"Oh boy, another trip report... 
"
HEY! I'm only going to tell you the new stuff to make this trip report more interesting... Here goes...
Tuesday, April 10 - Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
This was my first-ever trip to BGT, so I was excited to see what it was like. It was AWESOME! However, I still do our park better, its theme, its beauty, its brand-spankin'-newness. Anyway, I arrived early, before park opening, and purchased Quick Queue Unlimited. I am SO glad that I did!
First, I hit Cheetah Hunt. 30-minute normal wait. No wait for me! Let me put it simple: CH is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, just WOW. If Verbolten is anything like this, ANYTHING like this, it will ROCK. Decided to ride again, now there was a 50 minute wait at 9:50 a.m. Still no wiat for me. Still wow.
Next, I went to Timbuktu to ride Scorpion. No line for even the normal queue. I would have been on the next ride until: "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please. The Scorpion is experiencing technical difficulties. It is reccomended that you remain in line." Dang. Three minutes later, "Sorry, guys. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we unfortunately have to ask you to leave." Double dang. This led to a whole day of bad coaster luck...
Rhino Rally was fun, but I wish the water segment was still there. Oh well.
Sand Serpent next. No line even for normal queue. Fun ride, too bad it's not at BGW any more.
Headed to Jungala next. Wild Surge was Moser at its best . From the top of the Zip Line (which was fun), what was that I saw? Could it be? Unfortunately, yes. It was Kumba, stopped halfway up the lift. Triple dang.
Stanleyville was next. Stanley Falls was really fun, much zippier than Le Scoot. Then it was the moment of truth to find out which was better: Griffon or Sheikra. Sheikra did have a much better layout, and the two-train station was nice, but the 8-across seating, rusty paint job, and rickety bounce of the ride simply cannot compare to the feeling of flight Griffon's smooth layout provides. Next was Tanganyika Tidal Wave. Wasn't sure what to expect on that one. I was at first surprised to notice that this was an Arrow, not an Intamin. I also learned that this was formerly a different ride with the scenery, but not the drop (it was probably pretty boring back then). It had a nice theme and a GREAT, extremely powerful splash. The splash makes Pompeii seem like Bert & Ernie's Loch Adventure.
Up to the Congo now. Kumba was still closed, so It tried Congo River Rapids. It was longer, wetter, and had bigger boats and a better theme than Roman Rapids, but I somehow like the latter better. BTW, those last water jets really catch you by surprise!
Now for Gwazi. OUCH OUCH OUCH! That has got to be the roughest coaster I have ever ridden, and what's really bad is that it's a fairly new ride. Lion seemed rougher than tiger. Despite all the bangs, jerks, and "OW!"'s, it was still a fun ride overall.
Desert Grill for lunch. Festhaus has better, more exotic food (what would you expect from a German-themed restaurant?), and this place was PACKED with school groups. Where is the educational value in a chicken sandwich-SERIOUSLY!
Finally, Scorpion was opened--YEAH! It also a 45-minute wait--not YEAH!
I then walked over to Egypt. On the way, I noticed that Cheetah Hunt was down. Quadruple dang (I'm running out of 'dang's' here). Tut's Tomb was pretty cool. it would make a killer Howl-O-Scream attraction. Now for Monu. It had a quieter lift and slightly smoother run than Alpengeist, but Alpengeist has a much longer, BETTER, layout as an inverted coaster.
OH MY GOD! Kumba trains were running! I rushed over to Kumba, but a sign still said that it was closed and a crowd of people swarmed the entrance. Ten minutes later, it reopened and, thanks to Quick Queue, I got to ride the first ride of Kumba's operating day. Very fun, a little rough (though nowhere near as rough as I've heard Drachen Fire was). This was my first looping B&M with a floor. I like floorless better An hour later, it broke down again for the rest of the day.
Skyride was one weird skyride--a ^ shape, not a triangle, but a ^.
Finally, at 6:55, 5 minutes before closing, Scorpion only had a 3-minute wait. GREAT Schwarzkopf looper, true classic.
According to the park's informationaly hotline, Kumba was still down all day Wednesday.
Day 2, Friday, April 13 (Friday the 13th!!!)
Iceploration, the new Ice show, was all right. I'm not really a show person, so I'm not really the best critic. The kid had a really annoying voice and overacted, and the Grandpa had a terrible lisp (I really am skeptical, right?) Here's a queston: what does the kid in the show do about school?
Montu was down half of the day. Crud.
Kumba was actually open. I was ON the ride, when they had to manually unlock the restraints and ask us to leave. Double dang! According to a security officer, three things screw up Florida coasters: heat, leaves, and squirrels.
Serengeti Train was a nice ride, the locomotive was smaller and less reaslistic than our trains at BGW. Plus the five coaches were huge and ugly.
Cheetah Hunt was once again broken, but it was fixed an hour later.
The Cheetah Run Lure Running was really cool, but but I'll leave that vague so it can surprise you.
Finally, Kumba reopened. YEAH!
Safari of Fun was much bigger than the Forest of Fun, with more (somewhat better) rides. Then again, I'm not 4, so I won't let that get to me...
Tanganyika Tidal Wave's splash was so powerful that it knocked a little girl clean off her feet.
WHEW! This concludes my 2012 Spring Break Trip Report to Busch Gardens Tampa.
