I hope you're right, but fear you're wrong. Legacy attractions, rides, animal exhibits, food, special events, staffing, etc. have gradually gone downhill since SeaWorld took over. Yes they've made good additions, but I'm not 100% confident in their handling of things.
my first night ride on Iron Gwazi was literally life changing! I've never been so in awe of what a roller coaster can do. smooth as glass, relentlessly fast, and just pure fun. what a ride. Velocicoaster is by a tiny amount my #2 below IG but just barely
I have 3 I can think of off the top of my head; this, the OG gwazi (only the lion side afaik) and primeval whirl at animal kingdom. If you've been to sea world they also closed the penguin dark ride for the new (and better imo) penguin trek coaster.
Tampa Bay native here with an annual pass at BG for more than 2 decades. Montu was literally my first ever roller coaster ride about 25 years ago. Gotta agree with the Kumba commentary. It’ll always have a special place in my heart. However it’s gotten rough enough that with the design of the harness your head is getting smashed back and forth constantly (this was same problem Python had). I wouldn’t be super surprised to see it close being that it almost never has a line these days and its operating cost has to be quite high. As for a re-tracking or rebuild I’m guessing that’s a fantasy as SeaWorld Adventure Parks isn’t exactly swimming in cash right now. Side note, Gwazi was a really fun coaster back in the day but towards the end you could seriously dislodge a spinal disk after a couple runs. The heat and humidity in FL is just unforgiving to wooden tracks.
I totally agree with you about the operations on Iron Gwazi. It made me so mad, especially when Steel Vengeance and Wildcat's Revenge have great systems for restraint checks.
Ops are still atrocious as of new year 2024. Park is understaffed and staff that is there are severely underpaid. Poor management is running this amazing park into the ground, sadly
I had never heard of RMC before starting to watch this channel, but now that I’ve seen how highly you speak of the company, I’m proud that it’s representing my home state of Idaho so well.
You are *way* underrating Kumba. Got my first rides on it finally in 2023, and holy hell that's a good coaster. I have no clue where any complaints of roughness come from, and yes that layout is forceful and great; even more forceful than Montu. Easily second best in the park; best in the park if assessing by the morning. Also Iron Gwazi crushes Velocicoaster once it's warmed up, if you're in the back. God, how is that ride even legal?
Ive ridden Kumba multiple times on multiple occasions and just cant get that into it. IG is nuts when its running hot, that and Velocicoaster are neck and neck, it kinda tortures me. But the way IG takes a while to warm up loses points for me
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od Ah, that's fair. If you're averaging IG's morning rides with it's afternoon rides it absolutely falls down a few pegs. Back row late afternoon rides though absolutely crush anything that Velocicoaster ever delivers, but morning rides are inferior to Shiekra.
Dude kumba is my #3 all-time coaster and even I acknowledge it is ROUGH. Any time i ride with someone new, i make sure they brace themselves dropping off the mid course lol
The only real problem with Kumba is B&M kept copying its layout until the floorless model started to die out. In 1993 it was revolutionary and a generation above every other steel coaster in the world. It's still a very good ride with very intense inversions, but 30 years does age it to some extent. Overall good list. I can't say I disagree with any of the placements, though I do think you underrate a lot of this park's coasters.
Absolutely. Just in Florida, Kumba and Kraken at SeaWorld Orlando have the same first five inversions, albeit with some different twists and turns in between.
@@AirtimeThrills Yeah, that's what I was saying. In terms of inverts I have Montu #1, Banshee #2, and Raptor #3 Some of the European ones seem quite interesting though, Nemesis and Black Mamba most notably.
Have to agree with you on Kumba. It's a solid coaster, but my head can't take too many rides on it. The line is always insanely short, I've never seen longer than a 15 minute wait even when the rest of the rides have an hr+ wait time, so I always ride it at least once when I go. I was walking past the queue near midnight this last New Year's and realized that I got in line immediately, I would be riding it as the year changed. Just as we were going up the lift hill, the fireworks began going off all over Tampa. It was amazing to see them once we got to the top. Amazing way to start the new year.
Gwazi was an alright GCI that aged like milk. The first drop had some fun floater and some of the valleys had some okay positives. By the mid 2000s, Gwazi became a jackhammering mess and not even millennium flyers could save it. The operations on original Gwazi are the same as Iron Gwazi's too.
I feel like after seeing what Williamsburg is doing to Loch Ness that’s Kumba isn’t going anywhere. Clearly Busch/seaworld knows what rides the community likes and is willing to keep them running. All they need to do is put another major ride back in that corner so more people go there.
From what I can tell, Busch Gardens Tampa has no real bad rides. I pretty much agree with your list, the only exception is that I quite enjoy Cobra's Curse. I'd swap it with Kumba, since that ride feels pretty rough and ear-splitting. I'd also swap Cheeta Hunt with Montu, but that's pretty much just personal preference. Also noteworthy is that Cobra's Curse was my first roller coaster I ever rode. R.I.P.
I love the crowsnest element on Cheetah Hunt-- it makes me think of a cheetah pacing back and forth, scanning the savannah, before taking off after some prey. Works so well with the theme! Same goes for those deathrolls on Iron Gwazi and the dive on Sheikra, I love that this park seems to make its coasters move like animals. :) Also, if you can manage to make it to the park on a weekday in September, and the 90 degree heat won't bother you, you can ride Iron Gwazi, and all the rides, repeatedly with no line. ;)
I loved the original Gwazi coasters and rode them both, both when they were new and later on when they were rougher. I love woodies so I don't mind the roughness as its part of the charm. Love Iron Gwazi, but I think they could've made it a little longer as they were replacing two coasters with one.
