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I had heard some mixed reviews for this ride, so I didn't the highest expectations for it. Fortunately it turned out to be better than I expected. Since we got there relatively early it was still a walk on for both sides, so we headed to the back row. They seemed to be trying to actually have them duel, but the timing was slightly off both times I rode it. Not that it really matters, as it didn't seem like the dueling aspect would have added much anyway.
I loved the pacing of this coaster and not knowing where it was heading next, especially since the trains were running wild showing no signs of slowing down. Its always good to get a wooden coaster ride with little to no braking. Anyway, simply put this was a great twister that provided some nice little pops of airtime and great laterals. It doesn't quite rival my beloved Raven and Legend, but Gwazi would still probably make my top ten wooden coaster list. B+
Next up was Montu, which was the coaster I was most looking forward to riding at the park. It ended up being about a 30min wait for the front, but it was worth it. I love the way the ride is incorporated into the surroundings as well as the numerous trenches. The batwing element was great, probably my 3rd favorite inversion ever, especially since the brakes going into it weren't too harsh.
Unlike some B&M's, the second half of the ride didn't come across as filler, and was actually quite enjoyable. Overall Montu was a great intense and smooth ride, and would rank it slightly below Raptor and slightly above Fire and Alpie as far as inverts go. We'll have to see how raptor stands up when I ride it again this summer.A-
Next on the list was scorpion. It was a fun little ride with some kick, and you have to love any loop without otsr, but the ride was just too short to be anything great. Ended up waiting about 25 min due to single train operation. C
Python was closed so the next and final coaster stop was Kumba. For whatever reason I had pretty high hopes for it going in. Unfortunately they were not quite met. I would have to say this is the most intense B&M I have been on outside of the dreaded Iron Wolf, and I mean intense in the bad rough kind of way, not in the good B:TR kind of way. It was without a doubt the roughest B&M on the trip, and I'd say the least enjoyable.
I did at least enjoy the incorporation of the ride with the surroundings, but it was just hard to enjoy it. I also found Kraken's zero-g roll to be more fun. In short, once I got off the ride I didn't have much desire to go on it again, though I did want to give it a second chance later, but didn't have enough time. Not to say that it was no fun, but i thought it kind of paled in comparison to the other B&M's I had ridden. B- to a C+
After that we got one more ride on Montu in the back, which was equally as fun as the front, and then headed off to take in the exhibits. We went on Rhino Rally as well, which was fun, though I am not sure it was worth the 45 min wait. Most of the exhibits were great, and as with sea world, many put the ones back at the Chicago Zoos to shame. The hippos were my personal favorite, though I'm not sure that they are always so active. We went on the Serengeti Express, which is about as much fun as you can have on a train ride at an amusement park. The sky ride was fun as well, just due to being able to watch the animals from above.
Overall there were a lot of good things about the park, but I'd have to say that the employees were not one of them. Almost all of them looked like they did not want to be there, and most of the loading times were pretty bad. Still, they didn't put too much of a damper on the experience. As a park BGT was a lot of fun, though I would put IOA and SWO ahead of it.
The next day would bring the final leg of our trip, a day at SFOG......
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