"HEY! I'm only going to tell you the new stuff to make this trip report more interesting... Here goes...
Tuesday, April 10 - Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
This was my first-ever trip to BGT, so I was excited to see what it was like. It was AWESOME! However, I still do our park better, its theme, its beauty, its brand-spankin'-newness. Anyway, I arrived early, before park opening, and purchased Quick Queue Unlimited. I am SO glad that I did!
First, I hit Cheetah Hunt. 30-minute normal wait. No wait for me! Let me put it simple: CH is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, just WOW. If Verbolten is anything like this, ANYTHING like this, it will ROCK. Decided to ride again, now there was a 50 minute wait at 9:50 a.m. Still no wiat for me. Still wow.
Next, I went to Timbuktu to ride Scorpion. No line for even the normal queue. I would have been on the next ride until: "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please. The Scorpion is experiencing technical difficulties. It is reccomended that you remain in line." Dang. Three minutes later, "Sorry, guys. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we unfortunately have to ask you to leave." Double dang. This led to a whole day of bad coaster luck...
Rhino Rally was fun, but I wish the water segment was still there. Oh well.
Sand Serpent next. No line even for normal queue. Fun ride, too bad it's not at BGW any more.
Headed to Jungala next. Wild Surge was Moser at its best
. From the top of the Zip Line (which was fun), what was that I saw? Could it be? Unfortunately, yes. It was Kumba, stopped halfway up the lift. Triple dang.Stanleyville was next. Stanley Falls was really fun, much zippier than Le Scoot. Then it was the moment of truth to find out which was better: Griffon or Sheikra. Sheikra did have a much better layout, and the two-train station was nice, but the 8-across seating, rusty paint job, and rickety bounce of the ride simply cannot compare to the feeling of flight Griffon's smooth layout provides. Next was Tanganyika Tidal Wave. Wasn't sure what to expect on that one. I was at first surprised to notice that this was an Arrow, not an Intamin. I also learned that this was formerly a different ride with the scenery, but not the drop (it was probably pretty boring back then). It had a nice theme and a GREAT, extremely powerful splash. The splash makes Pompeii seem like Bert & Ernie's Loch Adventure.
Up to the Congo now. Kumba was still closed, so It tried Congo River Rapids. It was longer, wetter, and had bigger boats and a better theme than Roman Rapids, but I somehow like the latter better. BTW, those last water jets really catch you by surprise!
Now for Gwazi. OUCH OUCH OUCH! That has got to be the roughest coaster I have ever ridden, and what's really bad is that it's a fairly new ride. Lion seemed rougher than tiger. Despite all the bangs, jerks, and "OW!"'s, it was still a fun ride overall.
Desert Grill for lunch. Festhaus has better, more exotic food (what would you expect from a German-themed restaurant?), and this place was PACKED with school groups. Where is the educational value in a chicken sandwich-SERIOUSLY!
Finally, Scorpion was opened--YEAH! It also a 45-minute wait--not YEAH!
I then walked over to Egypt. On the way, I noticed that Cheetah Hunt was down. Quadruple dang (I'm running out of 'dang's' here). Tut's Tomb was pretty cool. it would make a killer Howl-O-Scream attraction. Now for Monu. It had a quieter lift and slightly smoother run than Alpengeist, but Alpengeist has a much longer, BETTER, layout as an inverted coaster.
OH MY GOD! Kumba trains were running! I rushed over to Kumba, but a sign still said that it was closed and a crowd of people swarmed the entrance. Ten minutes later, it reopened and, thanks to Quick Queue, I got to ride the first ride of Kumba's operating day. Very fun, a little rough (though nowhere near as rough as I've heard Drachen Fire was). This was my first looping B&M with a floor. I like floorless better
An hour later, it broke down again for the rest of the day. Skyride was one weird skyride--a ^ shape, not a triangle, but a ^.
Finally, at 6:55, 5 minutes before closing, Scorpion only had a 3-minute wait. GREAT Schwarzkopf looper, true classic.
According to the park's informationaly hotline, Kumba was still down all day Wednesday.
Day 2, Friday, April 13 (Friday the 13th!!!)
Iceploration, the new Ice show, was all right. I'm not really a show person, so I'm not really the best critic. The kid had a really annoying voice and overacted, and the Grandpa had a terrible lisp (I really am skeptical, right?) Here's a queston: what does the kid in the show do about school?
Montu was down half of the day. Crud.
Kumba was actually open. I was ON the ride, when they had to manually unlock the restraints and ask us to leave. Double dang! According to a security officer, three things screw up Florida coasters: heat, leaves, and squirrels.
Serengeti Train was a nice ride, the locomotive was smaller and less reaslistic than our trains at BGW. Plus the five coaches were huge and ugly.
Cheetah Hunt was once again broken, but it was fixed an hour later.
The Cheetah Run Lure Running was really cool, but but I'll leave that vague so it can surprise you.
Finally, Kumba reopened. YEAH!
Safari of Fun was much bigger than the Forest of Fun, with more (somewhat better) rides. Then again, I'm not 4, so I won't let that get to me...
Tanganyika Tidal Wave's splash was so powerful that it knocked a little girl clean off her feet.
WHEW! This concludes my 2012 Spring Break Trip Report to Busch Gardens Tampa.
