Engineering Amusement

Yes, I’m still here. Things have just been incredibly busy but the short of it all is that so far my Disney College Program experience has rocked! However, this entry will not deal with anything about Disney.

Today I ventured down to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. I left around 7:15 am to get to the park around opening. The drive was a very easy shot down I-4 where I then picked up I-75 north which eventually led me to the exit for Busch Gardens. The drive was very uneventful and rather relaxing. I pulled into the parking lot and boarded my tram to start my day.

I started my day in the park with an awesome roaming brass band.

When I walked into the park I headed for guest relations because Busch Gardens has a great deal currently going on. If you buy a regular park ticket you can upgrade it to a fun card for free. Needless to say I definitely took advantage of the offer and for 5 dollars more my discounted ticket became a season pass. After receiving my pass I headed to join the crowd waiting to get into the park. While waiting to get in we were all treated to an awesome brass band playing many old 60s swing band tunes. It made me want to run back to ohio to grab my trombone and join them. Shortly after the band ended it was time to enter the park and start my day of riding some roller coasters.

Yuck.

The first roller coaster I headed over to was a dueling wooden roller coaster named Gwazi. Gwazi has an infamous reputation in the amusement park world. It’s infamous for being incredibly rough and not all too fun. I sometimes tend to find rough rides fun so i was excited to hop onto the ride and figure out if the complaining was worth it.

I walked into the line and started off with the lion side. I was a bit apprehensive with choosing this side as many opted for the tiger side. I hoped I started off with the rougher side of the coaster so that I would be surprised with the smoother side. I walked right up into the station and went right for the front seat in hopes not to get beat up. I boarded the train, buckled up, pulled down my lap bar and we dispatched. The following minutes were a bit of a blur after that. I can’t really recall if there were any fun parts because I kept trying to shift myself around in the train to brace myself against this terrible contraption that was trying to get me a visit to the chiropractor. It was that bad. The spine realignment process ended and then it was on to side number two.

While I was waiting for the tiger side I was going to ride front but a group came up the exit and boarded which meant I still had a few trains wait for the front. I opted for one of the empty rows and ended up sitting in the first row of the second car from the back. I sure hoped I didn’t seal myself for future back problems I thought as I boarded the train. I did the usual buckle up the pointless seat belt, pull down the lame non-buzz bar restraint and away we went for round two. Round two was much worse than round one. Round two doesn’t deserve my time to describe the terrible experience. Let’s just say I have no desire to ever ride either side again until it has been retracked and gets a new set of trains.

Mr. Bird

After getting tossed and slammed around on Gwazi I figured it was time to take a breather and walk the long way over to Sheikra. Along the pathway a big ginormous bird out of it’s habitat was just chilling on the pathway. It was really cool sight.

After the encounter with Mr. Bird I meandered my way over to Sheikra. Sheikra is a different kind of style roller coaster that made it’s United States debut in 2005. It is a dive machine coaster which means it features a straight down vertical drop at 90 degrees with ginormous trains that have large rows but only 3 cars per train. I was very skeptical about the concept thinking it would be a one trick pony like Top Thrill Dragster with ther vertical drop being the onlyfun part of the ride. Needless to say, I was still excited to ride it.

I got up to the station and to my surprise it was a walk on for the front row. Front row was a definite priority for me on this ride as there is a holding brake at the top of the 200ft drop where you can only see the ground below you. I got on the next train, took off my sandals and glasses, and then proceeded to board the train.

We were dispatched out of the station, took a turn and ascended the VERY steep lift hill. We reached the top, made a turn and reached our impending doom as we were held for a few seconds over the top. I really liked the view from the brake and it gave a nice adrenaline rush waiting to drop. The brake let go and I was in heaven. The drop was fun but maverick has the better overall vertical/beyond vertical drop. The rest of the ride was fun and kinda boring but still fun. After Sheikra it was time to head over to Montu. My next stop was just over the tree tops.

My next stop was just over the tree tops.

The walk from Sheikra to Montu was a long one so I opted to take the sky ride over. I love sky rides, especially busch gardens. It provided a nice view for some aerial shots.

Raptor ain't got nothing on this beast.

When I got off the sky ride I headed straight towards Montu. Montu is a roller coaster much similar to Raptor at Cedar Point. Montu and Raptor share the same trackstyle and train type but the similiarities end there. Montu has a bunch of theming to the ride to make it look like you’re in egypt. I was really impressed by the amount of detail put into the ride. It’d make Disney jealous. Montu was by far my most anticipated coaster I would be riding during my stay so I was very pumped to ride.

Once again I headed into a somewhat empty station and opted for the front row as I hate riding these kind of coasters anywhere else because I hate not being able to see where I’m going. I boarded the train and off we went. We reached the top of the lift and we were sent off into our journey on this ancient egyptian thrill ride. Montu was nothing short of spectacular. I loved every moment of this ride as it delivered more than enough thrills, excitement, and intensity with many of it’s loops, twists, drops, and turns. Knowing that I won’t have this back up with me in Ohio makes me very sad as Raptor is lack luster roller coaster when compared Montu.

Anton Schwarzkopf was a crazy man.

After Montu I walked around for a bit and looked at some animals while going on a lame safari ride. After I get done with walking around I found my next coaster to ride which was the 29 year old Scoprion designed by Anton Schwarzkopf. Anton Schwarzkopf is one of the main men responsible for the resurgence in roller coasters as his rides became popular on the fair circuit which led to parks wanting permenant installations and Scorpion is one of these cases.

Due to the light crowds of the day I once again walked right on in and just chose a random seat as no matter where you sit on these type of old looping roller coasters you’re in for a treat. A minute or so after arriving in the station I boarded the train and took my seat to take a spin on this blast from the past.

When the train hit the top of the lift we crawled off the top towards the drop and off we went. The ride may not look like much but it was VERY intense for what it was. The loop was very forceful as it is more circular than modern day loops. After the loop the ride never really let up as it was constant force on all sides of your body which led to some tunnel vision for me. By the end of the ride I was very dis-orienated but I still had one coaster left to get.

Wee.

The last coaster was Kumba. Kumba is a ride from the earlier 90s when looping coasters started to get bigger, faster, and loopier (I know it’s not a word). It’s much similar to coasters such as Batman/Dominator at Geauga Lake but the trains happen to have a floor on this coaster. I didn’t know what to expect from this ride. It looked fun but I had no idea how intense or how lame it was going to be.

I got right into the station, waited a couple of trains for the front and boarded for my journey on the last Busch Beast of the day. We ascended the hill, dipped, and then spiraled down on this roaring coaster. Kumba turned out to be a very intense ride with many snappy and quick transistions that surprised me given the size of the elements. After a quick but yet long ride I had it for the day. I was dead tired and decided to grab a bite to eat and just walk around the park taking pictures.

Overall my day at Busch Gardens Tampa/Africa was a very fun day. The park is a beautiful facility with many trees an much attention paid to all the small details everywhere. One day I hope Animal Kingdom can look like this park.