9:46 Damn i didnt know cheetah hunt was the worlds tallest coaster, by a landslide too. didnt feel that tall last winter when i rode it. they must have done some track work since.
7:39 Im one of these people 😂 I came into Cheetah Hunt expecting a family coaster, but powerful launches and airtime with no positives just felt weird. SheiKras drop was actually worse than I expected, but the rest was better than I expected. Still, not a big fan of dive coaster pacing, not my thing. Montu mightve ran slow, but the second half was lame outside its 2 inversions. Kumba was just as intense and the final helix was surprisingly good. It had less dead spots than Montu and was just as smooth for me. So I like it a bit more I rode in July ‘23
Busch Garden does theming perfectly. In VA, you have Euro-based coasters. In Tampa, it's all about the animals of Africa Gwazi - Mythical Lion with a Tiger's head Cheetah Hunt & Scorpion, Cobra's Curse- Self Explanatory Tigris - named after the 2024 AL Central Champions - The Detroit Tigers (stay tuned) Kumba - named after a roar animals make Montu - a God of War with a Bird head Air Grover - If Grover from Sesame Street isn't a wild beast, I dunno who is. and of Course Shiekra - a falcon who dives for Prey. I hope they do a South American-themed park next.
That's what I thought too. Tigris is in Asia though. I do like the name "Tigris" more than the other two they patented - "Uproar" and "Twisted Tiger." @@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od
I haven't ridden Iron Gwazi, so I can't rank it yet. But Cheetah Hunt is #1 followed by Kumba. Gwazi was such a great amazing ride when it opened. I rode again in 2013 and it was miserable. That was my #2 in 2000 for that park and I was sad they let it become that bad. I'm going this summer and hopefully I'll get the Iron Gwazi ride.
My favorite roller coaster there is Iron Gwazi, followed by Cheetah Hunt, old Gwazi, Sheikra, Kumba, Montu, Cobra's Curse, Tigris, Sand Serpent, Scorpion, and Python (R.I.P.). If I had to guess, I think Phoenix Rising would place between Tigris and Sand Serpent.
My big change is 3 through 6. 6: SheiKra was my first dive. The drops are undeniable but other than that it was a one and done for me. Dive loop woulda been better. 5: Tigris. Also one and done but I woulda lapped it if the line wasn't 45 minutes. Shoutout to the random kid I rode with. 4: Cheetah Hunt was graceful as hell. Snappy for a family ride. Layout feels dated now that Big Bear Mountain exists, but the scenery is big bonus points. 3: Kumba was my first "big" coaster as a kid, so maybe nostalgia's a thing, but the night ride earlier this year was phenomenal. Just a pure 90s ass-beater. My favorite cobra roll, and considering how often B&M spams immelmans, I really appreciate this thing having a dive loop instead. Could easily have been number 2 but I'm a sucker for a good invert, and Montu is very much that. Also immelmans are boneless dive loops. And Python was fine 20+ years ago but I was ten and my body was resilient
I just went to bgt earlier this month. Operations were rough very slow! But the night ride on iron gwazi was amazing and Montu was excellent. Sand serpent i already forget about lol. I know the dream is a giga for this park but maybe a Mack hyper? Scorpion is a great first coaster for the young ones. Phoenix rising it an odd choice for the park they are pretty good on family coasters but obviously they thought they needed it or got a package deal with sea world Orlando’s b & m.
I’ve rode all the 4 top rated American B&M’s and personally Alpengeist is my top with montu close behind but next year when epic opens I’m planning a Florida trip and that ranking may change since it’s been the longest since I road montu.
In 2000, I went to Busch Gardens Tampa and rode Gwazi, Kumba, Python and Scorpion. I found Gwazi probably to be rough or a little rough and Python a kiddie coaster compared to Kumba. I can’t remember much about scorpion, but it was probably smooth. And my favorite was Kumba
@@AirtimeThrills I was with my grandparents at the time and somehow didn't get to Montu. It must have been on the other side of the park where we were at. Plus I was not quite the coaster enthusiast yet and never had ridden an invert yet.
I would definitely switch Kumba and Cheetah Hunt. Love Kumba. I haven't had the pleasure to ride Grover, Tigris or Iron Gwazi yet though, so I have no ranking for them. I do remember riding Python back in 1986. I'm not sure I ever rode it again after that.
No chance BGT removes Kumba, I imagine BGT has been keeping a close eye on how Hulk has done with it's retrack, and it has done really well. I assume Kumba will get retracked. If they remove it then it will be a shame, good thing I rode it last December.
Rode Gwazi when it was still very young (1999 or 2000). Had to wait nearly two hours and was not impressed. It was quite rough for a very new coaster. Kumba and Montu made up for it.
Not related to this video but which of the following theme parks we think actually opens? Grand Texas Vidanta World Oasis at Lakeport American Heartland Libertyland USA Universal Kids Resort
Is BGT the closest competitor to Cedar Point? How many other parks have coasters comparable to StVe, Maverick, Raptor, and Valravn? Today I learned that bgt used to have something like Corkscrew.
Sand Serpent is definitely better than Python and maybe not for everyone but I prefer Sand Serpent to Scorpion,and I did ride them all,even rode Sand Serpent with all its names including Wild Maus when it was in Williamsburg.Python was an evil ride,it beat the crap out of you with how rough and pointlessly short it waa,Scorpion is not horrible for what it is but I just preferred to ride Sand Serpent as I loved feeling like I was going over the edge on the curves,I miss that coaster.I cant see how to rank Phoenix Rising as it hasnt been ridden by anyone yet.The rest of your rankings are pretty spot on,Montu is probably my favorite but Iron Gwazi deserves number 1,I probably prefer it to Velocicoaster but Montu is probably the ride that got me hooked on coasters.
