Steph88

Epcot was my favorite part of Disney when I went 15 years ago. Seemed like a lot of Magic Kingdom was under construction for refurbs at the time. I was very disappointed that I couldn't ride the teacups. So, Epcot was my favorite part. I wasn't super into the futuristic stuff, mostly I loved the World Showcase. It was fascinating to see sort of a snippet of all those countries. I loved the designs of the buildings. I loved all the cool little souvenirs. I don't remember there being a whole lot of rides at the time. The one that really stands out in my mind was the El Rio del Tiempo boat ride in Mexico. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. It would be awesome if they'd add some thrill rides. Maybe a themed flat in each nation. Make it more of an amusement park than a pleasant walk, but not tear apart the beauty of what it already is. I can see a Whip or Teacups or Monster ride in Mexico where the cars look like sombreros. I love purdude86's idea of a river rapids ride in Canada. Just think of what else they could do!

^^ I would love to see something like that with the Egypt theming. A comparable ride at BGT is Tanganyika Tidal Wave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKQLMGlx7mo It has really great theming and scenery. If they did elect to do another one of these I think they'd do a very good job with it.

Yep, they are definitely much in need of a dark ride. I think when this thing opens, if it's totally indoors, it will have the longest line in the park during summer! I wonder, with a splashdown, how well the ride will hold up to the mositure in an indoor environment. Tomb Raider: The Ride/The Crypt didn't stand up to the moisture of exposure to water jets very well. It reached the end of its service life after only ten seasons. They'd have to be very careful about how they do an indoor splashdown and address the moisture exposure problems if they want the ride to be a good, long term investment.

Hope all you lucky ducks have a fun day at KI!

^ True! Thanks for the insight.

I've heard that as well. But if you notice in the second article, they filed the building expansions with the Southwest Florida Water Management District. I'm not entirely sure why they would have to file permits for a building project with a water management authority, unless maybe it was a water ride. I may be wrong though, does anyone have an insight as to that? I have also heard some talk of lift hills. I'm currently thinking it might be a log flume ride, stylized similar to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZqRaZmuRUI This is Lost River of the Pharoahs at Water World in Colorado. It has some pretty impressive theming, and I think Busch Gardens could do something like this only up the ante even more. The major problem with my theory is that they already have the Stanley Falls Log Flume. I don't know if they'd add a second. I'd be excited to ride a spinning coaster or a log flume, as long as it has good theming.

Either Beast or Banshee would be great in a dark ride. I hope they go with one of those themes!

So, Busch Gardens Tampa has a special place in my heart so this is a topic I've been following for a while. I figured I'd make a thread to post news and speculation about their newest attraction in development. On February 12th, a spokesperson for Busch Gardens, Travis Claytor, announced a new ride would be added in 2016. http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/busch-gardens-to-open-new-ride-in-2016/2217415 The park filed for an expansion of the King Tut's Tomb building, which leads me to speculate that it will be a pretty cool Egypt-themed dark ride/water ride combo. Which to me, sounds pretty exciting!!! http://tbo.com/news/business/new-attraction-coming-to-busch-gardens-egypt-area-20150212/ Serengeti Railway has been temporarily closed for rerouting. http://tbo.com/events-tampa-bay/serengeti-railway-temporarily-closes-as-busch-gardens-builds-attraction-20150317/ http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2015/03/18/busch-gardens-tampa-railroad-closes/24966513/ That's all the news I've seen so far but I'll post more as I find it!

I think they'd get rid of Boo Blasters and replace it with something that fits the Planet Snoopy area eventually. Maybe another family flat with Snoopy theming.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gh3Uyl-r344 Wow. This. Is. Incredible. Edit: I fail at putting videos in a post. So, here's a link to POV of The Curse of DarKastle.

I could do without the gun aspect. But kids seem to like them. And that is the target demographic of a ride like this. I tried watching a POV of Wonder Mountain's Guardian and couldn't 100 percent tell what was going on. Are there any hills & thrills after that first swoop down from the lift hill? Is there actual scenery in front of the screens or is it JUST screens? The "empty box" definitely sounds like a hint for KI fans.

