Florida is the world’s hotspot for theme parks and if you’re looking for the park with the biggest and best thrill rides you should be looking west of Orlando and heading to Busch Gardens Tampa.
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40 Comments
Busch Gardens is absolutely worth the 90 minute drive. I was impressed with both the rides and the animal habitats and I agree that they are the best coasters I've ever been on. Better yet don't stop there. Keep driving to Tampa, Clearwater and St. Pete which are all worth the visit.
I love Busch Gardens but hate lightning
Generally, I agree, it's an excellent park. I'm surprised by your comment on their operations though. I've only ever experienced slow ops and that's why I try to go in the off-season on a weekday when the park is empty. The overall experience has a solid foundation, but it needs more entertainment and better food offerings like it had pre-2020. I understand that many parks are struggling to regain their financial positions post-shut down, but its' definitely a watered-down experience right now.
These coasters look amaze 🤩😍
thanks for all the great videos
Another great review. I've never heard anything bad about BGT. All the other vloggers I've seen ( who visit BGT ) have nothing but the best things to say. Although you may have been invited out there by them, it didn't feel like a forced positive opinion. Honestly, it sounded like you were working hard to find issues, and that says a lot. It looks like BGT figured out how to outdo some of the big guys in regards to ride design, maintenance, theming and operations. If I lived out there, I'd get their annual pass, not Chapek's. Also, it says a lot about them that they can run a world-class animal care facility working in tandem with the park. I deeply miss that my own Wild Animal Park ( now "Safari Park" ) no longer has the monorail so it's great to see BGT running that train. Almost an hour long tour? That's awesome.
Kumba isn’t floorless it’s a rare floored B&M looper 👍
Only there once way back in 1994 so a lot of these not around but really liked the mix of zoo-style stuff and an amusement park, want to go back.
Best park in Florida, and best review channel out there. Such impressive work.
My online review of the past summer was pretty much: The park could be amazing if it was properly ran, but holy molly are the operations absolutely terrible. Just inefficient, no communications whenever something goes wrong, the park app is never accurate nor up to date, that was brutal. Also very dirty, and the animals looked miserable. I went this summer and the only highlight was that they had a good coaster line up, the rest was just pain.
Great video! Having done Ikaros at Gröna Lund, I can’t wait to experience falcon’s fury at somepoint in the future, as well as everything else at Busch gardens since it all looks incredible!
I went to BGT for the first time over Labor Day weekend. I had a SeaWorld Platinum Pass, so I figured I could hit SeaWorld Orlando and BGT with my partner in that time. SeaWorld was fun (especially Mako!), but since the lines were nonexistent it was a half day park, which was fine by me, because it meant we could head to BGT early. There was a little lightning and some rain in the area, but they loaded Iron Gwazi without much delay (and I agree, best coaster, it tries to rearrange you in the best way possible). We were able to walk onto Montu with no wait, and then another band of rain swept through, shutting everything down for about an hour. This was actually perfect timing, because we were feeling a little peckish and grabbed a bite to eat at the Platinum Passholder Lounge near Cheetah Hunt. Soon after we finished, the rain had passed, but it was late enough in the afternoon that most of the crowds just left. When they reopened the rides, we were able to walk onto almost everything– even getting to ride Kumba twice in a row– and finished with night rides on Cheetah Hunt (fun, but terrible dispatches) and Iron Gwazi. It's a risky proposition, but I HIGHLY recommend visiting on a day where it looks like it will rain. We had an absolute blast.
Nice video but Kumba is not considered a floorless coaster. It is actually called a sitdown because your feet do not dangle and instead touch the floor of the train.
Is The Python not there anymore? That was my first real deal roller-coaster when I was a kid back in the 70s. Loved it!
Kumba is a sit-down not a floorless
This is my home park, and I consider it one of the best. It looks beautiful but has a great amusement park atmosphere. The roller coasters are top notch and I there aren’t usually big waits. I take it over Disney or Universal.
Busch Gardens is my hometown park and I'm eternally proud of it 😍
Loved this park when I went for my week long trip to Orlando in February 2020, unfortunately Iron Gwazi hadn't opened and Chita Hunt was closed for maintenance.
Small correction: Kumba is a Sit-down, not a Floorless.
I could have stop there if I had a chance but I had a goose back trailer on the back of the pickup so I wasn't able to go and park anywhare.
Is the Phoenix (Intamin Looping Starship) ride still closed?
So y'all done 200+ Coasters! Top 10, 20, 25? List soon? And how does DC Rivals compare to the best Coasters you've been on?