As my home park 1 Iron Gwazi 2 Montu 3 Kumba 4 Sheikra 5 Cheetah hunt 6 Tigris 7 Gwazi 8 Scorpion 9 Cobra 10 Python 11 Sand serpent 12 Air grover hopefully phoenix is just as good or better than cobra
I love BGT but I wasn’t impressed with Iron Gwazi; the barrel row down drop was great but the rest of the ride for me was meh. I need to get back there and ride it a few more times to get a better feel for it. But as he said; the operations are horrendous on it. I don’t know why they run this coaster like they do.
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od I rode it once in the morning when the park first opened and then 2 more times in the same afternoon and I just wasn’t a fan. But then again, I’m not a huge fan of RMC; I appreciate the innovation and how they’ve salvaged these rides and made them new/better I just wish they would redo their trains as imo they run what could be amazing rides. Personally I love the gerstlauer trains that are on TNTG and Iron Rattler; I understand SF’s stance after the fluke accident on TNTG but those are some of the most comfortable trains made. If only RMC had used those trains as a blueprint for their own models.
If the vekoma tilt coasters are reliable nobody will buy anymore b&m dive coasters. The tilt coaster is far more appealing to the gp and will bring in far more guests. Imgaine if they built one that was 200 ft
Never will understand your disdain for Kumba and your love of Montu. Kumba is easily one of the smoothest coasters I've ridden and considering it's age that's just remarkable to me. And Montu is OK but I much prefer Alpengeist at BGW. Cheetah is good but I regret having to wait so blame long for it. Missed Shiekra because of rain but I've been on Griffon so I didn't take that too hard. Also missed Cobra's Curse because of rain. Sand Serpent was meh, no great loss. Scorpion is good for it's size but too short of a ride and they only have one train to run so it can be a long wait for such a small coaster. Python was outright boring to me and I refused to ride the original Gwazi because of it's reputation for roughness.
I wonder if the seating plays a role in Kumba's roughness. I've heard so many people say it beats them up, maybe it does in the back but not as much in the front
@@AirtimeThrills I road in the front last June. I'm getting too old for a lot of the whip that coasters give in the back so it may indeed impact the ride comfort.
While Kumba is rough, so are most older B&Ms at this point. As long as you ride in the front though, its not a bad ride. As you said, I'd still ride that over Montu any day and Kumba is actually my second favorite coaster there after Iron Gwazi. I wish it would get the re-track treatment like Hulk, but don't see that ever happening. I also agree that Alpengeist is the better ride, if only because it's less intense so I don't get nauseous as quickly.
@@AirtimeThrills yeah for most people I think IG did the trick, I didn’t really care for it or Montu, just big rides taking up space. Need something more unique and elite IMO
Gwazi was a solid woodie. I rode it twice as a kid in its first decade of operation and it was great. Can’t speak to its later years and how it aged which apparently was like warm milk.
I rode it a couple times before it closed in 2014 - 2015. From what I remember, it was so bad and so shaky it was actually kind of fun. One of the ride ops accurately described it as "going downhill in a shopping cart with no brakes."
Do be aware if you ever talk about it again, a gwazi is not a real mythological creature from anywhere, in an interview before iron gwazi they admitted they (the parks teams) simply made it up when they were thinking up gwazi back in the day
I actually rode once in 2014 and had a pretty good ride! It was the last time I was able to ride it, unfortunately; that ride was always a tradition for us to hit up as one of the first rides when we got there, usually taking one ride on each side or splitting our group up between the two sides. If I remember correctly, on our last ride we chose the lion, and it broke down for what felt like a good 10-20 minutes while we were still dead center in the middle of the lift hill at the beginning. Once we got going again, though, it was relatively smooth sailing! Not as smooth as in the past, but seemingly better than what other people have said their experiences were like in those years.
Yeah i started doing that recently. I make these videos by just filtering my overall list by park and it spits out the order, so why not include the number
You know I was very disappointed! Last month I sawed on video of UA-cam! That Camel at Air Grover was replaced by that dam new back row it self and I a bit upset about that! So It won’t be back until next month!
Putting Kumba at number 5 isn’t an insult because the top 5 at this park is so good. Few parks have 5 coasters of this level of quality. Cedar Point, Hershey Park, BGW, maybe Great Adventure or Magic Mountain.
2:10 YES YES IT SUCKS IT LEGIT JACKHAMMERED im not the type to complain about roughness but this one bruised my shins and was uncomfortable AF in those tight cars
Great video! Here's my ranking (I've ridden 123 coasters): 10. Air Grover (121/123) - Technically my least favorite coaster (the 2 ranked under it I don't remember/had a bad experience on). Way too short and not as interesting as even smaller rides like the sea serpents... 9. Sand Serpent (98/123) - Worst wild mouse I've ridden, definitely was trimmed too much. It was still kinda fun but not that good. 8. Scorpion (90/123) - Pretty good little looper with some force to it. Not much more to say but that it's fun. 7. Cobra's Curse (56/123) - Very good family coaster with a great gimmick. Not much to add beyond what Chris said. 6. Tigris (53/123) - Good launches, airtime, force, and hangtime. Just short, but solid overall. 5. Kumba (50/123) - Forceful ride with fun inversions and a good duration. Unfortunately, it rattles a lot, so bring pain medicine. I'd love to ride a smooth version of this. 4. SheiKra (32/123) - Awesome first drop, fun inversion, good second drop, aaand that's it. It also rattles a bit but it's still a lot of fun. I slightly prefer Griffon but SheiKra's second drop is better as they don't slow you down as much. 3. Montu (21/123) - My favorite invert (Banshee is very close though). Fast, forceful, whippy, flies through trenches, very good. 2. Cheetah Hunt (20/123) - Long, fast, and fun. Not very intense (launches are really weak except the first one) but there's some decent floater airtime, the barrel roll is good, and the speed and twists are the best part. Night ride in the front is fantastic. 1. Iron Gwazi (12/123) - Sorry, I only rode this twice. I got a morning ride and it didn't do much. Later, I got an evening ride and it was wild. Lots of airtime, whip, and pacing. But the wilder the ride, the more rides I need to form an opinion on it (did this with LRod). Hope to go back soon and ride this a bunch!
