2.5 years and 4 pounds of pretzels later, I finally managed to get down to Busch Gardens Tampa! My dad decided to burn some frequent flyer miles to show me how to travel alone by plane and we decided that the destination should be none other than the park with the coaster that has been at the top of my bucket list since 2011, and BOY was it worth it! Cheetah Hunt took the spot as my all-time favorite coaster from Millennium (which had been there just about as long as I had been itching to get on Cheetah Hunt) and Montu, a B&M; invert with an element lineup and scale very similar to that of Banshee being constructed at my home park took the number seven spot on my top 10, beating out Afterburn at Carowinds as my favorite invert. Lineup: Cheetah Hunt x5: My new favorite coaster! Love this thing and everything about it! The launches are fun, the windcatcher has a good combination of that "falling out" feeling, airtime, and a spectacular view, the barrel roll has this weird upward force that feels like it's trying to rip you from your restraint and smash you into the rapids below, that hill after the third launch has so much airtime, and the terrain feels so much like Africa that I don't see why most enthusiasts don't like it as much as I do. Miles better than Millennium and it's proof that a coaster doesn't have to be insanely tall, fast, scary, or intense to be a really good ride. Montu x3: Yet another great ride! Kings Island, my home park, is getting Banshe next year which shares a lot of elements with Montu (large loop shortly after the drop, batwing, smaller loop later in the layout at a low point, plenty of height difference and footchoppers) and is on a similar scale, so this was sort of me getting a little taste of what's to come in April. Gwazi: OUCH!!!! I finally go to experience the enthusiast hazing ritual that is one of Florida's only wooden coasters and I hated it. I'm a Kings Islander as I mentioned before and I had the engineering fail that was Son of Beast just an hour away. I rode it my fair share of times and Gwazi was just as rough if not more painful than Son of Beast! The only thing that gets me is that Son of Beast was huge and ran heavy trains, which could understandably tear up the wooden tracks, but a little one like Gwazi? Made by the same company that made Thunderhead, my favorite wooden coaster? Gwazi's tiny and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with the layout. The only thing I can imagine would be extreme intensity, which might have been there, or might not have. I couldn't see straight, let alone notice how intense it was or wasn't. :P Those trains were so comfy and padded, too! A coaster that could have made those trains painful is an embarrassment to engineering and should be set on fire. SheiKra x2: My dad skipped out on this one because he rode its sister coaster (Griffon at BGW) and didn't like it, but I think he might have liked Sheikra better. Griffon is just a parking lot coaster, SheiKra has theming and is a beautiful ride to take. I found Griffon scarier too for some reason. Not a top tenner but I liked it. Kumba x2: I found it to be a tad rattly but compared to other old B&Ms; I've ridden (Vortex at Carowinds and Mantis at Cedar Point) it's great. I had a bit of headbanging but it's nice and forceful, plus the cobra roll interacting with the train and queue for the rapids is quite nice. It felt a bit unoriginal in terms of the layout not having anything insanely unique and I felt like I was riding one of those "tropical B&Ms;" that plague the RCT3 community. Sand Serpent x1: I liked Ricochet at Carowinds better for some reason but this one was fun. Serengeti Railway x1: Love this train! You see every coaster in the park except Gwazi and I really liked going through the Serengeti Plain and seeing the animals. Though apparently BGT needs to speak with the guys at Chessington in England because before we left, the guide said over the intercom that "the rhinos were doing something they don't usually do earlier." Scorpion x1: We tried to hit it when we rode Sand Serpent but it was down for maintenance, so we had to grab lunch at Zagora Cafe and ride the train and then go hit it. This has to be the most badass coaster that's that small and that old out there. Going upside down with that loose lap bar is terrifying, and I think the most intense spot at the park, if it's not somewhere on Montu, is Scorpion's helix. For a short coaster it's great, and honestly, I like the scary loose lap bars and BGT shouldn't order new trains from Gerstlauer. Don't fix what ain't broke. Overall great trip! Hope to go back sometime in the future! Maybe 2015 or 2016 for spring break?

• published: 10 Nov 2013
• views: 320