I feel like Firehawk, in general, is a one-and-done ride. I think most of the general public wants to experience it once and then they get bruises on their shins and whatnot and say "that was a cool experience, but not something I want to do again". That's how it was for me, at least. From what I remember of my ride on it long ago, it's not exactly a comfortable ride.

Obviously I liked Tomb Raider: The Ride better than The Crypt, but I didn't even care when it was on it's tamer cycle. That ride was still a blast, IMO. I wish they could build a new one, knowing what they know now about the water effects/humidity effects on an indoor ride. But we will probably never see another giant Top Spin.

I don't really ride Bat or BLSC when I go to KI. I'd like to ride BLSC at least once, because I never have. Vortex I'd want to stay because it has a lot of memories and looks pretty, IMO, even though it beats me up. It's an iconic part of Kings Island. The Bat, when I rode it as Flight Deck, just bruised me up and hurt my head. So I'd be fine seeing that go. Unless it has gotten smoother/had better maintenance since the name change.

My first and only trip to Disney World, we went in March so of course it rained almost the whole time. Being 10, I didn't care, I liked rain and it didn't bother me. When it was seriously pouring and there was a lot of lightning, I went on Haunted Mansion 20-something times. Kept having power outages and the ride would go out and be completely dark and stop for a 30 seconds to a minute, then start back up. It was pretty cool. Added an extra dimension of scariness!

I never got to experience this ride, unfortunately. I must have been to KI like 50 times as a kid and I never knew it was there, until it was Boo Blasters. (Never paid much attention to park maps, just kind of went all over the place and it was near the kiddie area, which I was never really into.) The current Boo Blasters theming is cheesy to me. I used to go on it anyway a few times each trip just to get out of the heat, but it would be nice to see something that is actually somewhat scary and not made of, basically, cardboard. The guns never work properly either, so I tend to not mess with them. It would be wonderful to see some retheming or a whole new ride experience. Something slightly scary, but not too traumatizing for kids. Kinda like Whacky Shack at Waldameer. It's cheesy in a good way! And has a few awesome scares and a great atmosphere. Something about Boo Blasters just feels so... Sterile. Mostly because it's a whole different ride type and has no hills or thrills. It sucks to be totally in love with a ride and see it disappear. I honestly hope KI will continue focusing on the smaller, less costly improvements versus building more coasters the next couple years. I'd love to see KI improve/replace its current dark ride and get a new one to replace The Crypt's box.

^ Agreed. But it seems to me like people here want to see them stop doing the dumb things they're doing so that the park can succeed. There are certainly better ways to handle PR. There are smarter decisions that could be made regarding policies, new rides, etc. I doubt many people here WANT to see the park fail. But the way things are going, it may be likely.

Ooh, Cliff's! I've been thinking of taking a day trip out there. It's cool how they put it right in the middle of the roller coaster like that.

I haven't been to Valleyfair, sadly, but I have been to some of these places! I took a trip to Minneapolis one October for an honor society thing in college. It was really cool, it's fun to walk around outside downtown, and if it's raining or something you can pretty much get anywhere without going outside because all the buildings are connected by these cool hamster-tube like things. The whole downtown is like a big mall in itself! I stayed at the Crown Plaza and it was just the coolest! You can catch a train to Mall of America, which is pretty awesome. It has its own amusement park right inside! They also have the American Girl store there, your daughter may not be old enough to be super interested, but maybe! They have a Lego store there, which both kids would probably have a blast at. I've been to Milwaukee and Madison a few times. Madison has some really gorgeous lakes. There's a couple of cruise companies if you want to spend a couple hours on the water. They have dinner cruises and things like ice cream social cruises that the kids might like. The Dells have some cool stuff. I honestly didn't get to do much when I went, we were only there for like half a day, but they have this really nice horse & carriage ride where you can see the rock formations and stuff. It was pretty interesting, and the horses are beautiful. They also have stuff like Ride the Ducks. Have a safe trip, and have fun!