If kumba is to 'close' i bet it will be a full re track. There is no way busch Gardens will remove it. Thats like a crime 😂
Oneofthe most boring rides out there. Right there with Lame 325
I hope you're right, but fear you're wrong. Legacy attractions, rides, animal exhibits, food, special events, staffing, etc. have gradually gone downhill since SeaWorld took over. Yes they've made good additions, but I'm not 100% confident in their handling of things.
@ryanstrong1167 said every hillbilly that can't afford to leave ohio ever
@@Abcdefgx-u9gIs it really boring are you just saying that? Because it's one of the most intense B&Ms built.
I could see them pulling an Incredible Hulk and just remaking most of the original ride
my first night ride on Iron Gwazi was literally life changing! I've never been so in awe of what a roller coaster can do. smooth as glass, relentlessly fast, and just pure fun. what a ride. Velocicoaster is by a tiny amount my #2 below IG but just barely
You know its a good day when Airtime Thrills unexpectedly uploads on a Wednesday. Keep up the great work!
Thanks! Also posting Friday this week
@AirtimeThrills woohoo! Can't wait
Cheetah Hunt is so slept on! Some of those airtime pops are insane… It’s my second fav in the park
It’s terrible
It’s overrated IMO
You can't be talking you have fury ranked under aireforce one @@inlinechris
@jordanpelaez8532 you probably like verbolten..... A glorified mine train
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od huh? I mean it’s an ok family ride not sure what that has to do with cheetah hunt being terrible but ok
Today I learned that Sand Serpent was torn down, making it my only defunct credit.
Sorry for you to have to learn of that amazing coaster's demise like this
I literally thought the same thing, just learned its gone. I rode it in 2022 and it was a rough ride for a bigger guy like me 😅
I have 3 I can think of off the top of my head; this, the OG gwazi (only the lion side afaik) and primeval whirl at animal kingdom. If you've been to sea world they also closed the penguin dark ride for the new (and better imo) penguin trek coaster.
@@anonymousidea9119 Empire of the Penguins, was it? I don't think it was open when I went.
@@lizard7001 yup, I think they closed it after 2020
Tampa Bay native here with an annual pass at BG for more than 2 decades. Montu was literally my first ever roller coaster ride about 25 years ago.
Gotta agree with the Kumba commentary. It’ll always have a special place in my heart. However it’s gotten rough enough that with the design of the harness your head is getting smashed back and forth constantly (this was same problem Python had). I wouldn’t be super surprised to see it close being that it almost never has a line these days and its operating cost has to be quite high. As for a re-tracking or rebuild I’m guessing that’s a fantasy as SeaWorld Adventure Parks isn’t exactly swimming in cash right now.
Side note, Gwazi was a really fun coaster back in the day but towards the end you could seriously dislodge a spinal disk after a couple runs. The heat and humidity in FL is just unforgiving to wooden tracks.
I totally agree with you about the operations on Iron Gwazi. It made me so mad, especially when Steel Vengeance and Wildcat's Revenge have great systems for restraint checks.
It may have been opening year jitters but still, hard to believe that's the best they could do
OPs have definitely improved at this park over the years I wou!d even say its on par with like carowinds or Canada's Wonderland
Ops are still atrocious as of new year 2024. Park is understaffed and staff that is there are severely underpaid. Poor management is running this amazing park into the ground, sadly
@jmcbango Maybe I just got lucky but I love the Ops here
You should do a canadas wonderland by the numbers/ prime ride time
I will toward the end of the year. I just ranked them so gonna wait a bit for by the numbers
Canadas wonderland is my home park and I hope you reach 100k subs soon
Very sorry you live I Canada lmao 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Iron Gwazi really put this park on the map!
This park been on the map lol
Did you forget about Montu, Kumba and other rides?
It gave it a truly elite coaster, thats for sure
I had never heard of RMC before starting to watch this channel, but now that I’ve seen how highly you speak of the company, I’m proud that it’s representing my home state of Idaho so well.
You are *way* underrating Kumba. Got my first rides on it finally in 2023, and holy hell that's a good coaster. I have no clue where any complaints of roughness come from, and yes that layout is forceful and great; even more forceful than Montu. Easily second best in the park; best in the park if assessing by the morning.
Also Iron Gwazi crushes Velocicoaster once it's warmed up, if you're in the back. God, how is that ride even legal?
Ive ridden Kumba multiple times on multiple occasions and just cant get that into it. IG is nuts when its running hot, that and Velocicoaster are neck and neck, it kinda tortures me. But the way IG takes a while to warm up loses points for me
@AirtimeThrills I will agree when iron gwazi is running slow its probably a lower tier RMC ngl
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od Ah, that's fair. If you're averaging IG's morning rides with it's afternoon rides it absolutely falls down a few pegs. Back row late afternoon rides though absolutely crush anything that Velocicoaster ever delivers, but morning rides are inferior to Shiekra.
