Andy C's "We don't do queues" trip-Day 5:Busch Gardens, or “well, what CAN he go on"

[Andy C]

Day 5 – Busch Gardens. Rating 6/10

Sunday 2nd April

It wouldn’t have been a late start if the Government of the United States hadn’t conspired against me. We were all up by 8:00 to discover that it was, in fact, now 9:00 by Government decree.

Yes, American Summer Time had hit, precisely one week after British Summer Time (they’re always late, aren’t they?). So after the clocks jumping forwards on the Sunday before we flew out, excising one hour of sleeping time from our lives (oh well, it’s just once a year …), they did it again!

On the plus side, with the US 192 in the state that it was at the moment, we could probably get to Busch Gardens quicker than we could get to Seaworld, so there was a cheery thought. A quick breakfast and loading up of essentials later, we were on the road. All of the guide books had warned of the difficulty in finding Busch Gardens, so it was a pleasant surprise to find it very well signposted, ninety minutes or so later. There was a big sign saying basically “Don’t try to bring food or drink in, guys – it won’t work” (I may have paraphrased a little), so we had to leave the Coolbag in the car.

Getting in was no problem, and we headed off into the “Edge of Africa” area to see the wildlife.




The animal exhibit area was superb, including an excellent touch with a land rover with a lioness in the back (separated from the cab by a sheet of (hopefully) very tough Perspex




An enjoyable hour or so was spent here, finding some shade from the brutal heat. Having received a favourable first impression from “Edge of Africa”, we headed deeper in towards “Nairobi”

We passed “Rhino Rally”, which we did not go into for two reasons. 1: Alex was too small and we hadn’t heard of any Childswitch facility here and 2: The queue was well over an hour. We entered Timbuktu, which gave the impression of an African town marketplace (to my untutored eye) and looked for rides for the kids. In order to build up sufficient credit to go on some of the big coasters here, I wanted to get some nice rides under the kids belts first.

Well, there was an OK aeroplane roundabout that Becky could (and did) go on. The tiny train ride looked good for Alex – until we found out that no adults could go on to make sure that Alex didn’t do something unwisely imaginative. So Becky went on alone again.

I’d been wondering out loud whether Becky might be able to get on to Scorpion (she’d seen Montu from the car park and begged to go on it – that’s the kind of four-year-old girl we’re dealing with here) as the height requirement was a mere 42” (Becky is about 41.5” tall – so it could be touch and go). This was vetoed by DW when she saw Scorpion – “It’s a bit hardcore for her first rollercoaster”. I had to reluctantly agree.

We wandered over to Stanleyville, looking for more rides for the kids. Sheikra dominated the scene, a new ride that was in none of my guidebooks. That is one impressive coaster, pausing on the edge of the vertical first drop for a few seconds to give the riders a chance to really regret their decision to go on. The run through the water at the end after diving underground and resurfacing, kicking up a wave to soak onlookers is inspired.

Nevertheless, we couldn’t find much for Alex (or even Becky) to do here. There was a kids rides section, but huge queues were there. Then we found a log flume with no height requirement! Stanley Falls Flume. Becky loves log flumes. Steph adores them. Alex thoroughly enjoyed Maelstrom. Result.

The 30 minute queue was torture, as Alex decided that we hadn’t seen enough yet of his demon-child incarnation. Aren’t 2-year olds simply adorable?
Eventually, as we got near the front, the horns grew back into his head, the forked tail fell off and the cloven hooves changed slowly back to little pink feet and he chuntered on to it with great delight and a beaming smile. The ride was great – a bit intense for a little one, I’d have thought, but Alex took it in his stride with a happy smile. Great ride – but I would rather slide face-first over broken glass than queue up again with Alex.

At this point, we took time-out for lunch, finding a nice eatery near Sheikra. Well, if we thought that the queue for Stanley Falls Flume was long …
Forty-five minutes later, we finally got some food and discussed what to do next. We had been a bit disappointed with the lack of kids stuff to do – we’d been spoiled by Epcot. Seeing my longing glances at the big red beast that was Sheikra, I was told to go on it (DW decided that discretion was the better part of valour here and informed me that I’d be going on it on my own). While I was in line and on it, the others would go on the Steam Train around the park.

Right. I took a walkie-talkie and lined up at Sheikra while the others sauntered off. The line was quicker than I thought, and in 20 minutes I was on. Chatting to the couple next to me, I commented on the short time to wait. They responded “Actually, this is the longest coaster queue. The Montu one is well under 5 minutes!”.

And then we were off. Pausing deliciously on the edge of the plummet and then remorselessly falling forwards. Swoops and g-forces, tight corners and inversions, a plunge into the darkness below ground and a hurried rise and sharp turn to blast across the surface of the water, drenching onlookers and it was over. Excellent ride.

I actually caught up with the others before they got on to the train – the line had been long and slow-moving. With Alex getting restless, they looked harried. “We can’t take the push chair on to the train” DW informed me. “Okay, I’ll walk it down to Nairobi, where you end up”, I volunteered. And then they were on the train and I ambled towards Nairobi.

After I got to the little station, I checked when the train was due to arrive. Not for another 25 minutes! Well, I suppose that they had to go all the way around the park slowly enough to take in the animals. Hang on …

A cunning plan formed in my head. Ignoring the “Bad Idea!” warning flashing up from my subconscious, I reasoned that if there was truly no queue on Montu, I could get there, ride it, and be back before the others got here. I tried to radio DW to suggest this (I’m not THAT lost to sense) but couldn’t get a response in five attempts – it was obviously off or out of radio contact. I’d lost nearly 5 minutes in the attempts. What the hell – I’d go for it.

