TG93 Busch/Magic Kingdom PTR

[TOPGUN1993]

This past Spring Break my sister and myself flew down to Florida to enjoy the week. Friday the 26th was the first technical day of my Spring Break and it happened to be the same day we flew from Cinn. to Sarasota Florida. My grandparents were staying in Fort Myers this winter. Once we arrived at the Sarasota Airport around noon we got in the Hummer and took off to Busch Gardens just over a hour away.

Airplane POV

Out the window there were these "circles" which I'm guessing were farm fields? (and idea what they are?)

Somewhere near the airport

Busch Gardens TAMPA!

The sign actually says "01".... so yeah I missed the opening of "Elmo's World" as I called it by only one day.

My grandma got these free meal tickets when ordering the tickets so first on the list was to fine somewhere to eat. I read reviews the the "Smoke house" near Shekira is said to be one of the best food eateries in a park, so headed that direction.

Me and my sister rode Tiger Gwazi on our way. I was expecting the worse but it turned out to be a very wild ride. I might even go as far to say its my favorite GCI 7/10 stars

How awesome is this?!

I was amazed over the amount of landscaping

The animals make the park.

Dollywood can't come close to this awesomeness

Final Prep for tomorrows opening

It looks like Media Day was taking place.

First sight of Shekira... WOW

First we needed to eat (Perfectly timed photo)

Basically they have Chicken, Ribs and Brisket

All this for "free" with the tickets. It was decent for a amusement park but I was very let down from what the reviews stated. 100 times better then Hersheys food but I still wouldn't go back.

After lunch we went to the Tidal Wave... I bet most of you didn't know this ride existed.

Big Splash

Off we Go

You wander through a old tribal village.

Until you reach the lift.

Very well themed.

On there "overlook bridge" they have Plexiglas on one side of it, kinda neat

Poor congo falls... all you do is go up turn drop and turn.

Next was the Stanely Falls Log Flume.. we waited about 15min to board this ride.

Great views from this ride, Another thing that struck me was this ride actually FLOATS... I was so use to riding Wild Thornberrys I forgot log flumes are suppose to float not roll on wheels!

First, little drop.

Main Drop time

Like I said great views and a perfect day for photos.

Scorpion Roller Coaster from log flume

Weeeeee This is what a classic log flume should be, 10/10 and my 3rd favorite flume just behind Splash Mountain, and Daredevil falls (Dollywood) Most coaster people only go for the coasters but imo flumes are just as fun if more.

Oh yeah I should probably ride this.

The line was about 15min and I boarded row 1 far left side, I was expecting a "feeling" like mystery mine but that wasn't the case. I rerode in Row 3 far left because of a empty seat. The back has air where the front doesn't. I'm glad I rode it here overall 9/10

KUMBA is next (one of my favorite photos from the trip)

Classic epic shot

Its ok 1993 B&M's are allowed to be rusty!

The line for KUMBA was nonexistent which was perfect, we rode 4 times. This sure was the surprise of the trip, KUMBA is flipping awesome I was in aww. 11/10!!

I found this "quick que" ticket on the ground on the way to Cheetah Chase.

I asked the attendant if I could use the ticket here and she said "Sure you just have to cross out one of the other attractions" The line was about 20min so I took that deal and rode solo, crossing out Congo River Rapids.

30 Year old Scorpion was next. This was probably the longest wait of the day at about 20min

Fun little ride nothing really spectacular but worth a ride 7/10

Oh yea Busch Gardens has animals

The entire family rode Rhino Rally but I kept the water adventure part a secret

[TOPGUN1993]

They were suprised

Awesome photo opt!

Notice the bird

OH DANG

Montu time, this is actually the only photo I took, mainly because the park closed in one hour and trying to see everything. We rode Montu 2 times First in row 3 and then in row 1. Row 3 was average but row 1 was great. Not as good as Kumba but still better then Shekira. I rate it 9/10... Greatbear > Montu > Batman GAD > Raptor oh yeah there was no line at all.

Before we left we stopped and rode Gwazi Lion. Better then tiger, just as wild. We rode both sides in seat 2-1

And that concludes a great day at Busch Gardens Tampa with my grandparents and sister. I'll try to have Magic Kingdom on here soon enough, thanks for reading!

[thekidd33]

Nice PTR! Those pics of Kumba are awesome!

[JAHill]

Lots of POV shots.

Enjoy your achievement.

...POV!

In all seriousness though, really good photos. It's a beautiful park.

[kjkjkj]

Awesome PTR. It looks like a really nice park. I hope I can make it there someday.

[bkroz]

Great pictures! Personally, I wasn't that impressed with BGT. I kept thinking of it as the 'evil twin' of BGW. The same kind of rides, but with less theme; a disjointed, awkward layout; strange operations... I much much much prefer Williamsburg, but Tampa is still a great park. It was just a little off for me. I just love Williamsburg's, and I suppose I was expecting more. Not that Tampa's is less, just very different. Other than the fact that they have sister rides that they share between them, I hardly even think of them as sister parks.