This schmuck hates kumba for no reason. It seems to be a lifelong affliction
Dude kumba is my #3 all-time coaster and even I acknowledge it is ROUGH.
Any time i ride with someone new, i make sure they brace themselves dropping off the mid course lol
Putting Kumba below Cheetah Hunt and Shiekra is wild.
The only real problem with Kumba is B&M kept copying its layout until the floorless model started to die out. In 1993 it was revolutionary and a generation above every other steel coaster in the world. It's still a very good ride with very intense inversions, but 30 years does age it to some extent.
Overall good list. I can't say I disagree with any of the placements, though I do think you underrate a lot of this park's coasters.
Very valid point about the layout. Definitely got burned
Absolutely. Just in Florida, Kumba and Kraken at SeaWorld Orlando have the same first five inversions, albeit with some different twists and turns in between.
Montu looks like a solid invert. Might be my favorite invert of all time when I finally ride it
I have it as my favourite invert just above Banshee and then Raptor.
Its far and away my top one. Raptor is great but i would never put it ahead of Montu
@@AirtimeThrills Yeah, that's what I was saying. In terms of inverts I have Montu #1, Banshee #2, and Raptor #3
Some of the European ones seem quite interesting though, Nemesis and Black Mamba most notably.
I love that montu is widely considered the best invert (even if banshee After burn raptor and alpengeist are great also)
Have to agree with you on Kumba. It's a solid coaster, but my head can't take too many rides on it. The line is always insanely short, I've never seen longer than a 15 minute wait even when the rest of the rides have an hr+ wait time, so I always ride it at least once when I go. I was walking past the queue near midnight this last New Year's and realized that I got in line immediately, I would be riding it as the year changed. Just as we were going up the lift hill, the fireworks began going off all over Tampa. It was amazing to see them once we got to the top. Amazing way to start the new year.
Gwazi was an alright GCI that aged like milk. The first drop had some fun floater and some of the valleys had some okay positives. By the mid 2000s, Gwazi became a jackhammering mess and not even millennium flyers could save it. The operations on original Gwazi are the same as Iron Gwazi's too.
I feel like after seeing what Williamsburg is doing to Loch Ness that’s Kumba isn’t going anywhere. Clearly Busch/seaworld knows what rides the community likes and is willing to keep them running. All they need to do is put another major ride back in that corner so more people go there.
From what I can tell, Busch Gardens Tampa has no real bad rides. I pretty much agree with your list, the only exception is that I quite enjoy Cobra's Curse. I'd swap it with Kumba, since that ride feels pretty rough and ear-splitting. I'd also swap Cheeta Hunt with Montu, but that's pretty much just personal preference. Also noteworthy is that Cobra's Curse was my first roller coaster I ever rode. R.I.P.
Yay a ranking video of a park I've been to! Agree with everything, especially the part about Sand Serpent being out of place.
I finally get to go to BGT this summer. Can't wait, especially now that I watched this!
BGT is a great experience. Easily a top 10 park in the US if not top 5
I love the crowsnest element on Cheetah Hunt-- it makes me think of a cheetah pacing back and forth, scanning the savannah, before taking off after some prey. Works so well with the theme! Same goes for those deathrolls on Iron Gwazi and the dive on Sheikra, I love that this park seems to make its coasters move like animals. :)
Also, if you can manage to make it to the park on a weekday in September, and the 90 degree heat won't bother you, you can ride Iron Gwazi, and all the rides, repeatedly with no line. ;)
True, both Cheetah Hunt and Sheikra are on the short list of rides that act like their theme. El Toro also qualifies
I loved the original Gwazi coasters and rode them both, both when they were new and later on when they were rougher. I love woodies so I don't mind the roughness as its part of the charm. Love Iron Gwazi, but I think they could've made it a little longer as they were replacing two coasters with one.
9:46 Damn i didnt know cheetah hunt was the worlds tallest coaster, by a landslide too. didnt feel that tall last winter when i rode it. they must have done some track work since.
Falcons Flight eat your heart out.
I watch these back for quality control I swear
7:39 Im one of these people 😂
I came into Cheetah Hunt expecting a family coaster, but powerful launches and airtime with no positives just felt weird. SheiKras drop was actually worse than I expected, but the rest was better than I expected. Still, not a big fan of dive coaster pacing, not my thing. Montu mightve ran slow, but the second half was lame outside its 2 inversions.
Kumba was just as intense and the final helix was surprisingly good. It had less dead spots than Montu and was just as smooth for me. So I like it a bit more
I rode in July ‘23
WOOOOOOO YEEEAAAAHHH BABY THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR
Busch Garden does theming perfectly. In VA, you have Euro-based coasters. In Tampa, it's all about the animals of Africa
Gwazi - Mythical Lion with a Tiger's head
Cheetah Hunt & Scorpion, Cobra's Curse- Self Explanatory
Tigris - named after the 2024 AL Central Champions - The Detroit Tigers (stay tuned)
Kumba - named after a roar animals make
Montu - a God of War with a Bird head
Air Grover - If Grover from Sesame Street isn't a wild beast, I dunno who is.
and of Course Shiekra - a falcon who dives for Prey.
I hope they do a South American-themed park next.
I always thought Tigris was named after the river and they just decided to give it a tiger theme because FU
That's what I thought too. Tigris is in Asia though. I do like the name "Tigris" more than the other two they patented - "Uproar" and "Twisted Tiger." @@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od
I haven't ridden Iron Gwazi, so I can't rank it yet. But Cheetah Hunt is #1 followed by Kumba.
