Busch Gardens Tampa 3-31-16

[Joncars05]

My wife, daughter, and I ended up buying tickets to Busch Gardens Tampa during our spring break trip this March. We looked all over for ticket deals and we bought tickets through the Tampa CityPass ticket package. This gives you the option of going to 5 different attractions in the Tampa area and one of those attractions includes BGT. The deal does not include parking but it does include a regular admission ticket to the park. At a value of $99 for the entire package the CityPass is a perk that most coaster enthusiasts should take advantage of if you are staying in the Tampa area for multiple days.  My wife is pregnant with our second child so she is going to miss out on most of the amusement park season. She still likes to attend parks so she, along with our daughter, will be heading to parks with me this year.

 

We entered the park and I immediately went to the Cheetah Hunt line. After a 5 minute wait I was off. I really do like this triple launch Intamin coaster. The first launch is pretty tame but the second launch to get you up to the figure 8 element is really fun. I really like the water section where the ride weaves along the old Rhino Rally path and the launch that kicks you up a large airtime hill is really great. The final part of the ride weaves together a couple of s curves and small airtime hills before riding back into the station. It’s a really fun ride and no wonder that it is the most popular ride in the park.

 

My next ride was Montu. This Inverted coaster is old school B&M all the way. After the initial drop and the first two inversions it seems the ride stays decently low to the ground. The use of tunnels and tight inversions make it a very forceful yet awesome ride. The ride ranks right up there with Banshee at KI. I ended up riding this twice in a row before making my way to Falcon’s Fury.

 

Falcon’s Fury is a very interesting Drop Tower. Not only is the tower 20 feet higher than Kings Island, the ride pulls riders back near the top of the tower so they dive facing straight down before falling back to the ground face first. The ride returns you back to a seated position about halfway down the tower then you hit the brakes and are finished. Knowing most Drop Towers I thought this ride was going to have capacity issues. When I was in line it moved very quickly. The ride up the tower is much quicker than all of the Drop Towers I have been on. I also thought the facing down portion before you dropped would’ve been uncomfortable but I was wrong there as well. The restraints were very comfortable and the view was amazing. The drop itself was very smooth and exciting. Facing straight down during the initial drop was really cool. As long as this ride stays reliable it would be a great addition to parks that don’t have Drop Towers.

 

I skipped the line for Scorpion because the line filled the queue and stretched over 45 minutes. So Next I went to Kumba. This sitdown B&M is a classic as well. The forces and inversions all flow really well. It makes really good use of the area around it but weaving in and out of trees, going under bridges, and using tunnels to make the ride seem like it’s going faster than it really is. Kumba is a really fun ride.

After Kumba I rode Sheikra. It is a dive coaster built by B&M. I really had so much fun last time I rode this. This time it wasn’t as thrilling as before. I still had fun as the first drop and massive Immelmann loop are great but the ride really lost steam before hitting the brakes. The second drop into the volcano and following splashdown are fun but again the ride seem to peter out and struggle to the ending brakes.

 

My wife ended up taking our daughter to the car for a nap so that is when I got to break out my new DSLR camera to start taking photos of the rides. I’ve always shot rides with my phone so I was really excited to start shooting with a "real" camera and see what I could come up with. I think I came out okay with the photos. A sample of them are posted below. After the nap the baby and wife came back into the park we got on a couple kiddie rides with our daughter. It was really fun to see her having fun because she is 18 month old and is now able to have fun with certain rides. After she was done with all of the rides she could ride, I rode Sheikra, Kumba, Falcon’s Fury, and Montu to end the night. Wait times were really minimal with Kumba, Montu, and Sheikra were all walk-ons or 5-10 minute waits at the most.

 

My final ride count was:

Montu: 4

Sheikra: 3

Kumba: 4

Cheetah Hunt: 1

Falcon’s Fury: 4

I have an insane amount of coaster photos so I started an Instagram page where I am sharing them. The account is coaster_bean. Thanks for reading. I'll be posting more trip reports soon!

[jcgoble3]

Great report and even better photos! Thanks for sharing!

 

I'd follow you on Instagram, except that I don't have an Instagram account.

[marth555]

Cant wait to go there later this year

[Joncars05]

Great report and even better photos! Thanks for sharing!

 

I'd follow you on Instagram, except that I don't have an Instagram account.

