Busch Gardens: The Return

Welcome to Part II of Recollection: A Series That Recalls Summer 2010 With an Overly Sappy Name! Now without further ado, I present to you, my awesome visit to Busch Gardens.

Okay, I know I've posted about Busch Gardens before and this is probably the umpteenth time I've talked about it, but this time was different. This time was... SPECTACULAR! So we got into the tram, noticed the Skyride was closed due to the construction of the new Cheetah Hunt (coming Spring 2011), and went on many many many different rides and attractions. We got there close to the opening of the park. What we thought was going to be a day where we would have to just worry about sunburns... well, you'll find out. ;)

First, we headed to the Morocco side of the park, which is better known as, the Gwazi side of the park. That's right, ladies and gents, my FIRST wooden roller coaster (and Mom's worst nightmare). Of course, being the new roller coaster daredevil (in case you haven't been charting my fear factor on a line graph), I wanted to try something new. Mom was the only other person who rides coasters who was with us, and she always to drag me on coasters (:P), so you could say this was her turn in the tank. In case you haven't heard, Mom HATES wooden coasters period. The only reason she went on the dueling wooden is because of moi. Here is a list of quotes that occurred during the duration of the ride:

"When will this hill end?" -Mom
"AGHHHHH! I! Don't! Like! This!"- mom
"Ow!" -Mom
Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh." Mom
"This is shaking!" -Mom

(In case you don't know, Mom HATES heights too.) And then after the ride, being the Einstein I am, I get off the ride and say, "I know how to hold on to the lapbars in that ride! You put one hand on the one closest to you, and then the other hand on the one on the other persons seat." In actuality, it makes the ride more fun; like you're in a rodeo. YEE-HAW! However, we only experienced the Tiger part of the attraction, not the Lion. Mom couldn't stand it.

Then we headed towards the wallabies and walked past the Sesame Street Safari of Fun. If you are looking at a map of Busch Gardens right now, you'll know what's next: The mother of all Floridian coasters:

SHEIKRA! *crowd goes wild, Uncle Scott/Aunt Jeanne are in shock, etc....* I braved it. Tip: If you go on this attraction, go in the SECOND ROW in the MIDDLE. The Second Row experiences the same as the front except in seems safer and there's a lesser chance you'll fall plumetting to your death if there is a ride malfunction. Let me tell you, SheikRa is very fun, smooth, and gives you an adrenaline rush. Unlike the Kraken, SheikRa leaves your legs solid due to the short duration of the ride.

Then we visited Jungala and checked out the animals. However, what we didn't expect was the coming storm. Mom and I were about to try Kumba until the ride was closed because lightning was within a one-mile radius. We headed back to Jungala and stayed in the Tiger viewing area and waited for people to be seen on SheikRa which would say if the rides were open. WE waited... and waited... and waited.... and waited... until it was done. Mom and I rushed to Kumba before it closed and I found one of my favorite coasters.

Kumba was an interesting experience. On one experience, it started on the lift hill and everything was normal. Then we went on it again. Every thing was normal again... until it started raining. Yep, as soon as we got in the middle of the lift hill, it started raining. We experienced the many inversions... in the rain! And then at the end when we should have just went to the unboarding section, they had to make an announcement that the ride would be temporarily closed before they brought the train in. By the time they brought out train in, we were soaked! We went on it again later. Dad took Ben to a fearfall ride in Jungala, so Mom had to keep her fanny pack. Luckily, Kumba allowed fanny packs on the ride, but where was Mom supposed to keep her sunglasses? Hmmm... I'll let you think about the possibilities. In the ride photo, it looked a little weird to say the least. As an aside, you could say this was my first water ride!

We rode the Scorpion again, but skipped Cheetah Chase and Montu. We did not watch a show there this visit. If you can't tell, there is still a final chapter needed to close the Busch Gardens book in my "library." I believe that that is all for this visit.

Next Up: Boggy Creek: A New Horizon.