Gwazi was such a great amazing ride when it opened. I rode again in 2013 and it was miserable. That was my #2 in 2000 for that park and I was sad they let it become that bad. I'm going this summer and hopefully I'll get the Iron Gwazi ride.
4:29: a coaster pushing 50 years: Those born in 1980 will be 50 in 2030. 😢😭😱
Yeah lets not mention the cruelty of time
I was 10 in 2010 I feel old 😫
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od If your birth year starts with a 2 you don't have anything to worry about
My favorite roller coaster there is Iron Gwazi, followed by Cheetah Hunt, old Gwazi, Sheikra, Kumba, Montu, Cobra's Curse, Tigris, Sand Serpent, Scorpion, and Python (R.I.P.).
If I had to guess, I think Phoenix Rising would place between Tigris and Sand Serpent.
My big change is 3 through 6.
6: SheiKra was my first dive. The drops are undeniable but other than that it was a one and done for me. Dive loop woulda been better.
5: Tigris. Also one and done but I woulda lapped it if the line wasn't 45 minutes. Shoutout to the random kid I rode with.
4: Cheetah Hunt was graceful as hell. Snappy for a family ride. Layout feels dated now that Big Bear Mountain exists, but the scenery is big bonus points.
3: Kumba was my first "big" coaster as a kid, so maybe nostalgia's a thing, but the night ride earlier this year was phenomenal. Just a pure 90s ass-beater. My favorite cobra roll, and considering how often B&M spams immelmans, I really appreciate this thing having a dive loop instead. Could easily have been number 2 but I'm a sucker for a good invert, and Montu is very much that.
Also immelmans are boneless dive loops. And Python was fine 20+ years ago but I was ten and my body was resilient
Boneless dive loops. I like it
Any hope Chris, that we could see what miss Sophie thinks of Busch Gardens Tampa and Sea World Orlando? Awesome video btw. Montu is awesome.😊
If you check out my BGT vlog from 2022, you can get Sophie's opinions on what she got to ride
Im going to busch gardens tampa this spring break hyped to hit up Iron Gwazi, never been!
The hype is real
I just went to bgt earlier this month. Operations were rough very slow! But the night ride on iron gwazi was amazing and Montu was excellent. Sand serpent i already forget about lol. I know the dream is a giga for this park but maybe a Mack hyper? Scorpion is a great first coaster for the young ones.
Phoenix rising it an odd choice for the park they are pretty good on family coasters but obviously they thought they needed it or got a package deal with sea world Orlando’s b & m.
I’ve rode all the 4 top rated American B&M’s and personally Alpengeist is my top with montu close behind but next year when epic opens I’m planning a Florida trip and that ranking may change since it’s been the longest since I road montu.
‘How a triple launched coaster that goes upside down is a family coaster.’
*cough cough* Mandrill mayhem enters the chat
💀
You should do a video about which amusement park has the most unique manufacturers, like how one park has b and m, intamin, and an rmc for example
Interesting concept though it may just end up being the parks with the most coasters
In 2000, I went to Busch Gardens Tampa and rode Gwazi, Kumba, Python and Scorpion. I found Gwazi probably to be rough or a little rough and Python a kiddie coaster compared to Kumba. I can’t remember much about scorpion, but it was probably smooth. And my favorite was Kumba
Too bad you didn't hit Montu
@@AirtimeThrills I was with my grandparents at the time and somehow didn't get to Montu. It must have been on the other side of the park where we were at. Plus I was not quite the coaster enthusiast yet and never had ridden an invert yet.
@@johnfoltz8183 its no ordinary invert, at least in my opinion
Bro how do you do your ranking so easily I feel like I have to completely remake it when I make a list😂
Went in early 2020 and I quite enjoyed the park even though Cheeta was closed.
Montu is my favourite coaster along with Nemesis
10:13 this is Coastoons number 1 I think lol
It is
Nah its velocicoaster
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od He has a video from 2 years ago saying it was his new #1 but its not on his top 50 lists for some reason.
I would definitely switch Kumba and Cheetah Hunt. Love Kumba. I haven't had the pleasure to ride Grover, Tigris or Iron Gwazi yet though, so I have no ranking for them. I do remember riding Python back in 1986. I'm not sure I ever rode it again after that.
If you did Python one and done I'm sure you werent missing anything
No chance BGT removes Kumba, I imagine BGT has been keeping a close eye on how Hulk has done with it's retrack, and it has done really well. I assume Kumba will get retracked. If they remove it then it will be a shame, good thing I rode it last December.
I went on Iron gwazi 10x and montu 2x during my last two visits this past February 🥰
Rode Gwazi when it was still very young (1999 or 2000). Had to wait nearly two hours and was not impressed. It was quite rough for a very new coaster. Kumba and Montu made up for it.
Not related to this video but which of the following theme parks we think actually opens?
Grand Texas
Vidanta World
Oasis at Lakeport
American Heartland
Libertyland USA
Universal Kids Resort
what do you guys think is more intense kumba or montu
Is BGT the closest competitor to Cedar Point? How many other parks have coasters comparable to StVe, Maverick, Raptor, and Valravn? Today I learned that bgt used to have something like Corkscrew.
