News News & Notes 2013

[Bill]

Similar to the thread over on the BGW side titled "Minor Changes (2013)" this thread is meant to hold some of the smaller changes throughout Busch Gardens Tampa. I also plan on doing a monthly (or more often, if warranted) blog article with some of the changes I find interesting as well. But the really minor ones, and especially those that don't lend themselves well to pictures, will go here.

In the meantime, check out the first article for July on the blog:
http://bgtfans.com/2013/bgt-news-and-notes-july-2013/

 

[Bill]

Signs popped up this past week at the entrance to Timbuktu Theater, where Pirates 4D closed suddenly after the 4th of July weekend.

 

[Shane]

Wow, I totally missed all of those errors. Thats really tacky.

 

[Bill]

Wow, I totally missed all of those errors. Thats really tacky.

I doubt most guests will notice. I didn't notice until I got home and looked at the picture... but it's bad show for sure. The copy editor in me tends to pick up on things like this more than others.

 

[Bill]

News & Notes for August 2013 is now up on the site:

http://bgtfans.com/2013/bgt-news-and-notes-august-2013/

Check out the article to see the latest construction near Gwazi, an update on the lion cubs, the refurbished Lory Landing entrance, and more!

 

[Bill]

This one didn't make the cut for the article, but still worth noting... the sign for Scorpion has been removed (likely to be refurbished) and this temporary banner is in its place.

 

[Bill]

So those signs that popped up outside Timbuktu Theater I showed above with the grammatical/design errors on them?

Well they've been replaced. The signs now have a plain white background (without any faux wood finish) and fit better in the oddly shaped space. Unfortunately, the same three grammatical/design errors are there.

 

[Bill]

I completely forgot about this one, but earlier this summer, this merchandise cart was moved to this spot outside Sultan's Sweets. Previously, there were a few sets of tables and chairs in the area.

I believe this cart was relocated from over by the Cheetah habitat.

 

[Bill]

New "deal" has popped up at concession stands over the last few weeks.

Fountain soda (or bottled water) and popcorn for $5.99 as seen in the picture below. I've also seen a similar deal at locations with bottled beverages combining the drink and a churro for $6.79.

I need to grab regular prices (and see what size the fountain soda is) to calculate the savings, although I assume it's not really that much.

One important note, the Pass Member discount does apply to this combo deal.

 

[Party Rocker]

This must be a chain wide thing? I have noticed similar signs at BGW too!

 

[Bill]

An oversight on my part, I wrote the September News & Notes article at the beginning of the month, but forgot to publish it. :s

http://bgtfans.com/2013/bgt-news-notes-september-2013/

 

[Jonathan S]

I noticed that too. It's okay Bill. Check out my new concept if you have time.

-CoasterDude3000

 

[Bill]

It's that time again, October's News & Notes article is now live: http://bgtfans.com/2013/bgt-news-notes-october-2013/

One story that didn't make it in the article - The corners/edges of curbs in the Edge of Africa received a bright new coat of white paint to make the more visible. Exciting stuff, I know.

 

[Bill]

So, it has almost become comical now, but the signs outside of Timbuktu Theater as seen in the posts above have received version #3 update. They corrected Up Coming to Upcoming finally, but left the WWW in the web address.

Look, if there's this kind of money to keep updating these signs, can't we use some of that money for something else?

 

[Zachary]

I'd also love to know why "Events" and "As" are on different lines- it makes the spacing look all funky. One would think that you could combine those three lines into two lines and then use the extra vertical space to increase the size of the park logo to fill some of the empty white space dominating the center of the sign.

Oh, and ignoring the capitalized "WWW" for a minute, if you're going to capitalize "Busch" in the URL, you might as well capitazlize "Gardens" too.

www.buschgardens.com or www.BuschGardens.com both look far more presentable than www.Buschgardens.com

Look, if there's this kind of money to keep updating these signs, can't we use some of that money for something else?

Like putting something in the theater?

 

[Bill]

November News & Notes is now live on the site:

http://bgtfans.com/2013/bgt-news-notes-november-2013/

 

[Bill]

Not exciting, or particularly photogenic, but the park has been doing a considerable amount of walkway maintenance over the last few weeks around the entire park. Cracks and small holes have been filled, edges of slabs that have risen/sagged have been ground down to make a smoother transition, and the walkway around Lory Landing (see picture below) was patched and then fully re-coated in grey.

 

[Bill]

New as to today, the courtesy trams now have an automated message system which play the relevant safety information as you board/before you leave a tram stop, and again as you pull into a tram stop.

The tram announcer in the rear said they just installed them on all of the trams, and that they are still learning when to push the right buttons to start the right message playing. The tram announcer will still be able to make their own messages during the tram ride in or out of the park.

 

[Bill]

A little work in Stanleyville recently...

The bases of SheiKra's supports received a little attention last week:

And this week, walls have popped up around the left side of the train station:

Spoiler: ..