I jogged to Montu (5 minutes) and queued up quickly (5 more minutes). I was on the ride with nearly 10 minutes left – no problems. Montu cranked up the hill … and stopped. Great!

No explanation was forthcoming as we hung there. Time ticked away inexorably. Eventually, the beep of the walkie-talkie’s call came from my bum-bag. I squirmed and fished it out.

“Where ARE you?” asked DW, understandably.
“Umm – I’m stuck on a rollercoaster”, I answered, miserably.
“What!? Oh, just get here as soon as you can”.

At last, its mission of dropping me in trouble fulfilled, Montu started up again. And yes, the ride was very good, but I was a little bit distracted by now. I ran back to Nairobi, expecting to be in deep doo-doo, but DW burst out laughing when I explained. “I thought you were stuck in a LINE for a rollercoaster. You were stuck ON the coaster?”

There was a welcome ice-cream break for all of use as we caught up on what we’d been doing. The train ride had been hot and slow and less enjoyable than they’d hoped. DW wanted to get on a coaster today (“but not one like Sheikra!”), so I suggested the wooden traditional “Gwazi” one. We tried to talk Steph into it, but with no luck. “I don’t do roller-coasters”, she maintained, and she and Nanna took the little ones around the animals again while DW and I darted off to Gwazi.

There was almost no queue at all, and we were sitting down very soon. And ran into a problem. DW’s handbag is usually carried on her back, with straps over both shoulders. On Expedition Everest and Rock’n’Rollercoaster she’d been able to take it on the coaster itself, stored in a little holding pouch in front of her. Not so on Gwazi. The attendant informed her shortly that she’d have to get off and put it in a locker, so she hurriedly did so. And we waited. And waited.

It turned out that the locker she’d been given was broken and wouldn’t lock. The attendant had told her to just leave it in the open locker anyway and get back to the coaster train. She had not been happy with abandoning the bag with all our passports and asked if that meant that the attendant would look out for it. The answer was no, so she insisted on getting a working locker. The other attendant came over and tutted over the delay while she struggled with the lockers and eventually got one working. When she got back to the rollercoaster carriage, she was not very impressed with Busch Gardens staff in comparison to Disney’s – to put it mildly.

Once again, the ride itself was great, and we scurried back to meet the others. It was now late, so we all headed back to the car. We agreed that it had been a little disappointing, but we put it in perspective: If we’d come to Busch Gardens first, we’d probably have been very impressed. It was only in comparison to the child-friendlier facilities and great customer care at Disney that it fell down. The rides were great – for older children and adults.

Only a 6 out of 10 for this day, I’m afraid. It was still worth going – and next time the littlest ones would be big enough to go on the rides. There were whole areas that we didn't visit – some because there didn't seem to be anything there for the little ones and some because we basically didn't have time.

The drive home was less well signposted, and after orbiting Tampa a couple of times to pick up escape velocity, we slingshotted out towards Orlando, to return to our comfortable villa for dinner and bed. The tiredness was starting to hit now, so for tomorrow we had a more relaxed day planned at Typhoon Lagoon.

[Guest]

Great report fab photo's

Tracy

[DisneyMadAng]

I love your writing style. Really enjoying the reports.

I sort of liked Busch Gardens but we went on our way back from St Pete's to Orlando and Disney. All I could think about was THAT mouse lol

It might be wise to try it again with a more mature attitude knowing that Disney will still be there for me

Did you find yourselves saying 'this is better at Disney' 'that's better at Disney'?

Ang

[DisneyMadAng]

Ps great phots again - the lioness!

[georgemac]

We love Busch now the kids are older, and Montu is my favourite of all the coasters.

Did you not find the area where you can buy water balloons, and the kids have a giant catapault to fire the ballons and soak each other - our kids loved that when they were small, actally DS still loved it last year at 13 with me as the target!

I have been to Busch twice, and got lost both times on the way out, badly the first time, and really not badly at all the second time, but the signposting is very poor.

Sheikra is brilliant but short, and the water splash is simply amazing.

[Pebblesuk]

another good report, keep them coming please, agree with bush gardens not much for the children, unless they are old enough for the big coasters.

[jandlsmum]

love the photos sound like u had fun

[Villainlover]

I am surprised that you didn't mention dragon land? this has ball pits, trampolines mini logflumes, cars, a large climbing area with slides .. water fun and a show..

It is a shame that you were dissapointed as it is my favourite park and was even when DD was 18 months (though I did have a nanna that did our baby swap )

Yes there is no pixi dust like Disney, but I think it has a great atmosphere

[pelsey]

Another great report, I love the photos.

[Andy C]

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

On the Dragon Land question - nope, we didn't get there. Looking at the map, it's just round the corner from the Zambia Smokehouse, where our journey stalled and turned back (If we hadn't spent so long getting lunch we'd probably have gone further - and it sounds as though Busch Gardens would have earned itself another point or two straight away). It didn't really highlight itself on the map - the two places marked as "Kiddie Rides" had been visited and were a bit disappointing. It's good to hear that there is something for the little ones to do (besides the excellent animal areas and the (rather good) Stanley Falls Flume).

It's still definitely on the agenda for our return trip in a few years - and still scored 6 on my (rather stern) marks out of ten. Anything over 5 means that it was worth going and that we're glad we did. It only suffers in comparison to Disney - the "pixie dust" line is an excellent succinct summary.