Busch Gardens Tampa is an incredible park. I takes you right out of the city and actually makes you feel like you are in the Moroccan desert. Having all of the rides, animals, and gardens makes the entire visit worth the $55 to get in.
We arrived at 9:00 in time for opening. The first thing we headed to (which we later found out was one of the only rides to open before 10:00....
Gwazi
7 rides total, 8/10
First we only took three rides, two on the lion side and one on the tiger side. I though this ride was pretty cool, even though the trains weren't dueling at the time. We came back later on for four more rides.
After waiting for the rest of the park to open, we headed for.....
Python
7 rides total, 6/10
All this ride is, is a drop, turnaround, double corkscrew, turnaround, brakes. For what it is worth, it was pretty smooth, with a decent pop of air on the first drop. The corkscrews were not rough, and we got plenty of rerides. Next, we decided to ride.....
Kumba
7 rides total, 9/10
We took our first ride, and got a little surprise at the bottom of the first drop. The lawn sprinklers had failed to shut off that morning, and were still running. Upon returning to the station, someone told a ride op, and they had to shut the ride down until someone came to shut the sprinklers off. Anyways, this is a fantastic B&M sit down looper, with some great inversions and speed. Line was a bit longer due to one train operation.
Next up was......
Cheetah Chase
1 ride, 6/10
I made my mind up that I like Wild Mouse coasters. This was my first one, and is one of those rides that makes me laugh hystarically throughout the ride. On the way to the Egypt section, we stopped at.....
Rhino Rally
1 ride, 7/10
Definately a family attraction, but a cool idea none the less. Before boarding, they had two more seats open, and my friend bailed for the one in the back, leaving me stuck being the navigator. As expected, we got "lost", leaving me making the decision to float down the river, and back to safety.
Cool Ride! Next up, the ride we'd been watching since we arrived......
Montu
20 rides, 10/10
This is hands down my favorite ride in the park! In our first mini-marathon, we got five rides in. My friend totally loved it too! It's not intense like Batman, but it has it's moments, as well as height, speed, and inversions.
After our first five laps on Montu, we headed back for more on Gwazi, and Python. Next up, we decided to experience......
R.L. Stines Haunted Lighthouse in 4D
1 time, 8/10
The movie was pretty good, considering it was more for kids, and the 4D effects were pretty cool. It didn't take us too long to figure out why the theater seats were wet when we got inside.
After that, we rode some smaller rides like....
The Phoenix
My first looping ship, and I liked it alot! Aside from the nasty restraints.
Sandstorm
Almost like Triple Play, but not as good.
Stanley Falls Log Flume
It was my idea to ride this, but thankfully we didn't get too wet!
Skyride
My first one of these, i wish Great America still had one.
After these, we did another five laps on Montu, followed by more Gwazi, Python, and Skyride. Then we did our final 10 laps on Montu(a few in the front row), doing poses for the camera every time. I ended up buying a picture.
After that we closed out the night with a two front row rides on Kumba, being on the last train of the night.
All in all it was a great day! Crowds were once again not a problem, as our longest wait was three trains for Montu's front row. Didn't get to ride Scorpion, as it was in the repainting process. Some people on Coasterbuzz say it looks red, but in person, the new colors look more like orange and blue. It looks pretty sharp!
My friend had a great time at both BGT and SFOG, considering he's not a coaster nut like me.
It was nice getting away from the offseason two months early. Next theme park trip should be SFGAm on May 1st!
Thanks for reading.