Scorpion was awesome - my first non-clothoid loop. I was really thrown off by the experience, and I think I may have actually said "whoa" at the top of the loop. It's a very odd sensation.

Griffon is easily in my top three coasters, and I expected the same from ShieKra but for some reason, it was just... different. I don't know why even! I would say it's the location, but Griffon is sort of "squeezed" in while SheiKra is placed among trees and crumbling towers... But it's just different!

Kumba, in my opinion, was very painful, horribly in need of work and probably the only roller coaster I've ever been on where I just wanted it to be over.

Gwazi, as you said, was an unexpected hit among my travel party.

As many have said, the one thing this park is missing is a sister ride to Apollo's Chariot. Every ride has a "gimmick," and it needs something that's just pure speed and airtime. DarKastle is also a major plus for Williamsburgs, but with Islands so close I can't see Tampa's getting a high tech dark ride.

[markr]

Always enjoy your trip reports, Paul. No one can beat your photos.

When I rode Montu 11 years ago, there were crocodiles under the track right before the lift hill. I hear they took them away.

[TOPGUN1993]

I noticed what looked to be a water feature... its bone dry now. I really want to check out Busch Gardens Virginia now.

Thanks for the comments!

[DropZone99]

Nice photos, I went to BGA in 2006, but back then I didn't appreciate all the scenery as much as I now would. Hopefully one day I'll go back.

[Delirium_Guy]

Always enjoy your trip reports, Paul. No one can beat your photos.

When I rode Montu 11 years ago, there were crocodiles under the track right before the lift hill. I hear they took them away.

Yep, crocodiles have been gone for several years now....but what a neat touch they were.

Awesome TR, glad you enjoyed your visit to the Park. The Park really is a beautiful, beautiful park. I obviously visit BGT more frequently now that I'm local, so the Park has really grown quite a bit on me during my time down here. I still prefer Williamsburg, I just think it has a much more intimate setting nestled among the trees. I don't really find the quality of theming to differ that much between the two parks, actually. One has to give Tampa serious props though, they have done a lot with the Park especially given their location.

Oh, I'm definitely glad to hear you loved Kumba.....its easily, easily my favorite coaster in Florida and none of the others down here come close to it for me! :-)

- Todd

[bkroz]

The crocodiles, it should be noted, were removed because they grew too big for the Montu enclosure. As always, Busch doesn't downgrade for the sake of things costing less or being easier to maintain - they did it because they had to. So I forgive them.

... Now, if some other folks owned the park ...

[Coney Islander]

Log Flumes are supposed to float? I seriously did not know that...

I've got to visit some more parks!

[ahank]

Ah, so you did decide to post a TPR!

Looks like you had a great time, going by the pictures. It's too bad you missed the Safari of Fun opening though.

Oh, and you should definitely post some Disney pics.

[sethdawg17]

Nice trip report, you beat me by 5 days, I went on 3/31. I love Busch Gardens the whole park is beautiful.

[sheikra_rocks]

Fun little notes:

Cheetah Chase was relocated from BGW.

Tidal Wave actually travels the same channel that the former jungle cruise took.

The original smoke house occupied the building that is now SheiKra's gift shop.

Busch Gardens started out as just the brewery and Bird Gardens.

Also, you really can not compair the 2 parks. They are 2 completely different themes and settings. There is nothing wrong with the layout of BGT.

Kumba can use some TLC, but from what I hear it still cranks the G's. The main problem areas of Kumba are right after MCBR and the dive into the ground. There is a shudder at these locations. Kumba is my #1 steel coaster.

[TOPGUN1993]

Tidal Wave actually travels the same channel that the former jungle cruise took.

Interesting I did happen to notice what looked like remnants of a former attraction while viewing Tidal Wave from the overlook bridge.

Kumba <3

[KIfan1980]

Awesome pictures - I had the pleasure of visiting BGT earlier this year and had a wonderful trip. The park is truly beautiful in landscaping, theme, and general atmosphere as your photos show incredibly well, and I love the way they have rides and animals intermixed so effectively.

On your ride assessments, I guess that just goes to show why everyone needs to go ride them and make up their own minds as we all have different tastes and experiences.

[Ki Man]

Log flumes FTW.. Nice stuff dude

[dragsterfan420]

This is a very nice TR complete with great photos man. I think you might even be givin KI Man a run for his money. Just messin zach.

Seriously great photos and I can't wait to see those Magic Kingdom pics.

[Jasper]

Very nice photos TopGun! From you review and photos I still think that BGE might have it beat, but you never really know until you experience it first hand I guess. You really do need to check out BGE though, it really is a great park.