This is my home park, I have passes, and I'm glad my park is amazing for people that have came from so far to see this!
Kumba isnt a floorless coaster but great review
i went to BGT this wednesday 12th and you may were this day there. The lines werent even 5 minutes long the whole day, best park i have been on and I was able to do all coasters, being cheetah hunt my favourite.
7:55 Yesss i’m a ride operator at that ride! i appreciate that sm because we definitely try to get our line moving quite fast!
I was not a fan of Bush Gardens growing up in south Florida, I prefer theming over thrill… anyways I really enjoy your Bush Gardens breakdown. Thank you
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is so much better in my opinion
It IS an amazing park. It was also the 1st to close its brewery to expand the park. Houston, TX, also had a Busch Gardens. It closed rather quickly. Again for brewery expansion. AK doesn't run a steam engine(s), but Tampa sure does. Truly worth the drive and a second day to visit the city.
$50 nanocoasters seems to be a trend at the Sea World and Busch Gardens parks. I have no clue why they charge that much compared to other places
I live in Tampa and Busch gardens is my local park I've had passes there and all the SeaWorld parks for my whole life IAM more of a Disney person and don't really like roller coasters I still like the park especially Christmas town my favorite ride is cobra curse it's a pretty cool place
Have always wanted to visit Busch Gardens Tampa, but this absolutely put my excitement over the edge
So I made two visits to BGT this year, in April and July. Here are some thoughts:
-I too have to agree that Iron Gwazi is VERY high up for me. It may be a short ride but I feel nothing but euphoria from it. It packs everything into that small time span. The plaza looks great, I love the queue, the crocodile theming, there really is nothing like it. It's really a toss-up between that and Fury 325 for my #1 of all.
-The train is an underrated aspect of the park. I took rides on it both times, and it was fun taking a nice tour around and being able to see animals and the rides from afar while unwinding.
-The first time I went there were some smaller, "meh" level shows, and it didn't help that Turn It Up was dormant which was really unfortunate. But when I went back for the Summer Celebration there was more, and I was not denied my chance to watch it this time. And it was very charming. I even nearly cried at the end! There was also Cirque Electric which I found pretty badass. But those were to say NOTHING of the AMAZING firework show right near the end. I can't overstate just how good it was.
-Both times I relied on AAA to get my admission. When I went in summer there was this crazy sale that made admission + all-day dining $90. Though I'll likely get the Platinum pass for whenever I next go to one of these parks.
-You mentioned storms, as far as weather went, both times I got lucky. The second time the worst that happened was rides going down for like 15 minutes and it didn't actually rain then. I didn't dare look at the forecast all day. Near the end, I was sweating it out hoping the fireworks wouldn't be cancelled and thankfully they didn't.
So yeah! It was not perfect, but I had a great time when I went. I'm hoping to be back there next year for Howl-O-Scream because I hear it's awesome.
This park has been struggling to stay towards the top since covid. Iron gwazi being open (and covid being less of an issue) has made things better than 2020-2021 but it is nothing like when I went in 2016 and 2019. I'm a passholder and so much of it just seems run down and slow. Seaworld is a few steps above in most areas and disney and universal are on a whole new level. Busch exceeds at the thrills, and meshing that in with animals, but the operations, the employee attitudes, the food, and the other entertainment is lacking. Operations suck 75% of the time I go. It's absurd. I've seen sheikra run 1 train and it has 4 or 5, like wtf? It's disappointing because 20% more effort and care will make the park one of the absolute best in the world. Seaworld company is too busy cutting corner since covid
So funny that iron gwazi is super smooth, when original gwazi gave me back problems as an elementary schooler 😂
Christmas time at BGT is also EXTREMELY charming and one of my favorite places to be during the holiday season in FL
For those wondering why the Skyride is closed because of the sign that says "Our phased reopening.." it can easily be shown why. Serengeti Flyer will be opening and 2023 and is practically jam-packed right next to the skyride. Serengeti Flyer is a Double-Swing flat ride. The Skyride might be closed until there is enough information about Serengeti Flyer provided to us by parks and thrill seekers. Hopefully, the Skyride will reopen soon, but since S.F. will be opening early 2023, I don't think the Skyride will open until more information…
You definitely missed the Twisted Tail pretzels in Pantopia. They are a top tier theme park food.
1 minute in and he already said that Kumba is a floorless coaster
😎👍 I thoroughly enjoyed my 2021 Christmastime visit with great rides and memorable holiday shows, plus festive decorations!