Closest? Maybe SFMM or Hersheypark or SFGAM. But BGT is definitely up there
I remember python and how much it would slam my head
Sand Serpent is definitely better than Python and maybe not for everyone but I prefer Sand Serpent to Scorpion,and I did ride them all,even rode Sand Serpent with all its names including Wild Maus when it was in Williamsburg.Python was an evil ride,it beat the crap out of you with how rough and pointlessly short it waa,Scorpion is not horrible for what it is but I just preferred to ride Sand Serpent as I loved feeling like I was going over the edge on the curves,I miss that coaster.I cant see how to rank Phoenix Rising as it hasnt been ridden by anyone yet.The rest of your rankings are pretty spot on,Montu is probably my favorite but Iron Gwazi deserves number 1,I probably prefer it to Velocicoaster but Montu is probably the ride that got me hooked on coasters.
I personally love Cheetah Hunt!
RIP scorpion - my first inversion :(
I agree with the comment under me also that they should rellace ut with vest restraints
Rode Gwazi on the first and the last day. It was equally as unpleasant on both. Lol
I’m at Busch gardens right now and road mantu 4 times already
Cheetah Hunt is very tall though. 😂
never knew sand serpent was relocated.... well 1 lost credit for me.
It’s the loudest B&M, this is. Best ride and been rePainted so not going anywhere,,
They aren't coasters, but Falcons Fury and Serengeti Flyer aren't too bad either. Looking forward to breaking in the new Phoenix Rising though 😂
Both of those are fantastic flats
Having cheetah hunt above kumba is criminal lmao
pretty sure it was The Dark Continent rather than The Lost Continent
I had a soft spot for Python. It was always a walk on so I would get like 10 rides on it.
As long as it wasnt painful, why not
@@AirtimeThrills honestly it was well maintained and was glass smooth. Went back in 2006 and was sad it wasn't there anymore.
Oooooh! Wednesday upload!
Going M-W-F this week
Gwazie is fast and crazy, ride,,, Different than Mean Streak,,
Python is the only coaster that's ever left me bleeding.
Good ole classic Arrow
As my home park
1 Iron Gwazi
2 Montu
3 Kumba
4 Sheikra
5 Cheetah hunt
6 Tigris
7 Gwazi
8 Scorpion
9 Cobra
10 Python
11 Sand serpent
12 Air grover
hopefully phoenix is just as good or better than cobra
and yes ive ridden all of them
I loved Python so much I got the shirt, but I was 6.
Hope you saved that souvenir
Strange that while this video was being posted, I was scripting a video about Williamsburg.
Very strange indeed
I love BGT but I wasn’t impressed with Iron Gwazi; the barrel row down drop was great but the rest of the ride for me was meh. I need to get back there and ride it a few more times to get a better feel for it.
But as he said; the operations are horrendous on it. I don’t know why they run this coaster like they do.
Did you ride it in the morning? Because if so its a lower tier RMC
Probably just operations protocol that desperately needs an update
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od I rode it once in the morning when the park first opened and then 2 more times in the same afternoon and I just wasn’t a fan. But then again, I’m not a huge fan of RMC; I appreciate the innovation and how they’ve salvaged these rides and made them new/better I just wish they would redo their trains as imo they run what could be amazing rides. Personally I love the gerstlauer trains that are on TNTG and Iron Rattler; I understand SF’s stance after the fluke accident on TNTG but those are some of the most comfortable trains made. If only RMC had used those trains as a blueprint for their own models.
I LOVE BUSXH GARDENS
Only cedar point kings island and SDC are better 😏
WOAH
Hi there
Iron Gwazi’s ops are the second worst I’ve experienced. My day at Magic Mountain takes the top spot.
I can believe that
If the vekoma tilt coasters are reliable nobody will buy anymore b&m dive coasters. The tilt coaster is far more appealing to the gp and will bring in far more guests. Imgaine if they built one that was 200 ft
We'll see if the new age ones catch on
Never will understand your disdain for Kumba and your love of Montu. Kumba is easily one of the smoothest coasters I've ridden and considering it's age that's just remarkable to me. And Montu is OK but I much prefer Alpengeist at BGW.
Cheetah is good but I regret having to wait so blame long for it. Missed Shiekra because of rain but I've been on Griffon so I didn't take that too hard. Also missed Cobra's Curse because of rain.
Sand Serpent was meh, no great loss. Scorpion is good for it's size but too short of a ride and they only have one train to run so it can be a long wait for such a small coaster. Python was outright boring to me and I refused to ride the original Gwazi because of it's reputation for roughness.
I wonder if the seating plays a role in Kumba's roughness. I've heard so many people say it beats them up, maybe it does in the back but not as much in the front
@@AirtimeThrills I road in the front last June. I'm getting too old for a lot of the whip that coasters give in the back so it may indeed impact the ride comfort.
While Kumba is rough, so are most older B&Ms at this point. As long as you ride in the front though, its not a bad ride. As you said, I'd still ride that over Montu any day and Kumba is actually my second favorite coaster there after Iron Gwazi. I wish it would get the re-track treatment like Hulk, but don't see that ever happening. I also agree that Alpengeist is the better ride, if only because it's less intense so I don't get nauseous as quickly.
Man this park was full of disappointing coasters, nothing stands out to me, including IG. Hope to see them turn the tides with future investments.
I thought IG gave them their one elite coaster. I love Montu but you cant have an invert be your top coaster
@@AirtimeThrills yeah for most people I think IG did the trick, I didn’t really care for it or Montu, just big rides taking up space. Need something more unique and elite IMO
Hi
Sheikra is not better then Kumba. Didnd't even mention the nice helix at the end of Kumba.
Drop coaster in Williamsburg is better
Still doing Kumba dirty lol. Back in ‘93 it was a game changer 👨🦳
Tigris is way too high. It's not comfortable at all and if you weigh more than 150 pounds it's not a fun ride
First! Love the channel mate!
