drops and lifts.
After wandering around for a while longer, we finally found Python. We were amazed to see that the little Arrow corkscrew coaster went so fast through the inversions. Although the walk up the queue to the station was longer than the ride itself, it was a fun little ride, and remarkably smooth considering its age and speed. Being used to CP’s Corkscrew, the ride seemed very short, but it was very different, and we re-rode it since there was no line.
We ate at the Hospitality House, whose food wasn’t nearly as good as IOA’s, but it was cheaper and still okay considering it was park food. We checked out Rhino Rally several times during the day, but the line was always 45 minutes or more, and we decided to pass on it.
We made a couple circuits around the park on the train, and saw pretty much all the same animals that we would have seen had we ridden Rhino Rally. Next we made our way to Gwazi, and finally found the entrance after meandering around for a while. The ride itself was fun, definitely worth the time we spent trying to find it, but we have the same complaint that many others have voiced before: their loading procedures are ridiculous. I was amazed at how long it took them to dispatch trains, and that they were sending the two sides out only about ten seconds apart. We couldn’t figure out why they didn’t just wait a few seconds longer and let the trains race, but almost every time the trains went out they were several seconds apart. It was disappointing, but the ride was still fun, and we rode once on each side.
We made our way back to Montu, which was being shut down just as we got in line to look for a guest’s “personal item”. We stood in line about a half hour while they looked for whatever it was that someone lost under the ride, then when it opened again we caught a few more rides in the back seat with very little wait each time.
Around 5:00 we decided we had seen about all there was to see, Kumba was still closed, but we caught a glimpse of a crane and some workers around the ride most of the day. We left BGT a little disappointed, but still had a pretty good time on most of the other attractions. Overall, the park was fun, but the way some things were run left me frustrated and waiting in longer lines than necessary, so I’m still counting the days 'till my Ohio parks open again for the season.
*** This post was edited by KicksTheSky on 3/18/2002. ***
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You are bold, but are you also...daring?
Hey, it looks like I stole your name :)
Funny you mention getting lost in the same breath as Scorpion. I hate that they make you exit in a completely different area of the park than where you entered. My wife usually watches the ride while I am on it and I end up spending 5-10 minutes finding my way back to her after getting off the ride.
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Bob Hansen
Bolliger/Mabillard for President/VP 2004
Hatham said:
I wonder what's wrong with Kumba??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
They are putting on round wheels to replace the square ones that were on the coaster when I was there.
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Bob Hansen
Bolliger/Mabillard for President/VP 2004
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