Declassified Park Survival Guide: BG Tampfrica

So a few weeks back I put together the survival guide for the Studios. At the end I promised a look at Islands of Adventure (IOA to the initiated). I have a problem with that for a big reason. Harry Potter. I love IOA, probably one of my favorite parks ever but it's really ceasing to be what I loved. The Lost Continent is all but dead, sure Dragons is still there, and Sindbad is still there, but for how long? They're going to change it, having already ripped out a fixture of the land, the Enchanted Oak, and closing the Flying Unicorn. So quite frankly not having that land it's kind of unfair to have a complete guide if you dont have the complete park.

On the other hand, I have recently re-discovered a park that I dont get to go to much because of the distance it is away from me, that of course being Busch Gardens Tampa...Africa...Dark....how about we call it BG Tampfrica.
Busch Gardens is a 335 acre African wonderland nestled in the East side of Tampa Bay. It was opened in 1959 as a free admission hospitality center for the brewery that used to be onsite there. Originally known for free beer and its tropical gardens where animals roamed free, Busch Gardens Tampfrica is now known as the coaster capital of Florida with six distinctly different coasters, a huge animal habitat and of course free beer.

Get a good start:

Of course like at all parks the key to doing the whole park is to get a very early start. At least a half hour before the park opens, if not sooner, should guarantee at least two hours of no lines. If you can do so, get the preferred parking, it takes you about a half a mile closer to the front gate and you dont have to get on the tram. Besides getting to do the rides with no lines the other distinct advantage is that this is an animal park and animals are early risers. We've gotten a few gator teeth from the people cleaning the gator pond, to being able to feed giraffes to even watching apes....spank the monkey, just from being there early. As the day lingers on and gets hotter, and it will, the animals tend to find shade and get lazy not making appearances as often.

The Coasters:
Most of you want to ride. Thats why we love to go to the parks, its not for the animals...its for the rides. So here's the best way to get all six coasters in before the lines hit. The order really matters. First stop is Gwazi, the GCI wooden half lion/half tiger/half traction accident. It's located to the left of the park entrance. You can manage to get not only front row rides on this but front row rides on both trains before you get any wait. Height limit is 48 inches so little kids cant ride, and the seats are kind of tight so big asses may have a hard time.

Then double back to the complete other side of the park and hit Montu, the B&M Inverted with a huge batwing. Of course you'll be able to wait a few minutes at this point and ride front row, but really any row is good on this one. Now here's where it gets tricky....and you'll want to pay attention. Do not follow the path back around, you'll get lost. The path takes you around the Serengeti plain and back again, a giant loop to see animals....valuable time lost. Instead take the path to the Skyride. Of course you're going to fly right over Rhino Rally, Scorpion and Cheetah Chase, but honestly you can get back to those later. No, you want to go to the big ones first. The skyride gives you valuable air time so you can rest your feet, and it takes you over the crowd faster for a 3-6 minute ride instead of a 20 minute walk. From the air you'll also see loads of animals and get a good aerial view of the park. It will dump you out in the Congo section right at the mouth of Kumba...or you can wait and hit Sheikra....yeah, I'd hit it first. Run toward Sheikra and drop til you...well..drop. It doesnt matter where you sit, its a good ride, but the earlier you are the better chance you have of being slid upfront. Fat people no worries, every row has modified seating for your comfort. After Sheikra run back over towards Kumba, nestled back behind the Congo area. Kumba is a standard B&M sit down coaster, and has your standard B&M elements. At one time it was the tallest coaster in Florida....not a bit feat seeing that the tallest point is a crap little attraction called spook hill...but another story another day.

Jump off of Kumba and dash towards Timbuktu, towards the front and left of the park where you'll find Scorpion, and Cheetah Chase. Both smaller coasters, and really not worth any kind of wait, so if the lines are long...skip em...but by this time they wont be.

Non Coaster Stuffs:

Little Timmy too short? Suzy too afraid of the big scary coasters? I feel ya, unfortunately there arent too many non coaster rides at BGT. No big dark rides, nothing really for the whole family. But there are several things just for kids.

Land of Dragons is an interactive kids play ground on the West side of the park with nets, ball pits a bunch of fountains and a whole bunch of kiddie flat rides. Problem is most kids are too big for this by age 6, and cant ride any of the little stuff. There are animals along the way such as huge iguanas and Komodo Dragons.

Lory Landing is fun first thing in the morning because you can pay a little cash get a little tub of food and have birds blanket you fighting for food. I've actually had a Lory nest in my ear....yeah, its that big.

Tidal Wave is huge, and right around the same area as Sheikra. It's got a big drop and thats about it. It's a good way to get wet, and a good way to kill about 8 minutes.

Stanleyville Log Flumes is right next to Sheikra and is pretty high in capacity. It's also not as tall as Tidal Wave so little ones may like to ride better.

Congo River Rapids is huge and will soak you to the bone. It's good for getting wet and having your shoes make farting noises when you walk.

Timbuktu is home to not only Scorpion and Cheetah Chase but also many flat rides for both kids and older folks. They have the little airplanes, a scrambler and an inverter ship. Not to mention its also home to the horrific Pirates 4D attraction. To think they tore down a really good Dolphin show for this piece.

Rhino Rally is a hell of a lot of fun, and to me in the same vein as Jungle Cruise at MK with a mix of Kilimanjaro Safaris at AK. It mixes an animal tour with the smart ass commentary of Jungle Cruise and is a lot of fun. It gets long lines fast and is really not worth the wait when the water portion isnt working, but it does get you really close to the animals. Actual transcript from my last ride:

Ride Op: Okay, who can tell me what those big sweaty things are to your left?

Me: My wife?

Ride Op: (stopping the vehicle and looking at me) Did you just say your wife? Dude, you're so not getting any tonight.

They dont take their jobs seriously and it makes it a lot of fun, they also tend to stray from the script with things like "LOOK PINK CHICKENS ON STILTS!". Personality goes a long way.

There are so many different animal attractions, I'm not going to name them all, but if you want to see an animal..they have em, and will most likely have it out roaming around. We got to see a hedgehog! I'm not talking Sonic and I dont mean Ron Jeremy (though I've seen him more times than I care to).

Jungala:

Yes this area is so cool it gets its own section. Jungala is brand new, and its awesome. You not only have a bigger kids play area with a jump tower, and zip lines, but you also have the most immersive animal habitats possibly in the world. You can get face to face with Orangutangs, go under water and see Crocodiles lurking, go out in the middle of a Gibbon refuge and even crawl in a box with a tiger. Seriously, this place was worth the lack of coaster for this year. We must have spent about 2 hours staring at the tigers, from the bengal tigers to the white bengals, to moms and kittens to the tiger tug of war...it was fantastic.

The tangs, they're lazy...but again early in the morning and they're active as hell walking around the island outside and pressing the button to squirt people on the inside.

The highlight however has got to be the kids rides nestled neatly away the nooks and cranny's of the place. The Wild Surge was a blast and not crowded, as we stayed on for about ten mintues bopping up and out of the waterfall and cave. The zip lines I was naturally too fat for, but the kids loved it...though they were rather simple...out and back.

Add loads of places to eat and lots of photo ops and you have a great day at the park, lets hope that In Bev doesnt screw it up.

Til next time, keep your pants on......busch hoppers.

Talk about it on the boards.