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What's next for Busch Gardens Tampa??

BGT is a big trip detour for me. I love the park, but I found I wasn't going much anymore and was only staying a short time. The rides were just too similar to the Six Flags down the road. Some good airtime coasters would definitely get me going back again.
 
BGT is a big trip detour for me. I love the park, but I found I wasn't going much anymore and was only staying a short time. The rides were just too similar to the Six Flags down the road. Some good airtime coasters would definitely get me going back again.
I respect your opinion, but I think the coasters at BGT are much higher caliber than most Six Flags..
 
I respect your opinion, but I think the coasters at BGT are much higher caliber than most Six Flags..
You are right. They are also newer. But for the most part they still are all about inversions. I prefer with air time instead of upside down time. Besides, SFoG is 10 minutes away and BGT is 8 hours away. :)
 
Busch Gardens (at least for the most part) has always done so much more with their coasters than Six Flags. They don't usually do the first of any coaster, but instead take it to the next level figuring out how to make it the best it can be to fit in the existing park, interacting with existing elements like the train and the walkways and incorporating animals. I grew up going to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and I've been to many of their parks, and they all have moments of being great, but Busch Gardens always takes the concept to the next level, spending more on development of the ride rather than just buying something "off the shelf" and plopping it onto a piece of land that it fits on. Six Flags tried to take their parks (or at least some of them) to the next level spending huge sums of money trying to make them more like Busch Gardens and they ran up $2 billion in debt and had to go into bankruptcy.
 
Busch Gardens (at least for the most part) has always done so much more with their coasters than Six Flags. They don't usually do the first of any coaster, but instead take it to the next level figuring out how to make it the best it can be to fit in the existing park, interacting with existing elements like the train and the walkways and incorporating animals. I grew up going to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and I've been to many of their parks, and they all have moments of being great, but Busch Gardens always takes the concept to the next level, spending more on development of the ride rather than just buying something "off the shelf" and plopping it onto a piece of land that it fits on. Six Flags tried to take their parks (or at least some of them) to the next level spending huge sums of money trying to make them more like Busch Gardens and they ran up $2 billion in debt and had to go into bankruptcy.
I remember that...I think we sometimes forget how iconic all of the Florida parks really are to the theme/amusement park market
 
Busch Gardens (at least for the most part) has always done so much more with their coasters than Six Flags. They don't usually do the first of any coaster, but instead take it to the next level figuring out how to make it the best it can be to fit in the existing park, interacting with existing elements like the train and the walkways and incorporating animals. I grew up going to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and I've been to many of their parks, and they all have moments of being great, but Busch Gardens always takes the concept to the next level, spending more on development of the ride rather than just buying something "off the shelf" and plopping it onto a piece of land that it fits on. Six Flags tried to take their parks (or at least some of them) to the next level spending huge sums of money trying to make them more like Busch Gardens and they ran up $2 billion in debt and had to go into bankruptcy.

I agree. The Six Flags parks are amusement parks. The Busch parks are theme parks. They have the theming and great landscaping while Six Flags has a lot of rides on cement. Some do look nicer than others, but Busch and SeaWorld try to involve the rides with the different elements like you said. I actually really like Mako's theming, including Shark Wreck Reef, and Cobra's Curse is amazing incorporating all of the elements. I do think some of their rides and areas of the parks do need more theming or updating, but they can only do so much at once. I also think building their own rides rather than clones definitely sets them apart. While they do have some clones, they aren't overpowering in the parks. Plus, it is better to have the clones than nothing at all.
 
I read a while back that there was once an idea for a "Silverback" coaster and I haven't seen that again. Anyone know what I am talking about? I don't remember where I read this, but it would be nice to see that as a Giga coaster in the park. I think it would be a cool concept.
 
It's been confirmed that Iceploration will be ending in April. Screamscape is also reporting rumors that the Australia area of the park may be expanded in 2018 and there may be a hotel resort opening in 2019.

I personally would love the Australia expansion. There is so much land out there, especially with the Gwazi area nearby. And Walkabout Way is already a great area of the park.
 
It's been confirmed that Iceploration will be ending in April. Screamscape is also reporting rumors that the Australia area of the park may be expanded in 2018 and there may be a hotel resort opening in 2019.

I personally would love the Australia expansion. There is so much land out there, especially with the Gwazi area nearby. And Walkabout Way is already a great area of the park.
I've heard similar.

Don't know anything about the 2018 project, but the hotel is planned to be on the parks border with the road near the parking lot, and it will overlook the Serengeti Plains. They're taking a lot of hints from Disney's AK Lodge.
 
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