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RCPro Park Guide:
Busch Gardens Tampa: Tampa Bay, FL
Lions, Tigers, Antelopes, Oh my! We will now journey to Busch Gardens in Tampa Florida to experience wild life, live bands, and thrill rides to rock anyone’s seat. Unlike its brother park in Williamsburg, Virginia, this park is themed mostly to African countries. They also have five roller coasters in operation, not to mention, live bands and shows, which are one of the best attractions in the park. Currently the park is running an amazing offer which lets you get a season pass for the same price as a regular ticket.

Jumping Fountains

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is one of the most beautiful theme parks in the world. It was also rated among the top 10 zoos in the world from Travel Channel four years in a row. Not only is it one of the top tourist destinations in the greater South Florida area, it also serves as a place of employment, education, and interest. The park's wide variety of rides, food, games, animals, and fun attracts millions of guests per year through its turnstiles. Operating since the early 70's, the park now offers hundreds of acres and tons of rides for the whole family. Continue reading in each designated section to learn more detail about the park's specific traits.

Food For Thought
Around the park there are many cafés and restaurants. In these restaurants they serve a large variety of different foods and most, for you adults, offer free samples of Anheuser-Busch Beer. Near the entrance of the park houses many shops, which sell a large variety of candy. They offer a wide variety of foods ranging from pizza to spicy Latin foods. Over the course of the 2003 season the “Tastes of Florida” event lets guests taste foods from many cultures of Florida for only $10.95-adults and $6.95 for children. If you would rather have a sit down meal BGT has Crown Colony House Restaurant, Stanelyville Smokehouse, Zangora Café, Vivi Storehouse Restaurant, Sultans Sweets, and the Hospitality House to choose from. So, if you are not sick by the end of the day, you can buy food aplenty that will do the job.

White Knuckle Thrills

Montu entrance queue

Thrills are one thing Busch Garden Tampa has down. They have five amazing roller coasters, an amazingly themed kiddy land, and many flat rides. Also, their newest attraction, a 4-D adventure of an R-L Stine’s Haunted Lighthouse, is sure to put a shiver down anyone’s spine. To make room for this ride, Busch Gardens had to take out the dolphin show and that is where the theatre went. If you are concerned about where the dolphin show went, it has been moved to Sea World in Orlando. The park contains 5 themed Roller Coasters in which we will individually give a description of below:

Montu- (Steel Inverted Roller Coaster), built in 1996 by Bolliger and Mabillard. With seven inversions this ride is sure to make your stomach churn. It is the first roller coaster to have a batwing inversion which consists of a half corkscrew to the left, down through a half loop, up another half loop, and the another half corkscrew which puts you back were you started. While you are experiencing the exciting thrills, you are on a journey through an expedition through Egypt. The second half of the ride is pure intensity! Right after the mid-course break you take a swift dive to the right into a tunnel through a small loop. After you are done with that experience you are sent through tight turns and for one last surprise, a corkscrew at the end, which always will catch you off-guard.

Quick Tips-

Where to sit: The front is always a good choice when riding a roller coaster, but if you want an extremely intense ride try the back. If you are a beginner try the middle first. The lines never are long; I have never seen the lines go out of the station.

When to ride: Like I said before, this roller coaster barely ever has lines. If you are looking for the best experience try riding at night.

Photo Spots: This ride has some extremely good photo spots, but the latter half of the ride is hard to capture. The batwing inversion is nearly impossible to capture from the entrance area to the ride. You can get great shots of the first three inversions just from the entrance!

Scorpion- (Single Looping roller coaster)- Made by Anton Schwarzkopf in 1981 this ride still packs a punch. Unlike other Schwarzkopf rides ruined by Six Flags, over the shoulder restraints were not added to this ride. Sad to say, if they were added it would completely ruin the ride. It has many sharp turns and a good last helix.

Quick Tips-

Where to sit: Again front and back is always good but the ride is great wherever you sit. In the back row you experience a great weightless feeling.

When to ride: Anytime is good except around lunchtime. Since it is near the Hospitality House it gets a lot of attention during lunch. Unlike other loading stations the way you are lined up is where you sit during the ride if that makes any sense.

Photo Spots: This ride is visible from every angle because it is completely surrounded by pathways. So, naturally, it is easy to take pictures of.

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