That's okay I will have plenty to share in upcoming trip reports and I will have a crazy amount for the photo contests at the end of the year haha.

Cant wait to go there later this year

Yeah it was really fun. I thought Falcon's Fury's line moved pretty quickly but the park wasn't super packed either. You will have a great time. BGT is such a great park.

[kikid74]

We love going to BGT when we spend a week in Clearwater. Unfortunately, we haven't been in a few years. Maybe next spring.

 

Does FL have looser height restrictions (or Ohio stricter) with respect to amusement rides? Coasters like Scorpion are only 40-42" and it goes upside down. While at KI, you have to be 48" to ride Adventure Express. The log ride at BGT has a shorter height limit, too. That was the only "bad" part about traveling to parks in other states with the kids...coming back to rides at KI. They could ride a lot of rides out of state that there were not permitted to ride at KI because of height.

[TombRaiderFTW]

I love your pictures. You've got a really good eye for photos. What camera do you use?

 

Thanks for sharing your trip report!

[Joncars05]

I love your pictures. You've got a really good eye for photos. What camera do you use?

Thanks for sharing your trip report!

Thanks! I use a Nikon D5300 and usually use a 55-300mm lens. I'll sometimes use a 18-55mm lens when coasters are close. I'm glad you like the photos!

We love going to BGT when we spend a week in Clearwater. Unfortunately, we haven't been in a few years. Maybe next spring.

 

Does FL have looser height restrictions (or Ohio stricter) with respect to amusement rides? Coasters like Scorpion are only 40-42" and it goes upside down. While at KI, you have to be 48" to ride Adventure Express. The log ride at BGT has a shorter height limit, too. That was the only "bad" part about traveling to parks in other states with the kids...coming back to rides at KI. They could ride a lot of rides out of state that there were not permitted to ride at KI because of height.

I'm am pretty sure it all depends on the manufacturer's rules. Scorpion has a different manufacturer than AE at KI so that is more than likely the reason for the discrepancy in rider height limits.

[Steph88]

To echo TombRaiderFTW- really beautiful photos!

 

How does Cheetah Hunt compare to Maverick? When I went it was still being built so I haven't been on it yet. It looks like so much fun but if it's as wild as Maverick I dunno if I can handle it!

[Joncars05]

To echo TombRaiderFTW- really beautiful photos!

 

How does Cheetah Hunt compare to Maverick? When I went it was still being built so I haven't been on it yet. It looks like so much fun but if it's as wild as Maverick I dunno if I can handle it!

 

Thanks for the compliment! 

 

This might not be a popular opinion here but I honestly like Cheetah Hunt just a little bit more than Maverick. One thing I really like about Cheetah Hunt is the ride elements are all spaced out. The elements on Maverick, for the first half of the ride, seem way too close together for me and it gets a little disorienting. But the second half is awesome. Cheetah Hunt is definitely more family friendly (less intense) than Maverick. Cheetah Hunt has two strong launches (2nd launch to get up to the figure 8 element, and the 3rd launch to give you a really good pop of airtime). But both are very similar, good airtime moments, tight turns, smooth transitions, and good launches. I have to give Cheetah Hunt a very small edge over Maverick just on theming and pacing. I think the fact that Cheetah Hunt is more spread out makes it just a tad bit more enjoyable to me. 

[Beast Gal]

Would cheetah hunt be a first big coaster for mu daughter? I am sure she will love the cheetah ride cars and I notice the height restriction is only 48", isn't cowboy coaster 52" or so? It looks very family friendly and smooth.

[Vortex lover]

Would cheetah hunt be a first big coaster for mu daughter? I am sure she will love the cheetah ride cars and I notice the height restriction is only 48", isn't cowboy coaster 52" or so? It looks very family friendly and smooth.

It's a great family friendly ride and a great first coaster nice airtime good forces all in all a great ride!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk

[Joncars05]

Would cheetah hunt be a first big coaster for mu daughter? I am sure she will love the cheetah ride cars and I notice the height restriction is only 48", isn't cowboy coaster 52" or so? It looks very family friendly and smooth.

 

It is the perfect first "big" coaster for kids. It isn't too tall, not too fast, and has just enough force to be really fun. There were a ton of young riders that were there riding this because it isn't too intimidating.