Tigris and BGT

[s***@aol.com]

I got to ride Tigris yesterday. It was the first time I had ridden a Sky Rocket II. The queue follows the path of the trough from the Tidal Wave ride that used to be in its spot. The station from the Tidal Wave is still there, I’m guessing so it can continue to be used for Howl O Scream haunted house near that location (most recently the Black Spot house). The ride loads and unloads pretty quickly. 3 cars of 6 guests make up the train. The seats are kind of tight getting in! But very comfortable once in. They have a comfort collar which is actually pretty comfortable and you forget you have it on. It’s basically just the lap bar with the comfort collar that attaches. It’s a little unusual as you have to kind of hold the comfort collar as you sit down or you’ll be sitting against it. It’s works well. The employees were letting people borrow fanny packs to use on the ride for loose articles. The ride has audio that goes on when the ride is in motion but can only be heard in the station. The ride ops were having a lot of fun mimicking the tiger roars as they went off. The ride itself is pretty smooth and a lot of fun and very thrilling! Enjoyed this ride a lot more than I thought I would. A great addition to the park.

I also got to see Critters Inn Charge, the new pet show that replaced Opening Night Critters. It was a fun show with a conservation twist that wasn’t too preachy.

The park was pretty slow all around all day, so I got to ride several rides and see all the shows. Kumba and Turn It Up are always amazing. Phoenix and Bush Flyers were closed for refurbishment.

[skiguy777]

Post by s***@aol.com
I got to ride Tigris yesterday. It was the first time I had ridden a Sky Rocket II. The queue follows the path of the trough from the Tidal Wave ride that used to be in its spot. The station from the Tidal Wave is still there, I’m guessing so it can continue to be used for Howl O Scream haunted house near that location (most recently the Black Spot house). The ride loads and unloads pretty quickly. 3 cars of 6 guests make up the train. The seats are kind of tight getting in! But very comfortable once in. They have a comfort collar which is actually pretty comfortable and you forget you have it on. It’s basically just the lap bar with the comfort collar that attaches. It’s a little unusual as you have to kind of hold the comfort collar as you sit down or you’ll be sitting against it. It’s works well. The employees were letting people borrow fanny packs to use on the ride for loose articles. The ride has audio that goes on when the ride is in motion but can only be heard in the station. The ride ops were having a lot of fun mimicking the tiger roars as they went off. The ride itself is pretty smooth and a lot of fun and very thrilling! Enjoyed this ride a lot more than I thought I would. A great addition to the park.
I also got to see Critters Inn Charge, the new pet show that replaced Opening Night Critters. It was a fun show with a conservation twist that wasn’t too preachy.
The park was pretty slow all around all day, so I got to ride several rides and see all the shows. Kumba and Turn It Up are always amazing. Phoenix and Bush Flyers were closed for refurbishment.

Nice. It always amazes me how a Sky Rocket II will back into the station and stop at the exact spot, then shut off. I rode the one at SFDK once. On my previous visit to BGT, Cheetah Hunt had the longest line in the park. I think it will stay that way until RMC Gwazi comes along. A Sky Rocket II is a one and done, unless the line is short.

[s***@aol.com]

Yes! I was impressed by it coming back at a decent speed and stopping EXACTLY where it needs to be without inching back or stopping and going, and without an abrupt stop either.

[Dave Althoff, Jr.]

***@aol.com wrote:
: I got to ride Tigris yesterday. It was the first time I had ridden a Sky

Was it someone here who nicknamed the ride "Tampasto" after its twin in
Virginia? I think that's a brilliant nickname for it.

: Rocket II. The queue follows the path of the trough from the Tidal Wave
: ride that used to be in its spot. The station from the Tidal Wave is
: still there, Iâ??m guessing so it can continue to be used for Howl O
: Scream haunted house near that location (most recently the Black Spot
: house). The ride loads and unloads pretty quickly. 3 cars of 6 guests
: make up the train. The seats are kind of tight getting in! But very
: comfortable once in. They have a comfort collar which is actually pretty
: comfortable and you forget you have it on. Itâ??s basically just the lap
: bar with the comfort collar that attaches. Itâ??s a little unusual as you
: have to kind of hold the comfort collar as you sit down or youâ??ll be
: sitting against it. Itâ??s works well.

Eh, "works" in what way? I haven't been to Tampa in years, but when I rode
Tempesto that was the one thing I hated about the ride. It made entering
and exiting a awkward process, and it really added nothing but grief.
Luckily it's mostly soft and the ride runs basically in a plane, so it's
not going to beat you up like, say, Kumba or Rougarou. But I would have
been happier if it wasn't there.

: The employees were letting people
: borrow fanny packs to use on the ride for loose articles.

Again, matches what they do in Virginia; they have a stock of ugly orange
belt bags available at the ride entrance if you're carrying anything. I
didn't need one because I have my ugly black belt bag for my camera. I just
think this is a very interesting response to the loose item problem, and I
can honestly say I have never seen it done anywhere else. The closest has
been parks like Cedar Point where such bags are permitted on almost every
ride (we can talk about Steel Shpxvat Vengance another time). The same
seems to be true of Busch Gardens Williamsburg, but T[e|a]mpesto is the
only ride where the park actually suplies an approved carrying device
which is not a part of the ride.

: The ride has
: audio that goes on when the ride is in motion but can only be heard in
: the station. The ride ops were having a lot of fun mimicking the tiger
: roars as they went off. The ride itself is pretty smooth and a lot of fun
: and very thrilling! Enjoyed this ride a lot more than I thought I would.
: A great addition to the park.

I see people describe these rides as being "one and done" but my experience
in Virginia was that while there isn't a lot to the ride, we certainly had
fun with it so long as we didn't have to wait for it. I think it compares
favorably to, say, Cedar Point's Wicked Twister or any of the good shuttle
coasters (hello, Monezooma's Revenge...) and certainly beats any Boomerang.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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[s***@aol.com]

For what it’s worth, Iron Gwazi billboards apparently popped up last week staying now open. So I’m guessing they were expecting it to have opened up by then. Hopefully that means that when the park does open, they’re on track to have the ride open within a week or so. Of course, other issues with opening up the park may cause that to get delayed, but it’s probably otherwise going to be pretty close to opening. I’m not a huge fan of RMC coasters, but am looking forward to trying something new. I’m only 3 Credits away from 500, hoping that becomes a possibility this year.