Kumba is Stengel's masterpiece. If you think you know because you've only ridden the floorless knockoffs, you're a small tool.
FIRST
You know this list is ass and this is just rage baiting
Why because Kumba isn't #2?
Gwazi was a solid woodie. I rode it twice as a kid in its first decade of operation and it was great. Can’t speak to its later years and how it aged which apparently was like warm milk.
I rode it a couple times before it closed in 2014 - 2015. From what I remember, it was so bad and so shaky it was actually kind of fun. One of the ride ops accurately described it as "going downhill in a shopping cart with no brakes."
Crazy how much a park's maintenance team can make or break a woodie once it gets old
Do be aware if you ever talk about it again, a gwazi is not a real mythological creature from anywhere, in an interview before iron gwazi they admitted they (the parks teams) simply made it up when they were thinking up gwazi back in the day
I actually rode once in 2014 and had a pretty good ride! It was the last time I was able to ride it, unfortunately; that ride was always a tradition for us to hit up as one of the first rides when we got there, usually taking one ride on each side or splitting our group up between the two sides. If I remember correctly, on our last ride we chose the lion, and it broke down for what felt like a good 10-20 minutes while we were still dead center in the middle of the lift hill at the beginning. Once we got going again, though, it was relatively smooth sailing! Not as smooth as in the past, but seemingly better than what other people have said their experiences were like in those years.
That batwing on Montu is ridiculous, in the back right seat it felt like it was going to rip my legs off!
AIR GROVER IS NUMBER 1!!!!!!
Love the content, busch gardens tampa is my home park
Air Grover FTW
I agree! Air Grover is my world
In all seriousness its a great family coaster
Including personal rank in the info was a really nice add, loved it!
Yeah i started doing that recently. I make these videos by just filtering my overall list by park and it spits out the order, so why not include the number
Video idea: Best park to get each ride type like blitz, invert, pre fab. Love you videos by the way
Thanks for the tip. Will look into it
You know I was very disappointed! Last month I sawed on video of UA-cam! That Camel at Air Grover was replaced by that dam new back row it self and I a bit upset about that! So It won’t be back until next month!
That kumba placement is diabolical
😈
Putting Kumba at number 5 isn’t an insult because the top 5 at this park is so good. Few parks have 5 coasters of this level of quality. Cedar Point, Hershey Park, BGW, maybe Great Adventure or Magic Mountain.
@@_AT41I honestly don’t think Magic Mountain has a better top 5.
Agreed. Kumba is 2 in the park for me
No. 1 is pretty obvious, no doubt that Iron Gwazi is truly the top dog of Busch Gardens Tampa.
I’m on the way to this park for the first time, so excited
You should be. Hoping for short lines good ops and good weather
My top 5 is
1, Iron Gwazi
2. Montu
3, Cheetah Hunt
4, Kumba
5, Air grover
5 is actually sheikra
I love this is my home park 🎉!!!
Hey, it’s my home park too. A pretty great lineup. Iron Gwazi is such a good coaster. And Montu and Kumba are great supporting coasters.
Same!
My home park 🫶
2:10 YES YES IT SUCKS IT LEGIT JACKHAMMERED im not the type to complain about roughness but this one bruised my shins and was uncomfortable AF in those tight cars
Sheikra was just meh for what it promises, but Kumba should be #3 only Montu and Iron Gwazi can beat it and Montu and Kumba are very close.
4:27 When i rode it in July ‘23, it was pretty janky and I kept uncomfortably hitting my friend next to me
Great video! Here's my ranking (I've ridden 123 coasters):
10. Air Grover (121/123) - Technically my least favorite coaster (the 2 ranked under it I don't remember/had a bad experience on). Way too short and not as interesting as even smaller rides like the sea serpents...
9. Sand Serpent (98/123) - Worst wild mouse I've ridden, definitely was trimmed too much. It was still kinda fun but not that good.
8. Scorpion (90/123) - Pretty good little looper with some force to it. Not much more to say but that it's fun.
7. Cobra's Curse (56/123) - Very good family coaster with a great gimmick. Not much to add beyond what Chris said.
6. Tigris (53/123) - Good launches, airtime, force, and hangtime. Just short, but solid overall.
5. Kumba (50/123) - Forceful ride with fun inversions and a good duration. Unfortunately, it rattles a lot, so bring pain medicine. I'd love to ride a smooth version of this.
4. SheiKra (32/123) - Awesome first drop, fun inversion, good second drop, aaand that's it. It also rattles a bit but it's still a lot of fun. I slightly prefer Griffon but SheiKra's second drop is better as they don't slow you down as much.
3. Montu (21/123) - My favorite invert (Banshee is very close though). Fast, forceful, whippy, flies through trenches, very good.
2. Cheetah Hunt (20/123) - Long, fast, and fun. Not very intense (launches are really weak except the first one) but there's some decent floater airtime, the barrel roll is good, and the speed and twists are the best part. Night ride in the front is fantastic.
1. Iron Gwazi (12/123) - Sorry, I only rode this twice. I got a morning ride and it didn't do much. Later, I got an evening ride and it was wild. Lots of airtime, whip, and pacing. But the wilder the ride, the more rides I need to form an opinion on it (did this with LRod). Hope to go back soon and ride this a bunch!
Good thing you got that night ride. Interesting it only ranks 12/123
Kumba is temperamental some times its one of the smoothest B&Ms but its force less and other times its super forceful but its a glorified SLC
@@AirtimeThrills Yeah it didn't seem too great but maybe that's just me. I'll need to ride it more to get a solid opinion
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3od Lol sounds about right. I've definitely gotten more of its rough but forceful side